Closing Guantanamo Prison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Closing Guantanamo Prison - Essay Example This study stresses that  Guantanamo Bay prison should remain open because if the prisoners are released, then they will join terrorist groups. In fact, these prisoners are criminals and may be a threat for national security so that they must be detained in the prison. However, what people don’t understand is the fact that they are making an assumption that all the prisoners detained there are criminals and will sooner or later join terrorist groups. This assumption is absolutely wrong because these prisoners are deprived of their basic rights and military courts are biased to pass any judgment about them. A criminal is a person who is proven guilty by law but when there is no law in the prison then how can we judge that these prisoners are criminals. It is vital to understand that no proper justice is carried out in these prisons and this is why such prisoners cannot be named as criminals and such judgment of them joining terrorist groups doesn't make any sense.  This pap er highlights that  the whole purpose of justice system is to make sure that no one is wrongfully convicted or sentenced. If everyone could judge and decide about guilt or innocence of a person, then why there is a need for the justice system? The fact that many American citizens have lost their life cannot be ignored but this should not neglect the right of these prisoners to prove their involvement level in such acts, if any. People should understand that everyone has some basic rights and they cannot be hijacked for any reason whatsoever.... In fact, these prisoners are criminals and may be a threat for national security so that they must be detained in the prison. However, what people don’t understand is the fact that they are making an assumption that all the prisoners detained there are criminals and will sooner or later join terrorist groups. This assumption is absolutely wrong because these prisoners are deprived of their basic rights and military courts are biased to pass any judgment about them. A criminal is a person who is proven guilty by law but when there is no law in the prison then how can we judge that these prisoners are criminals. It is vital to understand that no proper justice is carried out in these prisons and this is why such prisoners cannot be named as criminals and such judgment of them joining terrorist groups doesn't make any sense. People also ignore the inhumane actions of the forces in the Guantanamo Bay prison reasoning that to the suppose damage these prisoners have caused to the so ciety (Cratty, 2009). Thus, a proper justice must be existed in order to determine whether or not these prisoners are criminals. Moreover, what these people fail to understand is the fact that justice is the right of everyone. The whole purpose of justice system is to make sure that no one is wrongfully convicted or sentenced. If everyone could judge and decide about guilt or innocence of a person, then why there is a need for the justice system? The fact that many American citizens have lost their life cannot be ignored but this should not neglect the right of these prisoners to prove their involvement level in such acts, if any. People should understand that everyone has some basic rights and they cannot be hijacked for any reason whatsoever. Do serial killers not get

Conference Diplomacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Conference Diplomacy - Essay Example In layman's term, diplomacy can be defined as the friendly way of kissing and making up whenever two countries have disputes in order to avoid the perils of war. The following paragraphs explains the nuances of conference diplomacy and its relations to negotiators' values or perceptions (Hughes,2002 : p.173) Conference diplomacy is a necessary action for international peace to prosper(Richardson, 1995: p. 205). War lives in the hearts of traditional paradigms. No one can forget the horrors of Hitler's German Army that had murdered many Jews in its concentration camp(Kaplan, 1998: p. 145). No one can also forget the long Great Britain war against the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte of France. Had Diplomacy been used, there would have been peace pervading the air in these European Countries. Many well known figures were recognized for their diplomacy to use peace actions in the pursuit of their individual and community goals while others specifically wage war to impose their beliefs and traditions. Some of these peace diplomats are the charismatic and personalities like Gautam Buddha, Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi. All these three renounced the use of war or force and instead preached that diplomacy was the best way to win an argument or misunderstanding. Also, the North Korean - United States nuclear diplomatic talks prove that conference diplomacy may facilitate negotiation for it did not change negotiators' values or perceptions. North Korea used its nuclear reactor facilities in Yongbyon as one of its ace cards to force the United States to provide security assurances and political and economic ties to North Korea. But for three years, the U.S. did now WANT to engage itself in an on-going diplomatic give and take with North Korea. The U.S. wanted North Korea to comply with It first insisted I.A.E.A conditions as before talks could begin. During