Perseverance: Harriet Tubman

reedom, and in her quest for freeing others. I will also describe the obstacles she overcame, and who supported her in her cause of being free. Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. Her biggest accomplishment was her escape to freedom, and not only did she free herself, but also others. She was the most famous â€Å"conductor† of the Underground Railroad. Throughout a 10-year span, Tubman made more than 20 trips down to the South and led over 300 slaves from bondage to freedom.Perhaps the most shocking fact about Tubman's journeys back and forth from the South was that she never lost a single passenger. This is the most shocking because there were more obstacles facing her then, that a murderer now! Her biggest fear then, was being caught. The only way she could persevere through this, is going on regardless. Regardless of what happened, regardless of what she or anybody else believed, she went on becaus e she had the courage and will power to do it. Throughout her journey, she overcame many obstacles. Fear being the biggest one and her priorities the next.As stated before, I believe that she overcame fear by going on, no matter how hard she tried, or how tired she grew, she kept going on. Her next obstacle in line was taking care of her followers. It has been stated that, there were many times, when her passengers wanted to turn around, give up. They were tired, they were hungry, and there was no way, that she could take care of them alone. I firmly believe that the Underground Railroad was a gift from God. I believe he saw that she struggled, he saw that she was tired, but he also so the cause of her going on and fighting.The Underground Railroad was her way through her obstacles. It was a safe haven for not only her, but her passengers too. She had the will power, and the faith to do it, but faith without work to me, is dead. The Underground Railroad also allowed her to meet vari ous people. Being a slave in the South, you'd think that all Caucasian men were slave owners, but it surprised and inspired her, when she met Caucasian men in the North. She was surprised because these men were standing against and standing for what she hoped and believed in, freedom.It was men like former President John Quincy Adams, William Lloyd Garrison, and Thomas Garrett. They took part in speaking against it, and abolishing it. Most abolitionists were Caucasian, but the ones who actually valued freedom most, were the ones who escaped. It was people like Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass who inspired her to go on, and fight against what was right. In her lifetime, Harriet Tubman showed perseverance by not only freeing herself, but also over 300 passengers. She overcame many obstacles, but with the help of her supporters in her cause of being free, she made it through.

Introduction, review of accounting process and financial statement Essay

Part 1 General acceptable accounting principle General accounting principles are set of rules generated by accounting board to guide accountant in preparation and reporting of financial statements. General acceptable accounting principles are accounting guidelines (GAAP) used in United States and are issued by financial accounting standard board (FASB). Other countries uses the guideline issued by international accounting standard board (IASB) supplemented by their own local laws. GAAP guide selection of events to be accounted for, the measurement of these events, and the mean of summarizing and communicating them to interested parties. In recording transactions GAAP make use of the following principles a) historical cost principle b) revenue recognition c) marching principle d) full disclosure GAAP facilitate comparability of financial statement for various firms. Information that has been measured and reported in a similar manner for different enterprise is considered comparable. Comparability enables users to identify the real similarities and differences in economic phenomenon. Comparability is achieved when companies use similar accounting procedures (e.g. use of same inventory method, depreciation) to account for similar economic circumstance (Porwal, 2008). Double entry accounting This is the method of recording accounting transaction where every debit entry must be accompanied by a credit entry and vice versa. If this method of accounting is not enforced then the basic accounting equation i.e. ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY will not balance. Therefore double entry accounting is used to ensure that financial record are complete and thus ensures that final statements give a true and fair view of financial performance at a given date otherwise if an accounting transaction is recorded on one side i.e. a debit or credit the balance sheet will not balance which indicate an error in preparation of financial statement (Fridson & Alvarez, 2002). Historical cost Historical cost is the original cost incurred in acquisition of assets. All assets and liability are recorded in financial statement under historical cost principle.   Under this principle the exchange price established or cost incurred at the time a transaction occurs is the basis for initially recording assets and liability. Cost is usually the best estimates of an asset or liability i.e. cost and fair value of an asset are equal at acquisition date. Historical cost principle ensures that there is consistency in recording asset and liability where assets are recorded at historical cost and subsequent loose of value is shown as depreciation and adjusted from historical cost to show the book value of an asset at a given date. Accrual basis vs. cash basis accounting Measurement of revenue can either be through accrual method or cash accounting basis. The two accounting method consists of rules that determines how and when expenses and revenue are reported. With accrual basis of accounting, revenue is recorded in the period in which it is earned and not necessarily when cash is received while expenses are recorded when they have been incurred. This method of accounting is used by all publicly traded company and large businesses. With cash basis of accounting revenue is recognized when cash is received while expenses are recorded when cash is paid (Fridson & Alvarez, 2002). The major difference between the two methods is that 1). In using the cash basis of accounting there are no any payables or receivable recorded in the balance sheet while in using the accrual basis both receivables and payables are recognized in the balance sheet. While reporting revenue using accrual basis both collected and uncollected revenue are recorded while for cash basis only the cash amount collected from sales and other activities are recorded. For instance if a customers pay $ 100,000 for goods which he has not yet received by the end of accounting period, using the cash basis this will be shown as revenue in the income statement but while using the accrual basis $100,000 is described as deferred revenue and   will appear in balance sheet as current liability. On the other hand when the firm deliver goods or offers a service but such amount remain outstanding at the end of the period using cash basis such a transaction will not be recorded but while using the accrual basis such amount will be described as accrued  revenue and will be recognized as revenue in the income statement and recorded in balance sheet as current asset (Siegel, 2007). 2) In a cash basis report, only the cash paid to vendors are shown as expenses while in accrual reports both paid and unpaid amount are included as expenses. For instance if a company pay rent amounting to $120,000 for 12 month but by the end of accounting period only rent for six month have been utilized using the accrual method $60,000 will be recorded as rent expense in the income statement while the remaining $ 60,000 are described as prepaid expense and are recorded as current asset in the balance sheet. For cash basis the whole amount of $120,000 will be recorded as rent expense during the current period. In preparation of financial statement the accrual basis of accounting is used where revenue is recorded in the accounting period it is earned irrespective of whether cash is received and associated cost used in generation of this revenue are also recorded in the same period. This is used in order to show the correct profit generated by an enterprise during a certain period. Current assets and liability vs. non-current items Assets include anything of value that is owned or due to the business. Current asset are those that mature in less than one year e.g. inventory, debtors, prepayment and note receivables. Liabilities represent a company’s obligation to creditors. Obligations that have to be paid within one year are called current liabilities. In preparation of financial statement asset are recorded as either current or non-current while liabilities are dividend  into current and non-current liability and companies have to adhere to this rule of financial reporting. Part 2 Bp group BP group present it final statement in term of income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. All the statement are presented in vertical format and each item is shown together with the corresponding item in the previous year. The income statement shows the income generated and division of this profit to various stakeholders i.e. among the total profit generated in year 2008 which amounted to $ 35,239 million the providers of finance received $1,547 million, government received $12,617 million and the shareholders received $ 21,666. The group balance sheet is dividend into five categories namely current assets, non-current assets, current liabilities, non-current liabilities and equity. The cash flow statement is dividend into three category i.e. the operating activities the investing activities and the financing activities. It financial statement are prepare in accordance with applicable UK law and international financial reporting standard. Quicksilver Inc The company also presents it final account in term of income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. The income statement show the profit generated and distribution to various stakeholders i.e. shareholders, government and minority interest. For each item in year 2008 the corresponding item in year 2007 and 2006 is also shown. The balance sheet is also presented in a vertical format where items are categorized into non-current assets, current assets, current liability, non-current liability and equity.  The cash flow statement is dividend in to operating, investing and financing activities. It financial statement has been prepared in accordance with the general acceptable accounting principles. RTL group It general presentation of financial statement is like in above two companies with the balance sheet dividend in to current asset and liabilities vs. non-current item and equity. The balance sheet and income statement are prepared in vertical format and show corresponding figures of previous year. Cash from operating activities is the best measure of company performance since it indicates whether or not the company will be able to meet it financing and investing need. Even if the company may have generated sufficient profit it may be in financial difficulty and may even be declared bankrupt for failure to meet obligation of creditor. Higher profit may be as a result of a change in accounting policy and not improvement in performance. More detail relating to each companies associate and subsidiaries can be collected from the filing they make in the respective country in which they are incorporated and their final report. Predicting company’s future trend Quick silver The company net income increased by 19% in 2007 compared to 2006. In 2008 the net income increased by 11% and in the year 2009 income is expected to grow by between  5%-8%. The company management also expect a hard time ahead due to current financial crisis which has led to a decline in household income and lower demand. RTL group In year 2008 revenue grew by 0.01% compared to and in year 2009 revenue are expected to decline by 2-5%. The company management and directors expect a drop in revenue in key market due to global economic crisis which has heightened the intensity of competition. Bp group The net revenue in year 2007 grew by 7% compared to 2006. In 2008 income grew by 27%. In 2009 revenue is expected to grow between 30-35%. Despite the harsh economic condition the management expects to increase it revenue earnings through higher fuel price.

