Diversion in the Criminal Justice System Essay

Diversion has been known to be called, â€Å"the easy way out†, or â€Å"a slap on the wrist†, but diversion entails more than an offender saying, â€Å"They got an easy way out†. According to the book diversion can be a type of rehabilitation, â€Å"The National Academy of Sciences defines it as â€Å"any planned intervention that reduces an offender’s criminal activity† (Walker 2008, pg 251). Most criminal activity is done by people from the ages of 14 and 24. The main goal of rehabilitation programs is to reduce crime sooner than later the book refers to it as, â€Å"planned intervention program, that might include counseling, education, job training, or some other program† (Walker 2008, pg 251). Diversion is meant to help keep people out of the criminal justice system; due to the fact most of them are not violent offenders. It refers to people that are not a serious threat to society, but made a wrong choice and it is their first time of fending. Using diversion, the courts hope that it will not only keep people out of the criminal justice system, but it will help them, rehabilitate them, or try to resolve the problem. It also is an additional way to keep from overcrowding jails, courts, and any kind of correction institution. In doing this the courts can focus on more serious offenders. According to the text book, â€Å"diversion is a planned intervention with a treatment component and the goal of getting offenders out of the criminal justice system as early as possible† (Walker, 2008,pg.262). In diversion the offender is given a jail sentence as in â€Å"11/29† if the offender does not commit any more crimes then they will be expunged from the criminal justice system and then they will have a clean record. However, if they recommit a crime, they will have to serve 30% of their original given jail time. For example- 30% of â€Å"11/29† in jail, would  be 109 days. When given diversion, the offender is usually given probation as well. With probation the offender usually has a class that he/she has to attend that is part of their rehabilitation process. According to the peer reviewed journal, â€Å"Probation and Diversion: Is There a Place at the Table and What Should We Serve states that, â€Å"Three times as many offenders participate in probation and/or diversion programs than incarcerated. Probation and diversion programs are considered â€Å"alternative† punishments, and public policy has not focused on how to strengthen community corrections. New developments on targeting specific behaviors through the use of theoretical models of supervision can improve outcomes, or at least delay further offending?† (Taxman, 2010). Probation is a way to stay in touch with the offender, by having them come in and have meetings with their probation officer. The reasoning for this is to keep the officer up to date with the offender and the offender’s progress. They make sure that the offender is doing everything they are suppose to do, paying court cost, trying to find a job, not getting in any more trouble, and to just make sure the offender stays on top of their priorities. The classes and programs are meant to help the offender in many ways such as; realizing that they made a mistake and to see how they could possibly better themselves, or whether it’s hanging out with a different crowd, or just saying â€Å"NO Thanks†. Diversion has been around for centuries. According to the text book, â€Å"Diversion was one of the great reforms of the 1960s† (Walker, 2008, pg.262). This statement backs up some of the history behind diversion. A article concludes more information about the history of diversion, â€Å"The concept of diversion of juveniles from the juvenile justice system has a long history in the scholarly literature as well as in federal juvenile justice policy. The theoretical background of diversion is based on the â€Å"labeling† principles dating back to Tannebaum (1938). The scholarly debate was further developed by the research of Becker (1963) as well as Lemert (1951). Becker (1963) argued that labeling by certain social groups in power have a detrimental effect on juveniles. The work of Lemert (1951) discussed the effect of secondary deviance of juveniles that were processed through the juvenile justice system and contributed to the argument that the system, instead of help ing, may actually contribute to further delinquent acts of  juveniles† (Marsh, 2005). This makes complete sense why this would be thought of in the way it was. Tannebaum, Becker, and Lemert were all right in the idea that juveniles should be dismissed from the criminal justice system, to be given another chance. They also said that if juveniles were not dismissed from the criminal justice system that â€Å"labeling† could take affect very easily. If a juvenile is proven guilty an certain crime, that could essentially lead the individual to living up to their â€Å"label† and lead them to commit more deviant acts. This is why they try to give them another chance and treat them with a diversion program of some sort. An additional quote from text book states that, â€Å"Commission gave it strong endorsement in 1967, and in the 1970’s an estimated 1,200 diversion programs were established† (Walker,2008,pg.262). Given this information one could conclude that during the 1960’s the criminal justice system was establishing more of a variety of ways to help people and trust them with a second chance. The text book does explain that this was not the â€Å"first† form of diversion, â€Å"Historically, many offenders were diverted from the criminal justice system at an early age. Police officers routinely chose not to arrest someone even though there was probable cause, and prosecutors dismissed the cases when prosecution would not serve the â€Å"interest of justice†. We call this old diversion† (Walker, 2008,pg. 262). Police officers have been practicing diversion for a long time. They trusted that the offender would not recommit once they had been caught once, considering it was their first time, or they only committed a minor crime. However, the diversion that is used today is more of a modern approach. Programs are offered, that instills goals in people, and is managed by a professional staff that offers assistance and treatment. According to Taxman, â€Å"These models are important since they help provide a meaning to the core practice of diversion/supervision programs—face-to-face contacts. Moving away from generic contacts to ones that are focused on specific behavior holds promise in elevating the value and importance of probation and diversion programs in correctional policy and practice†(Taxman,2010). This is how program and treatment are today. The professional workers are more involved and tuned in to their clients’ problems. All of this is to try to keep people out of the criminal justice  system. The more people that are kept out of the system, the better off the system will be. Diversion puts that fear into someone, because they know if they mess up again then they have to serve 30% of their jail time. Diversion is meant to act not only as a â€Å"second chance†, but also a deterrent to not commit future crimes. Has diversion been proven to help people? Everyone is different and diversion helps some people and for others it does not work. For the people it does not work out for, are usually trying to ride out the system, getting in trouble, getting longer probation sentences, according to a academic journal, â€Å"Developing restorative practice: contemporary lessons from an English juvenile diversion project of the 1980s.† states that, â€Å". As a result, the projects quickly became skilled in negotiating solutions in the interests of, and according to the wishes of those affected, while also enabling young people to acknowledge their own responsibilities and to take action accordingly. These successes have not been built upon effectively† (Smith,425-438,2011). In this sense diversion has not been successful; the people that were involved in this research had not taken diversion seriously and had been irresponsible for the actions they had taken. On the other hand, some peopl e do take it seriously and it has been proven successful. Diversion can be tough, according to an article concerning diversion programs, â€Å"Maryland’s diversion program for alcohol-impaired drivers (i.e., PBJ) allows a driver to plead guilty or nolo contendere, or to be found guilty in a criminal proceeding but have judgment stayed pending completion of a probationary period. Conditions of probation may include participation in treatment, an alcohol education program, selfhelp groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), and/or the ignition interlock license restriction program. Drivers who violate the terms of probation (including having another alcohol-related offense) may have the original charge reinstated and be further prosecuted for violating probation† (Ahlin). This is an example of a diversion program, it explained the proceeding s and the conditions that went along with the program and what would happen if the  offender failed to participate successfully. It also explained that in doing the following treatments that go along with the program are considered â€Å"self help† groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous and this can be a way to help someone while they are under probation and eventually help them be expunged out of the criminal justice system in the near future. Diversion programs are initially a way to help individuals make better choices in the future, and to have hope in the offender that he/she learned their lesson the first time. Another time of diversion program is called Adolescent Diversion Program (ADP). This program is based on juveniles. This particular program is to help juveniles be more involved and it emphasizes on community service work. The article states, â€Å"a community centered paradigm where students are taught to work with communities to better understand contexts surrounding a social problem, as opposed to merely volunteering to provide a service to a community. The Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP), which has been operating for over 30 years, demonstrates critical community service through the type of relationship built between students and the local community† (American Journal of Community Psychology, 2010). This program focuses on young adults and to try to steer them away from crime by having them do community service work and be more involved. An article inquires that, â€Å"Diverting juvenile offenders from the traditional juvenile justice system has been influenced by various theories but most prominently, labeling theory and differential association theory. Differential association theory’s basic premise is that through association with deviant groups, individuals are more likely to become deviant themselves. Juveniles incarcerated with other juvenile offenders will interact and are more likely to join deviant groups† (Marsh 2005). This is a good reason why the ADP program deals and focuses on juveniles. If more attention is paid to young adults and they are stopped right when they get in trouble it could be a factor in reducing crime, because if they are stopped and corrected while they are young, they will not commit when they get older, or possibly age out of it. People debate whether diversion and diversion programs work, in the sense of reducing further crime and deterring people from recommitting according to an article, â€Å"Scholars have examined which types of sanctions are more likely to reduce recidivism and have found that punitive approaches such as conviction or jail do not significantly deter future incidents of DWI  (Taxman & Piquero, 1998; Wheeler & Hissong, 1988; Yu, 2000)† (Alhin). In this quote it explains that jail time, or convictions do not always work as a â€Å"deterrent† for the offender when he/she gets out of jail. Due to this, they will have to use other significant deterrent applications, or at least try them. They could use probation as a deterrent instead of putting everyone in jail. Putting everyone in jail causes a big overcrowding issue and some people they put in jail are not huge criminals, they may have just committed a minor crime. However, by putting them in jail they could â€Å"learn† how to be a criminal and when they get out, they could potentially commit crime. The article extends to explain how the deterrence theory could work in this situation, â€Å"Consistent with deterrence theory (Beccaria, 1764/1963), swift license sanctions such as suspension and revocation have been shown to reduce DWI recidivism (Ross, 1991; Yu, 1994; but see Yu, 2000), and less punitive, treatment-based sanctions can also reduce recidivism among drivers with an alcohol disorder (Taxman & Piquero, 1998)† (Alhin). This quote states that by using the deterrence theory, revocation has been proven to reduce DWI recidivism. It also says by using more â€Å"treatment† based corrections could help the offenders not recommit drinking and driving. If the offenders can receive help with drinking intensively, or get help with drinking and driving, this could keep people out of jail and also save lives by not having peo ple out on the road drinking and driving. Diversion has been around for a very long time, and over the years there have been many studies, researches, and experiments done to try and understand what the most effective way to make diversion programs work. There have been several people that have conducted studies to see what they could encounter on the subject of diversion. One group an author states was, â€Å"Kammer and Minor (1997) evaluated a program that intervened in cases of juveniles ages 11 to 18 years charged with status or low-level delinquent offenses and no prior record. The program was 16 months long and only handled 12 offenders at a time. Of the 86.2% (N = 81) who graduated, 67% were rearrested during the evaluation follow-up. Of the juveniles originally arrested for status offenses, those that recidivated were charged with delinquent acts† (Marsh 2005). This statistics are just from one study, but over half of the offenders were rearrested, so this complies that their study on diversion programs were not successful enduring that when juvenile offenders receive diversion, in their study over half were arrested again. However, an academic article states â€Å"Although much research has been conducted to test diversion methods, few have taken advantage of true field experimental conditions (Campbell, 1969; Severy & Whitaker, 1982). Unfortunately, utilizing true experimental designs in the juvenile justice setting can have serious political implications† (Severy & Whitaker, 1982). Yet the absence of a control group design prevents testing from a baseline. The methodology of the current project allowed the comparison of the groups to each other and the comparison of the different treatment interventions to a baseline control group† (Marsh 2005). In the quote it explains that when research is not done in the field, using expe riments with offenders could lead to trouble when it comes to trying to understand diversion and its effectiveness. This is an important part of research, because one is learning through the actual offenders and studying their ways of doing things. In addition the author states, â€Å"One of the most significant issues raised by diversion was the â€Å"net-widening† effect of this type of program. In an evaluation of 11 California diversion projects, Bohnstedt (1978) found that one half of the 3,871 clients served would not have been processed by the system if court diversion programs were available† (Marsh 2005). Another study conducted encountered juveniles and the use of tobacco. The juveniles that were caught using tobacco were given options of different punishments, â€Å"Juveniles cited for use of tobacco were given the option of going to court, paying a fine, or attending a single 2 ½-hour diversion course that discussed the harms of tobacco use† (Marsh 2005). Most of the juveniles chose to pay the fine instead of attending the class. The article intended that this study the juveniles that attended the class and the juveniles that paid the money had no change in behavior, or attitude. However, the juveniles that paid the fine, they were proven to have lower tobacco usage. With having this knowledge, one now would know that using the right kind of treatmen t is very help when doing research in diversion based programs, because if something is off, or missing it could through the whole experiment off. Another issue that was brought up is having diversion everywhere in the United States, because the overcrowding  in jails is one of the biggest, money rackets U.S. citizens and the government deal with. If diversion programs were offered everywhere then it could possibly cut down on the incarceration rates in the United States, â€Å"Treating youth in the community diversion is seen as a way to reduce further involvement with the juvenile justice system. The idea has been particularly intriguing because of its added benefit of relieving an overburdened judicial system† (Whitaker, Severy, & Morton, 1984, pp. 175-176) (Marsh 2005). If diversion was used more often and courts were able to keep more people out of jail by using diversion programs, it would cut down on the tax payers that pay for people to stay in jail and possibly help the people get rehabilitated. Diversion is a good idea for first time offenders and helps them steer clear of trouble, if they actually follow the rules and do not recommit any offenses. Diversion programs have been proven to help people, but it has also been proven to not show any difference in the offender’s actions. I believe that aging out of crime has a lot to do with juvenile offenders and even adult offenders. However, it is a personal choice whether, or not t hey choose to learn their lesson by completing diversion programs and move forward with their lives. References Ahlin, E. M., Zador, P. L., Rauch, W. J., Howard, J. M., & Duncan, G. D. (2011). First-time DWI offenders are at risk of recidivating regardless of sanctions imposed. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39(2), 137. Patrick, S., & Marsh, R. (2005). Juvenile diversion: Results of a 3-year experimental study. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16(1), 59-73. Smith, Roger. Contemporary Justice Review, Dec2011, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p425-438, 14p; Abstract Taxman, Faye S.. Victims & Offenders, Jul-Sep2010, Vol. 5 Issue 3, p233-239, 7p; Abstract Walker, Samuel. 2011. Sense and Nonsense about Crime, Drugs, and Communities. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Seventh Edition. 251-263.

