Ethical issues regarding stem cell research Essay

One of the recent significant breakthroughs in the field of biomedicine is the discovery, isolation and the ultimate culturing of stem cells from human embryos. The stem cells which are isolated form embryos are unique in that they are able to self renew and still retain capacity to differentiate too many forms of tissue cells. Cultured embryonic stem cells also have the potential of being developed to make regenerative medicine which can be used to treat fatal or debilitating conditions which while treated with normal prescriptions they are not curable. The embryonic stem cells are also capable of prolonging lives of individuals. Despite their potential to cure otherwise incurable diseases and to prolong lives, this discovery has led to questions regarding the value of life. While harvesting or extracting the embryonic stem cells, there are high possibilities of destroying the embryos thus bringing to an end possible human life. The question which arises is whether the lives of these possible human lives should be sacrificed for the improvement of the already existing human beings (Mcgee & Caplan, para 2-3). Ethical issues regarding stem cell research One of the major ethical dilemmas facing the embryonic research is the tension created between two moral principles which are highly esteemed. One of the moral principles entails prevention and also alleviation of pain and suffering while the other principle highly regards the value of life. Moral ethics requires people to respect and value human life and also to eliminate pain or possibilities of suffering in individuals. During extraction of embryonic stem cells, there are high possibilities of destroying the embryo thus destroying a possible life. However, such activities have the potential of alleviating pain and curing some of the diseases which are terminal. As such, embryonic stem cells fulfill the moral principle of alleviating and improving the medical conditions of individuals (Rickard, Para 5). However, despite the above possible advantages, destruction of embryos during stem cells harvesting is a violation of the second moral principle which deals with the value of human life. As noted earlier, embryos harvesting results in their destruction thus destruction of life. Life is said to begin when fertilization takes place thus embryos are living things and thus destroying them would amount to destruction of life or devaluation of the value of life. The two moral principles cannot be respected simultaneously as fulfilling one would amount to violation of the other. This raises a conflict as to which principle should be given more weight. Should improvement of and alleviation of suffering be considered first thus permit stem cell research which is destructive or should this research be prohibited due to its destructive nature and violation of the value of human life? This is a major ethical issue which faces this research and which has led to sharp differences in the biomedical field (Shapiro, para 7). Another ethical issue surrounding the stem cell research is based on the intention behind the creation of embryos. Ethics is mainly based or evaluated in terms of the motive and intention behind an action. People opposed to stem cell research argue that it should only be permissible to create embryos if they are meant for reproductive purposes. Creating embryos only to be destroyed for research purposes is impermissible as this would lead to intentional destruction of human life. However, researchers argue that while they create embryos for reproductive functions, they create them in excess and most of them are just discarded. As such, instead of discarding them, such embryos can be used for research and also to help in the formation of medicine for the terminal illnesses. Ethical issues arise between the significance of creation of embryos for reproduction versus for research purposes (Gruen, Grabel & Singer, pp 134). Viability of embryos debates also raises some ethical issues concerning the stem cell research. The viability of embryos is based on the notion that some embryos though they develop, they do not develop to certain stages and thus are only discarded. As such, they should be used to alleviate, alleviate and improve the lives of already existing human beings. Embryos after they are created awaiting reproduction, they develop to certain stages after which they can only be discarded if taken up for reproduction functions. Instead of discarding them, some researchers argue that they should be used for research purposes which would yield more benefits. Ethical questions however arise as to whether researchers would not deliberately create more embryos than required to use them for their research in the name of their non viability (Williams, & Johnson, para 9). Conclusion Stem cell research has led to controversial debates which are based on the ethical and moral issues regarding life and its value. While some people feel that this research should be used to help in developing medicine for alleviating suffering to terminally ill individuals, others feel that allowing this research would only lead to destruction of possible human life. However, the question of the embryos which are discarded after they become non viable for production purposes also arises. Moral judgment on whether non viable embryos should be discarded instead of being used for research which could be of greater impact forms a major debate. While deciding on whether stem cell research should be allowed or prohibited, all possible impacts on the social status should be considered. The benefits of the research should be weighed against the negative impacts before reaching and agreement. The surrounding circumstances should also be considered while debating on the stem cell research. Work cited: Gruen Lori, Grabel Laura & Singer Peter: Stem Cell Research: The Ethical Issues. (2007). Published by Blackwell. ISBN 1405160624 Mcgee, Glenn & Caplan, Arthur L. : Stem Cell Research. (2001). Journal article of The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 31 Rickard, Maurice: Key Ethical Issues in Embryonic Stem Cell Research. (2002). Retrieved on 10th March 2009 from, http://www. aph. gov. au/library/pubs/CIB/2002-03/03cib05. pdf. Shapiro, Robyn S. : Bioethics and the Stem Cell Research Debate. (2006). Journal article of Social Education, Vol. 70 Sherlock, Richard & Morrey, John D. : Ethical Issues in Biotechnology. (