Revolutionary War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Revolutionary War - Essay Example Washington never understood why slaves would freely choose to fight for their new home. The great majority of slaves only cared about their freedom, so joining the American colonists provided an avenue for this wish. The reason why more blacks joined the Loyalist forces is because they were offering freedom to those who fought. As a result, the Loyalist forces had more men to fight with and had the upper hand in the war. Thousands of blacks chose to side with the British forces because of the promise of freedom—something that the American colonists were not so willing to offer. George Washington barred the recruitment of black soldiers even though they had already fought with whites at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. This choice proved to be a terrible mistake—although not fatal. It took until the winter of 1777-78 for Washington to reconsider his earlier decision. The American colonists were losing the war and the Continental Army had fallen to only 18,000. Because of these circumstances, Washington finally decided to enlist a regiment of black slaves from Rhode Island. Even though Washington allowed blacks to join the war effort, they were used in basic capacities only. George Washington did not trust blacks at all—he believed that they would take advantage of their new found freedom and run away and desert the army. Washington came from a Southern background and felt that he had to appease South Carolina’s leaders over the issue of slavery. After the war had ended, Washington demanded that former slaves be sent back to their previous masters. This also included the blacks who had fought for the British Loyalists and were now considered American

Organizational Effectievness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational Effectievness - Essay Example Rational, open and natural systems approaches are among the strategies that can be adopted to accomplish organizational goals. This paper presents a critique as to why most managers find rational approaches to organizations and organising appealing. It highlights with examples how taking an open or a natural systems approach benefits managers. Rational Approaches The rational system perspective views organizations as mechanisms intended to accomplish particular goals. The approaches provide a means to the goals but not a basis for development of goals. In other words, rational approaches facilitate the achievement of organizational goals regardless of whether they are smart or not (Marnet 2007). According to Gans (1996), rationality requires specific goals that are formalized to enhance their accomplishment. This is necessitated by the fact that rational approaches involve various segments that contribute to the attainment of organizational goals. Goal specificity is usually appealin g to managers since it allows them to make appropriate choices regarding the available alternatives without ambiguity. It allows the prioritization and assignment of various functions and resources in the organization (Das 2003). The organizational structure also highly depends on specificity of goals. Generally, specific goals guide decision making as to what particular tasks need to be performed, the nature of human resources to be engaged as well as how funds are to be distributed among the team players within the organization (Tolbert & Richard 2008). The significance of goal specificity can be illustrated through the functioning of military organizations. Although people might argue regarding the role of the military, there is a specific goal of enhancing defence in a particular jurisdiction. People are assigned particular. The decision making process is clearly defined and therefore there can be no confusion in accomplishing the organizational goals. Rationality applies regard less of whether the goals of the military organization are indecorous or not (Gans 1996). Rational approaches allow formalization of the organizational structure which in turn promotes ownership of the goals among members. Formalization enhances standardization of behaviours among members thereby maintaining predictability of outcomes of various actions (Provan & Milward 1995). Generally, formalization guides actions of various people involved in the accomplishment of goals. It also allows the presence of a smooth transition in a situation whereby replacement of an employee is needed. The incoming employee is selected on the basis of skills as stated in the formal structure (Handel 2002). Taylor’s model of scientific management is among the rational approaches that managers have found useful in accomplishing organizational goals. It involves assessing tasks in the workplace and ensuring that the processes involved produce maximum output with minimal inputs in terms of labour and materials (Christian 2003). All processes are experimented and proved to serve the desired purpose before putting them in practice. Scientific management helps to eliminate procedures that lead to time wasting and inefficiency. At a glance, managers are in a position to tell what activity every person in the organization is involved in. Workers do not have to wait for instructions to perform tasks. Rather, they have a scheme that they follow on daily basis (Tolbert & Richard 2008). Scientific management ensures that workplace rules govern the behaviour of individuals making management functions easy to undertake. Workers are selected scientifically through assessment of their

International Service Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Service Marketing - Essay Example The above flowchart shows a service profit chain that is encountered by each and every firm in the contemporary world. So, it can be claimed that higher profit generation can be experienced by firms only with the essence of superior quality of service. This is the era of consumerism and level of utility derived by the consumers from services of a company determines their loyalty towards the same in the long run. This essay tries to implicitly analyze the service quality of British Airways (BA). It is believed by scholars that a company’s service quality invariably undergoes four progressive transitional stages across its life cycle. These stages are Service Losers, Service Nonentities, Service Professionals and Service Leaders. The context of essay will estimate the most appropriate service quality stage, where the selected service of BA lies. In latter half of the essay, the selected service quality of BA will be precisely compared with that of other competitors in the market . Finally, recommendations will be also provided, whereby the company would be able to rectify certain existing limitations of the concerned service (Shaughnessy, 2013). The company of BA claims to have substantially improved the quality of its food and wine service. The company states that customers can experience better quality of food and drink on its flights in comparison to many popular food junctions on the ground. The food offerings are claimed to be prepared freshly on the flights itself. The on-board catering service of the company is distinguished in terms of the flight seat classes. The major dinning types offered by the company are economy dining, premium economy dining, business dining, first dining and special meals (British Airways, 2014). Under the menu of economy dinning, BA offers complementary snack or meal services to all flight boarders. Bar services are also provided by the company to all customers. The bar service of the airline serves assorted drinks to the

Colonial to 1877 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Colonial to 1877 - Essay Example Slavery remained legal in the South while it was illegal in the North. Few Northerners actively opposed the practice though. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 began a series of events which resulted ultimately in war. The Northwest Ordinance was an act of Congress of the federation and essentially declared that the land north of the Ohio River and East of the Mississippi River, would in fact become a part of the United States as well as become settled. Additionally, the ordinance established an area where slavery was illegal, therefore causing uprising from states south of the Ordinance. The Ohio River would become the boundary line. The next event to cause a disturbance between the North and the South was the Missouri Compromise of1820. This established slavery regulations within the Western Territories. It also made slavery illegal in the Louisiana Territory but allowed it to remain legal within the Missouri Territory. Political ramifications of the compromise served to introduce the idea of democrats and republicans. The compromise had established clear boundaries between North and South and would eventually push the two halves into war. In the meantime, the Mexican-American War was on the horizon as America had annexed the Texas territory from Mexico. The conflict lasted from 1846 to 1848. Most of the Southern States at the time, embraced the idea of Manifest Destiny as well as the idea of acquiring more land in the spirit of slavery expansion. Manifest Destiny was the notion that the United States was destined to claim the territory from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Seaboard. This is precisely why many were in favor of the Mexican-American war and also why the conflict began. Because of so much political and social unrest, the Compromise of 1850 was drafted. This series of bills sought to create resolve over the issue of slavery as well as the Mexican-American War. This compromise served to avoid an immediate

American Ethnic Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Ethnic Literature - Essay Example The relationship between the ethnic and the mainstream is not a static one. Especially in a multiethnic nation like the US, this relationship is continually changing. The relationship between the mainstream and ethnic communities, as well as their literary utterances, always goes through a process of mutual commentary and refashioning. We can apply Trivedi's formulation in defining the phenomenon as a 'transactionas an interactive, dialogic, two-way process rather than a simple active-passive one; as a process involving complex negotiation and exchange'. (Trivedi,1993 p.125) The question of language and literary production is integrally linked to the issue of power and political control and domination. Noted Spanish American author Richard Rodriguez' 'Hunger of Memory' foregrounds this association of language with the centralization of power structure. For Rodriguez, language is a conduit of social power, and the notion of 'public identity' is largely dependant on one's mastery of academic English. Similarly with literature, political domination is closely connected with canon formation. As a result, literature produced by the 'mainstream', following codes of European aesthetics, comes to be accepted as the 'mainstream' literature, or simply 'literature' of America. On the other hand, literary works produced outside the scope of this central literary corpus is designated as 'ethnic literature': the 'margin' to the American 'center'. Long relegated only to the second ranks of literary practice, ethnic literature at present takes a much appreciable position vis--vis what is usually considered to be mainstream literature. An interest towards an understanding of 'ethnic' voices in literature and relocating them within the range of mainstream academic practice has also been observed in the present times. However, this attempt has attracted a certain degree of hostility: a kind of academic hostility that is not an uncommon reaction to the center's attention towards ethnography and ethnic literature. The Chicana/o communities have been prominent in their conflictual engagement with the role and function of 'ethnic' intellectual/ academic identities, as defined by the 'academic' center. Angie Chabran has been particular suspicious of this whole enterprise of 'Chicana/o' studies - stating that it uncritically assists in the anthropoligation of the Chicana/o people. (Chabran 228-47) This attitude is now gaining currency, that ethnic study, in the form of literature or sociology, or within any other academic discipline, is basically a kind of re-instatement of categories rather than an attempt to obliteration. However, on the flip side of hostility, there have also been attempts towards reaching a cultural middle point, towards 'hybridization'. This hybridization has also been brought about by a dynamic relationship between the mainstream and the ethnic literary practices. The aesthetic and the consequent economic dictates of mainstream literary practice has influenced the narrative style and aesthetic stylizations of the ethnic forms. They have retained some of the literary forms that have ethnic roots, but have been adopted to fit the more linear and accepted forms of mainstream li

Week_T_Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week_T_Questions - Assignment Example would be better if you do not get involved in discussions where you put yourself in a position where you are left alone as opposed to a general public opinion, which exists at that point of time. In my opinion, the most important thing is to stop thinking in the ‘all or none’ thinking pattern. What most of us do is that we tend to consider things in black and white terms and this is why we usually end up at one extreme with dissatisfaction of self, along with the disapproval of others for our points of view. Similar is the way of our thinking when it comes to terrorism, whether domestic or global. For instance, Muslims are always irritated about how the whole world blames them for every terrorist activity and take out their aggressions whenever and however possible. Due to this, they hardly get time to calm themselves down and think about the reasons that brought them in this position and what they can do to take themselves out of this targeted position. Subaihi, T. (N.A). Whats in a beard? False stereotypes in a post-9/11 age. The National. Retrieved February 26, 2013 from

Business Analysis of British American Tobacco Case Study

Business Analysis of British American Tobacco - Case Study Example Philip Morris leads the market with 18% share, BAT follows with 11%, while Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher hold fourth and fifth position in the global tobacco pie. The missing third spot belongs to Japan Tobacco. In UK, the cigarette and tobacco market is predominantly captivated by Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco; the two firms enjoy an 80% hold in the market. BAT has its manufacturing facilities in UK but exports most of its production. (Action on Smoking and Health Fact sheet No.18) Recently, BAT has strengthened its position in the Tobacco world market with different moves. As per the most recent developments, to expand their reach farther, BAT is in process of acquiring small firms internationally so as to have extended access to the markets, and to have stronger position at the same. The group is also quite close to the completion of purchasing House of Prince (HoP). As per the Citigroup officials, the huge network of supply chain that BAT carries with itself can assist in exceeding HoP's last years 30 billion cigarettes sales figure throughout Europe. This would have a net impact on BAT's sales rather than increasing the existing lines sales. At the same time, in the start of March 2007, BAT declared its results for the ended fiscal year showing an increase in operational profits of 7-8% with Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific are the major contributors to this increment. Apart from this, another major cause has been an increment in the sal es volumes of subsidiaries that rose by 2%. It is noticeable that the net tobacco products sales was drove by the 4 major players of the market, giving it a volume increase of 17%. Internal & External Analysis Two of the most effective tools used widely for internal and external analysis of an organization are PEST and SWOT. PEST is the simple analyses of the external environment of an organization, while SWOT matches the internal and external factors to identify critical points for concentration. Following are the same conducted for BAT: SWOT SW presents the internal scenario of the organization, matched against the existing or anticipated external OT provides a plan for the future course of action. Following is a pictorial representation of the same: Strength Independence from single importer-monopoly Brand loyalty and associated good will Tremendous market segmentation Weaknesses Lack of regional market knowledge Unpredictability of Importers Very less presence in the local market Lack of