the U.S. -North Korea Talks, the U.S. did not want to state what it would give in return for North Korea's dismantling its nuclear weapons. Furthermore, when the U.S. and North Korea talks concluded with conditions imposed on the U.S. and North Korea, the U.S. did not comply with their diplomatic agreements. The U.S. stated that its compliance was dependent on other nations to fulfill them . Furthermore, North Korea's volatile and ever- changing government leadership was one of the causes of their failed diplomatic agreements. To help, Seoul, South Korea supplied the lubricant needed to keep the U.S. North Korea nuclear talks open(Sigal, 1998: p.168).Furthermore, many diplomacy- inclined persons think that with a world that cannot be changed, many reasonable persons adapt and accommodate these unavoidable changes(Watson, 1991: p. 40). These people decided to group together in diplomacy to make peace a reality. After many years of war against each other such as World War I and World War II. The first steering committee met to agree on a global action to prevent war, This is an international coalition to abolish armed conflict and genocide. They predicted that diplomacy among nations can result to gradual dismantling of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Their diplomacy centers on removing all capacity to attack another country(De-Magalhes, 1988, p. 101). In fact, global

The !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert Essay Example for Free

The !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert Essay The !Kung Bushmen of Botswana inhabit the semi-arid northwest region of the Kalahari Desert. Their average annual rainfall is poor, only six to nine inches a year. Field work for this article written by Richard B. Lee, was done in the Dobe area, which is a line of eight permanent waterholes. The Dobe area has a population of 466 Bushmen. This includes 379 permanent residents living in independent camps or associated with Bantu cattle posts, as well as 87 seasonal visitors. The Bushmen living in independent camps lack firearms, livestock, and agriculture. The !Kung are entirely dependent upon hunting and gathering for subsistence. Although Dobe-area !Kung have had some contact with outsiders since the 1880s, the majority of them continue to hunt and gather because there is no viable alternatives locally available to them. During the dry season (May-October) the entire population is clustered around the water wells. There are camps around each well, which is an open aggregate of cooperating persons which changes in size and composition from day to day. The members move out each day to hunt and gather, and return in the evening to pool the collected foods in such a way that every person present receives an equitable share. Vegetable foods comprise from 60 to 80 percent of the total diet by weight, and collecting involves two or three days of work per woman per week. The major contribution of the male bushmen to their diet is the hunting of medium and large game. Although mens and womens work input is roughly equivalent in terms of man/day of effort, the women provide two to three times as much food by weight as the men. For the greater part of the year, food is plentiful and easily collected. Although during the end of the dry season people have to hike farther for food, the food still remains constant. The most important food is the mongongo nut. This nut accounts for 50 percent of the vegetable diet by weight. Although tens of thousands of pounds of these nuts are eaten every year, thousands more are left on the ground to rot. Also, a diet based on mongongo nut is more beneficial health-wise as cereal crops such as maize or rice. In addition to the mongongo, the Bushmen have available eighty-four other species of fruits, berries, and melons, and another thirty species of roots and bulbs. There are 54 species of animals classified as edible by the Bushmen, but only 17 species were hunted on a regular basis. All of the !Kungs food supply can be obtained in a six-mile radius of camp, and usually takes a full day to travel the twelve mile round-trip. The !Kung Bushmen of the Dobe area live a long productive, and seemingly satisfying lives. Longevity compares favorably to any industrialized society. The old people are fed and cared for by their children and grandchildren. The old people are also actively involved indecision making and ritual curing. Young people are not expected to provide food regularly until they are married. Girls usually marry between the ages of fifteen and twenty, and boys about five years later. It is not unusual to find healthy, active teenagers visiting from camp to camp while their older relatives provide food for them. The people in the age group of twenty to sixty support the nonproductive and old. These productive members work about two and a half days a week, about twelve to nineteen hours a week to get food. A woman gathers enough food in one day to feed her family for three days, and spends the rest of the time relaxing and enjoying her leisure time. The men hunt for a week and then do nothing for two or three weeks and spend their leisure time visiting and dancing. In a camp with five or more hunters, two or three are actively hunting while others are inactive. The amount and the type of food the !Kung hunt and gather is sufficient enough calorie-wise to supply all the nutrients required for good health.