Marketing Pizza Hut in Nigeria Essay

Executive Summary The fast-food industry has been one of the most successful industries even with the economic meltdown that occurred in 2008; its success is due to the relative low cost of its products and Pizza Hut is an example. Established in the United States in 1958 by two brothers, the company has since grown from being local company to an international company with over 11,000 units in the United States and across the World. The company has branded its image and name for being one the leading pizza making restaurants in the world. Despite its presence internationally the company is still yet to dominate Africa, although, Africa is developing region with a lot environmental risk in certain regions some countries are taking measures to remedy such risks; with outlets in the Northern and Southern Africa the company can expand in other areas. The suitable location will be Nigeria located on the Western side of Africa. Nigeria being the most populated country in Africa is country with abundant resources, oil and gas are the major source of income with agriculture following suit. The country has a wide range different cultural background each exhibiting one’s own way life, but the country is united as one nation with English being the official language. Although, the country is known to be environmentally risky region, the government is adopting a new reform that will benefit the nation and encourage Foreign Direct Investment. For Pizza Hut, franchising its restaurant to such  location will increase its strength and presence in the African region with other countries likely to follow the path. History Pizza Hut was started in the city of Wichita, Kansas in the United States in 1958. It was two brothers â€Å"Dan and Frank Carney† while studying in college in Wichita, Kansas were approached by a family friend with the impression of opening a pizza store. Being inspired with the idea, they borrowed an amount of six hundred dollars from their mother and procured some second hand equipment’s and hired a small building on a busy intersection in their hometown. Thus became the start of the of the greatest pizza name in the world. The company incorporated after a year and its initial franchise began in Topeka. (Entrepreneur Media, Inc., 2013) Background Overview Pizza Hut is an American chain of restaurants and international franchise that offers various types of Pizza’s along with a variety of side dishes and desserts. Pizza Hut began franchising around 1959. Pizza Hut otherwise known as Pizza Hut, Inc., in the corporate world became a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., as of 1997. Yum! Brands, Inc., is considered to be the largest restaurant company around the globe. Our study indicated that Pizza Hut has around 14,357 franchise units around the world today and also is ranked 10th among the top 10 franchises for 2013. (Entrepreneur Media, Inc., 2013) Purpose The purpose of this report would be to make use of the study and results to prepare a marketing report incorporating Pizza Hut, Inc., in Nigeria, Africa in order to disclose a marketing audit, plan and strategy and also use the appropriate material and subjects related to entering the Nigerian Market. There would however be a portion of concerns and reasons that would involve the company while shifting and familiarizing to the new location. However due to high cost of these fast food brands, many people still cannot afford it. Hence reasonable prices are to be varied in order to compete in these types of challenging markets. Country Overview: NIGERIA Nigeria also known as the ‘Giant of Africa’ is the most populous country in Africa. Nigeria was colonized by the British and got her independence on October 1st 1960. The country is a federal constitutional republic, with 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. There are over 250 ethnics groups in Nigeria, which the majority being Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. After the country’s independence the country had a civil war that led to the formation of military regime during the 70s till 1999, which saw the beginning of a democratic regime. Culture and Religion With a population of over 160 million people living in Nigeria, projected figures shows that the religious demographic indicate that 50% of the population are Muslims, 40% Christians and 10% practice their indigenous belief (CIA World Fact book). In Nigerian society religion plays a major role in people’s way of life; Islam is of majority in the Northern region, which is dominated by the Hausas while Christianity is in the Southern region. The Yorubas have a more diverse religion and those in the middle-belt practice their own indigenous belief. Throughout the country religion is a means for social mobility, providing means of incorporation into business and political circles as well as educational system (Library of Congress). Politics and Government The Constitution of Nigeria shows that the country is a sovereign state, whose citizens are bounded together by a Federal arrangement. The branches of government is divided into three; the Executive, a Judiciary, and a Legislative. The Executive power is solely for the President who is also the chief of state and head of the government. The Legislative branch consists of the Senate members, and House of Representatives, and the Judiciary consists of the all the legal system both at Federal level and State level. The president appoints members of the Supreme Court subject to confirmation by the Senate. There multiple political parties in Nigeria of which three are very strong, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and Alliance Congress (AC); the PDP has been ruling the country for over a decade. (Nigeria: GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS). Legal System The legal system in Nigeria is a combination of statutory law, English common law, customary law, and in the northern region Islamic law. The Federal and State courts apply the English common law, while the local courts apply customary and Islamic law (Nigeria: GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS). Economy Nigeria being an oil-rich nation has been faced with heavy political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor management, but in 2008 started economic reforms. GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) = $ 455.5 billion (2012 est.) Compared to the rest of the world = 31 GDP (PPP) 2011 = $ 428.4 billion GDP (Real Growth Rate) = 6.3% (2012) Compared to the world = 41 GDP (Real Growth Rate) 2011 = 7.4% GDP (Per Capita) 2012 = $2,800 Compared to the world 180 GDP (Per Capita) 2011 = $2,700 (CIA World Fact Book) The economy of Nigeria slowed down in 2012 as shown above; the oil sector continues to be the major contribution of the regions revenue with a growth rate of 8% compared to -0.35% in the non-oil sector. Economic activities are mostly denominated by Agriculture, gas and oil sectors in Nigeria. Though the economic reform looks strong there are still challenges the country needs to face. There is a high unemployment that rose from 21% in 2010 to 24% in 2011. Another downside to the economy is the security challenges arising from religious or ethnic conflicts, costs associated with environmental factors, and the slow global economic growth and the sovereign debt crisis in the Euro region. Demographics Population http://www.indexmundi.com/nigeria/age_structure.htmlworld fact book The above population pyramid shows a structure of a countries population, population Is distributed on the horizontal axis, which is divided by male on the left and females on the right. The X-axis indicates population and the Y-axis has distinguished age groups. Economic statistics The economy in Nigeria is a mixed economy with developing market sectors (legal, finance, communication, transport, entertainment). Nigeria is ranked 36th in terms of GDP as of 2013. Due to the resilience witnessed in 2012, the economy of Nigeria is expected to grow rapidly and gain stability. Nigeria GDP growth slowed down from by 7.4 % in 2011 to 6.6% in 2012. In diversity with sectors in Nigeria, agriculture stands the highest contributor, followed by crude oil, natural gas and wholesale products. Economy in Nigeria is the largest in West Africa and top three in Africa. Personal income per capita http://www.tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/gdp†per†capita Personal income per capita has improved over the years and has maintained a stable growth from 2004 – 2012 due to the improved income to the country from crude oil and agriculture. From $726.4 per person in 2004 and a drastic change in 2012 with $1052.3 per person. Gradually with the development and newfound opportunities in Nigeria the income per capita will steadily grow. Foreign investment Before the exporting of oil, agriculture was one of the largest fractions in the countries earnings. A key for direct foreign investments in Nigeria is the oil and gas sector. Other foreign investment opportunities such as telecommunications, electricity, real estate, food and beverage, consumer goods, health care and tourism. Working conditions Working conditions in Nigeria is far from ideal, apart from civil servants and employees of foreign countries, working conditions and wages are acceptable. This may not be the condition of the local people in Nigeria. Protests by the trade union leaders, strikes, income inequalities, late payment, poor wages affect the standard of living in Nigeria. Technological analysis Infrastructure in Nigeria is weak; it is one of the main problems that affect the growth of the country. Unreliable electricity, water resource, road, transport have pulled back the growth of Nigeria in the previous years. In recent developments the country has public– private partnership, investors and international companies moving into these regions for a better prospect and can revive the economy. Market Audit The Product When considering the market audit and competitive market analysis for any business, there are four factors to consider fundamentally. These four factors are product, price, promotion, and placement. Pizza Hut is a fast food restaurant chain that provides the dine-in and take-away services for fast food customers. The other external and internal environmental force such as the cultural, legal and political also has the greater impact on the product availability, its sales, marketing and reputation. The legal forces are unbiased to start a business venture in Africa, specifically the fast food chains such as Pizza Hut. Some social and cultural forces also play an influential role in creating and destroying the opportunities for any business. KFC, Donut King, Dominos, and Italian Pizza are most well renowned names in providing the high quality fast food products in these markets and are using the high standard advertising and promotional strategies thus the competition is challenging. T he understanding of recent advertising, trends, promotions and marketing ways are considered to be necessary when stepping into the Nigerian fast food products market. The Market Market is a place where major process of the business takes place. The economical, political, social, cultural, financial, legal and technological forces are basically some of the factors that play a significant role in creating and destroying the opportunities for any business. If the economy of the country where the product or service would be marketed is stable and unbiased, it is a great opportunity for the businesses. The political and legal stability plays a vital role for starting any business in a country. The social and cultural environmental forces are most significant to consider because they contain people, the real buyers of the products and services. (Glader, 2006, pp. 16). Nigeria’s culture and tradition are slightly different than the other regions of the world i.e. UK and USA. There are several languages are being spoken in Nigeria, but the official language is English. This is one of the best strength of Nigerian culture that welcomes the foreign firms to join the Nigerian market. The legal system of Nigeria is a combination of several laws and principles including Islamic, customary and English laws. There could be some threats for the fast foods businesses because of diverse religions and laws systems. Nigeria has a mixed economy and stands at the 36th position in terms of GDP as of 2013. The agricultural industry of Nigeria significantly supported its economy followed by the natural resources of crude oil, natural gas and wholesale products. The income per capita increased in the period of 2004-2012 (Trading Economic, 2013). The income status of people is acceptable, but not for general Nigerian public. However, the earning people are able to afford the fast food product purchase even in regular intervals. While the poor wages of most of the people, late payments and strikes can often make critical situations in the country. Figure : GDP Per Capita The technological advancement is growing rapidly in Nigeria and it is a most important advantage for MNC’s. The online markets are majorly playing important role in bringing buyers and sellers closer. People now prefer to use online platforms for placing orders and making purchases. Thus the  online promotional strategy and also television and physical ad banners would be helpful for Pizza Hut if implemented. Several other products are also getting rapid fame among people such as MacDonald’s and Italian Pizza. The introduction of several beneficial schemes and promotions such as coupons, gifts, weekend packages and midnight offers would be profitable and would also help Pizza Hut to get rapid repute and vast customer circle. Market size The market size of the host country describes the demand and supply scale of the products. To supply the products in any host country there must be sufficient potential demand. Larger the market size, better the economical growth would be (Wei & Liu, 2001, pp.38). Several international investors and marketers have opened their retail business in Nigerian market such as Shoprite, Artee Industries Ltd, and Internationale Spar Centrale BV in 2012. The rapidly increasing population of Nigeria will generate the strong and ever going demand for international products specifically the fast food products. The increasing rate of urbanization and positive economic outlook of Nigeria will support the MNC’s. (Euro Monitor, 2013). Competitors One of the main competitors and its product prices in Lagos is: Dominos Pizza Domino’s Pizza is a popular pizza joint in Lagos. They offer both dine in and home delivery services. Their motto is to spread happiness around Lagos. Products and Prices Domino’s main offering may be pizza but a wide variety of side orders is also offered by the fast food joint. The price list of their popular products is as follows: Chicken