Anabel Family problems Essay Example for Free

Anabel Family problems Essay One year later. After implementing the ethnography students’ achievement plan, the students have developed well. Although not all were able to meet all the goals I set to them at the beginning of the school year, each one of them was able to excel this year. Since all of them have difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, and Mathematics, teaching was basically the same. However, for each one’s special needs, the approaches were different. Some of them were found to be very good in peer to peer tutoring while others were good in one on one tutoring. Aside from academic struggles, problems on behavior, anger and frustration management and lack of confidence were common among them. Dukes and co-authors (2007) argues that problem behavior is causes risk in the effective teaching and learning strategies and also with the safety and convenience of both the students and the teachers. Thus, while honing their academic skills, I also had to be concerned about each other’ behavior problem. Different strategies like joining what they would not want to do and what they want to do in one activity was found effective to encourage the child to do what he needed to do. Letting them feel that they were good in some skills encouraged them to learn even more. Although a lot of strategies regarding behavior problems exist, not all are found to be effective. Some teachers would prefer to do punishments with problem students but this would not frequently change the students’ behavior. Some researchers would suggest the functional behavior assessment (FBA) technique (Dukes et al, 2007). Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is â€Å"the process of identifying the events that reliably predict and maintain problem behaviors before an intervention is determined† (Scott, Nelson, Zabala, 2003). Such process requires a school-wide or perhaps district-wide training so that FBA will be properly implemented. Moreover, the parents were also counseled so that childrens’ learning could continue at home. A careful guidance of both parents and teachers was still found to be the most effective among all processes of handling a child with special needs. It may also be noted that teaching self management requires follow up procedures especially from the teacher. Some may expect that effective self management would require independence from the teachers and parents, children with disabilities need continuous follow up and monitoring (Sears, 2006). On a more personal note, the students were not just the only learners in the sessions. I also gathered more learning and insights for this school year. Although the students were not aware, the teacher was able to observe them personally. The students have taught me to have more patience, more kindness, and even the technical aspects of teaching special children. Indeed, special education must be put into a higher respect, love, and passion for teaching. More than a profession, teaching was more of motherhood to these children who have special needs that are needed to be given in a special way. Three among my five students were able to fulfill the goals of the course while the other two need more time. Anabel, Mark and Henry fulfilled most of the goals I set for them at the beginning of the school year while Jessica was not able to improve a lot. Lastly, Juan dropped out due to financial problems and problems about his health. The highest among the five is Mark who was able to achieve all the goals. His determination and parents’ support was present throughout the school year. If this would continue, he can excel to class even more in the next grade level. His parents were very thankful because he was able to make them proud whereas Mark was sure inspired by them. They would continue to support them and promised that they would always cooperate with the teacher for Mark’s continuous learning. Second was Anabel who almost achieved all the goals too. This lovely young girl had shown her potential and allowed the teacher to help her develop these. Her behavior was never been a problem towards the end of the school year. She was very willing to learn and wanted to learn even more. Also, her lack of self confidence improved. She was more interactive and participates more in and out of class. The least was Henry. This was duly because of his problem attitude. He refused to participate and failed to show willingness to learn. He was not able to improve a lot because he did not want to practice and follow my instructions to him. He was not able to behave well in class. Thus, I plan to handle with this problem behavior first before really forcing him to study, which is never convenient for him and for me. Jessica is still young. Like Henry, her behavior had hindered her development. Thus, she must undergo behavior management procedures. Also, her parents are also advised not to let her do what she wants to do just to make everything be fine. She needs to be treated in a way that she will learn how to follow authorities and when to do what she does not like to do. This lovely girl has the potential. She only needs to become more responsible so that she can focus more on her tasks. Her great sociable characteristics should be honed so that she will continue to learn more things to more people. Lastly, for Juan, he needs more constant medication with his doctor. I still talk to his parents so that Juan could continue to go to school because he sure has potential. Case Study I: Anabel Family problems often hindered Anabel to come to class. Since her family is not financially stable, some of her needs like school supplies and others stuffs needed to school were not duly given to her. Moreover, she was greatly affected by the fights of her parents and refused to come to class at times. Sometimes, while her mother was out to work, she was left to attend to her younger brother. Family problem is perhaps the greatest dilemma for the young mind of Anabel. It hinders her self development and only adds up to her hang ups. Thus, I advised her parents to undergo marriage counseling not only for their children but also for their family life as a whole.