Food Prices Essay

Why Did Global Food Prices Rise? For the last 25 years global food prices have been falling, driven by the increased productivity and output of the farm sector worldwide. In 2007, this came to an abrupt end as global food prices soared. By September 2007, the world price of wheat rose to over $400 a ton-the highest ever recorded and up from $200 a ton in May. The price of corn (maize) surged to $175 a ton, some 60 percent above its average for 2006. An index of food prices, adjusted for inflation, which The Economist magazine has kept since 1845, hit its highest level ever in December 2007. One explanation for rising food prices has been increased demand. The increased demand has been driven by greater food consumption in rapidly developing nations, most notably China and India. Rising consumption of meat, in particular, has driven up demand for grains; it takes eight kilograms of cereals to produce one kilogram of beef, so as demand for meat rises, consumption of grains by cattle surges. Farmers now feed 200 to250 million more tons of grain to their animals than they did 20 years ago, driving up grain prices. Then there is the issue of bio-fuel subsidies. Both the United States and the European Union have adopted policies to increase production of ethanol and bio-diesel in order to slow down global warming (both products are argued to produce fewer C02 emissions, although exactly how effective they are at doing this is actively debated). In 2000, around 15 million tons of American Corn was turned into ethanol; in 2007 the figure reached 85 million tons. To promote increased production, governments have given subsidies to farmers. In the United States subsidies amount to between $0. 29 and $0. 36 per litre of ethanol. In Europe the subsidies are as high as $1 a litre. Not surprisingly, the subsidies have created an incentive for farmers to plant more crops that can be turned into bio-fuels (primarily corn and soy beans). This has diverted land away from production of corn and soy for food, and reduced the supply of land devoted to growing crops that don’t receive bio-fuel subsidies, such as wheat. This highly subsidized source of demand seems to be having a dramatic effect on demand for corn and soy beans. In 2007, fur example, the U. S.increase in demand for corn-based ethanol accounted for more than half of the global increase in demand for corn. What is complicating the situation is that high tariffs are shutting out producers of alternative products that can be turned into bio fuels, most notably sugar cane, from the U. S. and EU markets by high tariffs. Brazil, the world’s most efficient producer of sugar cane, confronts import tariffs of at least 25 percent by value in the United States and 50 percent in the European Union, raising the price of imported sugar cane and making it uncompetitive with subsidized com and soy beans. This is unfortunate because sugar cane is widely seen as a more environmentally friendly raw material for bio-fuels than either corn or soy. Sugar cane uses less fertilizer than corn or soy and produces a higher yield per hectare in terms of its energy content. Ethanol is also produced from what used to be considered a waste produce, the fibre removed from the cane during processing. If policy makers have their way, however, the situation may get even worse. Plans in both the United States and the European Union call for an increase in the production of bio-fuels, but neither political entity has agreed to reduce tariff barriers on sugar cane or to remove the trade distorting subsidies given to those who produce corn and soy for bio-fuels. Brazil is not sitting on the sidelines; in 2007 it asked the World Trade Organization to probe U. S. subsidies to corn farmers for ethanol production. Supplementary Reading article-Rising global food prices threaten to increase poverty. 2 Rising Global Food Prices Threaten to Increase Poverty by Kata Fustos. (April 2011) Global food prices have been rising, threatening to reach record levels in the coming months if current trends continue. Growing world demand due to increasing world population and shifting consumption patterns, and lower supplies partly due to bad weather raised the World Bank’s food price index by 15 percent between October 2010 and January 2011. 1 The index increased by 29 percent overall between February 2010 and February 2011. In January, the Food Price Index of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was at its highest level since tracking began in 1990. 2 While not all countries are affected equally, the recent volatility is particularly alarming in regions where people spend more than half of their income on food. Global Food Prices Surge to Record Levels, Hurting the Poor in Low- and Middle-Income Countries A combination of unfavorable weather patterns around the world and uncertainty in the quality of wheat harvests in China has affected the global food supply. Record heat and drought in 2010 in the former Soviet Union sharply reduced wheat production and dealt a shock to global wheat supplies. Extreme dry weather in Brazil—a major food exporter—contributed greatly to worldwide deficits of sugar, soybeans, and maize. Devastating rain and floods in Australia damaged wheat crops and reduced the yields of sugar harvests. Additionally, a severe drought in China threatens the harvest of the country’s wheat crop and has prompted the FAO to issue a special alert, characterizing the current situation as â€Å"potentially a serious problem. â€Å"3 For decades, China has relied mostly on its own domestic grain production and was absent from the global grain market. However, if the drought destroys a significant portion of the harvest and China has to import grain to fulfill domestic demand, the impact can shock the world market and cause even sharper increases in global prices. As a result of China’s buying power, it can outbid others in the global market, and secure supplies for its own population. An expanding world population, greater reliance on crops as biofuels, and shifting diets continue to increase the collective demand for food, making the gap between supply and demand even wider. Since price volatility and growing demand are likely to persist, â€Å"we need global action to ensure we do a better job of feeding the hungry before we face the future challenges of feeding the expected 9 billion people in the world in 2050,† said Robert Zoellick, World Bank president. 4 According to the World Bank index, global sugar prices reached a 30-year high in the beginning of 2011, after increasing 12 percent since January 2010. Edible oil prices have risen 73 percent since June 2010. Among grains, the price of wheat has increased the most, more than doubling between June 2010 and January 2011. The price of maize has been affected by the surge in the wheat and oil markets and also jumped about 73 percent during the second half of 2010. Other food items that contribute to dietary diversity, such as vegetables and beans, have also experienced large price increases. Prices do not rise at the same rate in all countries; domestic markets are affected based on how well governments are 3 able to shield their population from global price surges through the use of subsidies, import taxes, and increased domestic production. Figure 1 Change in World Commodity Prices, January 2010 to January 2011 Source: World Bank, â€Å"Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet),† accessed at http://siteresources. worldbank. org/INTDAILYPROSPECTS/Resources/Pnk_0411. pdf, on April 1, 2011. Although food prices had been increasing for seven consecutive months by February 2011, the price of all items had not grown at the same pace (see Figure 1). According to the World Bank’s Food Price Watch, this differentiates the current situation from the price surges of 2008, when food riots broke out across the developing world. Meat prices have stayed relatively stable over the past year. Following good harvests in exporting countries, the global price of rice was actually lower at the end of 2010 than in the beginning of the year, and it remains 70 percent below its 2008 peak. Therefore, rice provides a more affordable alternative grain to the poor and its accessibility has prevented more people from sinking into poverty and undernourishment. At the same time, some Asian economies have seen sharp increases in rice prices. In Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia—all high rice consumption countries—domestic rice prices increased over 30 percent in the past year. 5 Soaring food prices disproportionately hurt the poor in developing countries. This is especially true in regions where people spend a majority of their income on food and rely on a specific food product. Although some farmers and food producers are benefitting from greater profits, the net effect of higher prices is a rise in the number of the poor. The World Bank estimates that an additional 44 million people have fallen into poverty in the developing world as a result of higher food prices. Overall, the number of chronically hungry people began to climb again after a brief decrease to 925 million in 2010 (see Figure 2). According 4 to Zoellick, â€Å"the trends towards the 1 billion are worrisome. Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world. â€Å"6 Figure 2 Distribution of Undernourished People in the World in 2010 (in Millions) Source: FAO Statistics Division, accessed at www. fao. org/economic/ess/en/, on April 7, 2011. India Especially Affected by High Prices Food prices are rising faster in India than in other large economies. As the country’s population continues to grow and middle class incomes rise, there is increasing pressure on the government to provide food for the entire country. Despite rapid economic growth over the past decade, India still struggles to feed its population: According to the 2005/2006 National Family Health Survey, 40 percent of children below the age of 3 were underweight and 45 percent were stunted. 7 Lack of investment has kept domestic agricultural productivity low as manual labor remains the dominant source of domestic food production. In 2008/2009, agriculture employed about 52 percent of the labor force, but only made up 13 percent of India’s GDP. 8 Farming and agriculture remain greatly inefficient and inadequate for feeding the country’s 1. 2 billion people. Low production and an unusually wet summer in 2010 contributed to the current domestic food inflation that reached a 16 percent annual rate in January 2011. This composite figure masks the rise in the price of some staples, such as onion and garlic, which rose by 71 percent during the past year. The sharp increase is most alarming for the 41 percent of the population in India who live on $1. 25 or less a day and spend a majority of their income on food, as even basic items are becoming unaffordable. 9 The government is responding to the current crisis by providing heavy subsidies for agricultural production and by importing increasing amounts of some staples, such as lentils and beans, to ensure their availability. It has also put export restrictions on certain products to keep them for domestic consumption. 10 These policies can only provide temporary solutions, however: Long-term investment is required in agricultural research to improve the quality of seeds, irrigation techniques, and modernize other production components. 115. References 1. World Bank, â€Å"Food Price Watch† (February 2011), accessed at www.worldbank. org/foodcrisis/food_price_watch_report_feb2011. html, on Feb. 17, 2011. 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), â€Å"Global Food Price Monitor† (Feb. 3, 2011), accessed at www. fao. org/giews/english/gfpm/GFPM_02_2011. pdf, on Feb. 16, 2011. 3. FAO Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, â€Å"Special Alert: A Severe Winter Drought in the North China Plain May Put Wheat Production at Risk† (Feb. 8, 2011). 4. World Bank, â€Å"Food Security Fears Rise Along With Prices† (April 2011), accessed at http://go. worldbank. org/VCXQZNWRA0, on April 7, 2011. 5. World Bank, â€Å"Food Price Watch† and FAO, â€Å"Global Food Price Monitor. † 6. â€Å"Food Price Hike Drives 44 Million People into Poverty,† World Bank Press Release No: 2011/333/PREM (Feb. 15, 2011), accessed at http://go. worldbank. org/OFGV8BZN20, on Feb. 17, 2011. 7. National Family Heath Survey, â€Å"Key Indicators for India† (2005-06), accessed at www. nfhsindia. org/pdf/India. pdf, on Feb. 16, 2011. 8. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, â€Å"Economic Survey 2010-11† (February 2011). 9. UNDP, â€Å"Multidimensional Poverty Index,† accessed at http://hdr. undp. org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table5_reprint. pdf, on Feb. 17, 2011. 10. Corey Flintoff, â€Å"Food Price Surge Puts Strain on India’s Poor,† NPR (Jan. 6, 2011). 11. Renuka Mahadevan, â€Å"Productivity Growth in Indian Agriculture: The Role of Globalization and Economic Reform† Asia-Pacific Development Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2003. Case Discussion Questions 1. Who benefits from government policies to (a) promote production of ethanol and (b) place tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane? Who suffers as a result of these policies? 2. One estimate suggests that if food prices rise by one-third, they will reduce living standards in rich countries by about 3 percent, but in very poor ones by about 20 percent. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, unless policies change, cereal prices will rise by 10 to 20 percent by 2015 , and the expansion of bio fuel production could reduce calorie intake by 2 to 8 percent by 2020 in many of the world ‘s poorest nations. Should rich countries do anything about this potential problem? If so, what? 3. How might a policy of free trade in the United States and European Union cause food prices to drop? Should the United States eliminate the subsidies it pays to corn farmers? How might a free trade policy facilitate the efforts of the United Nations’ World Food Programme? 4. Consider the social implications of trade policy that is pro-producer. Is such a policy ethical when considered from the perspective of non-producers? What are the drawbacks of following a policy designed to protect the interests of certain groups within a country? 5. Protectionism in agriculture has been a central issue for the World Trade Organization in recent years. Given the current implications of the rising costs of food for the world’s poor, should the World Trade Organization do more?

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

They became very intimate and Arnold opened her mind and even told her how bad his life was. Likewise, Arnold became friends with a geek named Goudy, he told him he was a cartoonist. Arnold made his first bout against the university's basketball team and his former school, Wellpinit. Rowdy belonged to the Wellpinit team but eventually he defeated Arnold with his elbow to lose consciousness. In the next game with Wellpinit, the Reardan team triumph, but Arnold made me feel embarrassed. Sherman's part-time absolute real diary The absolute real diary of India by Alexei Sherman Aleksey explains the suffering of American high school students to Spokane in order to adapt to American cultural conditions. Arnold Spirit Jr. is a 14 year old high school freshman who experienced these experiences for himself. His poor career and a different culture made him the main target for the elimination and elimination of peers, and he also had difficulty in booking. I am 14 years old, I have been to 42 f unerals. This is truly the biggest difference between Indians and Caucasians. This novel is a good reading for those who are interested in the reality of cruel reality being reserved by many Indians but it can be very intense and emotional. - Gabe Moltz, grade 2021 Introduction Sherman Aleksey's part-time Indian absolute diary is a novel about Arnold's spirit (underage). The boy who came from SpookaneIndian Reservation decided to go to high school outside the reservation. bright future. - Absolute Real Diary of Perma Red and Part-time Indian In the past semester I read several books on Native American and its culture. The two most interesting books I found were the absolute real diary of the part-time Indian of Perma Red and Sherman Alex by Debra Magpie Earling. In each story, we will meet young people from reservations dealing with their local identity, love, loss and all that is between them.