Issues faced in BHP billiton and infosys

Issues faced in BHP billiton and infosys BHP Billiton and Infosys, though both successful in their own right, have emerged from different industrial sectors, and hugely contrasting geopolitical environments. BHP Billiton is the worlds largest mining organisation, and was formed in 2001 by the merging of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company, and Billiton of the UK. The companys primary interests are in Iron ore, Manganese, Petroleum, Aluminium, Base Metals, Metallurgical Coal, Thermal Coal, Stainless Steel resources, and Diamonds/Speciality materials. BHP Billitons scale and diversity appear to have cushioned it from the worst ravages of the contemporary economic downturn, although, as will be discussed, this has not necessarily helped all of its employees and stakeholders. Unconcerned by such vagaries, Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers has recently judged that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Commercial market mechanism will ensure that developing nations raw material demand is met, that suppliers obtain sufficient investment to meet demand and that new deposits of raw materials are discovered. (Smith BHP chief 2009) However, as other reports concede, BHP expects the majority of this demand to come from developed, rather than developing economies. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Despite the low metals inventories in developed economies, there is little evidence yet of sustainable demand for metals emerging post the northern [hemisphere] summer. (MacNamara 2009) 2009 has seen mining profits depressed by the fall in commodities prices: however, BHP has confoun ded this trend by paying a final dividend which matched its interim payment, i.e. 41 cents. As MacNamara points out, BHP has been à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦one of the more successful players in the sector, bigger and better able to handle difficult market conditions than rivals such as Anglo American and Xstrata, which have suspended their dividends until further notice. (2009) Uniquely amongst British mining concerns, BHP has the advantage of a petroleum division, which is now its third most profitable business. (MacNamara glass 2009) During 2009, BHP also abandoned plans to create a joint marketing company with Rio Tinto, which was to sell up to 15 per cent of Western Australian iron ore production. (Smith BHP Rio 2009) Infosys is another company which has made comparatively good progress during the economic downturn, and claims to have emerged from it already. Infosys is Indias second largest software services exporter, reporting a 17 per cent rise in first-quarter profits during 2009. Its UK clients include the UKs Waitrose supermarket chain and many leading international banks. Its business has now developed to the point where it is a viable competitor to long established IT providers, such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Accenture (Fontonella-Khan 2009). Along with other Indian-based outsourcers, such as Wipro, Genpact, and Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys has a macro-economic significance far beyond its own industrial sector, having helped power the Indian economy to 9 per cent growth prior to the 2008-9 financial crisis. (Lamont 2009) London School of Economics analysts attribute this partly to the status of English as an official language in India, making the industrys services highly scaleabl e in western markets, and constituting a competitive advantage over new entrants such as China. As Ilan Oshri of the LSE Outsourcing Unit observes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦India is not a powerhouse because it is cheap but because it is smart. Thats not the same with Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We dont see Chinese vendors emerging to be powerhousesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦China is much cheaper than India. But the game is not about cost, its about accessing talentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.(Lamont 2009). Section 1: Similarities and Differences. Mitchell et al. identify three possible themes within stakeholder saliency: power, legitimacy, and urgency. (1997: p.853) Both of the companies in question have extended stakeholder chains, but they are rather different in character. It is this contrast which has determined the behaviour of each: altered in one case, unaltered in the other. Of the two, the company which has moved most swiftly to change and signal that change is Infosys, a series of events which may be interpreted according Mitchell et al.s saliency model. Infosys power is intrinsically linked to its legitimacy, and this in turn rests squarely on its relationship with important stakeholders. In the first instance, the companys fortunes are interdependent with the Indian government in its role as an economic facilitator and arbiter of structured growth: significant investor cooperation is contingent upon this relationship. If the emerging Indian economy wavers, the latter will worry about the skills base, infrastruct ure, and political stability which is necessary to grow Infosys shareholder value. Moreover, in a globalised economy, influence of investors upon customer attitudes cannot be underestimated. Infosys is an exemplar business to business operator, so its corporate responsibility profile impacts directly on that of its corporate customers. For example, Waitrose of the UK, which markets itself as a profit-sharing, employee friendly, ethical retailer, could not maintain its own CSR status whilst in cooperation with a pariah multinational. Infosys, therefore, must avoid such status at all costs. Things are different for BHP Billiton, whose corporate responsibility effort, as will be discussed, rests on engagement rather than action. The most striking recent fact pertaining to BHP Billitons social responsibility profile is its dismissal of six