Examining The Ethics Of Undercover Reporting Media Essay

Examining The Ethics Of Undercover Reporting Media Essay In a day in which we are spending thousands of man hours uncovering deception, we simply cannot deceive. How can newspapers fight for honesty and integrity when they themselves are less than honest in getting a story? Benjamin Bradlee, former executive editor of the Washington Post. Last month, two high profile public figures in Britain were the subject of tabloid sting operations which have caused widespread controversy and debate. This essay will analyse the actions of the journalist or newspaper editor in each case, from both a deontological and consequentialist standpoint, which will serve to illustrate the ethical complexities surrounding the whole concept of undercover reporting. Duchess of York plots to sell access to Prince Andrew, Mazher Mahmood, News of the World, 23 May 2010 On 23rd May 2010, the News of the World reported that the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, had been duped into accepting a $40,000 ( £27,000) cash down-payment from an undercover reporter posing as a Sheikh. The papers Investigations Editor Mazher Mahmood had offered the Duchess a total of  £500,000 to be introduced to Fergusons ex-husband Prince Andrew, who is a British trade envoy. The meeting where the deposit was handed over to Ferguson and details of the bribe were discussed was captured on tape, and this video was posted on the News of the World website alongside the article. The News of the World may claim they have done Britain a good service in exposing Fergusons illicit business deals, but in reality, they have not presented any proof that she had been engaging in bribery and corruption before the News of the World entered the fray and staged this elaborate sting operation. They claim that they have proof that she had already cashed in by introducing two international tycoons to Prince Andrew, which resulted in lucrative business deals for which she gained a commission. Would it not have been enough to report on this evidence which had been provided by their close royal associate who blew the whistle on her? They say they have procured all the details of her transactions with these tycoons, and information about the new company Ferguson set up last month to handle her illicit business, but have not presented any of these details in the article, or in any of the myriad of articles published about the Ferguson affair since the videos were posted on the website. Yes, the News of the World did indeed expose that Sarah Ferguson was disposed to a corrupt deal with an international business man. But who is to say that she would not have been involved in any illicit dealings had the News of the World not set her up in this way? In April, another of Mahmoods undercover sting operations brought a premature end to the career of snooker champion John Higgins when Mahmood filmed him in a hotel room in the Ukraine agreeing to fix a lose in an upcoming snooker match in exchange for à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬300,000. He had been set up by a group of undercover reporters posing as businessmen. Higgins has since claimed that he had been intimidated into the deal against his will, but has been suspended from snooker pending an investigation, perhaps indefinitely. Mahmood claims that the decision to set Higgins up was based on a tip-off from a sports insider that Higgins was engaging in match-fixing. However, no details or evidence was presented in the article to back up the claims. This is just another recent example of the kind of undercover reporting that Mahmood is engaging in for the News of the World, where a sensationalist scoop, usually involving a celebrity or public figure, is caught on camera, causes a brief media fren zy, but is quickly forgotten when the next sting operation hits the headlines. Mahmood, who has been posing as the fake Sheikh for undercover scoops since 1984, claims to have exposed criminal activities in his sting operations which have led to at least 250 criminal convictions. His disguise has duped paedophiles, con men and drug pushers the exposition of whom could be deemed as being in the public interest as well as philandering government ministers and celebrities with recreational drug habits, whose stories may be of salacious interest to the public, but are almost certainly not in the public interest. The motivations behind the News of the Worlds obsession with undercover scoops are simple: deceit can often be the quickest and easiest way to get a story; the journalist has control over the scenario that will eventually end up in the paper, so essentially they can create the headline before the incident has even taken place; and secret footage (audio recordings, video, and grainy or pixilated photographs) sensationalise the story even further and make f or great multimedia content for the web. The man supposed to bring sound judgment to the FA, Ian Gallagher, Mail on Sunday, 16 May 2010 In another undercover exposà © last month, the chairman of the Football Association in England, Lord Triesman, was secretly taped claiming that Spain and Russia were plotting to bribe referees in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. The recording was made by Triesmans former aide Melissa Jacobs during a lunch meeting. Jacobs proceeded, with the help of celebrity publicist Mark Clifford, to sell the tapes to the Mail on Sunday for a reported  £75,000, who ran the story on the front page on 16th May. While it must be noted that the person who made the recording was not a journalist, but an associate of Triesmans, similar principles around the ethics of clandestine recording and undercover investigation techniques are at issue here (leaving aside the ethics of chequebook journalism). However, there is one crucial difference between this article and the undercover sting operation articles written by Mahmood mentioned above, in that the scenario was not staged in advance by the newspaper. It appears to me, from the details presented in the article, that Jacobs attended the lunch meeting with the intention of getting taped evidence of their affair to sell to the newspaper, and the conversation about the World Cup bribes arose unknown in advance to her. While she prompted him during the exchange for more information, she did not incite the topic of conversation, nor did she steer the conversation in any particular direction. This is demonstrated in the following transcript from the tape, which is quoted in the article: Lord Triesman: Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia. At this point, Miss Jacobs asks: Would Russia help them with that? Lord Triesman: Oh, I think Russia will cut deals. Miss Jacobs: Why will Russia help? Are Russia in the World Cup? Lord Triesman: No theyre not. Miss Jacobs: Oh no theyre not, theyve got nothing to lose? Lord Triesman: Absolutely nothing at all to lose. Exactly. Since the article was published, Lord Triesman has resigned as chairman of the FA, but stated that he had been a victim of entrapment and his comments about the conspiracy were never intended to be taken seriously. Fifas ethics team is investigating the allegations, and if it is proven that they were based in truth, the Mail on Sundays decision to print the story will be vindicated (though this is looking increasingly unlikely). The article was met with widespread derision in Britain, most likely because the scandal seriously jeopardised Englands chances of securing their bid to host the 2018 World Cup. But the reasons given by most critics were that the methods used by the Mail on Sunday to obtain information for the article were dirty and unethical. Consequentialist analysis According to the consequentialists, the ends must justify the means in order for an action to be considered morally acceptable. The morally correct action is that which brings about the highest possible total sum of utility(Wolff, p.49). It could be argued that in attempting to expose Sarah Fergusons corrupt activities, the News of the World were acting in the public interest, ridding the world of a corrupt act and thus bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people. If readers really believed that the journalist was acting to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered, which according to Bentham, (The principle of Utility, quoted in Singer, p.307) should be the main premise for any course of action, it could be argued that he was right to masquerade as a Sheikh in order to expose Fergusons illicit business deals. Similarly, if the main motivation of the Mail on Sunday was to prevent corruption an d match fixing during the World Cup, then the newspaper acted in the right way according to consequentialists. However, as I have explained, it is highly dubious that these were the main motivations of the News of the World or the Mail on Sunday, as I would argue that they were more interested in printing sensational stories that would grab public attention and sell more papers than the ultimate end. While the strongest argument against untruths has been forward by Kant and the deontologists (see below), utilitarians were also strongly against falsehood and deceit, because of the harm done by misleading particular individuals, and the tendency of false statements to diminish the mutual confidence that men ought to have in each others assertions (Sidgwick, Issues for Utilitarians, in Singer, p.316). There is another ethical issue raised by the Sarah Ferguson exposà © article that would be of interest to a consequentialist, and that is the use of anonymous sources. Tabloids like the News of the World are well known for paying large sums of money to well-connected sources, and the information fed to them by their close royal associate may well be legitimate. It is widely recognised amongst journalists and editors alike that it is worth retaining the identity of a source in order to get a story that is in the public interest, and I believe that this is also agreeable from a consequentialist standpoint. However, who is to say that this information, supposedly provided by a source close to Ferguson, was not entirely fabricated? As I have argued in a previous ethical enquiry, journalists should strive to attribute their information as much as possible in order to increase trust between reporter and reader. The reliance upon unnamed sources in articles like this leaves many questions in a readers mind, and if anonymous attribution was to be universalised, readers trust in journalism would be greatly diminished Deontological analysis The concept of truth is central to Kants Categorical Imperative. Truth telling is more than just a good thing, as telling the truth creates trust, and trust is a social necessity. Communication between human beings in any society depends very much on the assumption that what we tell each other is true. Deception itself is an impossibility without this assumption, as a person cannot be deceived unless they are prone to believing what they are told. Kant steadfastly believed that any untruth, even if seemingly harmless in intent (or even uttered in protection of oneself or another) is harmful to society, as untruths diminish mans capacity to trust. A lie always harms another; if not some other particular man, still it harms mankind generally, for it vitiates the source of law itself (Kant, On a supposed right to lie from altruistic motives, in Singer, p.281). Mahmood engaged in active deception in order to get his Sarah Ferguson story. Everything about the set up was a blatant lie his name, his profession, his intention, his promise to pay her  £500,000 he even lied to her outright by denying there were secret cameras filming her when she asked in jest if it was a set up. Lies deliberately intend to deceive, where the aim is invariably to take advantage of another persons trust. According to Kant, what the honest but reticent man says is true, but not the whole truth. What the dishonest man says is something he knows to be false. Such an assertion is called in the theory of virtue, a lie it is a serious violation of a duty to oneself; it subverts the dignity of humanity in our own person, and attacks the roots of our thinking. (Kant, Letter to Maria von Herbert, Spring 1792, in Singer, p.283). Jacobs engaged in a form of passive deception in order to gather the taped material. She did not actively lie to Lord Triesman, but deceived him by hiding her intentions, and the fact that she was taping their conversation without his knowledge. Similarly, when journalists pose as members of the public in order to get a story, they are also being passively deceptive, as they are misrepresenting their true intention. However, this form of undercover reporting is widely accepted by editors the world over, even those that would vehemently oppose actively lying or setting someone up in order to get a story. According to deontologists, the outcome of the action should not be a factor in deciding what is right or wrong in any given situation. Behaviour has a moral weight all of its own, which the moral law within can determine (Kant, The noble descent of duty, in Singer, p.41). Central to the deontological school is the concept of duty. From a deontological perspective, journalists have a duty to their readers, an obligation to present the truth to the public, regardless of the consequences that the revelation of this truth may produce. In the case of the Sarah Ferguson article, the News of the World published the article with no heed to the consequences to the reputation of the Royal family, and similarly, the Mail on Sunday published the article about Triesmans knowledge of match fixing with little regard to the reputation of Triesman himself or the chances of England securing their bid to host the World Cup in 2018. According to Kant, truthfulness is a duty which must be regarded as th e ground of all duties based on contract, and the laws of these duties would be rendered uncertain and useless if even the least exception to them were admitted. (Kant, On a supposed right to lie from altruistic motives, in Singer, p.281). If the News of the World and the Mail on Sunday truly believed that they were bringing the truth to the public in exposing Sarah Fergusons corrupt business deals, and Lord Triesmans knowledge of game-fixing, then their intentions were correct according to deontologists. However, in reality, selling papers overrides most tabloids altruistic motives, and it could be strongly argued that both are more concerned with entrapping public figures in order to sell papers, and thus they are not acting in accordance with the categorical imperative. Objective reporting, one of the most central tenets of good journalism practice, rests on the premise that the journalist remains a passive observer of the material about which they write, and that they record reality the way it is rather than attempting to shape that reality themselves in order to create a story. Most, if not all, ethical guidelines for journalists state that an undercover journalist should be a witness to the action, not an instigator or an active participator, nor should they do anything to prompt an action that would not have occurred should they not have been there. Above all, the journalist should never incite people to commit a crime. However, News of the World exposà ©s, many conducted by Mahmood in disguise, have raised ethical questions over the entrapment of celebrities by journalists working at the paper. Critics have claimed that such undercover operations are an invasion of privacy, and that public figures are being lured under false pretences into doi ng and saying things that they would not have, had they not been prompted or encouraged by the undercover journalist. His elaborate scenarios are staged to entrap the subject, who is manipulated, often into committing a criminal act (Mahmood often stages drug purchases last November he set up a cocaine deal with Ted Terry, father of English footballer John Terry, also for a News of the World exclusive). One of the main considerations a news organisation must take into account when deciding if deceptive undercover reporting is warranted is if this is a legitimate and worthy news story, i.e. is the story in the public interest, or is the news organisation merely pandering to its audiences desire for a salacious story? Many editors, and television producers especially, act under the premise that deception may be warranted when the story is of such importance that it absolutely must be told, and deception or undercover reporting is the only way to prove what is going on. The article about Lord Triesman combined his claims about match-fixing with an exposà © of his illicit romance with Jacobs in 2008. Details of text messages sent between the two, and accounts of their secret dates were recounted. This aspect of the article is a blatant invasion of Triesmans privacy, and is most certainly not in the public interest. It would also be against Kants Practical Imperative, which states that we should act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only. (Kant, The Categorical Imperative, in Singer, p.279). Individuals are ends in themselves, and they may not be sacrificed or used for achieving of other ends without their consent. (Robert Nozick, The Rationality of Side Constraints, in Singer, p.261). By publishing the juicy details of their affair alongside the quotes from Triesman about the match-fixing, the Mail on Sunday were using Lord Triesman as a means to an end, and also doing themselves a disservice by highlighting the sleazy element of undercover reporting. Another fundamental question that journalists and editors must ask themselves is whether deception is the best way to uncover the story? In the case of Sarah Ferguson, I believe that based on other knowledge and evidence that they claim to have in their possession, the News of the World could have built the case against her without staging a fake bribe. However, in the case of the Lord Triesman article, there would have been no other way to find out his thoughts on match-fixing. Unless he was attempting to impress her in some way with empty rhetoric, there must be some foundation behind Triesmans claims that Spain and Russia were engaging in bribery, which is in turn worthy of serious investigation and a matter of public interest, which has been reinforced by Fifas decision to carry out a full investigation of the matter. Conclusion It can thus be concluded that neither the News of the World article nor the Mail on Sunday article were handled in a manner that would have been acceptable from a consequentialist or a deontological viewpoint. Though I believe the subject matter of each (Sarah Fergusons propensity towards using her royal connections for corrupt means, and Lord Triesmans claims of match-fixing) were indeed in the public interest, the deceptive means by which the end was achieved in each case were morally deplorable, and neither end justified the means. According to Kants Categorical Imperative, we should act only according to the maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. (Kant, The Categorical Imperative, in Singer, p.274). The principle of universalisability is at the core of deontological theory. If active deception was to be universalised, trust, a central tenet upon which society rests, would crumble. Honesty is the moral virtue at the centre of any societ y, and it should be promoted by all as all stand to gain from it, as trust rests on truth, and trust is a social necessity. Impersonation and subterfuge irrevocably undermines the implicit trust that is so essential between journalists and their sources and interviewees. Undercover reporting disseminates a widespread distrust of journalists amongst the public, which is detrimental to the whole practice of journalism, which relies so heavily upon information received in confidence from that public.

Teaching Philosophy Statement :: Education Teachers Classroom Essays

Teaching Philosophy Statement There are people in our lives who help shape and mold us to be a unique individual. These people help define who we are and sculpture us in becoming what we want to be. They inspire us to give all we have, and tell us not only to reach for the stars but the moon its self. These people are teachers. As early as grade school there have been teachers that have had positive concerns in my academic learning, and it had an influential effect on me creating a desire to do the same for others. They showed me what it’s like to care, give confidence and support to a student. My 7th grade Social Studies teacher made her classroom feel like time suspended and you were on another planet. She was so knowledgeable and excited about our lesson topics that it motivated me to excel in her class and she gave me a zeal for learning. Teaching is a dream and goal of mine. I want to be helpful in a child’s discovery that learning is power. I want to be a positive influence and an upstanding role model for my students. There are numerous reasons why I want a career as a teacher. The main reasons are: to help a child achieve their full potential, to give support that will strengthen a child’s confidence, and inspire them to fulfill their dreams that help them become productive citizens of society. A teacher can help shape a child's future with praise, challenge, guidance, encouragement, confidence, a smile, and an opportunity to learn and have a positive outlook on life. There is no greater reward than seeing a child's face light up when they realize that they have mastered a task by themselves. When a child feels the full potential they possess within themselves their confidence builds. They are able to see how the future can be if they apply their mind to any task. It’s an honor to help a child mold its future and for me there is no greater goal than being a teacher. I know that from my education classes I can learn from the great thinkers of the past.