Evaluation for presentation to management Essay - 1

Evaluation for presentation to management - Essay Example The recent globalisation has changed the management of human resource in the organisations. There has been focus upon developing better organisational structure and hiring knowledgeable and experienced work force. The globalisation has removed the barriers in searching of talents within the corporate sector of a particular country (Jackson & Alvarez, 1992). The HR manager assists in developing the system of E-Recruitment through which there is every possibility of hiring knowledgeable and experienced personnel for MechCon. This also allows outsourcing certain activities and employees (Prude University, 2005). The globalisation has changed the needs of the organisation as well as the structure. The HR manager facilitates in developing the perfect organisational design and structure that best suit the Australian human resource policy and helps in increasing the efficiency of MechCon (Pucik, 1996). The public sector of Commonwealth of Australia administrates the policy of HRM. The company’s human resource policies should be in line with the Australian policy of HR practices (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004). HR is known to assist in developing strategies that are aligned with the business. This is highly complex and a specialist HR manager with experience can develop such strategies along with business strategies to grow in the competing business environment. The complexity lies in the achievement of organisational excellence and growth (HRPS, 2011). It also lies in planning, development and acquisition of human resource in reaction to the demand for MechCon and dealing with strategy with industrial conflict. The HR manager in recent competitive advantage with application of knowledge successfully manages personnel, relationships, organisational capabilities and learning (Schuler & MacMillan, n.d.). This will help MechCon to gain competitive advantage not only in terms of employee

Comparison of The Uniform Commercial Code and UCITA Essay

Comparison of The Uniform Commercial Code and UCITA - Essay Example Commerce clause which was founded in article 1,section 8 of the U.S. constitution was the one of the first and most significant attempts of the U.S. government to promote uniformity in commercial laws from state to state. Two key factors in section 8 are: "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes" and "To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States". The National Conference of commissioners on uniform state laws (NCCUSL) on July 29 adopted Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) after revising the proposals again and again. The (UCC) Uniform Commercial Code is intended to promote uniformity in the area of (CIT) Computer Information Transactions. Here the question arises â€Å"What is computer information transactions?† "commercial agreements to create, modify, transfer or distribute computer software, multimedia interactive products, computer data and databases [and] Internet and online information† all these things are included in computer information transactions under the model act.

Market Research Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Research Methodology - Essay Example 'Typically focus groups are used as a means of testing concepts new products and messages. A focus group is qualitative research which means that you do not obtain results with percentages, statistical testing or tables .instead this methodology is less structured than surveys or other quantitative research and tends to be more exploratory as well. Rather than providing quantifiable responses to a specific question obtained from a large sampling of the population, focus group participants provide a flow of input and interaction related to the topic or group of topics that the group is centered around. While they appear to be less formal than a survey, focus groups do provide an important source of information for making business decisions. It is important how ever to ensure that persons using the results of such a qualitative study understand how to correctly interpret the resulting information'. 1 The composition of a focus group is usually based on the homogeneity or similarity of the group members. Bringing people with common interests or experiences together makes it easier for them to carry on a productive discussion. Often a research project will use different groups to get differing views. For example, an organization is planning a major restructuring. It would be desirable to have three separate focus groups - union members, nonunion employees, and managers. Each of these groups would represent a potentially different perspective on the changes facing the organization. Imagine the potential problems in bringing together union members and management. Neither would feel free to speak spontaneously and, depending on the anxiety level, the discussion might possibly spiral out of control. Demographic characteristics are another way to determine focus group composition: A political candidate might consider holding separate focus groups with both men and women or younger and older voters. A company testing a new product might conduct focus groups in different geographical regions. Organizational decision makers might find it useful to have separate focus groups for those who favor and those who oppose a particular issue. One caution-remember that with a focus group, it is not possible to compare the results from different groups in a strict quantitative sense, because they lack representative ness. Each group may be characterized as augmenting the information of the others - in an effort to look for as many different explanations or interpretations as

Economic Growth in Deficit Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 25

Economic Growth in Deficit Crisis - Essay Example The collapse of the major financial intermediary followed by the improper functioning of the financial market is identified to be the major blow to the economic situation that is prevailing within the nation (Tiraboschi, 2012). With the massive blow on the financial market, there has been an enormous stress, which was experienced by the economy and was identified to be the major reason of the economic crisis and financial turmoil. The impact made its first and foremost effect on the industries directly linked with the banking sector. This economic disruption led to a series of events affecting the economy, nation as well as the people associated with the nation (Tiraboschi, 2012). In this regard, the paper intends to elaborate on a specific issue that was faced due to the crisis, which could be referred to as employment status. The political and the social framework were largely affected by the crisis-situation which has been duly analysed to develop a transparent and better understanding of the employment status. The British Labour Law dates back to the initial decades of the 20th century. The development of the bill that was associated with the employment law was integrated in the year 1923. This acted as a major milestone and altered the British law for employment. Since its inceptions in the second and the third decades of the 20th century, there have been a considerable number of reforms that were initiated within the initial principles on which the laws were framed. However, there are certain blockages that have made the researchers and decision-makers look into the issues associated with the needs of alteration within the existing legal system and make it adept for the current times (Dukes, 2014).

The identification and analysis of the economic, political and social Essay

The identification and analysis of the economic, political and social issues facing the United States - Essay Example A combination of reduced market entry barriers for a multitude of different industries has increased competition in a country that is highly saturated with consumer product competition. Renewed reliance on foreign imports to sustain quality of life from emerging or developing countries such as China has, today, begun to impact supply and demand in the United States. In addition, with many foreign nations changing their fiscal policies to ensure economic stability during an ongoing international recessionary environment, currency valuation has become unpredictable, thus impacting profitability for companies that have made considerable profit producing products in countries where labour costs are low. Furthermore, political actors in the U.S. government continue to divest financial resources into the free market environment to assist large banking and lending facilities, as well as a variety of corporate industries, through bailouts and short-term tax extensions. All of these factors, and many more, have raised the consumer price index and increased inflation, thus diminishing real consumer incomes. This report identifies and analyses all of the economic, political and social issues facing the United States and offers recommendations for increasing economic growth in the country. The political and economic factors The United States is considered a federal, constitutional democracy. Weingast (1997) reinforces that stable democracies can only be sustained when values, principles and beliefs are shared by all citizens of the nation, a phenomenon referred to as civic culture. â€Å"If there is no consensus within a society, there is little potentiality for peaceful resolution of political differences† (Weingast 1997, p.248). According to Barrett (2011) there are a series of distinct constructs that must exist in order to be a stable and thriving democracy, including equality, accountability, fairness, transparency and trust. Why is this necessarily relevant to assessing the current condition of the United States? In 2008, President Barack Obama and the authorities of Congress committed billions of dollars to banking and lending facilities and a variety of corporate entities that were failing due to a surplus of economic problems stemming from the mortgage crisis, inflation, market speculators, and diminished consumer incomes that were negatively impacting revenue growth in a variety of industries servicing consumer products. Corporations, consumers and market investors alike have grown inter-dependent on governmental intervention and commitment of taxpayer capital to continue to bailout businesses and financial industries. Where it was once considered unmentionable for government to take such a critical and active role in the free market economy, today consumers and business leaders are placing considerable pressure on governmental actors to develop routine and synchronized financial rescues in order to guarantee short-term economic stab ility in the country. This change in social and political attitudes seems to have now created a somewhat unified set of cultural values related to government involvement in business, industry and investment that has changed the dynamics of the traditional constitutional de

Sexual Predators in Cyberspace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sexual Predators in Cyberspace - Research Paper Example The consequences of such events on the web can lead to catastrophic dangers. (Cheney) Children are particularly vulnerable in this regard and face a lot of cyber dangers. Child sexual exploitation spans across every economic, social, ethnic and religious group out there. They span beyond geographical boundaries. Pedophiles and sexual predators are on the rise. They make use of internet without regard of any precautions, exchange personal information of their co-pedophiles and potential child victims. They have hidden behind various screen names, where they come together online and exchange child pornography with speed and efficiency that’s beyond our mental capacity. This in turn excites them to molest further. This is a grave problem that needs to be resolved. I t can be solved by sending police men in chat rooms to track down on predators and by promoting awareness among children The dark side of the internet and World Wide Web puts young innocent minds in a lot of dangers. The sexual predators exploit chat rooms to target youngsters. As useful as the internet maybe, it has its own disadvantages too. Some of the harms it can inflict can put a child into grave danger and take his childhood away from him. Daily Telegraph is of the view that internet makes it possible for children to end up anywhere without leaving their home town. This can eventually land them into places where they can be abused, stalked and conned by sexual predators. (Hatch) Most of the sexual predators work in online chat rooms and have already gotten in touch with a lot of kids. They look out for children who can be easy convenient targets for them. Most of the time they seek sexual abuse, bullying and divorce. In other words, they look for anything that can emotionally captivate the child and hamper his confidence. Such victims are their main targets. After they have triggered the initia l

The Digital Revolution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Digital Revolution - Research Paper Example Company websites may employ domestic or global strategies in their e-commerce transactions (Bajaj, Debjani & Kamlesh, 2005). Websites with a domestic e-commerce strategy main seek to serve businesses and customers within the geographical boundaries of a country. In contrast, Bajaj, Debjani & Kamlesh observe that websites with a global focus aim towards promoting transactions between customers and businesses across global and international markets. Firms implementing global e-commerce need to address financial issues, legal issues and market access challenges such as cultural differences and language barriers. There are three main classifications for websites, namely transaction, promotion and content sites (Bajaj, Debjani & Kamlesh, 2005). Transaction sites are websites designed to enhance virtual or online transactions. This is mostly applicable for online business ventures that do not have the traditional brick and mortar model or any other physical presence. This site is more appr opriate for businesses dealing with specialized product categories. Promotional sites are those designed specifically for information and communication purposes with the aim of supplementing marketing activities and strengthening relationships. It is appropriate for companies seeking to develop the global presence and develop new channels of communication. Lastly, content websites are designed to provide customers and prospects with accurate and reliable content to aid in their buying process.