Feast Grilled chicken breast, mushrooms and sweet corn. Medium: â‚ ¦ 2,000 Large: â‚ ¦ 2,900 Hot Pepperoni Feast Extra beef pepperoni, red chillies & extra mozzarella cheese Medium: â‚ ¦ 2,000 Large: â‚ ¦ 2,900 Hot Veggie Onion, green pepper, banana, red chillies & tomatoes Medium: â‚ ¦ 2,000 Large: â‚ ¦ 2,900 BBQ Chicken Grilled chicken breast, Onions & BBQ sauce. Medium: â‚ ¦ 2,300 Large: â‚ ¦ 3,200 BBQ Philly Steak Philly steak, Beef topping, Onions & BBQ sauce Medium: â‚ ¦ 2,300 Large: â‚ ¦ 3,200 Meal Deals and side orders are also offered. The joint also serves Cold Stone Ice cream Promotion and Advertising Domino’s pizza uses different channels of advertisement and promotion. Billboards and hoardings are used to promote special deals and discounts. The fast food joint has a website that houses the menu and also facilitates online order booking. Domino’s prides itself on its ability to make prompt deliveries throughout Lagos. Distribution Domino’s Pizza has six main outlets in Lagos. The bulk of distribution is attributed to home delivery. Apart from these international fast food chains, many local fast food joints are open in Lagos. These include Mario’s Pizza and fast food Sweet Sensation Mama Cass Ghana High These fast food chains offer a wide range of discount deals and competitive prices. Pricing Strategy Pricing is one of the most important aspects of the marketing mix of the product. Product placement and promotion depends on how the product has been priced. In order to set a pricing strategy, pricing objectives must be set. These include: Current profit maximization Current revenue maximization Maximize quantity Maximize profit margin Quality leadership Partial cost recovery Survival Status quo Since Pizza Hut will be introducing its products in Lagos for the first time, its pricing object should be to ‘maximise quantity’ and ultimately become the market leader. In order to attain this status Pizza Hut may employ one of the two pricing strategies: Skim Pricing: whereby the company prices its products high. This offers profit maximisation. By adopting this strategy the company assumes the stance of serving a niche market. Penetration Pricing: whereby products are priced low to maximise quantity and ease into the market. Since, the target market for Pizza hut is price sensitive and highly elastic, the best pricing strategy would be ‘Penetration Pricing’. By pricing the products low at the beginning, Pizza Hut would be able to gain more market share and cater to a greater market. Pricing Methods Several pricing methods may be employed to satisfy the pricing objectives of the company. These methods vary from product to product. Some companies may use different and innovative pricing methods that better satisfy the needs of both the customer and the company. Traditionally used pricing methods include: Cost-plus pricing: based on production cost plus a certain profit margin Target-return pricing: based on a target return-on-investment Value-based pricing: based on value offered relative to competitors Psychological pricing: based on customer’s perception and demand Pizza Hut may employ any one or a combination of the above mentioned pricing methods to accomplish its pricing objectives. Price Discounts The list price is normally discounted for the distribution channel. This may be done in the following ways: Quantity discount Cumulative quantity discount Seasonal Discount Cash discount Trade discount Promotional discount Pizza hut could offer the following price discounts to its customers: Quantity discounts: whereby customers buying in greater quantities could be offered special deals and discounts Promotional discounts: special promotions could be used to boost sales Marketing Plan Marketing Objectives Marketing objectives helps define what a company wants to achieve through it’s marketing activities. Firms from different industries create their marketing objectives by doing a thorough analysis of their firms SWOT analysis in order to identify the key areas of concentration. For Pizza Hut, to define its marketing objectives it has to decide on the entry strategy that it will adopt for Nigeria. Entry Strategy One of the leading markets in Sub-Saharan Africa is Nigeria with a population of above 158 million. However Nigeria having a wide range of ethnic groups is an environment with high risk potential. It would be advisable for Pizza Hut to franchise the company to another company in Nigeria, in order to reduce unforeseen risk. A franchise is an agreement between two parties where the franchisor sells the right to franchise the company to a franchisee. However due to the changes in routines and consumer flavors, preferences are readily growing towards packed and convenient foods. All these matters are assisting the country’s retail food sector to develop. In growing markets like Nigeria, consumers would always prefer to have a cuisine that is more appropriate to the native palate rather than an  Ã¢â‚¬Å"international† cuisine Finding the right partner to sell the rights might be quite daunting but Devyani International Limited an Indian based company with operation in Nigeria might be good partner to sell the franchise to. Devyani International Limited an associate company of RJ-Corp – Largest bottler for Pepsico with currently having about 300 outlets of Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa, Swensen’s, and many more brands in India (Devyani International Limited). The company opened KFC in Nigeria as of 2009 and is currently investing on opening more outlets in the region (Business New Nigeria). Our study showed that an average Nigerian spends around 72.97% of his/her income on food. The table below shows the percentage of total food expenditure in Nigeria as of 2010. IMAP’s Food & Beverage Industry Global Report – 2010 Total Food Expenditure Percentage of Total Expenditure (%) Beverages/Tobacco 2.73 Meat 12.88 Fish 15.22 Diary 5.61 Breads/Cereals 34.08 Fats/Oils 5.15 Fruits/Vegetables 15.44 Other Foods 8.89 Percentage of Total Food Expenditure (%) 72.97 After selecting the entry strategy, establishing the SMART approach for the marketing objective would seem useful. This will however help to ensure the objective are: Specific – explains what needs to be gained. Measurable – objectives should be measurable in terms of performance indicators, percentages, outcomes, and much more. Action-oriented – State which action need to taken and who should take them. Realistic – the resources available should be able to meet the objectives. Time Specific – specify time frame and schedules for achievements or completion. To achieve the SMART approach, Pizza Hut will have to train the management of its franchisee on how to operate and manage the business similar to that of Pizza Hut’s method. Product Adaptation The key for international food chains such as Pizza Hut is to emphasize on adapting and accepting the local palate and then developing innovative foods to win over the native consumers. The term ‘Product Adaptation’ uses the strategy of the follower. That is the new product is based on improvements or modifications of the current product of the company (MBA Skool). To be successful in an international market it necessary for a firm to adapt its product to meet international customers’ or markets needs (Small Biz Connect). For Pizza Hut, it will have to rely on the franchisee to foresee the product adaptation in the region. The franchisee with its extensive knowledge in the market understands consumer preferences, even though Nigeria is country with wide range of cultures but each culture share common trait in its region. Promotion Mix: Promotion is the method used to create awareness about a product or service to customers a firm offers (Small Business Development). Once the business has started the following are means to raise awareness to the public about the company: 1. Advertising – one of the most important forms of passing information to  the general public. It is a form of communication used to convince or persuade potential consumers to choose a company’s product or service over its competitors (Small Business Development). Successful advertising should be planned properly so that the consumer perceives the intended messages. There many types of media options to choose for advertising; choosing which type of media depends on the market a firm is trying target and also on the budget. The types of media include: press advertising, radio, television, direct mail, ambient, and much more. Firms should be careful on selecting the type of media (or mixture) for advertising their product so as not waste resources, a famous quote from John Wanamaker (1838-1922) state â€Å"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted – the trouble is I do not know which half† (Small Business Development). 2. Sales Promotion – relates to incentives or activities mostly short-term that produces the likelihood of purchase or sale of a product. Sales promotions can be used to target different types of customers, types of promotions include: consumer, business, trade, and Sales force promotions. 3. Public Relation – this is all about building relationship with stakeholders of a company by obtaining favorable publicity, incorporating a strong brand image and name, and providing accurate information to the public. Having a strong relationship with stakeholders can generate positive outcomes for a firm where customers can provide good recommendation to others due their satisfaction with the company (Small Business Development). The franchisee of Pizza Hut should be able to use any of the above-mentioned promotion or use all of them. For the advertising both parties should discuss on the cost for doing the advertisement whether both would share the cost or one party would be responsible. Channels of Distribution Agricultural and livestock products have a high import tariff in Nigeria; the government imposed such high tariffs as part of their economic reform to boost the economy and to support the agricultural sector. Pizza Hut would face high tariffs if it were going to supply the business with its own  produce. The company or the franchisee can partner with any of the intermediaries to provide the company with agricultural products; this in short would save the firm cost it would have to bear due to import tariffs and compensating with high prices of the products to the customers. SWOT Analysis Conclusion Once colonized by the British, Nigeria is known as the â€Å"Giant of Africa† which is one of the most populous countries in Africa. Having a population of over 160 million people and over 250 ethnic groups with each having their own dialects, it is a mixed economy with developing market sectors. Even though a majority of the general population are earning low incomes, the increasing rate of urbanization and positive economic outlook of Nigeria will support the multinational companies. Due to the rapid growth in technology in the country, various sources of promotional strategies can be followed such as online platforms and other beneficial schemes in order to help the business to get a rapid fame and vast customer circle. Hence through continuous marketing plans and strategies, we can extent the label of our fast food joint around the nation and generate happiness among the people. References Entrepreneur Media. 2013. Pizza Hut Inc.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/pizzahutinc/282696-0.html. [Accessed 04 November 13]. Oliver Joy and Tatiana Nassar. 2013. Fast-food giants want pizza the action in Africa. [ONLINE] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/04/business/fast-food-giants-africa/. [Accessed 06 November 13]. Uche M. Nzeka. 2011. Steady Growth of Nigeriaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Retail Food Sector . [ONLINE] Available at: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/nigeria/487468/pdfs/Retail.pdf. [Accessed 12 November 13]. ATKearney. 2013. Winning in Food in Emerging Markets: One Size Does Not Fit All – See more at: http://www.atkearney.pl/consumer-products-retail/ideas-insights/featured-article/-/asset_publisher/KQNW4F0xInID/content/winning-in-food-in-emerging-markets-one-size-does-not-fit-all/10192#sthash.tunoBVJP.dpuf. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.atkearney.pl/consumer-products-retail/ideas-insights/featured-article/-/asset_publisher/KQNW4F0xInID/content/winning-in-food-in-emerging-markets-one-size-does-not-fit-all/10192. [Accessed 22 November 13]. Focus Nigeria. 2008. Nigerian Politics & Government. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.focusnigeria.com/nigerian-politics.htm. [Accessed 24 November 13]. Monga Bay. 2011. Nigeria: GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.mongabay.com/reference/new_profiles/320.html. [Accessed 24 November 13]. African Development Bank. 2013. Nigeria Economy Outlook. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.afdb.org/en/countries/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-economic-outlook/. [Accessed 24 November 13]. CIA: The World Factbook. 2013. Africa: Nigeria. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html. [Accessed 24 November 13]. MBA Skool. 2008. Product Adaptation. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/marketing-and-strategy-terms/2772-product.html. [Accessed 01 December 13]. Business Building. 2008. Marketing Objectives. [ONLINE] Available at:http://businessbuilding.com.au/certification/unit/88. [Accessed 01 December 13]. Business News Nigeria. 2011. Devyani International Limites. [ONLINE] Available at:http://businessnews.com.ng/. [Accessed 01 December 13]. Small Business Development. 2013. Marketing – Promotion Strategy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/marketing-promotion-strategy/. [Accessed 01 December 13]. How Stuff Works. 2013. How Franchise Works. [ONLINE] Available at:http://money.howstuffworks.com/franchising1.htm. [Accessed 01 December 13]. Dominos Pizza. 2013. Store Location. [ONLINE] Available at: http://dominospizza.com.ng/store-locations-2/. [Accessed 30 October 13]. NetMBA. 2010. Pricing Strategy. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/pricing/. [Accessed 02 November 13]. EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL. 2013. Retailing in Nigeria. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.euromonitor.com/retailing-in-nigeria/report. [Accessed 06 November 13]. Fleisher, Bensoussan, C.S. , B.E. , 2007. Business and competitive analysis: effective application of new and classic methods. 1st ed. Philadelphia: ST Press. GRIN. 2005. Market Audit and Analysis. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/51413/market-audit-and-analysis. [Accessed 23 November 13]. GRIN. 1994. Case Study:Pizza Hut,Inc.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/45066/case-study-pizza-hut-inc. [Accessed 26 November 13]. Trading Economics. 2012. GDP PER CAPITA GROWTH (ANNUAL %) IN NIGERIA.