Crime and Punishment :: essays research papers

Crime and Punishment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Injustice is defined as an unjust act; or wrongdoing. Poverty, illness, and death are all considered acts of injustice. Crime and Punishment written by Fyodor Dostoevsky examines all these areas of life. Death is the greatest injustice, especially when it comes by murder. In the novel two murders occur and the man that commits these acts of injustice believes that he had every right to do it. Though he is punished for his actions the time that he has to spend in prison is not comparable to the time that he has taken away from the women. Although his social punishment does not fit his crime, the mental punishment that he puts himself through makes up for societies lack of punishment.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Raskolnikov who is a poor student commits these murders as a way to obtain money. He convinces himself that it is okay to murder the woman because she is an old lady who doesn’t seem to share her wealth. The fact that her sister had to be killed because she wa lked in at the wrong time shows just how unjust the murder was in the first place. Raskolnikov wrote an article while in school, the article argues that certain men are above the general rules of humanity, thus they have a right to commit murder. These ideas are what he used to justify his killings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once Raskolnikov confessed to the murders he was put on trial. At the trial many of his friends and family testified that he really was a good human being. They gave examples of his good deeds towards the community, such as saving young children from a burning fire. Even though he was poor, he gave his money to others in their time of need. The police officer that suspected him all along even lied and said that Raskolnikov confessed on his own and was never suspected. Psychologists testified that he was not physically or mentally healthy at the time of the murder. All of these actions contributed to his sentence being very minimal. He received eight years of hard labor in Siberia. During this time he was allowed to see the girl that he loved everyday. His prison sentence did not meet the severity of punishment that he felt was needed for the women’s murders.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mental punishment that Raskolnikov put himself through was harsher than any social punishment could ever be.

Somali Pirates and the Response of The United States Essay -- Piracy

To begin, pirates have been prowling the seas as far back as ancient times, such as the â€Å"Phoenicians and Greeks in the Mediterranean.† As well Muslim piracy as Jihad has existed since the 17th Century along the Barbary Coast of North Africa.2 These pirates were known as Barbary corsairs, and they would attack ships from Christian countries, seizing their ships and, and selling the sailors into slavery. Today, Somali pirates are seizing ships and taking hostages for ransom along the waters off the coast of Somali and the Gulf of Aden. The root of the Somali pirates was established then put into motion after the Somali Civil War and the fall of the Barre regime in 1991, the last functioning government.4 Along with the government, also went the countries one time functional coastguard, and thus the Somali waters became the site of a global "free for all," foreign fishing fleets illegally looted Somali fishing stocks and would keep the rudimentarily-equipped Somali fishermen from fishing their own waters, in addition Somali fishermen has accused Europeans of dumping toxic and nuclear waste off Somalia's shore. For these reasons the first pirate gangs materialize in the early 90’s to defend against foreign trawlers.4 Since 2005 these pirate gangs have grown and have been seizing ships holding them and their crews hostage for ransoms that range in the millions of dollars. The pirate assemblage is said to be made up of three different groups of people first, ex-fishermen who are the brains of the group, they kno w the sea, and how to operate the boats.5 Second, the ex-militiamen the muscle of the group, they have fought for the different clan warlords, and know how to use their weapons.5 Finally, the technical expert the computer g... ...PARTMENT OF THE NAVY - NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND. September 28, 2009. http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/piracy_hornafrica.htm (accessed April 19, 2012). Samatar, Abdi Ismail. "Will the London conference change Somalia's future?" Al Jazeera. Febuary 07, 2012. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/20122395853170145.html (accessed April 19, 2012). Tharoor, Ishaan. "How Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates." TIME WORLD. April 18, 2009. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1892376,00.html (accessed April 19, 2012). "U.S. Jury Convicts 5 Somali Men in Pirate Attack on Navy Ship." FOX News Network. November 24, 2010. FOX News Network (accessed April 19, 2012). Zijlma, Anouk. "Somali Pirates A Guide to Somalia's Modern Day Pirates." About.com Africa Travel. http://goafrica.about.com/od/africanews/a/pirates.htm (accessed April 19, 2012).

Gun Violence

There are many kind of violence in the world, and the most common and deadly is gun-related violence. Not surprisingly, gun violence is one of the major public concerns in the American society. Interestingly, gun violence is also most common in urban areas and it is in close conjunction with youth activity and gang violence. There are many violent crime related to guns and the presence of guns often would trigger many violent crimes. Since 1865, President Abraham Lincoln, President James Garfield, President William McKinley, and President John F. Kennedy were assassinated, and the gun violence for Americans has become quite common. Moreover, high profile gun violence incidents, such as the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and more recently, the Columbine High School massacre, the Beltway sniper attacks, and the Virginia Tech massacre have also fueled debate over gun policies. According to the report, prevalence of homicide and violent crime is greatest in urba n areas of the United States. In metropolitan areas, the homicide rate in 2005 was 6. 1 per 100,000 compared with 3. in non-metropolitan counties (fbi. gov). In America, cities with populations greater than 250,000, the mean homicide rate was 12. 1 per 100,000 (fbi. gov), and the rates of gun-related homicides are greater in southern and western states. In America, to get a gun is somewhat easy. It is not expensive and there are many firearms available. According to the report, among juveniles, the minor under the age of 16, 17, or 18, serving in correctional facilities, 86% owned a gun at some time, and 66% acquiring their first gun by age 14 (fbi. ov). Juveniles most often acquire guns from family, friends, drug dealers, and street contacts. In inner city, youth cite â€Å"self-protection from enemies† as the top reason for carrying a gun. Moreover, the mind of youth is immature, and they usually be impetuous and easily given to passions or act on impulse and without due consideration. This is shown in statistics that most violent crimes related to guns were committed by the youths. Even though gun itself is neutral, we cannot deny the potential danger elated with guns. Guns are meant to protect the people, but it often used as a tool to commit violent crimes. Therefore, establishing the laws and the limitations to prevention the youth to touch guns is important. Also, families and schools should educate and guide our youths more carefully. Don’t let our society become more and more dangerous and give our offspring a safe living space by promoting stricter firearm controls and zero tolerance on youth gun possession. Gun Violence Gun Violence Gun violence, in the United States especially, is a growing concern and highly debated topic when the discussion of gun control is brought up. Here are several facts that I found to be troubling, and even disturbing. * The average of guns deaths in the annual is less than 50 in Japan compared to more than 10,000 in the United States. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) The number of gun related deaths in the United States dwarfs that of Japan annually, perhaps a sign of the overwhelming amount of gang violence in the U.S. * The per capita gun death rate in Louisiana is the highest annually in the United States at 19. 04%. The lowest per capita death rate is help in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Hawaii at a mere 2. 02%. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) Per 100,000 people, almost twenty percent of the population would die in a gun related homicide. That number seems incredibly high. * Lifetime U. S. edical costs for gunshot in juries are an estimated $2. 3 billion, with U. S. taxpayers paying $1. 1 billion, almost half of the total. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) In an effort to keep that number down, it might be smart to put a little more funding into law enforcement to keep guns out of criminal’s hands in the first place. * Guns in a household triple the risk of a family member being killed by a gun. (http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. ov/pubmed/8371731) I don’t know how I feel about this statistic as the use of a firearm for protection can save a life even though this stat says that the gun in the household makes it immediately more dangerous. * A 1993 study gathered that 2. 45 million crimes are thwarted by guns in the United States every year. (LaPierre, Wayne (1994). Guns, Crime, and Freedom. Regnery Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-89526-477-3. ) This is the other side of gun possession seen as a positive. With guns as a protection, regular citizens can protect themselves from potential danger. Gun Violence Gun Violence Gun violence, in the United States especially, is a growing concern and highly debated topic when the discussion of gun control is brought up. Here are several facts that I found to be troubling, and even disturbing. * The average of guns deaths in the annual is less than 50 in Japan compared to more than 10,000 in the United States. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) The number of gun related deaths in the United States dwarfs that of Japan annually, perhaps a sign of the overwhelming amount of gang violence in the U.S. * The per capita gun death rate in Louisiana is the highest annually in the United States at 19. 04%. The lowest per capita death rate is help in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Hawaii at a mere 2. 02%. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) Per 100,000 people, almost twenty percent of the population would die in a gun related homicide. That number seems incredibly high. * Lifetime U. S. edical costs for gunshot in juries are an estimated $2. 3 billion, with U. S. taxpayers paying $1. 1 billion, almost half of the total. (http://www. heedinggodscall. org/content/pfctoolkit-10) In an effort to keep that number down, it might be smart to put a little more funding into law enforcement to keep guns out of criminal’s hands in the first place. * Guns in a household triple the risk of a family member being killed by a gun. (http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. ov/pubmed/8371731) I don’t know how I feel about this statistic as the use of a firearm for protection can save a life even though this stat says that the gun in the household makes it immediately more dangerous. * A 1993 study gathered that 2. 45 million crimes are thwarted by guns in the United States every year. (LaPierre, Wayne (1994). Guns, Crime, and Freedom. Regnery Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-89526-477-3. ) This is the other side of gun possession seen as a positive. With guns as a protection, regular citizens can protect themselves from potential danger.