Cabling and Factor Tools Essay Example for Free

Cabling and Factor Tools Essay When choosing cabling for a network, there are several factors to consider: cost, Expansion capabilities, bandwidth, signal attenuation, and EMI (Electro- Magnetic Interference). Each type of cable has different specifications that affect these factors, and each organization has different needs. Considering Cable system factors is very important for building a network system that meets an organization’s needs. Now in the design of the installation of your cabling a poorly designed or installed network cabling set-up can reduce network performance. Today, data centers are growing and maturing, and cable management is becoming an important consideration. Proper cable management allows the fast identification of all system connections both at the physical layer and at the documentation level; good cable management also improves the maintenance of hardware equipment and the installation of new one; and finally, structured cabling management makes possible the effective cooling of the data center. You also have to consider fire and safety issues, for where you will be installing the cables. How they will be run throughout the building, will the cables be near other electrical cables and can it cause interference. Will the cableling be properly used under standards and local codes? And if not what would have to be done in order to makes sure it’s all up to code, and fire safety inspections. Some of the tools that will be needed for your installation will be Crimpers, Wire cutters/Stripper, Cable ties, Punch-down tools, voltage dectors, testing tools for when done. Also it would be smart to have a drill and bits/paddle bits, pliers, gloves, flashlight, and a tape measure. These are just a few things that would be useful to have. Prev Page Next Page Search

Information System Management Essay Example for Free

Information System Management Essay A new concept in today’s IT world is offshore sourcing in Information Systems which is a paradigm shift from the traditional Business Process Outsourcing. Although the latter has been facilitated by the lucrative IT infrastructure, it is important to focus and emphasis on what has brought about offshore Information System sourcing. This journal article has theoretically explored on factors which the authors considers are the key drivers that can influence a company to go offshore. Additionally, to practically drive the point home, the article has exclusively carried out and explained a case study on ComputerInc, an Australian IT services company. Consequently, some of the key-driving factors include becoming and remaining competitive, reducing operational costs, and increasing the market share. Nevertheless, key challenges include overall strenuous management, staff demoralization, and lowered quality of services. This article is relevant in that the roles of the management for instance that of Chief Information Officer is critical in creating viable decisions. Such include venturing into IS offshore sourcing so as to drive organizations technologically and reap benefits such as reduced operation costs (McNurlin, et al. 2009, pp. 10-13). In the article, ComputerInc is argued to have increased its global market share as a result of IS offshore outsourcing (Beverakis et al. 2009, p. 35). In this regard, McNurlin, et al. (2009, pp. 17-20) have classified roles of IT infrastructure into three: working inward, working outside, and working across. Benefits include global positioning, partnering, and increasing the clientele base if/when proper IS planning is done by the decision makers. The article explains how viable decisions made by ComputerInc’s management drove the company into offshore outsourcing, attain a global position, and command a competitive market share (McNurlin, et al. 2009, p. 18). This corresponds to the learning outcomes of this course and for that reason I would award the article a value of four out of five on a score-scale. The Journal of Global Information Management is an academic journal published by the Information Resources Management Association. The Editor-in-chief for this journal is called Felix B Tan of Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Journal of Global Information Management is published on quarterly basis every year. In each year, a single volume is released but in each quarter the released journal is assigned a separate issue number. The journal is both online and in print and it is accessible at a personal level and to institutions. However, to access the journal subscription is a must whereby printed journal goes is sold at $ 545 and $ 195 to an institution and individual respectively (JGIM 2010). In all the issues of the Journal of Global Information Management emphasizes on all the concepts related to management of worldwide information resources. The journal creates a forum in which professionals and researchers disseminate current and surfacing information in both theoretical and practical perspective in relation to information technology and information resource management at global level. Therefore its main objective is put main emphasis on organizational and managerial aspects of Information Technology resources management. It covers on a range of issues such as policies, failure, usage, success, applications, and strategies of IT in business enterprises both in developed and emerging economies (JGIM 2010). The Journal of Global Information Management has laid out procedures whereby professionals and researchers especially in the field of information system management share their knowledge in regard to emerging challenges, posed by IT developments. Through its case studies, the journal proposes means on how to integrate information technology techniques into current managerial strategies. Therefore, it covers on the learning outcomes of this course such as role of IS managers, importance of IS/IT in driving companies to the global center-stage (JGIM 2010). In this article, it is acknowledged that information system offshore outsourcing has over the years increased drastically. In the research study, a number of steps involved in making such decisions at the management level have been identified. It states that IT managers weighs on the benefits and challenges of offshore outsourcing, evaluates the all the logistics involved in the process, and determines the prevailing geography. The research is based on literature review of existing companies’ statistical reports as presented in annual releases. The article states that offshore outsourcing surpasses onshore outsourcing in terms of benefits and risks involved. USA, UK, France, and Germany are the major IS offshore outsourcers in countries such as India, and China. Reduction in operation costs has been identified as the key motivator whereas it also stresses that quality services, security, and provider location must be considered. The key factors identified by Reyes, Jose and Juan (2006, p. 234) that influence offshore outsourcing are market and economic globalization, savings on operational costs in terms of salaries paid to the staff, shortage of skilled manpower, the need to reduce IS projects’ development time-cycle, and the growth or access to internet by large number of people (McNurlin, et al. 2009, pp. 7 33-39). This article demonstrates and emphasizes on key steps that information system managers of any organization have to take while making decisions on whether to outsource some of their services offshore. In comparison, McNurlin, et al. 2009, p. 11) in their book acknowledges the same that CIO’s should design policies, analyze possible benefits and risks so as to make informed decisions. In regard to the learning outcomes of ECOM20001, the article is explicit on what chief information officers are expected to do, have presented statistical evidence on how companies expand due to outsourcing and the impact of globalization on company activities in terms of risks and benefits. Considering such coverage on E-enablement and globalization I would award the article a score of five.