Birth Of A Nation 2 Essay Research

Birth Of A Nation 2 Essay, Research Paper D. W. Griffith s heroic poem narrative told in Birth of a Nation was a flooring one. The film set box office records, taking in over 18 million dollars. When it was released, it was one of the longest movies of all time made, over three hours in length. Some movie bookmans say that it is the most of import movie of all time released. But despite all of these records and accomplishments, the narrative and the manner that inkinesss of the South were depicted obsessed inkinesss for decennaries to come. Showing the black adult male as a sexual marauder to white females was ask foring the South commence with wide-scale lynchings of guiltless black work forces. If a black adult male looked the incorrect manner at a white adult female, so he could be lynched without a idea of justness. This movie advanced the intuition and contributed to the pattern of Jim Crow in the South. Most shockingly, I discovered that the movie is still used by the Ku Klux Klan today for enlisting intents. The portraiture of the KKK in Birth of a State was one of heroes, alternatively of marauding racialists. This appealed to white Americans positions of the mythic South, and helped to hike rank in the KKK. Griffith subsequently released a version of the film without the KKK, but the harm had already been done. Of class, the NAACP attacked the movie, and it was met with picketing upon its release. The elevation of the KKK as heroes while portraying black work forces as sexual marauders was disgusting, and it is astonishing to me that the film is praised as it is. Though the portraiture of both inkinesss and the KKK were highly off path, the film itself was an astonishing work of film for its clip. This was likely the first film to utilize 100s of excess in a conflict scene. These scenes were good crafted by the film maker, and while non to the flawlessness of more modern movies such as Braveheart, the engineering and mastermind that the film maker used rival such movies. To th ink that the film was released merely 50 old ages after the terminal of the Civil War makes the effort seem even more unbelievable. In seeing the immense conflicts, I did non necessitate sound to hear the sounds of conflict in my imaginativeness. It would hold been unbelievable if the film had been made in the epoch where sound came into films. The rubric of the movie is an interesting 1. It is unknown whether the rubric refers to the birth of the reunited provinces, or the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. I tend to believe that the movie has a dual significance. In demoing the KKK as good cats, it is obvious that Griffith was seeking to demo their birth as a positive event for the United States. Besides, he was demoing that the U.S. was one time once more reunited after the war, taking to the strengthening of the state. It forebodes the hereafter, when the South and the inkinesss populating there are kept in cheque by the KKK, doing the U.S. that much greater. Though it would be better to disregard this impression of the birth of the KKK, it can non be due to the movie s content, although the movie does demo a genuinely united provinces. The movie is an unbelievable piece of propaganda for both the KKK and the Jim Crow system. Peoples who knew nil about the KKK or thought of them as white scoundrels before Birth of a State likely changed their heads and donned goons of their ain upon seeing the movie. The mainstream image was likely the best advertizement that the KKK could hold had. The vilifying of inkinesss besides led to the Jim Crow system. When it was portrayed in this film as acceptable, people in the South felt much better about making atrocious workss to black citizens, denying inkinesss their civil rights. Birth of a Nation was a powerful movie that was a technological promotion, but it lacked the right historical prospective. Anyone who made such a film now would be branded a racialist and likely would be hung in image in many black communities.

Motivation and Oerformance Management Assignment

Motivation and Oerformance Management - Assignment Example Job satisfaction is the gratification of an employee in the company and to the position held. It can also be the lack of satisfaction of the employee in the company. It comes as a result of the relationship between the employee and the position that he or she holds together with a positive or negative feelings that he or she holds. Job satisfaction is related to the attitude an employee has in the job. Organizational commitment can, on the other hand, get the definition as a strong feeling of responsibility that a person has towards the goals that are set by the company. Organizational commitment is also referred to as the attachment that a person has towards the workplace (Hiam, 2003). The impact of attitude to the job satisfaction is direct. On the case of organizational commitment, there is a focus on the attitude of the employee towards the organization as a whole. Despite the fact that there is a stronger relationship between commitment and satisfaction there is also the idea that satisfaction is caused by commitment. However, there is a difference between commitment and satisfaction in an organization (Kearney & Berman, 2009). According to Hiam (2003) motivation influences the performance of an employee in an organization. The work environment and the ability of the employee are also determinants in the performance of an employee. Problems in the motivation of the employees should face scrutiny in every organization. It is because of the significance of motivation in determining the performance of the company. The perceptions that are held by an individual employee play a vital role in the approach of the motivational theory that can be use by an organization. One of the approaches is the equity theory. It establishes how the workers recognize the rewards handed to them by the company in exchange to the task they complete. On the case that the employees view the rewards as

UN Convention on the Assignment of Receivables Essay

UN Convention on the Assignment of Receivables - Essay Example It, most likely, is the uniform law convention with the greatest influence on the law of worldwide trans-border commerce, and in some countries lawyers and courts are today as familiar with the Convention as they are with their domestic law - it is the lingua franca of sales. Part of the success is or might be due to the simple requirements of application of the Convention, encoded in articles 1 to 6, which have become a model followed in other international conventions or draft conventions. They are simple in their basic structure, although not without some tricky details which require explanation. These application requirements will be the topic of this short introduction to the Convention.1 Article 1(1) (a) UN law for receivables requires only that the parties have their places of business in different contracting states that is states which have enacted the Convention. With 65 contracting states, now many sales contracts of U.K traders with foreign parties (for example in Australia, Asia, the United States or Europe) are governed by the Convention. Neither the nationality of the parties nor their qualification as merchants influences the application of the Convention, although consumer purchases are almost always excluded from the Convention. The parties' places of business in different states are, in other words, decisive, so that a U.K firm, having its relevant place of business in Australia, when concluding a contract with a firm in Wellington, might find its contract governed by the UN law for receivables. Also, the contract must be a "sale of goods", which normally does not pose problems, but there are borderline cases, with which I shall deal later, and an important extension to mixed contracts under article 3(2) of the UN law for receivables. Parties in Different States The predecessors of the UN law for receivables, the so-called Hague Sales Laws of 1964 - which were ratified by only nine states - used as the main requirement for application only that the parties were residing in different states, thus making it possible that parties from different states, which had not enacted the Uniform Sales Law, might have found their contract governed by this uniform law alien to both of them and to their countries. Therefore, this imperialistic claim of the old uniform sales laws was rejected in the preparation of the UN sales law, but not entirely.2 Article 1(1)(b) states that the UN law for receivables [page 782] is applicable, if the parties are situated in different states - which need not be contracting states, if the conflict of law rules of the forum lead to the application of the law of a contracting state. Thus, if there is a contract between a Japanese and an English trader subject - on account of a clause in the contract - to