Economic integration in North America †NAFTA Essay

States undergo a lot of challenges and face dilemma in the current globalization era. Globalization has led to the integration of various world economies and this requires openness to the economy of the world, serving the interests of the nations, and competition for relative advantages at national level as international capitalism demands. The evolution of the global economy in the west in the late 1980s and 1990 aroused the desire for competitive advantage among regional trading blocs in the area of trade, finance, manufacturing and technology and this also led to the birth of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (Ciccantell, 2001). NAFTA was formed in 1994 as part of the economic integrationist revival of the period and it marked a significant shift of the U. S. trade policy (Pastor, 2004). NAFTA incorporates the economies of three countries-the U. S. , and Canada in the north and Mexico in the south. According to Cavanagh and Anderson (2002) NAFTA is a complex set made up of trade and non-trade bargain issues which advance North America towards closer ties of economy. This essay gathers information from various economic literatures that discuss the NAFTA formation and implementation process. The central idea is the paradox in which a least developed country, Mexico forms a treaty with the world’s most advanced economies in North America. This relationship is of tremendous interest to economic scholars and observers. Circumstances that led to the formation of NAFTA in the 1994 are evaluated in this essay as well as factors that almost hindered the implementation of the treaty. The essay further evaluates the benefits that NAFTA has on the participating economies. This will be followed by a discussion of the challenges that the implementation of the treaty faces. Possible solutions to overcome the challenges are recommended. An Economic Integration Perspective International economics involves the integration of the economic practices of various countries within a global scale. Economists have described various dimensions of international economic integration and these include trade liberalization in goods, direct foreign investment, trade in services, liberalization of capital flows, free labor movement, environmental protection rules, a World Trade Organization’s (WTO) -managed rule-based system for trade in goods and services, and established intellectual property and patent rules (Ciccantell, 2001). Theoretically, countries can meet these dimensions without resorting to a regionalism model. However, in practical sense, countries meet to regionalize more for political than economic reasons as a way of dealing with the globalization challenge (Fox, 2004). Contrary to this, some scholars recommend that market-orientation factors should be the main drivers of economic integration in the current globalization era (Funk, Elder, Yao & Vibhakar, 2006). Although already established, some economists view NAFTA as an on-going process in which the end product is not yet confirmed. The future of regionalization is mostly determined by domestic and regional factors as opposed to globalization although regional and global forces are responsible for driving North America into closer economic ties. Carranza (2002) asserts that the future of NAFTA depends on the policy makers’ deliberate act as this will determine whether NAFTA will resolve into an institutional deficit or develop into a deeper integration. Circumstances that could have hindered the formation of NAFTA Mexico, which was to be part of the North American economic integration, had first opposed an allied relationship with the northern colossus because of a negative historical experience (Skonieczny, 2006). Mexico had lost almost half of its territory in the 1846 to 1848 Mexican-American war (De la Balze, 2001; Skonieczny, 2006). Secondly, Mexico strived to maintain an independent foreign policy, which sought closer alliances with the South and Central America and the Caribbean (Skonieczny, 2006). According to Carranza (2002), it is still a puzzle as to why Mexico later decided to form an economic partnership with the North America countries from a very weak position. The country also paid a very high domestic political price by agreeing to join the NAFTA. However, the economic situation in Mexico and the labor market was deteriorating, and the political situation was unstable after a negative eventful election in the 1988 (Philip, 2008). The government also featured corrupt and authoritarian episodes. Inflation was hitting the country at a high rate, economic growth was stagnant and living standards were poor. Additionally, Mexico had a significant amount of national debt that was un-payable. Trade liberalization seemed the most political consequential (Faber, 2007). On the other and, there was a looming fear in the US that the economic integration would lead to loss of jobs in the US while in the South there were cries for revolution (Pastor, 2004). Nevertheless, Mexico was eager to access the larger U. S. market despite the observers’ opinion that the U. S. is unlikely to abide by the trade accord (Castaneda, 2008). U. S. had been known of having a poor record in international treaties implementation and its previous treatment towards Mexico in issues like immigration policies left a doubt on Mexico as to whether the country would be left out of the agreement implementation despite their being one (King, 2005). The Central America and Caribbean countries that were allied to Mexico feared that there could be an erosion of the already existing trade preferences if the NAFTA was formed (Baker, 2008). The countries faced the dilemma between free trade in the open regionalism and protectionism. Furthermore critics viewed the formation of NAFTA as a state-led project although the members denounced the classical state intervention mechanisms in bid to soften the globalization effect. The Founding of NAFTA The formation of NAFTA was considered inevitable because of the market and trade conditions in the globalization period that necessitated an economic integration (Baker, 2008). However, the formation process was not smooth-sailing because of the various uncertainties that occurred in the wake of well developed countries wanting to merge their economies with the less developed ones. This was evident in the negotiation process in which there was asymmetry of both political and economic powers and Mexico lacked a non-agreement alternative. The formation of NAFTA also lacked the accompaniment of institutionalization and there lacks a common governance unto which NAFTA can be identified. In Northern America, the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the 1990s was progressing slowly and thus this made the regional integration an attractive option (Carranza, 2002). The formation of NAFTA started as a unique regional economic integration process between a less developed country, Mexico in this case; and two industrial powers- the U. S. and Canada (Davidson, 2008). This was the first economic agreement on a regional basis to include various forms of integration. Some of the integrated economic activities cited in most literatures include foreign investments, financial services, government procurement and intellectual property rights. On the contrary, the Uruguay Round global trade negotiations did not feature all of these revival strategies. The U. S. presented NAFTA as a trade liberalization model in the western hemisphere in the early 1990s as a way of continental regionalism. On the other hand, the Latin American countries were not ready to embrace this model because of the doubt they had on the U. S. intention of seeing the agreement through the future. It was easier for the U. S. to control the agenda if the negotiation was on a regional rather than a multilateral level (Hufbauer& Yee, 2003). This would enhance more of the country’s economic, political and institutional perspectives in comparison to the rest of the world. It was paradoxical that the economically successful U. S wanted a free trade agreement with the less developed Mexico. Carranza (2002) asserts that the U. S agreed to negotiate with Mexico about the free trade on condition that Mexico did not invoke any exclusion of key areas such as the area of oil that is sovereign sensitive. On the other hand, Mexico did not have any vital concession to base its negotiations in the status of a developing country. Nevertheless, despite this unequal negotiation ability, Philip (2008) highlights the irony by showing that the process was presented as a negotiation of the equals. NAFTA’s goals, objectives and economic models NAFTA is a trade treaty which aims to eliminate custom duties on transaction between the U. S, Canada and Mexico. NAFTA has formed the world’s largest free trade zone whereby around 406 million people produce more than 11 billion U. S dollars worth of products (Page, 2002). The agreement which establishes NAFTA entails that the U. S, Canada, and Mexico pursue certain common objectives. Trade in services has been liberalized and government procurement markets including construction and services procurement markets have been opened through the NAFTA. Therefore, through the agreement it is illegal for the parties to discriminate between the domestic and foreign producers in the government markets, investments and trading of services (Adikson, Zimmerman, 2004; Diep, 2008). NAFTA’s objectives therefore include eliminating custom barriers and enhancing cross-border trade in products and services (Vaughan, 2004). The treaty is also to guarantee conditions of equitable competition in the free trade area. The treaty strives to improve trilateral cooperation so as to extend the benefits of the agreement. One of the main goals of NAFTA was the need to increase the flows of trade and investment in North America. Consequently, the agreement has succeeded in increasing Mexico’s and Canada’s trade dependence on the U. S. NAFTA also incorporated the less developed Mexico, in order to give the country a chance to prosper by joining the North America economies (Flores & Lankshear, 2000). NAFTA is a widely researched economic phenomenon that occurs as economists try to understand the three NAFTA’s economies models. The gravity model has been used to explain the trade flows as the function of the importer and exporter market size a well as the distance between the two. Funk, et al. (2006) asserts that any extraordinary flows can be accredited to free trade agreements only after the market size and importer-exporter distances have been accounted for in the trade flow process. This has led to some economists showing that NAFTA generally does not have a significant effect on bilateral trade flows although it has the impact on the net trade creating. Benefits of NAFTA to the US, Mexico and Canada The implementation of NAFTA inspired the economists to measure the treaty’s effect on the three NAFTA economies-U. S, Mexico and Canada (Funk et al. , 2006). The North America economic integration was seen as one that would be of benefit to the participating countries. Mexico would have a chance to gain access to the larger U. S. market while the U. S. also searched for new foreign investment opportunities in the country (Carranza, 2002). Proponents of NAFTA view the agreement as detailed and comprehensive and have constantly given the accord praise for showing that less developed countries like Mexico can accept new rules in international politics in this globalization era and thus improve their situation. On the other hand, critics assert that NAFTA lacks basic safeguards to protect the people who are excluded from liberalized trade and investment benefits considering that almost over half of the Mexican population lives below the poverty line (Baker, 2008; Serra, & Espinosa, 2002). The critics further argue that NAFTA is just a mere element of a larger problem; that is, globalization has a disintegrating effect on a mixed economy and the people’s social contract. On a moderate view, critics agree that formation of NAFTA was not a bad idea at all but without regional governance and regional institutions, the agreement remains unfulfilled (Pastor, 2004). Hufbauer and Yee (2003) cites NAFTA as an exemplary agreement for a new or an open regionalism that opens a whole range of novel issues which are designed to prepare the less developed countries of Latin America and Caribbean for the globalization challenge. The issue of why the U. S pulled Mexico into the North integration is very controversial although the positivists assert that the U. S government has a very strong interest in the political and economic stability of Mexico (Skonieczny, 2001). Mexico was able to attract a considerable ratio of foreign direct investment in the 1990s as a result of NAFTA’s negotiations. The predicted economic breakdown of Mexico in the early 1990s never lived to happen as the country underwent economic transformation. Philip (2008) asserts that NAFTA is responsible for the economic and political stability in Mexico. NAFTA has given this chance to Mexico through encouraging trade and investment opportunities. The social progress of the country is also underway and NAFTA aims to eradicate the high poverty levels in most of Mexico’s dwellings. NAFTA also provided the hope for Mexico to transform its worsening economic condition and urban challenges in the City of Mexico (Stracke, 2003). The Mexican government adopted the policies of democratization and free trade policies amidst controversies with the aim of preventing the country from an economic breakdown. Currently, Mexico could not be as developed as the U. S. and Canada for that matter but looking way back in the 1990s to early 200s, it can be said that the country has become macro-economically stable (Philips, 2008). Mexico is among the richest Latin America countries in terms of per capita and has more than twice export per head as compared to Brazil. Exports of manufactured goods from Mexico to the U. S contribute to around 25 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product and the market is even more liberalized than it was in the years ago. Another benefit