The Co2 Life Cycle Of A Printer Environmental Sciences Essay

The Co2 Life Cycle Of A Printer Environmental Sciences Essay The report provides information about the life cycle inventory of a printer used domestically as a peripheral of personal computer. The purpose of the study is to evaluate various stages in the life cycle of a printer from its production to the end of life and flow of various materials and the production of CO2. The life cycle of printer has been investigated with help from literature research, industrial statistical data and information from various manufacturers. The approach has been adopted with much assumption for simplicity. The current study encircles life cycle changes starting from the manufacture of printer to the end of life. The raw material used in manufacturing, production of solid waste, effluents into air and water, paper use, the electricity used, and the use of cartridges are all measure according to rough estimates. However, the proportion of electricity used in printer in whole life cycle only makes 14% of the printer weight. However, the electronics used make a s ignificant part in the green house gas due to the presence of copper. Therefore, an improved and better estimate of perfect life cycle may be possible if real statistical data is available instead of making assumptions. Local manufacturing, recycling, refilling and careful use will be helpful to reduce environmental impact. The LCA of various types of printers will be valuable information for engineers to re-design future printers that are more environmentally friendly (Curran 1996). The current study also elaborates the importance of conducting LCA of a product. Global warming, environmental pollution, industrial reforms to manage environmental pollution and human efforts to control global warming are hot issues now-a-days (Curran 1996). Every product has a life cycle starting from its manufacturing to its end of life (Lehman 2007). The life cycle assessment (LCA) is a significant tool to assess the impact of a product on environment throughout its life (Hischier 2007). Mechanical and manufacturing engineers can take benefit of LCA data of a product to review and revise the material, design and technology of the product to reduce its negative impact on the environment (Fussler et al 1996). With the information of LCA of the products, it is possible to select environmentally friendly material to make products pleasant, less harmful to environment and more efficient (Guinee 2001). Cost has been a significant incentive but information of global warming has changed businessman and buyers view about a product (Newton 1993). Both buyer and busines s man is more attractive to environmentally friendly product (Cramer et al 1997). Use of computers in modern era has created a lot of peripheral and accessories used parallel to the computers. Printers, scanners, web cam and many other accessories are everyday use in modern era. Each of these products is made of various materials and therefore has various stages of life cycle. The current study is limited to the Life cycle Inventory Analysis of a printer. An Inventory analysis is not complete analysis of life cycle but still provides basic information about the product interaction with the environment. The Inventory life cycle analysis does not provide the full picture of the environmental impacts of product. A true LCA or absolute inventory LCA is possible where all statistical data is available from the manufacturing till the life end of product with its disposal stage. The printers are of various types. Major classification of printers fall under dot matrix printers, ink jet printers and laser printers. According to manufacture and distribution companys statistical data, there is 60% printer waste from USA and 40 % form European countries (HP 2009). However, other Asian countries and the rest of the World should not be ignored as there is ever growing demand of IT products throughout the world. Printers are manufactured in Malaysia, China, Japan, Asia, Europe, and USA and in many other countries. Taking China and Malaysia as major manufacturer of printers, the ocean freight distance to Europe and USA, material extraction assumed at miles away and parts manufacturing and transporting from long distance may contribute to the impact of printers life cycle. The developed countries like USA and European Union countries have monitoring bodies like Environmental protection Agencies to monitor the safe disposal of various products. The printers are supplie d in packaging mostly made of card board. The card board packaging is reused at most of sites according to local policies but variation in percentage is present. In USA about 60 % packaging is recycled (MPCA 2009). The printers are used domestically, commercially and in industry. We are using small domestically used printer in our case study. The general purpose of domestically used printers is designed to do a satisfied job of printing at acceptable perfection level. Normally, no duplexer is associated with domestically used printers and pages are turned manually by the user. Mostly two types of cartridges are used; one for the text printing and other for the color printing. A printer pack usually comes with a printer itself, a black cartridge, a color cartridge, a power cable, an external power supply, a USB or other port connecting cable, CD-ROM (with software) and a user information booklet. The printer varies in size and normally weighs range from 1.5 to 5 kg. Similarly the price varies according to make and quality. Now we can take an analysis of printers manufacturing stage. Printers are made of polymers in their primary structure and in the manufacture of its parts (Smits 1996). Two most commonly polymers in printers include high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene (ABS). However, all plastics in printers are not necessarily HIPS or ABS and 86% of plastic in printers are recyclable (William et al 2002). An excluding percentage is not recyclable due to the presence of fillets. However, for the simplicity of our case study, we assume that printer plastics are ABS. We will be considering main manufacturing material in life cycle and will not focus on the intermediate material processing, packaging and shipping. A table for packaging material inventory has been reprocessed from information sources (Jason et al 2005). Various metals are used in printers manufacturing. The metals include galvanized steel metal for structure, plated steel shafts, and Copper metal in motor and small fraction of Aluminum in other parts. These metal materials are recyclable but Copper in motor may inhibit steel recycling. The electronic component also contributes to environmental impact and consists mainly on printed electronic board (PWB) and some electronics. However, the electronic components only make the 3% weight of the printers in total (William et al 2005). The electronics in printers consist on few PWB; usually six and weighing about 250 grams. The circuit boards are made of few mm thick epoxy coated glass fiber cloth laminate plated with copper but these are free of lead. The process of circuit board manufacturing consists on FR4 laminate process; a complex and popular laminate substrate manufacture process. The process is a wet processing method consisting on masking, lithography, plating, and electronics im planting to create a printed circuit board. The epoxy is usually mixed with a bromide flame retardant. The standard FR4 boards are one ounce or two ounce copper type depending upon the amount of Copper per square foot used in their manufacturing. The residual Copper is stripped away from the circuit board once print has been developed. The average weight of circuit board weighs about 10-15 grams depending upon the size of the board. About eight liter of water is used in the manufacture of a printers boards (Industry information). The soldering material is used to mount electronic components on circuit boards (Lehman 2007). According to manufacturer information, the soldering material required to manufacture a printers board amount about 0.000202446 KWh/Cm2 of PWB (HP 2009). However, it is calculation for lead free solder and VOC free flux which is environmentally friendly and require more energy requirement. Connecting wires and cables in printer also contain Copper (average less th an 100 grams). Normally more than sixteen semiconductors are used in printers. These are mostly made of plastic (HP 2009). The LCA of a printer has been outlined in figure (12) starting from its manufacture to the end of life. The life cycle of the printer defines the material and energy associated with the printer over its life cycle from the extraction, collection of the raw material at production site, production process, its use, reuse, recycling or disposal at the end of life and its contribution in the global carbon foot print. In a real sense, the LCA of printer is an analysis of the material and energy flow till the end of product life. The packaging and shipping of printers also contribute to the carbon print and make a contribution in their life cycle (Hischier 2007). The packaging consists on cardboard box, paperboard, and paper manual and polystyrene restraints (PEPI 2008). There may be strips of paper cuttings as been used to secure printer packaging in the past. Shipping and transportation of printer also contribute in the carbon print of the global warming. Figure 1; LCA Figure 2; Printer Life Cycle phases In our assignment we assume that printers are manufactured in China and distributed all over the world. The environmental impact of a printer may be classified into phases. The primary phases of paper use, ink cartridges and electricity and waste products are contributory to the LCA of a printer. The printers use paper, ink and electricity through out of their life cycle. The cartridges consist on polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) glass filled polyester and electronics. Mostly, LCA of a product is focused to find out impact on carbon foot printing (Guinee 2001). According to a research conducted by HP on its inkjet printer LCA, paper has a significant contribution in carbon foot printing (HP 2009). Contribution to carbon foot printing is a global terminology to find out environmental impact of a product during its lifecycle (Fussler 1996). An inventory table has been reprocessed by taking information from two resources (See table 1for printer and table 2 3 for Cartridge and packaging) . Item Mass(Grams) Note Metals(Total) 910 Steel 696 Aluminum 165 Copper 49 Motor Winding Plastic(Total) 2179 Recyclable 1887 Non-Recyclable 292 ABS 163 HIPS 1472 Others plastics 544 Includes elastomers etc Others Genera 144 Electronics(Total) 507 Including external cable and power supply. Printer Total 3740 Recyclable(Total) 2947 Includes recyclable metals, plastics, copper etc. Recyclable (%) 79% Table 1 (Inventory table reproduced by information sourced Jason et al 2005; William et al 2002) Ratio between recyclable and non-recyclable material in an inkjet printer Figure 3; Comparison between recycleable and non-recycable material Inventory table reproduced by information sourced Jason et al 2005; William et al 2002 Cartridge Material Item Mass (gram) Note Plastics(total) 20 PET+ 15% GF 20 Other Plastics Other Generals(total) Electronics 4 Ink 21 Black 21 g/Color 42 g Cartridge Total 45 Table 2 (Jason et al 2005; William et al 2002) Printer Packaging Table 3 Printer Packaging Item Mass(gram) Note Polystyrene 0.014 Shipping restrain Polycarbonate 0.015 CD Paperboard/Cardboard 0.881 Office paper 0.107 Manual etc Packaging(Total) 1.017 Table 3 Jason et al 2005; William et al 2002) We can describe the impact of printer by dividing it into three phases; paper usage impacts, electricity usage and the management of waste products. According to historical data, the usage of paper has increased to three fold over the last three decades (Mckinny 1995). The paper has been used as a main source of information storage since ancient Egyptians invented the papyrus, the Chinese make it more perfect by large scale paper manufacture and Gutenberg invented the printing press (Saaty 1980). However, the global warming has increased the importance of paperless terminology and most of organizations and utility firms are switching to the paperless strategies (Newton 1993). There are three significant way to assess the environmental impact of a product (James 1997). These are known as eco-point, eco-cost and eco-compass. In life cycle environmental cost analysis (LCECA), the eco costs are included into the total cost of the product. The eco-cost are the sum of direct and in-direct costs of the environmental impacts caused by the product in its entire life cycle. The aim of the LCECA is to find out alternative design, model and parts which are eco-friendly. Actually, it is true analysis as impacts on environment does cost us like waste management or the health hazards to the public etc. In our example of the Ink jet printer, we can add the cost of health hazards of ink, disposal cost and use of electricity in the actual cost of the printer to find out the LCECA. For example an inkjet printer may be cheap at its initial price than other printer but may cost more on the basis of its environmental impacts than other printer which are expensive at the beginning but is energy efficient and less negative to the environment. Energy efficient product is environmentally friendly as it produces less carbon print (NUON 2009). The other system which is mostly used in UK is the eco point system to find out the environmental impacts of a product. A score is fixed for each impact of the product. Then the score are calculated and sum up to find out the resultant impact of a product. The score mentions the actual eco points of a product on the environment. UK eco point system is an established methodology and internationally accepted. The eco points are calculated from the LCA of a product. The process of eco point calculation is not very straight forward but not very complicated. The characterized data is found out in the form of units (e.g. climate, vapors etc) divided by the norm (UK impacts per person). Then it is multiplied by a weighting to convert into eco points. For example, if we want to assess the environmental impacts of our product; Ink jet printer, then we will calculate eco points for each impact se parately and then sum them up to make resultant eco point. The third method to find out the environmental impact is called as eco compass method. In this method the sustainability of the product design is assessed to assess the environmental impact of a product. A sustainable product design (SPD) is defined as the design which is economical, environmentally friendly and socially liked (Tassoul 1998). A SPD is not a simple design but it is an innovative, creative and efficient. It requires the efforts of various business sectors such as policy makers, business strategies, managers. A SPD can provide better positive impact on environment. For example, in case of our produce: Inkjet printer, A SPD may be a printer with least harmful ink, very efficient on energy consumption and with least waste material. The impact of printer usage on environment can be best understood by considering carbon print produced as a result of energy usage during its manufacture, use and then in waste disposal. All stages of printer should be considered starting from, printer manufacture to the end of printer life. None of the stages can be ignored as ignoring any phase will not count the actual amount of CO2 production at that stage. For example, if we ignore manufacturing stage then we can ignore the Co2 produced at manufacturing stage of the printer. The printers industrial, commercial or domestic use some chemicals in the form of ink which is harmful to the environment and human health (Dias 2004). These chemical are hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic and also cause significant damage to lungs, skin and nervous tissues if exposed for long time. The harmful materials used in printer also contain very hazadorous material including Silver, Phosphoric acid and Isopropyl alcohol. However, the things are changing now; the printing industry has started to look at less harmful solutions. One of such measures is the waterless printing. The waterless technology reduces VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions by 98 %. The VOC are the major contributor in formation of low level Ozone (Counsell et al 2007). The low level ozone can cause respiratory problems and aggravate asthma and other respiratory diseases. The VOC are gasses consisting on harmful chemicals with negative health effects. These chemicals cause environmental pollution by spreading p etroleum based ink dies (Erbes 1996). Petroleum based inks have been the traditional choice in the printing industry. These inks are not considered as environmentally friendly. The other disadvantages of petroleum based inks are the use of non-renewable resource-petroleum. There has been a revolution in ink improvement in print industry. These inks are vegetable based and soy based inks and release few fractions of VOC. Printers have environmental impacts which should be minimized. Socially we can adopt environmentally friendly behavior if we adopt certain attitudes towards the use of printers. First of all less paper can be used if double sided printing is used (UC 2009). Therefore, duplex printing should be preferred. Now-a-days, there is universal attitude to go paperless. A lot of options are available in the form of CDs, flash memory sticks, HDD and memory cards. An attitude to recycle cartridges may reduce waste and pollution. The trend has increased and most of manufacturers are accepting used cartridges for recycling. The used cartridges may be re-filled and reused. The manufacturers may be encouraged to manufacture such cartridges which can be used again by re-filling ink. The reuse and recycling of the cartridges may reduce the landfill by cartridge plastics and thus can save landfill and resources. Ink refills are also available in mega fill packs reducing the packaging and waste fill. In addition to saving on paper and cartridges, electricity is another consideration. Energy efficient printers with energy saving modes are available and should be used in preferable way. In short, the LCA of inkjet printer has provided enough information on environmental impacts of inkjet printer from manufacturing to the end of life and then disposal. The LCA of a printer has provided us enough information to review, revise and plan environmentally friendly design of a printer. It also indicates less harmful priorities and choices during life cycle of a printer. For example double sided printing will be environmentally friendly than single sided printing. Double amount of paper will be consumed in single sided printing. To use double sided printing mechanical design and/or software may need updating. Next consideration may be the nature of paper. Paper generated from wood pulp has much impact on environment (Szabo 2009). Therefore, paper generated from non-wood fibers should be used for better environmental effects (Abramovitz et al 1999). Again printer design may need to change to adapt non-wood paper use. The second major contributor of environmental impacts in LC A of a printer is the electricity. An automatic solution is saver mode where printer turns off automatically when it is not in use. However, the user should also adopt the habit of turning off printer when it is not in use. The act of turning off printer when not in use will save approximately half of the environmental impact caused by a cartridge during its life cycle (William et al 2002). In addition to that, printer which do not used electricity when in off mode should be promoted. The current study also suggested the use of vegetable origin ink cartridges to reduce environmental impact. Similarly saving paper and cardboard by multi-items pack will also help to reduce environmental impact. It would be better to mention life cycle costs on cartridge pack to convince user about environmental impacts of ink. At the end of product life, the reuse and recycling of various materials should be promoted. The selection of material at manufacturing stage becomes important as it may provide chance to select sustainable material that can be reused or recycled. References Counsell. T., Allwood.J.2007. Reducing climate change gas emissions by cutting out stages in the life cycle of office paper. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. (49)340-352. Dias.2004. Evolution of the environmental performance of printing and writing paper using life cycle assessment. Management of environmental Quality journal. (15)473-483. Hischier.R. 2007. Life cycle inventories of packagings and graphical papers. Dubendrof. Lehman.M.2007. Life cycle inventories of electric and electronic equipment. Dubendrof. Szabo, L.2009. A world model of the pulp and paper industry. Environmental Science and Policy (12)257-269.