thousand employees and contractors in 2009 alone. (Smith axe 2009). However, for complex reasons, its stakeholder profile can accommodate such crises relatively comfortably. Section 2: Responsible business approach, has it increased/decreased, and why? As it is the worlds principal extractive company, it is not surprising that the areas of contention surrounding BHP Billitons operations span the environment, ecosystem, climate change, human resources, community disruption, land rights, political lobbying, and financial malpractice, to name but a few. It is far beyond the scope of this discussion to engage meaningfully with the empirical circumstances of all of these issues and concerns. It may be argued however, that its strategy is one of maximum engagement, and minimum change, a dynamic whose provenance lays in the nature of its stakeholder networks. The important point here is that BHP Billitons is not a unique position. As Brewster reports, an ever higher proportion of blue-chip organisations are joining the ranks of those who publish regular CSR reports. (2007). However, the only thing which this signals in absolute positivist terms is the willingness to open a dialogue with concerned stakeholder groups. At the same time, it can usefully reassure less concerned stakeholders i.e., conventional or unethical investors that the corporate responsibility issue is being fielded in an acceptable way. This is not to say that such reports merely convey a facile dialogue of inaction: however, as will be discussed, they do define and confine responsibility within certain manageable parameters. It may be argued that Infosys has adopted the same kind of logic in its corporate social responsibility effort: its 2008-9 report states that We understand the implications our business has on the economy, environment and society. We also recognise that there is much to learn and engage with our stakeholders to improve our performance in all areas. (Infosys 2009) It goes on to remind the reader that its board members participate in advisory councils, governments and not-for profit organisations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to formulateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦policies on topics such as corporate governance, healthcare, education, climate change, and other key sustainability areas. (Infosys 2009: p.9) The over-arching message is clearly that Infosys is representing itself as a learning organisation, in the defined sense of that term. As Lane et al. point out, each organisation, whether formally constituted or otherwise possesses its own learning culture, subsumed within compatible norms and values, operatio nal priorities, or dominant logics. (2001: p.1143). Of the two organisations however, Infosys has exhibited by far the greatest degree of change in its behaviour. Along with Tata Consulting Services and Wipro, are at the centre of a controversy concerning the importing of non-EU IT workers into the UK: Infosys has itself brought in 3,030 of these employees. The transfer route is, as a consequence, being tightened by the UK Home Office, with the result that temporary workers will no longer have any rights of settlement: in addition, employees will have to have been with a company for a minimum of one year, before transferring to the UK branch (Boxell 2009). However, as both companies as the government are aware, such transfers are sometimes the only means by which specific human resources shortages may be addressed: as Phil Woolas, the immigration minister, concedes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Intra-company transfers are an important part of making the UK an attractive place in which to do business, and therefore keep industry and the economy mov ing. (Boxell 2009). The point here is that Infosys extended stakeholder chain implies pressures which must be balanced out through this, and other, important structural issues. It cannot afford to be less competitive than its rivals in terms of corporate responsibility, or it will simply lose business. Conversely, BHP Billiton will not. Its stakeholder chain is wider, more diffuse, and far less responsibility-dependent: in short, the world knows what kind of organization it is, and it grows no poorer. Section 3: Contrasting Viewpoints. There are various theoretical frameworks which might be employed to assess the relative corporate responsibility efforts of BHP Billiton and Infosys, despite their intrinsic differences. These range from the extreme Kantian ethical position, which argues that a corporation can have no duty other than to shareholder, or the virtue or Confucian ethical position, which argues that innately good practice will eventually ensure rewards. Two modified positions which might allow a more measured assessment are Tinged Shareholder theory, as posited by Moore and others, and utilitarian ethics. As Moore has argued if tinged shareholder theory were to become a normative model , there would be a greater concentration on the ideal type virtues required of a good manager, and a good organisation. Consequently, a focus on the area of virtue ethics might prove central to the visualising of a corporate responsibility ideal (Moore 1999: p.126). Meanwhile utilitarian ethics arguably provides a useful pe rspective because of its outcome-focused, bottom-line orientated assessment of events. As Fisher and Lovell point out, utilitarianism, combined with cost-benefit analysis, tends to focus on a good rather than the general good, and is therefore very valuable to organisations who wish to manage corporate responsibility, rather than be managed by it. Infosys has indicated a heightened awareness of its stakeholder responsibilities and potential vulnerability by hastily re-constructing its corporate governance image in the aftermath of recent problems. Principal amongst these has been the financial scandal at Satyam Computer Services, its main rival in the software outsourcing sector. As the Financial