of NAFTA to the Mexican economy includes the checking of inflation (Stern, 2007). Although inflation occurs at some instances it does not reach three digits as in the 1990s but securely maintained at single digits. Other areas of the economy that have improved with the economic integration include the education system. The number of Mexicans with degrees from influential world universities has increased and expected to rise. The condition in the Mexican universities has also improved as better preparation of lectures takes place and a fairer democratic environment ensures that there is a stable learning environment. Mexico’s rapturous population growth also slowed down with the implementation of NAFTA as most of the population started migrating North in search for better living conditions. A slower population growth enhances strategic planning and development of the country. However, as much as the evidence of economic transformation is noticeable in Mexico, the economic growth rate is disappointingly low. Philip (2008) and Stern (2007) states that the measurement of economy is determined by oligopolies and specifically Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company in Mexico’s case. Mexico continues to suffer from severe social and urban problems such as high poverty rates, organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption among others (Stern, 2007). As much as these are domestic problems, it is impossible to separate them from Mexico’s membership to NAFTA because domestic institutions also influence the direction of negotiations in the association (Carranza, 2002). Philip (2008) argues that the U. S is also benefiting from NAFTA because the treaty has enabled the existence of a politically and economically conducive environment that Mexico now offers as compared to the times before the treaty. Flores and Lankshear (2000) assert that the developed North America countries in the treaty could benefit from Mexico’s low wage cuts in the labor force. Mexico large population of semi-skilled workers would provide cheaper and abundant labor for the national and transnational companies that seek low wage work. However, Flores & Lankshear (2000) argue that this dependence on a low wage economy undermines the development of a well educated, Challenges in NAFTA The major challenges facing the NAFTA involve the lack of regional governance, asymmetry negotiations, lack of a stabilized relationship between the North and South American countries and lack of common market policies and common currency. Forces of market and trade integration pushed the economies of the U. S and Mexico together but there was little institutional change that took place to reflect the real degree of economic integration among the countries (Adikson, & Zimmerman, 2004). Economic integration in the north occurred without an established regional institution or governance. It is believed that it will be difficult for the North America decision makers to effectively respond to fluidity, competitiveness, and complexity of the world economy without a form of regional convergence. Lack of regional governance also indicates a lack of a permanent mechanism for consultation among the three governments (Heron, 2002). This proves difficult especially in cases which the countries have to deal with other common challenges like drug peddling and immigration and this sometimes push for a bilateral involvement, for instance between the U. S and Mexico. The lack of common or institutionalized NAFTA governance has led to the in dependent pursuance of other third party treaties by Mexico and Canada (Heron, 2002). NAFTA also promised to create regional barriers to the outsiders so that the insiders would receive relative gains as far as trade and other economic gains are concerned (Flores & Lankshear, 2000). However, Cavanagh and Anderson (2002) argue that NAFTA simply assumed that this would take place magically enabling the people to benefit from the free market policies, and that the three governments-U. S. , Canada, and Mexico-would resolve older and newer problems naturally. However, through the condition in Mexico, it is certain that the agreement has not brought much change to the living standards of the individuals. The country’s record is extremely mixed concerning the free trade policy and the country is yet to unanimously agree on the agreement (Carlsen, 2006). Mexico has not gained the privileges that were promised if the country joined the North America relationship. Mexico did not gain a greater place in the Northern-dominated international institutions such as the International Monetary fund (IMF) or the World Bank. Mexico remains poor and less developed despite being part of the supposedly economic rejuvenator-NAFTA. NAFTA’s negotiations did not consider the economic and development asymmetries between Mexico and the U. S and this also contributed to the exclusion of majority of Mexican population from the free trade benefits (Cox, 2008). NAFTA was supposed to give Mexico a chance to prosper through joining the Northern club. However, the moment Mexico decided to start negotiations with the U. S for a free trade agreement, it was found that Mexico still needed to make other sweeping concessions in order to gain access to the U. S market. Mexico presented an overstaffed and underperforming institutions, an opposite of the North America countries which have the most performing institutions (Flores & Lankshear, 2000). Mexico was forced to make the bigger compromises and adjustments because after all, it was the weaker party. This also shows that majority of the decisions were made by the tremendous powers in the agreement-the U. S, and Canada. This can be proved from an economic angle in which the GDP of the U. S alone forms 90 percent of the total North America economy (Carranza, 2004). It is unrealistic that during negotiations, Mexico would be expected to steer the decision-making process into finality. How does Mexico and Canada establish strategies on how to access the U. S’ over 8 trillion dollar market when all the 2 countries can offer is 250 and 500 billion dollars markets respectively? The Mexican experience has proved that the Southern countries cannot necessarily experience economic development with social justice through seeking alliances with the U. S even in this globalization era. Mexico also undergoes a painful adjustment process because being part of NAFTA; it is forced to compete openly with the far more advanced economies of the North America countries (Cavanagh & Anderson, 2002). NAFTA if implemented strategically can have a voice in the global trade talks. However, the lack of a common governing in institution hinders this representation because it would appear as though one country or the other is representing its own views rather than that of NAFTA. Cavanagh and Anderson (2002) argue that the failure of NAFTA to meet its alleged expectations can be blamed on the current economic conditions. The marketplace is globalized and thus highly mobile employers gain more power to suppress workers who fight for a fair gain of their benefits. However, this remains unchallenged because such firms ally with governments who in turn are desperate for foreign investment. This leads to the suppression of the hoist’s nation’s labor force through low wages and poor working conditions. The unfortunate side is that the agency that is set up under the labor side agreement of NAFTA has proved incapable of holding governments and corporations accountable for violating the rights of workers (Cavanagh & Anderson, 2002). There have been alleged complaints of worker’s rights violations in all of the three NAFTA economies but other than a bit of public exposure, not much justice has been yielded. Lack of common governance is to blame for the loose policy of ensuring that all the parties in the agreement benefit positively. There is also a looming fear that a future Mexican leadership could decide to pull out of the NAFTA’s agreement because of the country’s inconsistent views on NAFTA and the lack of institutionalized rules for the agreement. Recommendations NAFTA took place amidst controversies especially from part of Mexico’s population and the South and Central America countries. Moreover, a supranational institution and an ideal NAFTA identity are lacking. This poses a danger to the stability of the economic integration of the North American countries. North America needs to tackle the gaps in the North-South relationships and also increase aggregate wealth. One way of doing this is through enhancing regional governance through the use of common currency for the member states. However Cavanagh and Anderson (2002) assert that the issue of establishing a common currency can lead to further controversies. First of all, the U. S. and Mexico are not in the same currency zones as compared to the likeability of the U. S. and Canada. This will negatively alienate Mexico further. Still on the issue of a common currency, Carranza (2002) argues that it is certain that the U. S public opinion would not support a monetary union between U. S. and the two countries. The U. S needs to come to terms with having neighboring countries with difficulties in tackling money integration issues and the de facto dollarization of the economy of Mexico. This should also be accompanied with the building of appropriate institutions that would realistically introduce North America as a community of nations. The NAFTA countries need to establish a regional governance system that would ensure that all the member population is fairly treated without prejudice (Carlsen, 2006). Social justice should be enhanced within the NAFTA economies and the established policies should fairly uplift the standards of all the countries (Anderson, 2003). Rather than using the large semi-skilled Mexico’s labor force for cheap, low-wage labor, there should be policies or strategies in which NAFTA can contribute to the establishment of better education and vocational training systems (Ma del Rosio, Camen, & Humberto, 2007). The criticism directed at the treaty will subside if it is observed that the member states are striving to raise the standards and conditions of one another rather than using each other for selfish gains. Conclusion This essay has comprehensively discussed the factors pertaining to the formation and implementation of NAFTA. The North America economic integration awakened the interest of many economic researchers and observers because of the coming together of powerful North America economies and a southern least developed economy. Although the reason for such a relationship was met with criticism and a lot of controversies, proponents viewed it as an opportunity for Mexico to improve its political, economical and social environment. The U. S the most developed North America country viewed the relationship as an opportunity to expand its globalization boundaries as well as create a stable economic and political condition for trade in the region. However, critics believe that it is for the best interest of the U. S while Mexico risks the chance of being sidelined. Nevertheless, Mexico has recorded an economic transformation and it is believed that if policy makers implement some strategic measures in the treaty, then Mexico stands a greater chance of becoming a developed nation. This has provided the U. S with a stable political and economic environment without which the security of the U. S may have been at stake. NAFTA faces various challenges but the lack of regional governance is seen as the source of most of the challenges. NAFTA lacks international identity in contribution of international trade discussions. Additionally, treaty are known to be created where all the participants have an almost equal bargaining power even though they will not be dealing with exchange of similar products or services. However, in this case, the negotiations take an asymmetry approach because Mexico is in a compromised state in which its position does not allow it to challenge the decisions of the U. S. , the most developed economy. As a result, the negotiations are based, on an unequal level. NAFTA leaders especially from the North need to understand the gap between the north and south populations and provide democratic decisions that will be best appreciated by both sides. Economic integration is significant in this global era in which market and trade forces have pushed for market liberalization conditions. List of References Adikson, R. , Zimmerman, L. 2004. â€Å"Retail trade on the US Mexico order during the NAFTA implementation era,† Growth & Change, vol. 35(1): 77-89. Anderson, S. 2003. â€Å"The equity factor and free trade,† World Policy Journal, vol. 20(3): 45-51. Baker, L. 2008. â€Å"Local food networks and maize agrodiversity conservation: Two case studies from Mexico,† Local Environment, vol. 13(3): 235-251. Carlsen, L. 2006. â€Å"Armoring NAFTA: the battleground for Mexico’s future,† NACLA Report on the Americas, vol. 41(5): 17-22 Carranza, M. 2002. â€Å"Neighbors or partners? : NAFTA and the politics of regional economic integration in North America,† Latin American Politics and Society, 44(2): 141-158. Castaneda, J. 2008. â€Å"Morning in Latin America,† Foreign Affairs, 87(5): 126-139 Cavanagh, J. , & Anderson, S. 2002. â€Å"Happily ever NAFTA,† Foreign Policy (132): Cavanagh, J & Anderson, S. 2002. Nice theories, sad realities,† Foreign Policy, (132): 62 Ciccantell, P. 2001. â€Å"NAFTA and the reconstruction of U. S. hegemony: The raw materials foundations of economic competitiveness,† Canadian Journal of Sociology, vol. 26(1):57-87. Cox, R. 2008. â€Å"Transnational capital, the U. S state and Latin American trade agreements,† Third World Quarterly, vol. 29(8): 1527-1544. Davidson, M. 2008. â€Å"On the outskirts of form: Cosmopoetics in the shadow of NAFTA,† Textual Practice. 22(4): 733-756 De la Balze, F. 2001. â€Å"Finding allies in the back yard,† Foreign Affairs, vol. 80(4): 7-12. Diep, K. 2008. â€Å"Wavering amigos,† Harvard International Review, vol. 30(1): 9-10 Faber, B. 2007. â€Å"Towards the spatial patterns of sectoral adjustments to trade liberalization: the case of NAFTA in Mexico,† Growth and Change, vol. 38(4): 567-594.