History and Story Telling in Graham Swifts Waterland Essay -- Waterla

History and Story Telling in Graham Swift's Waterland Waterland uses history, theory, and fictional biography to address the question of history. The blurring of boundaries between history, story, and theory questions the construction of those boundaries as well as the closure and linear nature of traditional narrative. If Waterland has a beginning, it is far in the geologic past, at a time when the continents began their slow journey to the positions they now occupy; however, the novel itself does not begin at this beginning. Waterland moves forward and backward through geologic, historic, and biographic time. By denying the linearity and absolute authority of historical narrative, Swift leaves room for rupture and revision, for stories and nostalgia. The historical and biographical accounts provide a context for the philosophy and theory that the narrator interjects throughout the novel; the philosophy and theory facilitate the leaps in time between geologic, historic, and biographic past. Swift's mingling of (what appears to be) a "r eal" geologic history of the fens and the fictional accounts of the Crick and Atkinson families blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction, turning history into fiction and placing fiction within a "real" historical account. (footnote 1) Waterland, as a novel, makes the same proposal that Tom Crick makes to his class: to discover and reveal the purpose of history by telling a story. The study of semiotics shows that language is the primary mediator in the construction of reality. All systems of signification are dependent on language, and the development of subject position is determined through the act of speaking. (footnote 2) In a discussion of language functions, Fredric Jameson d... ... Tom Crick are purely fictional; however, the possibility remains that they may be fictionalized biographical incidents based on events that occurred to or are known by the author, Graham Swift. This further complicates the blurring of boundaries between fiction and "reality." footnote 2 See the work of Jacques Lacan and Emile Benveniste. footnote 3 I am not limiting Tom Crick's subject position to only three possibilities; I only offer these as three possibilities from a multiplicity. footnote 4 I am fascinated by the idea of Sarah Atkinson's stories and have been telling myself her possible stories. Were her mysterious "appearances" Sarah's stories come to life because she could not "tell" them? Did she find another way to articulate her stories? Did she hear the stories others told and (re)tell them, inserting herself into the narrative?

Kerouac’s Spontaneous Prose and the Post-War Avant-Garde Essay

Kerouac’s Spontaneous Prose and the Post-War Avant-Garde My title comes from one of Kerouac’s own essays, â€Å"Aftermath: The Philosophy of the Beat Generation,† which he published in Esquire in March 1958. In it, he identifies the Beats as subterranean heroes who’d finally turned from the ‘freedom’ machine of the West and were taking drugs, digging bop, having flashes of insight, experiencing the ‘derangement of the senses,’ talking strange, being poor and glad, prophesying a new style for American culture, a new style (we thought) completely free from European influences (unlike the Lost Generation), a new incantation. (Kerouac, â€Å"Aftermath† 47) Kerouac’s â€Å"new style for American culture† was the spontaneous prose method he developed in 1952, a dazzling fusion of the colloquial and the literary that utilized stylistic strategies drawn from movies, comic strips, pulp fiction, and jazz. But, fifty years on, Kerouac’s stylistic brilliance has still not been fully recognized. His reputation still rests, unfortunately, on his two most commercial novels, On the Road and The Dharma Bums. Neither of these novels is spontaneous prose. One version of On the Road was, indeed, written in a three week period on a 100 foot scroll of teletype paper, but Kerouac developed spontaneous prose after this famous scroll experiment; furthermore, the version of On the Road that was finally published in 1957 had been significantly revised several more times in the intervening years (Hunt 1). As Kerouac said in a 1968 interview, â€Å"In the days of Malcolm Cowley, with On the Road and The Dharma Bums, I had no power to stand by my style for better or worse. When Malcolm Cowley made endless revisions... ...ris Review. New York: The Modern Library, 1999. ---. Selected Letters, 1940-1956. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. --- Selected Letters, 1957-1969. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Landau, Ellen. Jackson Pollock . New York: Abrams, 1989. MacAdams, Lewis. Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde. New York: The Free Press, 2001. Mackey, Nathaniel. â€Å"Other: From Noun to Verb.† The Jazz Cadence of American Culture. Ed. R.G. O’Meally. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Miles, Barry. Jack Kerouac, King of the Beats: A Portrait. New York: Henry Holt, 1998. Rosenthal, David. Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955-1965. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Stone, Robert. â€Å"American Dreamers: Melville and Kerouac.† Beat Down to Your Soul. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Penguin, 2001.

Discussing Bresslers definition of Marxism as a literary theory :: essays papers

Discussing Bresslers definition of Marxism as a literary theory Marxism is not the hot topic it once was. With the collapse of Communist U.S.S.R., mainstream North America had thought it had seen the last of Marxism and the communist party. However, with the People's Republic of China becoming a reality, those early beliefs may have proven to be premature. Defining Marxism is not difficult. Marxism is the belief that the common workingman (the proletariat) is under a rule of tyranny by the upper class owners (the bourgeois.) Someday (according to Marx) the proletariats will rise up, overthrow the bourgeois and create a society of communism. Communism is the political idea in where a society would be controlled mostly by the government. Personal property would not be allowed and therefore eliminate the bourgeois; a utopian society in which every man works for the common good. Marxists believe that (based on the works of Karl H. Marx) everything we do or think is influenced by the bourgeois. This is simple. Marxism becomes difficult when defining it as a literary theory. The original intentions of Marx were those of social and political revolution. Many of Marx's followers however, were and are scholars. Therefore the transition from a social economic theory to a school of literary criticism was inevitable. Charles Bressler is faced with this seeming difficult task of defining Marxism as a literary school of thought. Bressler attempts to define and explain Marxism as a school of literary thought by examining past Marxists, the assumptions which one must adopt and the methodology (as he does with every chapter.) He succeeds in some places and fails in others. Bressler's definition of Marxism is as follows, "[the belief] that reality itself can be can be defined and understood, society shapes our consciousness, social and economic conditions directly influence how and what we believe and value, and Marxism details a plan for changing the world from a place of bigotry, hatred and conflict due to class struggle to a classless society where wealth, opportunity, and education are accessible for all people". Bressler does a decent job here. He defines Marxism as it was originally intended: an economic and social view of culture and its influences. He provides a clear, simple definition of Marxism which is easily understandable. After this however, Bressler's chapter begins to fall apart. He succeeds in giving a brief description of Marxist events and theorists, but fails in his assumptions and methodology.