Times reports, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦B. Ramalinga Raju, the former chairman of Satyam who is now in police custody, undermined confidence in the sector when he confessed to manipulating the companys accounts last week, including by inventing a cash pile worth more than $1bnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦'(Leahy reassures 13.1.2009). Acutely sensitized to the negative fall-out from this, Infosys CEO S. Gopalakrishnan has reportedly judged that the entire IT outsourcing sector needs heightened transparency, adding that he himself had been receiving increasing requests for fiduciary details from clients and investors. As he put it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The reason we need to take some confidence measures at this point is that some queries have come in from customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If you look at our disclosures, we have listed every single bank account and the amount of money we have in the bank so if investors are interested they can check and call the banksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. (Leahy reassures 2009). The important point here is that Infosys is attempting to avoid a utilitarian, outcome-orientated model of stakeholder analysis, by adopting a position informed by virtue ethics. It has not been accused of any wrong-doing yet and is attempting to avoid that contingency by exhibiting transparently good behaviour. It has sound business reasons for doing so: as western companies reconstruct themselves following the recent economic downturn, they are downsizing by outsourcing, and Infosys is well placed to capture such business, if it is untainted by corporate responsibility problems. As Chief Executive Officer, S. Gopalakrishnan explains, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦You want to be cautious because its not completely out of the woods but we clearly see some growthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Leahy 2009) Like that of many similar Indian companies, the stability and expansion of Infosys is contingent upon the expansion of outsourcing from client companies in the developed world. Infosys itself added a further 35 companies to its client portfolio in the second quarter of 2009. These combined factors have resulted in the addition of 1,548 new employees in the same period, bringing the total on its books to 105,500. As well as reassuring its direct stakeholders, Infosys has also proved itself attentive to the needs of the wider social and political constituency. One example of this lays in the denouement of the Tata Nano car plant dispute, in which protesters alleged that the rights of farmers had been usurped in order to facilitate the development in West Bengal. Orchestrated by Indias principal opposition party the Trinamool Congress, the movement physically besieged the Singur site, drawing down foreign media attention and threatening to dampen foreign investment. CEO S Gopalakrishnan was initially à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦impressed with the efforts of the state government in attracting such investments: however, he now concedes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Singur has created fear in the minds of India Inc and like all other companies we are watching the developments very closely We will rethink and re-examine our proposed investment if need be.. The bottom line is that Infosys may not proceed with its own Wes t Bengal development plans if the situation is not resolved (Leahy nervous 2009). BHP Billitons needs in terms of communication and responsibility are quite different, and it has arguably opted for a utilitarian, relativist interpretation of good. This approach allows it relative freedom to pursue its vast portfolio of extractive activities in way which might be more difficult if it took a more obstructive stance. In its detailed deposition on BHP Billiton, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility reported that it felt, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in general, with a few exceptions outlined below, the company has developed a relatively advanced set of policies, which give consideration to many of the issues that our partners have raised in the Bench Marks document. (ECCR 2004: p.7) Moreover, an important part of its dialogue with ethical regulators such as the ECCR lays not in the discussion of specific or practical acts of corporate responsibility, but the demonstration of stakeholder awareness in the abstract. As it explains, The company provides regular reports to all stakeholders that are independently verified on a plan detailing how the company and the suppliers have shared responsibility for complianceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦adopts a transparent policy and reports publicly to all stakeholders on its compliance programme, the findings, and what changes have been made at the factory level. (ECCR 2004: p.63). This is central to BHPs entire CSR strategy: monitoring bodies are left facing a multi-headed hydra of good, bad, or indifferent practice across the companys vast array of activities and geographical reach. As one area of neglect arises, another is dealt with, a process through which the dialogue of engagement and improvement is maintained. The other constant is shareholder value: as the regulators succeed in limiting less equitable practices in one area, less ethical investors may take comfort from the fact that more profitable centres elsewhere retain their potential for dividends. As Moore points out, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is a common feature of theories of the firm that they regard the firm as a nexus of contracts. Theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦theories differ as to the extent of these relationships, with shareholder theory restricting this to legal and implied contracts, while stakeholder theory takes a broader definition to include social/moral as well as legal and implied contracts. (Moore 1999: p.122) The point here is that the utilitarian approach adopted by BHP Billiton has, for the time being, balanced these two forces. Conclusion A common theme in the fortunes of these two different companies lays in their successful emergence from a difficult economic period. BHP has recently asserted that there are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦signs of stabilization in the developed economies, with positive signs of improvement in industrial production. (MacNamara 2009) Moreover, BHP will soon be free to refresh its takeover bid for Rio Tinto, under the terms of the UK takeover code. (Smith BHP and Rio 2009) BHP also told shareholders that market conditions had improved since it held its annual meeting in London. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The velocity of the recoveryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has indeed been surprisingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ CEO Kloppers said, whilst cautioning that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦BHP was expected to emerge from the downturn less strongly than in previous cycles. (Smith 2009). This may be interpreted as a restraining hand upon corporate responsibility: things are OK, but dont interfere. Meanwhile, Infosys has also benefited from its more public, virtu e-driven responsibility stance. Research by the London School of Economics indicates that western executives in western companies opted for outsourcing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦on quality of service more than price. It also pointed out that Egypt, Hungary and Romania were most likely to join the shared service centre sector as key players in the near future (Lamont 2009). Infosys has of course already laid the foundations for such diversification, stating that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦As we grow further, we have to make sure our workforce reflects the regions from where we derive revenue to whatever extent possibleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Leahy 2006). In conclusion, it seems reasonable to argue that corporate responsibility and stakeholder concerns are at their most harmonious -for better or worse when the hegemony of liberal economics prevails. As Collier points out, In the modern world of globalisation there are some fabulous ladders: most societies are using them. But there are also some chutesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2007: p.5) If classical economics is afforded hegemony, then any expectation which does not implicitly recognise that snakes can swiftly become ladders -and vice versa  ­- is inherently flawed. The collection of papers on globalisation edited by Timmons Roberts and Bellone incorporates commentary by some rather older commentators, who observed that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the bourgeosie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. (Timmons Roberts and Bellone, 2007: p.27) As unfashionable as they may be, Mar x and Engels may have distilled an essential truth here, regardless of the fact that they did so through observation of an earlier period of structural economic change. The unavoidable function of companies, including Infosys and BHP Billiton, is to serve shareholder value. When they cease to do so, they will also cede their position to other who will.

The Aztec :: essays research papers

The Aztec The Aztec was a culture that dominated the Valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All the Nahua-speaking peoples in the Valley of Mexico were Aztecs, while the culture that dominated the area called the Tenochca. At the time of the European conquest, they called themselves either "Tenochca" or "Toltec," which was the name assumed by the bearers of the Classic Mesoamerican culture. Sadly, the many of the Aztec didn't survive after the arrival of the Europeans. But during the earlier years, the Aztec became one of the most advanced civilizations because of their religion, war, and agriculture. In the Aztec religion, they performed human sacrifices for the gods daily. Sacrifice was one of the main events in the Aztec religion. They believed that the people being sacrificed, were their messengers to the gods. In basic ceremonies, slaves or victims of war were used to sacrifice. But in more important ceremonies, people of higher rank, especially warriors, volunteered themselves. Since there were many gods, the sacrifice depended on what god they were worshiping. Sometimes, the death was drowning, burning, or beheading. In a coarse of a year, the death toll was about several thousands. Human sacrifices were offerings to the sun and earth so that food would grow. The Aztecs respected their gods very much. They put their greatest efforts into making strong, beautiful temples to please their gods. Their arts had a part in their religion. They drew pictures that told about their gods. They recorded religious events with hieroglyphics and even number symbols. The Aztecs worshipped about 1,000 gods! But they worshipped the sun god the most. Religious ceremonies took place in a temple called a teocalli. This temple had sacred pools for ceremonial cleansing, gardens, living quarters for a priest, and racks to hold the skulls of victims. Religion played a great part in Aztec life. Although religion was an important motivator in Aztec life, farming was the common activity. Much of Aztec life was built around farming, which was extremely necessary to keep up with the growing population. Since the land that the Aztecs farmed was not fertile enough to grow enough food to support the population, the Aztecs were forced to invent methods to increase productivity. These methods included irrigation, fertilizer, and even building terraces on hills that were previously not farmable. The truly original idea, however, was chinampas. Chinampas were floating gardens built on swamps.