Government and Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Government and Market - Essay Example Infrastructure is a very vital cog of any country, and hence takes a supremely significant position in the government's perception. Now, Rostow, who was a specialist in this field has made note and brought to light the fact that the inability of the governments to create infrastructure was one of the major road blocks that were faced during the process of modernization in Europe during the 19th century. In his argument, he says that the "creation of preconditions for take-off was largely a matter of building social overhead capital". This comes in line with the generally accepted argument that the cost of infrastructure or the social overhead capital compliments the industrial production process as this facilitates the transfer of goods, which leads to the creation of mobilization of markets on a national and international level. Haber, another esteemed expert in this field, has further developed the importance of infrastructural support in his arguments based on the case study of Me xico. Here, he offers the opinion that Mexico was unable to solve the problem of surplus capacity which it was facing in the 1980s by exporting goods to different countries around the world. All of this, he attributes to the lack of infrastructural support that was present in the country at that point in time. He cites Avisador Comercial de Havana which attributes this problem related to the exorbitant costs of transportation: "How, then, can merchandise be shipped to the coast at an advantageous price How can they [Mexican manufacturers] compete in foreign marketsif within their own borders they have incredibly high freight rates" [1] [5] In recent times, economic analysts have argued that the major difference between the growth differentials of different countries is infrastructure as highlighted by the case on India and China. Due to the importance infrastructure plays in the workings of a country and its non-excludable and unrivalled nature has further substantiated the claim for the need of governmental intervention to facilitate and hasten industrial growth in the country. On face value, one can see that this notion is somewhat not contestable in nature in that not many can refute the claim that has been put forward; however, some economists have also offered the notion of a private sector backed infrastructural growth. This notion certainly has immense promise in theory as this would basically remove the role of the government from this entire workup and would subsequently move the entire mechanisms onto a free market which would be highly appreciated in light of the concept at hand. However, that certainly doe s not appear to be a distinct possibility at the current point in time which is why infrastructural support has been ascribed to governments to this day and age. The rationale behind this is suggestions like the one offered are more likely to fail in the developing countries as private sector led infrastructural growth needs immensely advanced institutional or technological support in order to create and sustain excludable and rivaling properties. Due to this, infrastructure would remain severely under protected as well as remain under produced which would be due to the large number of externalities that cannot

Are Circumcisions Necessary Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Are Circumcisions Necessary - Research Paper Example This paper seeks to give an in-depth analysis of circumcision outlining its merits and demerits. In the religious point of view, circumcision is observed to be commandment. From the biblical teachings, Abraham was instructed to be circumcised and all his decedents to follow that. As a result, the Jewish culture ensured that all men had to be circumcised in order to live by the religious teachings (Glass 1). Thus, circumcision is observed a means of adhering to the biblical teachings and preparing the heavenly kingdom. In the Muslim faith, circumcision derives its roots from the religious teachings (Rizvi and Hassan 1). Sexually transmitted diseases have been on the increase in the recent past and have threatened the future. Due to the illness, many persons have left their families and the number of orphans has been on the increase. Furthermore, the problem reduces the human labor of a country, which is necessary for its economic development. In a bid to address this, numerous researc hes has been conducted on the possible ways of controlling the spread of sexually transmitted infections (Barbieri 1; Jozkowski et al 1). According to a research conducted on circumcision and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya, it was observed that circumcised men were less prone to contracting STIs. Prior to the research, all persons were given same advice on how to prevent the spread of STI. In addition, circumcision is observed to reduce the chances of developing urinary tract infection and cancer of the penis. During infancy, the foreskin of a child is not retractable until the age of six month. During this period, the bacterial colonization is very high which places the child at a risk of developing urinary tract infections. Sex is essential in the reproduction of human race. In the realization of pleasure, the sensitivity of the head of the penis plays a significant part. For an uncircumcised man, the head of the penis is more sensit ive as it is usually covered from interacting with the clothing. In the case of a woman, the removal of the clitoris and the labia reduces pleasures realized during sex. Thus in terms of pleasure, circumcision reduces it by a significant margin. Circumcision usually entails conduction of a surgery. As such, it is prone to the emergence of health complications. Bleeding is a common phenomenon during circumcision. In most traditional practices, very few measures were implemented to reduce bleeding. As a result, it resulted to excessive bleeding which sometimes lead to death. Currently, there has been technological advancement, which has led to the identification and implementation of various medicines and practices that reduces bleeding. Despite this, it still poses a danger to the patients. During any surgical experiment, sterilization of the tools and equipment to be used is very necessary. This is aimed at reducing the chances of contracting infections. Despite this, some circumcis ion has resulted in the contraction of infection by the victims especially when the tools used are not properly sterilized. Furthermore, when one is circumcised, the wound provides an easy avenue for attack by disease causing organism. Thus, if proper hygiene is not maintained, then the patients may get the infection. For the case of uncircumcised men, they are not exposed to such health risks. Thus, circumcision increases the chances of post-operative infections. Many persons and organizations have continuously

Crisis Towards Zapatistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Crisis Towards Zapatistan - Essay Example The historical research was conducted till the contemporary time, ending at decolonization. Then I undertook an extensive study of primary sources which include Newspapers, academic journals, Television documentaries, news reels and Fiction Literature including poetry. I have also directed my research towards the emergence of militant/extremist Islam in its International context. The List of all the sources is attached. This research was a precursor to field appraisal visits to Zapatistan. A total of six visits were undertaken often under hostile conditions. During the course of these visits I sought audience and conducted interviews with President Marcos, The leader of Islamist Reform Party Mr. Wasih Mehtazberam, The General Secretary of Christian Nationalist Front; Mr. Corazine Constantine and I also managed to secure a brief but very productive tte--tte with Imam Nasir Fazlullah, the elusive Guerilla Leader, in his secret stronghold in Tien Shan Mountains, bordering People's Repub lic of China. Besides talking to these luminaries, I often held illuminating discussions with University Professors, Traders, Oilmen and the person on the street. It was difficult however to directly talk to women across the strict gender segregated divide, especially in Muslim quarters, but fortunately I had a lady colleague; Ms. Iona Wazir, who conducted these talks. Her report has been structured in this memo, however a separate report can be provided if required. I will now outline, albeit briefly the historical development of Zapatistan, so as to contextualize the present crisis. Zapatistan is a landlocked country and shares its borders with Russia to the North and West, PRC to the East, Iran and Afghanistan to the South and South East respectively. It has key geopolitical and economic importance. The primary income generating activity is agriculture, in which 76% of the population is involved. The farm work is managed by small family units, both men and women are agricultural labourers. The Market and trade in agriculture is dominated and controlled by middlemen. A major portion of agriculture produce is exported through state owned and controlled 'Zapatistan Trading Corporation'. This dominance of middlemen and bureaucratic control of trade has been a major cause/contributor to rural poverty. There is a nascent textile and sugar industry but it is also state controlled, the minimum wage of industrial labour is less than 5$ per day, fomenting frequent trade union unrest and harsh reprisals by the regime. The country is rich in Minerals, primarily Oil and Natural Gas. Petrochemical Sale accounts for 90% of state earnings. The extraction and production of Oil is state controlled and is leased out to Shell and British Petroleum. The oil is shipped through a pipeline to Black Sea for The Shell International Refinery. The Muslim dominated Southern region is rich in oil; however the northern highlands also have sizeable oil deposits. The Oil revenues are controlled by the state and wealth has 'trickeled down' at least to the urban areas. The few major cities now reflect the oil boom and have been redesigned by best Urban Planning Firms in the world. The town squares are dominated by statues of the President and his family members. Zapatistan was colonized by Imperial Russia in 1756 and gained its independence

Ethics and Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics and Economics - Assignment Example Though there were several reasons for the occurrence of the incident the root cause would be the escalating greed among the people who are in power. The top executives of the investments banks and other financial institutions had repeatedly promised that the companies were stable financially (Fox, 2009). The main problems that the United States faced was the decline in the standard of the financial health, liquidity crunch and also the increasing amount of leverage in forms of home loan mortgage, the collateralized form of debt obligations, the freeze in the credit markets as well as the credit default swaps. On the 15th September 2009, Lehman Brothers reported their situation of bankruptcy to the US regulatory and compliance officials. The consequences of this were the immediate collapse of the investor confidence in the stock markets and the collapse of the securities market. This had its effect on the investors of the entire world and thus the financial condition of the entire wor ld worsened. Background of the Event The collapse of the Lehman Brothers started with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in the legislature in Washington D.C. The legislation arrested the unhealthy rivalry among the investment banker and the commercial banks of the United States. The act also enabled each of the sectors of the industry to focus on their activities (Sloan and Boyd, 2008). When the Act was implemented in the US economy, the Lehman Brothers became leading player in the field of housing market. The US housing market bubble followed this incident between the years 2006 and 2008 and the company earned a lot of profit from the housing mortgage business. The stock prices of the company also showed an upward trend and had a record market capitalization figure. However, the burst of the housing market bubble was waiting. March 2007 witnessed a sudden decline in the stock markets and the defaults on the mortgage lending rose exceptionally high. A large number of hedge funds experienced loss due to the event. The company took various steps relating to investments in mortgage backed assets which were not conducive to the company as well as the investors. It did not bring into public notice the wrong steps that it took and the bleak circumstances it was heading towards. The calculatingly company made manipulation in its financial statements made false claims to the public. The accounting software that the company had been using could misrepresent the actual data and manipulate the procedure of accounting and it took place in legal terms and so it did not face any compliance problem. This continued till September 2008 when the company announced its financial distress because internally the fundamentals of the company had been destroyed completely. These series of incidents led to the Financial Crisis that the entire world witnessed. Ethical Issues behind the Collapse of the Lehman Brothers The collapse of the Lehman Brothers occurred due to a plethora of e thical issues on part of the top executives of the company. From the video it is clear that there were unethical moves on part of the executives who had led to the incident (Romereports, 2009). Michel Camdessus, the former MD of the IMF, claims that extreme greed of the top executives of the company for money has led to such an unfortunate incident. It was the result of the wrong steps that a number of people took. However, there are mainly three aspects to it. First of all, the CEO of Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, had repeatedly lied about the activities of the company. He believed in the business model in which aggressive leverage of the securities had to be undertaken which exposed the business to a lot of risks. The CEO should have adopted an alternative

Asbestos Removal †Essential for Healthy Living Essay Example for Free

Asbestos Removal – Essential for Healthy Living Essay For all those who spend most of their time indoors, whether it is their home or office, the environment of these living spaces has a straight affect on their health. Therefore, it is essential for individuals to ensure that atmosphere in which they and their family members live, is secured and healthy. In most commercial and residential buildings, asbestos is used quite extensively. With high tensile strength, it is a highly heat resistant material that comes with good insulating properties. Asbestos is mostly used in manufacturing building materials such roofing, ceiling tiles, insulators and many other building supplies. It is considered a harmless material provided that the building supply in which it is used is undamaged. However, with the depletion of these building products, it becomes necessary to remove them as it starts releasing minute asbestos fibers into the air. Generally, most of these building supplies are labeled to indicate whether they comprise asbestos or not. If there is no such label, it becomes very essential to opt for asbestos testing Toronto to verify any presence of asbestos. Such tests help to ensure that the home is safe and free from exposure to asbestos. Asbestos may have harmful effects on the health as minute particles might get breathed into the lungs that can be cause of lung diseases. For this reason, asbestos removal Barrie is so important. As asbestos is commonly used in the manufacture of building materials due to its high insulating qualities thus it is crucial to test asbestos when individuals renovate or shift into a new house. It is always a good choice to hire experienced professionals expert in the technique of asbestos removal as they are aware of the set rules and regulations. One the most common organic contaminations that might occur indoors are the molds, which are mostly seen in places that lack proper ventilation and have presence of any damp areas inside the home or office. Molds can be found mostly in ceilings, wallpapers, underneath carpets, basements, bathrooms, kitchens, and places near a wet area. Even though it is very minute and can be hardly seen with naked eyes, it can be cause of various health issues. Mold inspection Toronto becomes apparent, if individuals happen to detect any signs of molds at their home or office. Molds can be easily removed with help of mold removal Barrie services. The presence of molds would not only affect the health but also damage the house, making it unsafe and unhealthy for the occupants. In such circumstances, mold testing Toronto helps to identify the type of mold, the degree of damage and the techniques required to remove them. When individuals hire services of professional experts, they can be assured that mold would be completely removed and that no place in the home or office is left out. Molds can affect health of those persons trying to remove molds on their own. Thus, it is necessary that this task is carried out by someone who has knowledge and experience to perform the work efficiently and effectively. The most vital thing is to take act immediately whenever there is any indication that the home or office has been attacked by molds.