Accountability Issue of Petronas

Accountability issue of PETRONAS-Transparency 1. According to the article written by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, a politician from Sabah who was a Vice President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat when he wrote this article. He said that Petronas agreements have been classified as secret. The clauses in the agreement are shielded from public scrutiny, this leads to transparency issue arise and making it an organization without public accountability. For example, 80% of the oil produced by Petronas is not sold directly to the world market but is channeled through six ‘option holders' who obtain the supply from Petronas at below market prices.Only 20% of the oil produced by Petronas is sold through direct open bidding. Because of this arrangement, Petronas is not maximizing its revenue by dealing direct with the open world market. Instead, it has been incurring incalculable losses for the nation and for the people. How much this huge loss is, we will never know. It is understood that this s upply through the option holders is sold by contracts with a binding agreement for 20 or 30 years, causing huge losses for Petronas when oil price increases, as Petronas would then have to continue selling at the old agreed price.Because of the agreement (contract) is not disclose to the public, thus, the public do not know who these option holders are and why they are in the first place. Besides, the public also wondering that are these people representing certain private interests? Because of the non transparent of Petronas agreements, many questions have been raised and the public think Petronas is a huge organization which is not accountable and secretive. 2. The annual report of Petronas is not in detail. For example, we can make a comparison between the 2011 annual report of Shell and 2011 annual report of Petronas.As we can see from the picture below, the related party disclosure of Shell is more detail than Petronas. Shell discloses the company name that where the sale to an d where the purchase from, however, Petronas just disclose the sale and purchases in general. This also means that Petronas annual report lack of transparency. In addition, Shell annual report also provides a detailed information of company properties, whereas, Petronas did not provide this information in annual report. | |

How Small Coffee Shops Can Succeed Using Social Media Essay

Every peerless has a topical anesthetic hot chocolate shop that they consider to be their favourite. That integrity ass where they know theyll be wel lie withd with pi championer arms and the flock behind the incompatible know their name (or at to the lowest degree their face). The place that even if their coffee tree tree be almost double as very much as Tim Hortons (Starbucks) that this is the place theyll forever inspire to their friends. A a couple of(prenominal) years ago, it was intimately impossible for a local coffee shop to compete with the deep liquid ecstasy coffee shops. Today, even the smallest cafe with the a very little marketing reckon fanny compete. All they need is a story value telling and of course, a coffee worth brewing. If they piss those, the clients go out control coming back the principal(prenominal) concern is usually getting them thither in the first place. Here be some ways that accessible media asshole be utilized to help loca l coffee shops compete with the big players. two Tweets and One SugarAs I write this post, chirp has bend one of the biggest buzzwords of the year. How ever, the buzz isnt unwarranted. twitter is one of the largest social networking channels in conjugation Ameri skunk consisting more than than 15Million accounts. And while its cool off in its infancy it provides ancestryes an unparalleled hazard to communicate with consumers and current nodes in real-time. So what does this mean for coffee shops? It means that they move communicate more effectively than ever with consumers. If that means setting up a search that tracks their sword and sending a simple thank you or vent as far as fetching a pre-order, so be it.Twitter gives these brands a chance to create a personal connection with their consumers and make their brand worth talking round. By cosmos active in the twitter familiarity an opportunity exists for coffee shops to offer their distance for events such(prenomi nal) as tweet ups. Hosting these break slew events at your venue not besides gaurantee that youll be selling your products, but also guarantees some buzz (tweets) about your brand. On top of that, some of these naked customers were in all carelihood never in your shop in their life however, because you got involved in twitter and hosted this event you were up to(p) to attract new customers to acknowledge your shop. What more can you crave for? Im glad you asked.How about 1 Blog Latte mend communicateging can be an central wear of a social media outline, its not worth having if you dont have a strategy behind it. If your main cultivation is to develop an online community it might be in your best interest to web log about different beans or possibly do a Wine library TV segment umber Style. However, if your strategy is focused around getting more butts in your cafes seats, it might be in your best interest to discuss offers on the blog. As cracking as a blog can be for an makeup it can also be their downfall. A company that views their blog as universe a prominent way to except talk about their brand and how great they are pass on never catch out readers. Well whitethornbe theyll have their married person and employees but customers wont be interested. If you can provide your readers with something of value they leave return. I often tell people looking to start a blog to try and offer the three Es of Social Media.Entertainment, Education or EngagementAn Extra Large FacebookFacebook has die the grand-daddy of them all when it comes to social networks. It has new-fashionedly gone from being a questionable place to have your brand, to a necessity for umteen companies in the food industry. With its most recent changes to the facebook pages it has become obvious that brand bear on facebook is back. Brands are now able to create facebook pages with more customization than ever and real deepen their relationship with their customers . The frazzle-dazzle applications arent the lonesome(prenominal) way for a local coffee shop to set itself a separate from other stores. It can also use Facebook to promote other content that they have created.This means they can post associate to their blog, videos, pictures and even coupons reaching an audience that may not be present on the other social networking channels. With that said, we cant forget the meat and potatoes that Facebook was built upon. The index to get your message out to a number of people is one of the describe reasons why businesses have found such success on facebook. Those tweetups we discussed earlier can easily be cross-promoted using a Facebook event. The opportunities available on facebook are great its up to you, to turn them into something remarkable.Whose your Manager city manager?Foursquare is the new kid on the block in the social media world. It depart be the most talked about social networking platform for the rest of this year and go a way definitely be playing a big part in some(prenominal) social media plans. James Hoffman explains on his blog why, You have people competitively tour you, talking about you. More than that in that respect is a pretty sensible business model in there too, centre that foursquare could well be around in a few years. Coffee shops seemed pretty quick to treat twitter, and it will be interesting to see if that experience has soured social media for them, or if theyll embrace foursquare too. Something tells me that theyll embrace foursquare like a seat-belt embraces impact.Mayorship TechCrunchOne of my favourite manoeuvre that coffee shops can use in Foursquare is promoting the idea of becoming mayor. The bedrock behind this tactic is that you tell the consumers that if they become the mayor of your shop they get their beverages for free. see that there is an incentive now for sledding to the shop more and more Youve lastly created a competition that will keep the people swarm ing your shop. The whole idea of providing customers with rewards for dedication has been going on for years. This race to be the mayor however, memorizes customer loyalty, flips it upside down and turns it into a competition.Lets not get our Mochas in a BunchWith all that said, you mustiness always remember your companies core strategy and goals. These channels discussed above may take a similar route as hi5 or geocities in a few years time. For that reason, it is important to not endue all your eggs into one basket. Facebook is already talking about their new draw that will be the Foursquare Killer. (Keep your eyeball open) Finally, remember that the value you provide your customer in the store will always out weight the value you can provide them with a social networking tool. sequence its important to do things to get your customers in the door its just as important to make sure theyll want to come back.