Agency Problem in SOEs of China

Agency problem is a worldwide problem wherever it is in western countries or China. It is inevitable during the development of the firm†s organization. As long as the interests between the owner and management are not aligned, the conflict is existed. Many western firms have established the rules and incentive systems to prevent â€Å"agency problem†. Somehow it works. We find it is not enough to overcome the problem. China has undergone a long period economic reform. During the reform, how to improve the SOEs performance is a hot focus. In the past, all the SOEs were controlled by the government, what the companies† doing were decided by the government, then on one side the executives did not take the full responsibility for the company; on the other side, the officer blamed the managers for the bad performance. There are no clear boundary on the space of freedom and responsibilities. (see Georges Enderle) The â€Å"agency problem† became even worse because of this phenomenon. Now China has tried a lot of methods to establish the modern organization of SOEs. The boundary between the government and the executives of SOEs has been clearly set. Some SOES have been published. However we find that the â€Å"agency problem† still exist more or less and the business ethics do be involved. And business ethics can play a virtually important role in dealing with the â€Å"agency problem during the economic reform. 2. Definition of † agency problem† Before we go further, we need to define what is agent and what is agency problem. Agent is the entity where Management represents owners; the agency relationship is the relationship between the principal and the agent, in which the agency acts for the principal. And what is agency problem? The agency problem results from the separation of management and the ownership of the firm. Agency problem can be clarified as the followings: Agents may consume excessive perks. Agents may shirk (not expend their best efforts). Agents may act in their best interest (instead of the interest of the principal). 3. Why does â€Å"Agency Problem† happen? On the very beginning, most firms were based on the family and their management was the members within the family, and there was not agency problem at all, because the management and ownership were aligned, no interest conflict. As the firms grow, it seems they need high management skills and the existed relationship within the management restricted the growth of the firms. Furthermore, it was much more difficult to raise new equity. Then they hired the professional managers to act as the owners. The agency problem is followed as this organization comes out. Due to the interest is not alignment between the managers and the owners, more or less the managers will pursuit their own profit instead of the owners, which we thought is unethical because of the space of freedom and responsibility are not matched. (see Georges Enderle) and we will discuss later. Although the goal of the firm is the maximization of shareholder†s wealth, in reality the agency problem may interfere with the implementation of this goal. The agency problem results from the separation of management and the ownership of the firm. For example, a firm maybe runs by the professional managers who have little or no ownership in the firm. Because of this separation of the decision-makers and owners, managers may make decisions that are not in line with the goal of maximization of shareholder wealth. They may approach work less energetically and attempt to benefit themselves in terms of salary and perquisites at the expense of shareholders. The cost of â€Å"Agency problem† is obvious. There are the monitoring costs, bonding costs and the residual loss. Monitoring costs are costs incurred by the principle to monitor the actions of the agents (Ex. Annual report to shareholders). Bonding costs are costs incurred by the agent to ensure they will act in the best interests of the principals (binding employment contract). The residual loss is the implicit cost when management and shareholders† interests cannot be aligned, even when bonding and monitoring costs are incurred. We will spend considerable time in monitoring managers and trying to align their interests with shareholders. Managers can be monitored by auditing financial statements and bonded by managers† compensation packages. The interests of managers and shareholders can be aligned by establishing management stock options, bonuses, and perquisites that are directly tired to how closely their decisions coincide with the interest of shareholders. The agency problem will persist unless an incentive structures set up that aligns the interests of managers and shareholders. In other words, what is good for shareholders must also be good for managers. If that is not the case, managers will make decisions in their best interest rather than maximizing shareholder wealth. 4. Does incentives or regulations eliminate the † Agency Problem†? A high level of compensation can result from a pay-for-performance system in which the executive has performed extremely well, or it can be the result of the agency problem, Where the executive is taking advantage of the system. Keep in mind that an executive compensation committee, appointed by the firm†s board of directors, generally recommends the CEO†s compensation package. Also keep in mind the board of directors, although elected by the shareholders, is generally nominated for election by the CEO and thus may be more sympathetic to the CEO†s desires than to the shareholders† best interests. This opens the door for † good old boy† networks to take care of their own and set up a compensation package that rewards, regardless of performance, without attempting to align managers† and shareholders† interests. So it is essential to establish a good controlling and monitoring system, but since it does not work so well or we have not find a perfect mechanical system to prevent it up to now. How should we do then? It is the ethical behavior that † doing the right thing†. A difficulty arises, however, in attempting to define â€Å"doing the right thing†. The problem is that each of us has his or her own set of values, which forms the basis for our personal judgments about what is the right thing to do. Every society adopts a set of rules or laws that prescribe what it believes to be † doing the right thing.† In a sense, we can think of laws as a set of rules that reflect the values of the society as a whole, as they have evolved. However, not all the â€Å"agency problem† has been against the law. As the individuals, they have a right to disagree about what constitutes â€Å"doing the right thing† and we will seldom venture beyond the basic notion that ethical conduct involves abiding by society†s rules. And some of the ethical dilemmas that have arisen with regard to the † agency problem†. These dilemmas generally arise when some individual behavior is ground to be at odds with the wishes of a large portion of the population, even though the behavior is not prohibited within law. Ethical dilemmas can therefore provide a catalyst for discussion. † Is ethics really relevant?† the answer is â€Å"Yes.† First, although business errors can be forgiven, ethical errors tend to end careers and terminate future opportunities. Because unethical behavior eliminates trust, and without trust businesses can not interact. Second, the most damaging event a business can experience is a loss of the public†s confidence in its ethical standards. 5. The agency problems in SOES do involve business ethics dimension. By the definition of the â€Å"agency problem† in the SOEs in China, the managers assigned or appointed are the agents, who manage the assets of the principal.(the country) They have a lot of authorities regarding personnel, funds and fixed assets etc., but they don†t have the corresponding responsibilities. The situation is a result of the mismatch of the space of freedom and responsibility as indicated by Georges Enderle. According to what Prof. Georges Enderle said, the space of freedom and responsibility should match with each other. On one hand, it is unfair for someone to be held responsible for something if he or she doesn†t have the freedom to make decision on it. On the other hand, it will be dangerous for someone to only enjoy the space of freedom without any or less constraints or responsibility. Sooner or later, he or she will abuse the authority to achieve for his or her own interests by hurting others. During the reform of the SOEs organization, the managers are granted with even more authorities for them to better manage their companies. But unfortunately, some managers undertake some unethical or even illegal activities to act against their companies and the country, which has caused a huge loss for our country. It was reported that total lost assets of the country amounted to about RMB 50 billion to 100 billion during the 1990†³s. The main reasons are that the managers of the SOES take advantages of their prevailed positions to gain personal interests for themselves. But they don†t really worry about the loss because they will not be responsible for that. Please read the following case: XXX Company is one of the largest SOES in Guizhou Province. Started from the 1980†³s, the company went into a very difficult situation, making a greater loss every year. Oct. 27, 1999, an extremely shocking news exploded the company: Guifang Jing, the 54-year old, female financial manager were involved in corruption of over RMB7 million. Very soon, she confessed that it was she that took advantage of her position and her professional knowledge to manipulate the financial statements and embezzle the company†s assets. At the beginning, she got involved in the bank accounts transaction directly by using as excuse that the cashier was not familiar with it. She hid 325 bank accounts in total, which amounted to RMB 57 billion in total. At the meantime, she played a lot of tricks in distorting the bank checks and gained RMB12 billion in total. After she embezzled so much money, she started to have an abnormal mentality. One time, when she found that the company still had some cash balance in the bank, she felt very sorry for not having taking out for herself†¦. One day when she was on the business trip, one financial clerk of the company found that one bank check of several ten thousand RMB was missing and he reported to the general manager and the latter reported to the police. Guifang Jing smelt that the police would start investigate very soon. After pondering over for several nights, she eventually recovered her conscience and decided to give herself to the police. Let†s analyze the case. It is true that she broke the law. But if her business ethics had been good enough, she would have not got involved in such illegal and unethical behavior. She was assigned and trusted by the shareholder to have the authority to manage the company assets, but she betrayed her company by abusing her space of freedom, especially when the company was in such a difficult situation. At that time she should have used her professional knowledge and cooperated with her colleagues to improve the financial performance of the company. Another reason was that there was no healthy corporate culture in the company. Employees were not encouraged and rewarded for making contributions to the company. So nobody really cared about the company. That kind of environment gave Guifang Jing opportunities to corrupt such a great amount of money. Upon knowing that the police would investigate the missing bank check, she decided to confess to the police to avoid more serious punishment. Actually, she was at the first stage of Konhlber-Inspired Typology of Ethical Dilemmas. If she had been in a higher stage, for instance, Stage 4 Conform to rules, laws, code, and conventions, or even higher, Stage 5 Follow principles based on respect for people and their rights, she would have not got involved to this crime. But we must be clear that the case of Guifang Jing was only one of the similar cases that happened in the SOEs in the country. Obviously the companies and the whole country need to take action to improve the business ethics, to foster a good and ethical business environment. So far, we have understood why the incentives and regulations cannot and will not solve the agency problems. The agency problems do involve business ethics dimension. Then there is a base for business ethics to play an important role in dealing with the agency problems. As common sense, human acquires knowledge through education, formal or informal. Without education (in a broad sense), people cannot understand the nature and the society. They won†t have their values developed in the process of learning and practice. Of course, they won†t act according to the social behavior orders and norms. Business ethics aims to discuss the business conduct/activities that raise moral issues and to improve â€Å"the ethical quality of decision-making process at all levels†: micro-, meso-, and macro-level (Enderle) through education.