Effect of Acculturation on Consumer Behaviour

Effect of Acculturation on Consumer Behaviour Acculturation and affect of it on ethnic minorities consumer behaviour. Abstract: This paper presents what acculturation is and its impact on consumer behaviour. Acculturation represents a multifaceted and ongoing process where the continual interactions between the minority and dominant ethnic group iteratively affect cultural attitudes, behaviours and values across society. An important aspect of the acculturation process is often the need for individuals to demonstrate success in life, either to the dominant societal group or to their own ethnic group. This behaviour is consistent with consumer acculturation theories that argue that products imbued with cultural meaning are deliberately consumed by ethnic minorities to demonstrate their cultural adaptation. This is the process of acculturation. Introduction: An alternative consumer acculturation perspective is that ethnic minority individuals who demonstrate conspicuous consumption often do so in order to show their sense of rejection from the dominant society. This rejection may arise from experiences of racism often culminating in poor academic performance, inability to obtain well-paid jobs and struggles to establish a self-identity that is both recognized and valued by their own ethnic group and others. The ethnic minority persons sense of rejection may then be represented by the consumption of products that differentiates them from the dominant group and highlights their differences. A consumption act potentially reflects their perceived sense of rejection and demonstrates their inability and unwillingness to conform to the dominant societal culture. Main body : The contention is that there are variations in purchase decisions of micro cultures. It is thought that the division of subcultures will give academicians and practitioners with better and more correct data from which to understand the customers who acculturate. Research in this area will let greater and more precise intercultural comparisons. We also hypothesize that the currently identified social categories are far and too broad to prove meaningful utilization patterns or be predictive of future consumption behaviour, with the changing ethnic origin county. Dimensional nature of acculturation: To consumer researchers, acculturation is measured by some scale on various items relating to the respondents acculturation process, such as language favourite and knowledge about the host culture.   A respondents scores on all items are then put together (or further averaged) to yield a single score of the respondents acculturation level.   This practice assumes acculturation to be one-dimensional and therefore can be expressed by a single score.   However, research in psychology and sociology has shown that acculturation is a more compound multidimensional idea. A noticeable study from the above is that different researchers have proposed different structures for the acculturation. Some look at only behavioural, some use purely attitudinal elements, yet others join both behavioural and attitudinal elements in the structure. Although these structures differ from each other, they all state that acculturation is a one-dimensional form, but a multidimensional construct.   Therefore, when a researcher declares level of acculturation with a single score, the result may be prejudiced and may not reflect the real influence of the different aspects of acculturation. Way acculturation can influence consumer behaviour is through the maintenance and change of the acculturating individuals self-identity.   The acculturation process obviously has a significant impact on the individuals self.   It is main for the individual to get used to the changes while at the same time maintain an incorporated self.   The conflict between change and continuity in the acculturation process is reflected in the products the customer consumes and the way consumption takes place. Ecological factors and individual characteristics also play a vital role in the acculturation process and in the connection between acculturation and consumer behaviour. Acculturation and Consumer Behaviour One central way to differentiate between members of a subculture is to think the degree to which they keep a sense of identifying with their home country vs. their host country. â€Å"Acculturation refers to the process of progress and alteration to one countrys cultural environment by an individual from another country† (Blackwell, Miniard and Engel, 2007). The nature of this change process is affected by many aspects. Personal differences, such as whether the person speaks the host country language. The persons contacts with acculturation causes people and establishments that educate the ways of a culture are also crucial. Some of these agents are united with the culture of origin (in Sevgis case, Turkey). These factors include family, friends, the mosque, local businesses and Turkish-language; media that keep the shopper in touch with his or her land of origin. Other agents are linked with the culture of migration (in this case, the Netherlands), and help the consumer to learn how to pilot in the new surroundings. These comprise state schools and Dutch-language media. As immigrants become accustomed to their new surroundings, some processes come into work. Movement refers to the things appealing people to pull up themselves physically from one location and move to another. Although many ethnic members all over Europe are second generation (born in the country where they live), their parents are more probable to have been the first to arrive in the new country. On arrival, settlers come across a need for transformation. This means attempting to master a set of rules for functioning in the new situation, whether learning how to interpret a different currency or understanding the social meanings of strange clothing styles. This cultural knowledge directs to a process of adaptation, where new consumption patterns are formed. As clients experience acculturation, several things happen. Many immigrants suffer (at least to some extent) assimilation, where t hey agree to products that are recognised with the mainstream culture. At the same time, there is an effort at maintaining of practices related with the culture of origin. Immigrants stay in touch with people in their country, and many go on to eat ethnic foods and read ethnic news-papers. Their continued credentials with their home culture may cause conflict, as they hate the pressure to plunge their identities and receive on new roles. These processes show that ethnicity is a flowing concept, and that the borders of a subculture are continuously being recreated (Laroche et al. 1998 as cited in Palumbo and Teich, 2004). An ethnic pluralism perspective argues that ethnic groups diverge from the mainstream in shifting degrees, and that adaptation to the dominant society occurs selectively. Research facts argue against the view that assimilation essentially entails losing identification with the persons original ethnic group. For example, Sevgi feels relaxing in conveying her ‘T urkishness in a variety of consumption associated ways: the magazines she buys, the TV programmes on the Turkish network she wishes to watch, her selection of ethnically suitable gifts for events such as weddings and bayram(religious holidays).   Otherwise, she has no problems at all in communicating consumption behaviours of the mainstream culture she loves eating drop (Dutch liquorice), buys ‘Western music and has her favourite clothing for going out to the theatre and clubs. The researchers argue that the best pointer of ethnic assimilation is the scope to which members of an ethnic group have social exchanges with members of other groups in comparison with their own. A consumers way of life refers to the ways he or she decides to spend time and money and how his or her values, attitudes and tastes are reproduced by spending choices. Lifestyle research is helpful to track societal consumption preferences and also to place specific products and services to different sections.   Marketers segment by lifestyle distinctions, often by grouping consumers in terms of their AIOs (activities, interests and opinions). Psychographic techniques try to categorize consumers in terms of psychological, subjective variables in addition to visible features (demographics). A variety of systems, such as RISC, have been developed to identify consumer kind and to distinguish them in terms of their brand or product liking, media usage, leisure time manners, and attitudes towards such broad topics   as politics and religion. Interconnected sets of products and activities are associated with public roles to form consumption gathering. People frequently purchase a product or service because it is associated with a group which, in turn, is linked to a lifestyle they find attractive. Where one comes from is often a significant determinant of lifestyle. Many marketers identify national or regional diversity in product preferences, and develop different editions of their products for different markets. Because a consumers culture exercises such a huge influence on his or her lifestyle choices, marketers must learn as much as possible about differences in cultural rules and preferences when marketing in more than one nation. One important issue is the level to which marketing strategies must be customized to each culture, rather than standardized across cultures. A set of techniques called geo-demography investigates consumption models using geo-graphical and demographic data, and identifies bunch of consumers who exhibit similar psychographic characteristics. Consumers identify with many groups that share general qualities and identities. These large groups that live within a society are called subcultures, and membership in them often gives marketers a important clue about individuals consumption decisions. A large constituent of a persons identity is defined by his or her ethnic origins, racial identity and religious background. The growing numbers of people who argue multi-ethnic back-grounds are starting to blot the traditional peculiarities drawn among these subcultures. Recently, several minority groups have trapped the interest of marketers as their financial power has grown. Segmenting consumers by their ethnicity can be of use, but care must be taken not to depend upon inaccurate ethnic typecasts. Because a consumers culture exerts such a major control on his or her lifestyle options, marketers must discover as much as possible about differences in cultural standards and preferences when marketing in more than one country. The appearance of immigrants as a new market opportunity has discussions of immigrants consumption behaviour by both practitioners and academic researchers.   Studying the immigrants acculturation process and their consumption nature present us both a better view of this specific segment and a better understanding of the cultural dynamics fundamental consumer behaviour. Study of acculturating customers can offer us insight into immigrants consumer behaviour and consumer behaviour in common.   With more research undertaken, it can be expected to see extended knowledge of acculturating individuals consumption experience and a more complete understanding of consumers.   The model suggests two paths through which acculturation can influence consumer behaviour.   One is through consumer re-socialization. The other is through the individuals self- management when faced with remarkable changes in the self regularly characteristic of the acculturation process.   Environmental facto rs and individual demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological characteristics can influence both paths and therefore temperate the relationship between acculturation and consumer behaviour. Several orders for future research can be immediately seen.   First, most research has seen acculturation as a one-dimensional construct.   Future research should recognize the fact that individuals accepting the new culture do not necessarily throw away their original cultures.   They can adopt a variety of acculturation strategies including separation and integration.   Psychologists and sociologists have developed multidimensional methods of acculturation that can be adapted to consumer research.   Consumer researchers can also incorporate measures of assimilation and measures of ethnic identification to form a two-dimensional measure of acculturation.   Both construction and corroboration of acculturation measures fitting for consumer research are needed. Second, consumer researchers can study acculturating individuals consumption experience from consumer socialisation outlook.   Some research has been undertaken in this direction.   Penaloza (1989) projected a mo del of consumer acculturation based on consumer socialization.   There are also studies on acculturating individuals information probing behaviour and their dealings with socialization agents such as mass media (DRozario and Douglas 1999; Lee 1989).   More research is needs that study the influence of other socialization agents such as peers and institutions on an acculturating individual and how he or she interacts with them.  Ã‚   Studies on mass media can also be approved further to learn acculturating individuals media use pattern and how different patterns show the way to different consumption related awareness, approaches and values. Thirdly, how acculturating individuals supervise their self-concept during the acculturating process and how different management strategies are toughened and mirrored in the individuals consumption need to be looked at.   Consumer researchers have apprehended the impact of self-concept in consumption and have argued that belongings are part of an individuals extended self (Belk 1988).   These concepts can be applied to acculturating individuals to find out how dynamics of the self are coupled with consumer behaviour. Lastly consumer researchers should put together more hard work to study how an individuals demographic, socioeconomic and psychological characteristics can influence his or her acculturation process and consumption.   Researchers should go ahead of measuring these variables only for testing external strength, but should also study these variables themselves as they may have important suggestions on how acculturating consumers learn and consume.   Efforts should especially be made to identify variables applicable to consumer research and to establish measures of these variables.   Numerical tests can also be done to test these variables reasonable effects and their indirect effects on consumer behaviour. Conclusion: Consumer acculturation can be studied on the base of consumers socialisation. Ethnic identification and level of assimilation are often used to individuals within these minority groups. Acculturation affects consumer behaviour according to both assimilation and unique behavioural model showing the acculturating individuals in their eagerness to adjust to the culture of residence, may develop different social perceptions and behaviour patterns. The paper has attempted to determine the various aspects of acculturation in relation to different ethnic minorities.   Reference Barnett, H. G., Bernard. J. Siegel, Evon Z. Vogt, James B. Watson. 1954. Acculturation: An Exploratory Formulation From the Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Acculturation, 1953. Blackwell, Miniard, Engel, (2007) Consumer Behaviour, Tenth Edition, Thomson South-Western. Palumbo and Teich (2004) â€Å"Market segmentation based on level of acculturation†, Journal of Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol: 22, Issue: 4, pp. 472-84.   Jamal (1996) â€Å"Acculturation: the symbolism of ethnic eating among contemporary British consumers†, British Food Journal. Solomon et al, (2008) â€Å"Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective†, Third edition, Pearson publications, U.K