Employee Rewards Essay

IntroductionThe purpose of this essay is to livelyly poke into the processes subprogramd by Scotia learning and identify if their recompenses be appropriate to those of the marketplace. The report volition begin by discussing the background of Scotia study and follow on to mark dedicateoff circumspection soaringlighting the objective and constraints deep trim the reenforce st straddlegy. We volition then consider the effective frame campaign and examine why there atomic number 18 variations in deliver and how pargonnthoodage rating buns figure equity and fairness is achieved. Finally we will discuss the concept of motivation and the implications of even out for surgical operation in spite of appearance the reward strategy. The report ends with an analysis of the detect issues of the maskingic. Scotia skill is the case study for this essay and is mavin of a net ply of university- base study centres offering breeding for students wishing to study infr agraduate and postgraduate degrees for feeler into university degree courses. The comp either has joint venture partnerships with top universities throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and United States of America.Reward forethought is concerned with the crapulation and implementation of strategies and policies that aim to reward pack fairly, equitably and consistently in accord with their shelter to the establishment (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007, p3). Research by Redman & Wilkinson (2009) indicates that reward is an enormously complex issue and has to take count on of three fundamental principles in determining agreements and structures upcountry equity, external equity and commerce strategy. In extension Thorpe & Homan (2000) terra firma that the scheme should identify what objectives and deportments the chip inment frame should take a route for example, labour market competitiveness and perplexity skills whilst Perkins & White (2009) highlight the splendor of l evelheaded regulations that earth-closet put constraints on organisations, for example minimum take (legal), collective bargaining (trade concretions), and the external labour markets.Scotia study does non recognise a trade union but it does recognise that collective bargaining has been prestigious in discussing and setting wear ar seethement referable to congenital and external rates of indemnify not being live. at heart the employment legislation carry has always been an argona of contr everyplacesy especially when genius considers employees collective concerns (Brown et al., 2003). The introduction of The Equal fee Act 1970 outlawing unequal invent for men and women having since evolved into equal profit for equal work and the Equal brook (Amendment) Regulations 1983 after the UK joined the EU in 1973 (Perkins & White, 2009), today gives employees a certain degree of protection in their employment relationship.To strengthen current legislation The comp atomic number 18 Act 2010 was introduced highlighting human rights and discriminatory factors, such as equal comport, sex discrimination, race, disability and comparability (religion, sexual orientation, and age) ( comparison and Human Rights Commission, 2012). In response to this Scotia attainment are aware that they cede a business of care to all employees and comply with the Equal Opportunities form _or_ organisation of government by ensuring the relevant provision is undertaken by film directors and employees ensuring everyone understands the importance of and their responsibilities under this Policy. This is in like manner promoted in all enlisting documents, ensuring that wording of furrow advertisements does not discriminate against any potential appli burn downts.As part of this legislation, employers are licitly affectd to ensure their pay structures are not discriminatory against men and women in terms of valuing work betwixt them in their employment and in nine t o defend themselves against equal pay comes, organisations must be able to prove that the jobs inwardly their grading system are valued according to the job sooner than the gender of the person doing the job. Failure to adhere to these regulations can buoy result in a tribunal claim and if proven the organisation will see to pay all money accrued which can be back assured sise days in England and five years in Scotland. In the case of (Birmingham City Council v Abdulla and former(a)s 2012 UKSC 47), the Supreme Court ruled that equal pay claims brought in the High Court to a greater extent than six months after the end of the claimants employment, which would accommodate been out of era in an employment tribunal, should not be struck out under section 2(3) of the Equal correct Act 1970.The reasons for a claimants failure to bring a timely claim in a tribunal are not relevant in any way to the notion of convenience under section 2(3). (PLC interlocking Law Weekly email). Within Scotia Learning pay and benefits are provided on the initiation of objective criteria, free from discrimination taking into storey the principle of equal pay for equivalent work or work of equal value. In rundown we ensure transparency at bottom the reward system is clear to all employees in that they understand how their pay is worked out and what is required from them to achieve this. Job profiles and person specifications for from each one new vacancy are cadaverous up in keeping with other jobs of a similar size and accountability which focus on the skills, experience and qualifications that are directly relevant to the job. Armstrong & Murlis (2007, p115) state that the payment system is important as it not only conveys a signal to the employees what the organisational priorities are nevertheless(prenominal) in addition acts as a catalyst for wider organisational exchange a becharm reiterated by Armstrong (1996) in which he proposes that the foundations of re ward management are to achieve the various(prenominal) and organisational behaviour that a conjunction needs if the business goals are to be met.Therefore the term employees are the key to elicitd organisational procedure becomes relevant with think to Kessler and Purcell (1994) where they emphasise that payment systems are link up to recruitment, computer storage and motivation of staff and that the determination of pay is not only the interaction of market forces only also employers. It is also acknowledged that variations in pay can occur for a variety of reasons and from a legal perspective it is important to understand why (Redman & Wilkinson, 2009). foremost the power scenario, in that if labour is scarce, employees will have more power and hence may be able to demand higher pay, in billet with an over-supply of labour employers have the power and hence may be able to hold pay at lower rates (Redman & Wilkinson, 2009). Secondly, it has been acknowledged that the rat e for the job should be the same for employees doing the same job but considering organisational consummation is reliant on the employees effort, skills and competencies, it is not logical to assume that effort should be rewarded and pay should vary accordingly.A view shared by Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p161) who advocate that variable pay schemes (VPS) are tell to hold out the promise towards the creation of inseparable labour market that is fairer in rewarding people as it is only fair that rewards should have a direct link with effort. The motive with this conjecture is that risk adverse workers will be less willing to gamble on pay related capital punishment than a set amount of pay. Thirdly, we should also take into consideration the external market rate of pay and uneven market pressures such as differing regional or occupational rates of pay as Kessler (2007, p167) states external equity is an organisational imperative as failure to respond the labour market changes wil l leave organisations at a disadvantage competitively. Scotia Learning responds to these challenges by regularly benchmarking and studying the market rate of pay inside the educational sphere. selective information collected is beneficial in determining pay to ensure pay scales are in line with and competitive with similar jobs.For example, when recruiting teaching staff, the use of organisations such as SATEFL and other educational websites are peculiarly useful, for administration staff we would use S1jobs.com and jobseeker.gov.uk website and with management we would use agencies. However, although the aforesaid strategy is very useful, Scotia Learning is a relatively large organisation with Centres worldwide and other factors have to be taken into consideration, such as location and cost of living. In determining the value of jobs within our organisation, although we consider the external market pay rates, lasts concerning pay are done through a coherent wage and line of achie vement structure internal to our organisation which ensures consistency and fairness in our reward systems. It has been reported that issues with this reward system have arisen within the banking sector resulting in Government intervention to quite a little with inequalities of pay setting at senior management/director level and low pay via the subject minimum wage.This is not an area of concern for Scotia Learning as the yearly salary increase is a % rate consistent throughout the organisation and our pay structure process involves a job paygrade a systematic process for establishing the relative worthy of jobs within an organisation Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p141). In addition Scotia Learning is accredited to the British Council and British Accreditation Council and all HR policies and personnel files are properly documented and filed. Our job evaluation comprises of an analytical (i.e., jobs are broken down into single(a) components) broad-band pay structure with a range of factors such as knowledge and skills, problem solving, decision making and then allocating points to them. It is affaireing to smell that enquiry by IRS (2007) showed that an average of 86% of organisations use this form of job evaluation. Within this broad-band pay structure we have 6 wide overlapping salary bands make up of management, HR, teaching staff, finance, student services and clean staff with a salary range for each bank of at least 75%. promotion up the bands will be by skills and qualifications, performance and competence enhanced through individual career education thus supplying the motivation for unvarying learning. To fight back this, the annual performance review takes place, however it is not colligate to pay or rewards and is based on the objectives of skills and competence which are linked to organisational performance. In terms of equity and fairness the rate of pay for full-time and part-time teaching staff is metrical on the same periodic rate conse quently ensuring consistency and fairness within the system. It is interesting to note that research by Redman & Wilkinson (2009, p139) argues that by paying an hourly rate employers control over pace and performance is reliant on either direct lapse or the willingness of employees to engage with the task synonymous with the argument surrounding risk adverse workers.This point of view may be viable in organisations such as call centres where technology enables the monitoring and adjust of work by measuring output and scuttlebutt and within the customer service industry where we have the secret shopper, but within the education sector autonomy is part of the job as is their pro code of ethics which includes commitment, motivation and discretionary behaviour which is contradictory to the argument by Thorpe & Homan (2000) who suggest that non-financial aspects are secondary and ra bank given the same lump in the design of payment systems. Managing rewards is largely nearly managi ng employee expectations linking to their psychological contract which is concerned with pay, performance and the culture of skills (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007).The argument then becomes, if reactions to rewards depend on the psychological makeup, values and needs of individual, one cannot wholly rely on performance related pay schemes to enhance all employees performance as not everyone is make by money. Motivation only takes place if rewards are worthwhile to the individual and if the process is seen to be fair, therefore, it would require to be customised for every individual in the organisation (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007). For example, an employee nearing the end of their career may be more interested in job satisfaction ( intrinsical reward), whereas a graduate beginning their career may be more interested in training and development (extrinsic reward).For that reason it can be argued that both intrinsic rewards such as respect, recognition, job satisfaction and responsibility a re just as important as extrinsic rewards such as pay rises, bonuses, training and development opportunities and benefits such as annual holidays, company sick pay and company pension. This highlights the importance of implementing an trustworthy and fair reward strategy in that by incorporating financial and non-financial rewards is that they can be used as a tool to enhance employee motivation resulting in improved organisational performance. Finally the importance of management skills cannot be undermined as they are a fundamental agent of human resource management. The management strategy within Scotia Learning is based on autonomy, communication and high levels of trust between management and employees. Evidence to support this is the turnover rate of staff with one employee resigning over the past two years and the annual absence levels within Scotia Learning for all staff inclusive stands at 0.1% of working hours, which is the lowest in the inviolate organisation.Conclusi onThis objective of the report was to establish the processes that ensure equity and fairness in the reward systems. We have covered the legal aspects, strategies, market awareness, motivation, job evaluation and performance appraisal and it has become evident that Scotia Learning complies with all legal legislation, and displays equity and fairness within the reward systems. However there was an air of negativity surrounding performance and reward as within Scotia Learning the annual appraisal is not that connected to pay for performance. It is possible that issues could arise if this was implemented, namely, it could naughtily affect the dynamics of the constituent environment between a very closely-nit team of employees, managers and directors in that, how does the manager justify their decision in the event of a low reward without affecting the equilibrium of the office environment and within a unionised organisation all trade unions argue against performance linked to pay.Sc hemes relating pay to performance, although generating a tremendous amount of interest have very little in the way of conclusive evidence concerning their effects on performance (Redman & Wilkinson, (2009). This echoes Thompson (1992) findings in which he states, research fails to provide convert evidence of a link between individual performance-related pay schemes and improvements in productivity. The evidence supports that other approaches should be considered in rewarding employees, for example a one-off bonus payment which would not affect the employees annual salary.ReferencesArmstrong, M. (1996) Employee Reward, London Kogan Page/IPD Armstrong, M., and Murlis, H. (2007) Reward precaution. 5thedn. London hay Group Brown, W., Marginson, P., and Walsh, J. (2003) The management of pay as the knead of collective bargaining diminishes. In P.K. Edwards, Industrial relations Theory and Practice, Oxford Blackwell IRS (2007) Job evaluation is thriving, survey finds occupation Review, 667 Kessler, I. (2007) Reward Choices strategy and equity. In Storey, J. HRM a critical text 3rd edition, London Thomson Learning Kessler, I., and Purcell, J. (1994) exertion Related make Objectives and application, Human Resource commission Journal, Vol.2, No.3 Perkins, S. J., and White, G. (2009) Employee Reward Alternatives, consequences and contexts, 2nd edn. London Chartered land Of Personnel and Development, Redman, T., and Wilkinson, A. (2009) Contemporary Human Resource Management Text & Cases, 3rd edn. London Prentice Hall, Thompson, M. (1992) Pay for Performance The employers experience, Brighton, Institute of Manpower Studies Thorpe, R., and Homan, G (2000) strategical Reward Systems, Harlow Financial Times Williams, S., and Adam-Smith, D. (2006) Contemporary Employment Relations A critical introduction, Oxford University Press Equality of Human Rights Commission, available from http//www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/ date accessed 23/10/12 PLC Employment La w, available from employmentemail.practicallaw.com date accessed 26/10/12