Colgate-Palmolive :: Oral Hygiene Industry

Colgate-Palmolive has remained a leader in the oral hygiene industry. The company operates all over the world and has been successful in all markets. One reason the company has remained successful is because the company understands its customers and customer buying behaviors. This paper will discuss different segmentation variables for Colgate-Palmolive. This paper will also discuss the behavioral influences. Finally, this paper will make some recommendations for the Colgate-Palmolive company. Segmentation Variables According to Keller and Kotler (2009) there are four segmentation variables. Those four variables are geographic, psychographic, demographic, and behavioral. Colgate-Palmolive operates in four geographic divisions: North America, Latin America, Europe/South Pacific, and Greater Asia/Africa (Datamonitor, 2011). The company sells its products in over 200 countries (Colgate-Palmolive, 2011). Demographic variables include age and life-cycle stage, life stage, gender, income, generation, and social class (Keller & Kotler, 2009). According to Laidler and Quelch (2011) â€Å"CP’s consumer research indicated that consumers of the baby boom generation (adults born in the 1940’s, 1950’s and early 1960’s) were becoming more concerned about the health of their gums as opposed to cavity prevention and were willing to pay a premium for new products addressing this issue.† Colgate offers a wide variety of products that address total oral care. Mothers, Hispanics and people with a busy schedule are also a target market of Colgate-Palmolive. Women and mothers are generally the person that does the shopping for the family. Pictures of mothers and their children are in many of their advertisements. The United States has a growing Hispanic population that Colgate has begun to market to. The company has advertisements in Spanish and packaging in Spanish (Veiders, 2008). For people on the go, Colgate developed the Colgate Wisp. In order to better understand the psychographic variable the company has put into place a new business planning tool. This new business planning tool will help executives measure the impact of the company’s advertising strategies. The business planning tool will also help the company determine where they should reallocate advertising and promotional spending (DeSanto, 2010). There are many consumer behavioral variables. Many of Colgate’s products are impulse buys and are decided in the store (Drug Store News, 1900). The company realizes how important shelf space and in store promotions are. They are offer a wide variety of products to fit anyone’s needs.

Compare & Contrats: Lineman Terms

In the electrical construction business, power companies can choose whether to use contractors or their own workers to complete a job. They must consider the size of the job and time frame they have to complete the job. The work habits of contract linemen and Georgia Power Company linemen play a large part in the decision of which group will be the best to complete the job. Lineman use heavy equipment to complete their jobs. An aerial bucket is a truck that has a fiberglass boom, a long scissor like arm, with an isolated bucket attached so that linemen can use it to reach energized electrical lines. Some of these buckets have a special fiberglass arm at the end of the boom with a roller on it, called a jib, which uses a winch to lift heavy objects up to one thousand pounds, called material handlers. Contractors use a two man material handling bucket. Due to strict rules about working two conductors at the same time, Georgia Power lineman can’t work out of a two man bucket so they use a single man material handling truck. The next piece of equipment used by a lineman is a line truck. It has an auger attached to the boom that digs deep holes for the pole to be set. This truck also sets the pole and can lift heavy objects with its winch line, similar to how a crane works. The contractor’s truck has a center mounted boom, which has a seat mounted at the base on the boom. This truck can work the same strength from either side of the truck. Unlike the contractor’s truck, the Georgia Power lineman’s truck is a corner mounted boom, which is located on the rear passenger side of the truck. It has a farther reach off of the passenger side of the truck, but it is not as strong on the driver side of the truck. These trucks have to pull trailers behind them to haul poles around. A contract lineman uses a thirty foot pole trailer which is the standard size used to haul around a large number of poles. The company lineman uses a material trailer that is about fifteen foot long with boxes on the side to hold wire and materials. When they need to haul a pole, the tongue can be extended out to the length needed. This trailer can only haul about five poles at max. Although they use different trucks, the truck’s joysticks and levers all have the same functions. One of the major similarities between a contractor and a Georgia Power lineman is that they both have to follow rules and regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Electrical Safety Code standards. They both have to wear a harness when working out of