The 1920’s and 30’s - Difficult Times for Blacks in America Essays

The 1920’s and 30’s - Difficult Times for Blacks in America The 1920’s and 30’s were some troublesome times for many blacks living in the United States. Even though they were free men, a lot of blacks were still treated like slaves. They were subject to unfair trials, beatings, lynchings, the presumption of guilty before trial, and were also least in priority to whites. Harper Lee also shows these same acts of prejudice in her book To Kill A Mockingbird. It was much easier for a white man to go on trial than a colored man. In 1918, white troops from Illinois, in broad daylight, under the eyes of tens of thousands of people, shot, wounded and killed over one hundred Negroes without any reasonable or apparent provocation from the Negroes. No white soldier was even apprehended or tried in court for this act. Shortly after, Negro troops taunted by abuses, and provoked by prejudice were alleged to have â€Å"shot up the town of Houston†, killing a few people. The Negro soldiers were tried; the verdict was withheld from public; they were denied the right of appeal, and were hustled to the scaffold (Messenger 96). This example shows how the whites were by far favored over the blacks in the court of law. Also the quote â€Å"There is one law for the white man in this country and another for the black man†, shows how the courts were unfair (Messenger 96). During this time period all of the juries had to consist of white males. Most of the white males were prejudice. So, no matter what the evidence would say, the prejudice would take over and the thought that â€Å"all blacks are bad† would come in to play in the verdict. It would almost be dishonorable for a white man to not vote a black man guilty, no matter what the evidence poin... ... Herbert. Vol. 2. Secaus: Citadel Press, Inc., 1973. 512-516 Hodges, Aimee and Strenth, Rob KKK Page. 10 Mar. 2001 1928. 1-2 http://www.coe.ufl.edu/courses/edtech/vault/SS/20s/kkk/kkkpage.html>. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960 Messenger, The. 1918. "A Statement of Fact On Lynching." A Documentary History of The Negro People In the United States. Ed. Aptheker, Herbert. Vol 2. Secaus: Citadel Press, Inc., 1973. 610-614 Pickens, William. "The Woman Voter Hits The Color Line." A Documentary History of the Negro People In the United States. Ed. Aptheker, Herbert. Vol. 3. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1990. 305-309. Walter, White. â€Å"A Statement of Fact On Lynching." A Documentary History of the Negro People In the United States. Ed. Aptheker, Herbert. Vol. 2. Secaus: Citadel Press, Inc., 1973. 610-614

jap stuff :: essays research papers

Many of us have seen at least advertisements for this Japanese animation (if you have not, you must have been incarcerated, in a comma or on crack). Innocent looking is it not? But is this really a harmless children's show or a horrific mind controlling device being used on our nations children. One of the major themes of Pokemon is the containment of elemental and physical forces in the forms of cute little creatures with sub-human, super animal intelligence. Basically they are beasts with the powers of gods. Today we have statistics and chaos to predict random events, do we really need this modern mythology? Anyhow this franchise is really a cover for a sinister polytheistic religion bent on dominating children's minds. What a parent see as a harmless toy is really seen by the children as religious icon that they worship. No longer are their ritualistic sacrifices of crops/animals or humans, instead seek sacrifice of cash in the name of the cult. Children see the pokemon as gifts from the gods to the pokemon masters for loyal devotions to the various gods like Thor (Pikachu), Neptune (Squirtle) and others as well as spirits like the sirens (JigglyPuff). These kids will literally pray to, cry over, kill and die for these creatures. Another problem is the concept of the portraying the concept of the "power of one". What is the idea of the of putting that shit in a child's mind. Telling a child they can get ahead by trusting in their own abilities will lead them to loss and a world of pain. Some examples, Joan of Arc got burned alive, Harry Houdini was punched in the stomach and his appendix burst, and Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. What will these children do when they make a stupid decision get in real trouble and their precious Pocket Monsters will not come to their aid?

Morals and Marital Infidelity Essay -- Ethics

Writers have different motivations on why they decide on what they write about. It must be something that will grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read their works. Often writers include situations that are not considered appropriate for the era when the piece was written. Some subjects are too sexually explicit. In two such short stories, Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Storm† and Anton Chekhov’s â€Å"The Lady with the Little Dog,† both writers chose to involve adultery in their stories. Whatever motivation there is to cheat on a spouse, there is not an acceptable reason to do it. This controversial subject was not common and both authors chose to break the rules. Although equally successful in their writings, Chopin’s â€Å"The Storm†, was not published until many years after her death. â€Å"The Storm" is about two people, Calixta and Alcee, who had been in a previous relationship. Although both have moved on by getting married and starting a family, a chance encounter lead them to a lustrous affair. â€Å"Calixta and Alcee share a past romantic infatuation that is not consummated until the afternoon of the storm† (Milne 291). Chopin wrote this story in 1898, but it was not published at that time. â€Å"Chopin did not try to send ‘The Storm’ out to editors...It was first published in The Complete Works of Kate Chopin in 1969† (Kate), which was sixty-five years after her death. This controversial subject was not the norm in the 1890’s. â€Å"Female writers in 1898 did not write such detailed accounts of a sexual encounter...In the ease with which she wrote about human sexuality; Chopin was ahead of her time† (qtd. in Milne 296). The chance encounter between Calixta and Alcee happened during a tremendous storm. Calixta was home alone and ... ...). Whatever motivation there is to cheat on a spouse, there is not an acceptable reason to do it. Works Cited Akers, Tim. "The Lady with the Pet Dog." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 198-214. Print. Catherine, Dominic. â€Å"Critical Essay on ‘The Storm.’† Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale/Cengage Learning, 2008. 297-299. Print. Davis, Diana. "Review of Anton Chekhov's Short Story The Lady with the Dog." Yahoo! Contributor Network. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. "Kate Chopin: Her Novels and Stories." Kate Chopin: The Awakening, The Storm, Stories, Biography. Ed. Bernard Koloski. n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. Milne, Ira Mark. "The Storm." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale/Cengage Learning, 2008. 288-29 Print. Mohr, Nicole. "Passion in Kate Chopin's The Storm." Yahoo! Contributor Network. 5 May 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2012.

European Politics Essay

Not long after taking office as President, Nicolas Sarkozy initiated a bold agenda of sweeping governmental and economic reform which enflamed controversy and engendered violent confrontation within the French government and among the French population regarding both the state of economic parity within French society, and France’s role in a swiftly changing global-political climate. Sarkozy, a former member of the National Assembly, a two-time appointee as Minister of the Interior, and a past President of the UMP, rose to prominence as a widely popular (and also widely unpopular) figure in the conservative wing of French politics. Although Sarkozy’s personal and romantic life as well as his financial dealings and his â€Å"public image† have all fallen under the intense scrutiny of the French and International media, the most controversial issues associated with President Sarkozy have generally been and continue to be issue and policy oriented. Prior to being elected President, Sarkozy made International news headlines when, as Minister of the Interior, â€Å"Sarkozy, insisted that Muslim women pose bare-headed for official identity photographs† (Scott, 2005), a move which provoked a storm of opposition within France and throughout the globe. However, Sarkozy’s intentions were even much wider than revealed by his policy regarding identity photos; Sarkozy’s â€Å"main recommendation, accepted by Chirac in January 2004, was for a law prohibiting the wearing of ostentatious signs of religious affiliation in public schools. This is now the law of the land† (Scott, 2005). Sarkozy’s record prior to becoming President indicated that he was a man unafraid to pursue a controversial course of action. As president, one of Sarkozy’s first publically criticized actions was his handling of a Libyan hostage crisis which involved the retrieval of Belgian health-care workers who had been held in Libya. In return for releasing the Belgians, the Libyan dictator Gaddafi was able to gain President Sarkozy’s signature on a treaty which transferred hundreds of millions of euros, along with important military equipment to Libya. This move was met not only with criticism but with a call for an investigation at the parlimentary level which was requested by the head of the French Socialist Party. Although this single example may seem slight in light of the forthcoming discussion regarding governmental reform and the EU policy on climate change which will form the heart of the present study of Sarkozy’s administration, the incident is illustrative of the odd duality which seems to stamp itself on many of Sarkozy’s policies, programs, and initiatives. The duality is one rooted on one side in what many might consider a superficial, yet effective, understanding of public image and political theater; on the other side, it is rooted in what many might call brutally pragmatic economics. Critics of Sarkozy go further than to call the President an economic pragmatist. Many members of Sarkozy’s own conservative party, the UMP, have criticized the President for being a strong advocate of free-trade while simultaneously backing sweeping reforms in the working-class sector including his â€Å"loi de modernisation de l’economie† (Lawday, 2007), or â€Å"Modernization of the Economy Law† which in addition to relaxing federal restrictions on retail prices and work-regulations, allowed workers who worked over thirty-five hours a week to collect their overtime pay tax-free. If, basically, Sarkozy’s economic policies reflect â€Å"a free-market, self-responsibility venture that he claims every advanced country in Europe, from Britain to those in Scandinavia, and lately Germany, has adopted to its advantage† (Lawday, 2007) they also reflect an essentially conservative philosophy which stands in odd contrast to Sarkozy’s iconoclastic image as an agent of change. As one observer phrased it, Sarkozy’s economic philosophy and national economic program â€Å"represents not so much novelty as catch-up politics with a conservative twist† (Lawday, 2007) and, as such, Sarkozy’s economic programs include the curbing of labor unions and their power. These aspects of Sarkozy’s approach to government and economic matters leaves little room for doubt that — at least in relation to financial matters — the President is a true conservative, although his vision may be, overall, a bit more modern than that which is commonly associated with conservatism, the end-result is the same. Sarkozy’s economic philosophies are important not only because they impact one of the most crucial sectors of public policy and governmental influence in France — the economy — but also because they indicate the aforementioned duality of purpose and bearing which seems to stand as part and parcel of Sarkozy’s political career. If on e the one hand, Sarkozy wanted to â€Å"amend the 35-hour working week so that it is no longer the reposeful regulation it implies† (Lawday, 2007), he also sought to simultaneously â€Å"force strikers to maintain a minimum service for trains, buses and other public services† (Lawday, 2007) and to â€Å"slice into the bloated state bureaucracy, where the unions are strongest, by permitting one replacement for every two retiring government office workers† (Lawday, 2007) while at the same time admitting — in the face of the recent global economic crisis — that laissez faire capitalism is dead. The economic platform and policies which Sarkozy has advocated indicate that — above all else — Sarkozy is a pragmatist. This fact is s very useful fact because, by keeping it firmly in mind, a more complete understanding of Sarkozy the politician can be gained. In point of fact, most of what passes for â€Å"populism’ in Sarkozy’s public image is precisely due to his pragmatic approach. His populist reputation as a French nationalist who is for robust immigration reform may collide somewhat uncomfortably with his status as the (rotating) President of the European Union, just as his stand on unions collides with his recent, public statements regarding socialism where Sarkozy responded to the question: have you become a socialist? — with the answer â€Å"Maybe† (Lawday, 2007). Sarkozy’s radicalism — which stands in sharp contrasts to his fiscal conservatism and his conservatism on issues such as immigration and unions — manifests itself not in ideology, necessarily, but within the framework of his aforementioned pragmatism. In other words, Sarkozy may be a populist to the extent that he adopts positions which will curry favor with French Nationalists, such as the â€Å"headscarf† legislation mentioned at the opening of this paper, he may be a fiscal conservative bent on busting the unions and generating a productive working class base for French society, but in each case his convictions, while arguably difficult to pin down under a single umbrella of ideology, are always enacted by way of robust action. Sarkozy may be many things, but one thing he certainly is not is a dawdler. One of the most illustrative examples of Sarkozy’s style and substance as a leader, and specifically as the President of France, is his massive reform of French government and the displacement of governmental power. Although — as will be demonstrated shorty — Sarkozy’s controversial reforms to French government have the design and purpose of bringing the government into the modern era of global-politics and allowing for a more efficiently run government within France itself, the same reforms have been assailed by Sarkozy;’s critics, primarily by the French Socialist party, as being tantamount to instating a dictatorship in France with Sarkozy himself enthroned as dictator. Although the specificities and complexities of Sarkozy’s reforming of French government pose much too vast a too vast to exhaust within the confines of this short discussion, the overall impact and intention of his reform policies offer profound insight into not Sarkozy’s ambitions as President but into the potentially radical reshaping of French government as well as France’s relationship to the EU. Before delving into the specifics of the reform legislation, it is useful to remember just how the French Constitution regarded the separation of governmental powers and — more importantly — what role the President of France was accorded by the Fifth Republic’s Constitution. Because Sarkozy’s program of governmental reform offers, as a centerpiece, the apparent expansion of Presidential power and authority, while simultaneously strengthening the role and power of parliament, sorting out the specific angles by which Sarkozy enabled the expansion of Presidential power can be quite difficult to achieve. However, the role of the French President, according to the Fifth Republic’s Constitution was limited: â€Å"Article 5 [†¦ ] states that the President â€Å"‘Provides by their arbitration for the regular functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State’† (Bell, 2000, p. 15), with nothing mentioned about the President’s own power to legislate. This aspect of the Constitution is the key area by which Sarkozy sought to expand, in the eyes of the anti-reformers, Presidential power. Specifically, the most controversial aspect of the reform-laws was Sarkozy’s † plan to allow the president to address parliament, opening up the possibility of a US State of the Union-style address. That has not been permitted since 1875, in an attempt to keep the executive and legislative branches separate† (BBC News), and it is by this seemingly simple move that Sarkozy expanded Presidential authority while simultaneously seeming to limit that same authority. Because the Fifth Republic’s Constitution calls for the President to function as an â€Å"arbitrator† the American-style Presidency of the President as the leader of the legislature, addressing parliament, becomes a specter of dread to those who view this as an incursion on the Constitutional separation of powers. While it is true that â€Å"Article 5, which implicitly restricts the Presidency, has been a subject of controversy† (Bell, 2000, p. 15), Sarkozy’s expansion of Presidential authority has proven to be even more divisive. Sarkozy’s plan to rewrite the Fifth Republic’s Constitution represents the two primary aspects of his governing style which have formed the roots of the current discussion; these aspects are his inherent conservatism and his obvious pragmatism. The reform legislation introduced radical, pragmatic steps toward affecting sweeping change in France and rewrote the French Constitution, but while Sarkozy verbalized his assurances that the reforms represented â€Å"‘Movement, change, modernity,'† (BBC News) as well as a victory for French democracy, the same reforms also contributed to the strengthening of Presidential authority and resulted in a divided parliament with Sarkozy’s reform bill passing â€Å"by 539 votes to 357 – one vote more than the three-fifths majority of the combined Assembly and Senate required to pass the reforms† BBC News), so if strengthening democracy was Sarkozy’s intention, his initial result was to divide the parliament and pass a sweeping reform to the French Constitution with next-to-no consensus. This fact in itself would seem to confirm the trepidation regarding his proposed reforms (now law) which engulfed his detractors in parliament. One of these detractor s, â€Å"Socialist senator Bernard Frimat told lawmakers before the vote at a special session at the Chateau of Versailles† (BBC News) that Sarkozy had offered a † â€Å"consolidation of ‘monocracy’,† (BBC News) but Sarkozy, always careful to play to populist ideas and ideals, counter-weighted the expansion of Presidential authority with corresponding limits and restrictions on the French Presidency. The reform laws while strengthening the President’s role in the legislature also limit the President to two five year terms, â€Å"gives parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, ends government control over parliament’s committee system, allows parliament to set its own agenda, and ends the president’s right of collective pardon† (BBC News). Seemingly, by these latter reforms, Sarkozy was interested in limiting not expanding the powers of the French President; however the telling point of the reform laws as they relate to the French Presidency lies within the mere expansion of the President’s role as a lawmaker rather than, as the Fifth Republic’s Constitution advocated, a â€Å"a neutral ‘umpire’ who has three principal tasks: i) to see that the Constitution is respected; ii) to ‘arbitrate’ to ensure the continuity of the state; iii) to be vigilant on the issues of national independence, territorial i ntegrity and the respect for treaties† (Bell, 2000, p. 16). Sarkozy’s vision of the President — and the reform legislation he was able to enact to realize this vision — stands in direct opposition to Article 5 of the French Constitution. Sarkozy’s radical pragmatism extends beyond the parameters and confines of French domestic issues into the realm of International affairs. As the acting President of the European Union, Sarkozy has applied a similarly â€Å"hands on† approach to issues of international importance such as climate change. As illustrated by Sarkozy’s reform legislation and the somewhat concealed agenda therein which provided for the expansion of Presidential authority, Sarkozy seems to have adopted a similar approach to his position as EU President. On the topic of global warming and climate change, Sarkozy has proven to be as pragmatic and as forceful as he was on the issues of crime, immigration, and government reform in France. At the thirty-third summit of the G8, Sarkozy offered a plan to reduce French CO2 emissions by half and what followed was the adoption of this concept by the G8 nations as a whole. Although the agreement which was reached at the summit was non-binding, Sarkozy’s lead enabled the G8 nations to put forth a collective plan to cut in half the global emissions of greenhouse gasses. Sarkozy continued to push for a binding agreement, but his efforts proved futile. Nevertheless, his approach to the issue of climate change represented, as his approach to governmental reform. a pragmatic and comprehensive approach to a hard problem. Of interest is the fact that the binding agreement regarding greenhouse gas emissions was apparently blocked by the United States with its President, George W, Bush, citing the refusal of third-world nations to also enter into the agreement. Responding tot his obstacle, Sarkozy turned his efforts not toward America or the Third World, but to China, utilizing his status as EU President to put forward a comprehensive and progressive energy policy which included a collaborative effort with the Chinese. Sarkozy’s successful brokering of a deal on energy adn climate change between the EU adn China marks one of the most important accomplishments of his pragmatic and often radical approach to governing. It is due to this combination of tenacity and creativity that Sarkozy has evolved from a controversial cabinet member in the French government known mostly for being a strong conservative to an actor on the world stage who seems to be equal parts populist and conservative. It is, perhaps, not necessary, to understand which of the aspects, conservative or populist is dominant in Sarkozy, it is possibly not even that important to understand, at a personal, human level, which aspect represents more honestly Sarkozy’s own world-view. While some observers may claim that Sarkozy’s populism is merely a smokescreen to conceal his ambitious moves toward a consolidation of personal power, others may claim, with good reason, that Sarkozy’s populism represents a genuine attempt to represent the global sea-change which has currently cast global economics and world-affairs into an ambiguous and dangerous place. No matter which of these perspectives lies closer to the objective truth of Sarkozy the man, the result of Sarkozy’s actions as a world-leader will involve much more than a consideration of President Sarkozy’s motives. One of the most compelling aspects of Sarkozy as a world leader is his simultaneous insistence of modernity while maintaining an acute, almost reverential, respect for the past. Like the other dualities apparent in Sarkozy’s governing style adn thinking style, this duality of â€Å"past vs. future† manifest, in Sarkozy, not as an abstract idealogy but in pragmatic application. In addition to his highly controversial reforms in regard to economics, government, unions, immigration, and climate change, Sarkozy has also generated a great deal of controversy regarding his position of cultural subjects and education in France. While seeming to be a strong nationalist with a true conservative’s reverence for tradition, Sarkozy has readily admitted that France has failed to â€Å"democratize† its culture and that in doing so, accomplished â€Å"one of the chief failures of the past 50 years of French government† (â€Å"Sarkozy out to ‘Democratize’,† 2007, p. B01). As always, his suggested course of action revealed a blend of populism and conservatism and fused the cultural concerns of France with the power of the French government: â€Å"Sarkozy defined â€Å"democratisation de la culture† as providing the means for the largest number of people to understand and appreciate Sophocles, Shakespeare and Racine. He added that the purpose of education is to â€Å"teach you how to tell the difference between ‘Madame Bovary’ and a police blotter, or between ‘Antigone’ and ‘Harry Potter. ‘ Later, you can read what you like. † (â€Å"Sarkozy out to ‘Democratize’,† 2007, p. B01) In conclusion, Sarkozy’s style of governing offers a curious and sometimes uncomfortable blend of populism and conservatism. In the area of domestic policy, he has proven to be both radical in his approach and keenly aware of the political impact of his pragmatic reforms, on international issues he has proven to be creative, opportunistic, and decisive. While Sarkozy’s bold embracing of â€Å"modernity† may be authenticated by his actions in some cases, many of his policies and programs reveal an essentially conservative politician who seeks, not merely reform, but the type of reform which ensures the continuation of his carefully crafted ideological beliefs.