the bucket, and wear a body belt, has two d-rings placed at the hips that you attach a strap to, when they are six feet off the ground on a pole or ladder. Both types of lineman must wear rubber gloves while working in the bucket that cover hand up to the elbow. A contractor wears class three rubber gloves. They are rated for thirty thousand volts. Working on the same line, a Georgia Power lineman can wear class two gloves that are rated for twenty thousand volts. The reason for the difference in standards is the amount of cover-up used, which is another way linemen stay protected while working on electrical wires. It is called this because they use it to cover the energized lines. Cover-up is orange colored so that the linemen can easily see it and it comes in many forms. The contract linemen and company linemen use hoses, blankets, and hoods to cover-up the power lines. A hose, sometimes called an eel, is six feet long and slides over the wire to cover around it. A blanket is a four foot square that is used to wrap around the pole, its arms, or insulators. A hood is pre-formed to fit insulators perfectly, but not all linemen use them because they take up too much space on the truck. A contactor does not use the same amount of cover-up as a Georgia Power lineman would. Company linemen have a four step cover-up procedure. First, they must cover the conductors in the order they come to them. Second, before uncovering an energized conductor, all paths to ground must be covered. A ground is anything that an electric current can use to get back to the earth from the wire. Third, before working on a grounded component, all energized conductors must be covered. Last, the cover-up must be removed in the order it was placed. It makes for a little more work for the company lineman, but it keeps them from having to wear rubber sleeves. Unlike the company lineman, a contractor must wear rubber sleeves which start at the top of the shoulder and covers down to the wrist because they don’t use the four rules of cover-up. When the trucks are in an area of energized lines, a contract lineman always has to ground their truck to the pole ground. The truck ground is a copper wire that ties the truck through the pole ground to the system neutral to protect from accidental electrical charge. A power company lineman only has to ground their truck when setting oles and only if there is a chance of an accidental contact to the truck due to a broken insulator or pole. Contractors must do a lot of traveling in order to keep their job; they don’t have a set location to work from. At the power company, a lineman stays at the same headquarters during his career. Since the lineman is at home, the company calls him to work for local power outages. When major hurricanes strike the coast lines, tornados blow away cities, or blizzards freeze a mountain town, both types of linemen can be asked to help restore power to these communities. When a contractor goes out of town, his crew will be the only ones that work together during the restoration. They will meet up with fellow contract lineman only for meals and meetings. As a Georgia Power lineman, you are sent out with your whole region. A caravan of trucks and vans leave the headquarters and travel to their destination together to help restore power to the area. There are also support members from inside the office that travel with the team. While away from home, contract linemen either sleep in a hotel or, on occasion, sleep inside their trucks. The power company linemen have a support team to make sure they get a good place to sleep every night while on the storm group. So the likelihood of having to sleep in their trucks is slim to none. The quality of work differs between the contract lineman and a Georgia Power lineman. A contract lineman bids on the job and gets paid per task they complete. Because speed equals money, a contract lineman tends to rush through work to finish faster. Because he is rushed, the maybe work is unsatisfactory to trained company lineman. Contractors have a saying, â€Å"It looks good to me. You can’t see it from my house. † A company lineman can take his time and do his job safely and this reflects in his work. He takes pride in his work because he can ride around his community and look at project he has worked on. I know firsthand the work habits of a contract lineman and a Georgia Power Company lineman. I worked for contractors for five years before I was hired by the power company. After many years of line experience, I have noticed that my work and safety habits improved after becoming a company lineman. Even though both types of linemen have the same profession, they approach the job in different ways to complete it. A power company chooses contractors over company linemen when it is necessary to stay devoted to a single job they are working on. Company linemen have the responsibility of responding to power outages, and this extends the time it takes to complete the job. The pros and cons of both types of linemen and the time it takes to complete the job are the two major factors that are taken into consideration by Georgia Power Company when deciding which group will be assigned to the job.