Organizational Structure Questions and Exercises Essay Example

Organizational Structure: Questions and Exercises Essay Download this Document for Free training in time management; and training to think more positively and realistically about sources of job stress. Tentative evidence suggests that these applications are useful in reducing physiological arousal, sleep disturbances, and self-reported tension and anxiety. E. Work-Life Balance Programs An increasing number of organizations are providing work-life balance programs and employees are beginning to demand them.These are programs that are designed to help employees’ lead more productive and balanced lives and can include mental and physical fitness programs, coffee bars, and cafeteria health food. Work-life programs are believed to result in lower-health care costs in part due to stress reduction. 60 Chapter 14: Organizational Structure Chapter Summary Questions and Exercises prepared by Alan Saks. I. What Is Organizational Structure? Organizational structure is the manner in which an organization divides its labour into specific tasks a nd achieves coordination among these tasks.It broadly refers to how the organization’s individuals and groups are put together or organized to accomplish work. Organizational structure intervenes between goals and organizational accomplishments and thus influences organizational effectiveness. Structure affects how effectively and efficiently group effort is coordinated. To achieve its goals, an organization has to divide labour among its members and then coordinate what has been divided. II. The Division and Coordination of Labour Labour has to be divided because individuals have physical and intellectual limitations. There are two basic dimensions to the division of labour, a ertical dimension and a horizontal dimension. Once labour is divided, it must be coordinated to achieve organizational effectiveness. A. Vertical Division of Labour The vertical division of labour is concerned primarily with apportioning authority for planning and decision making. A couple of key theme s or issues underlie the vertical division of labour. Autonomy and Control. The domain of decision making and authority is reduced as the number of levels in the hierarchy increases. A flatter hierarchy pushes authority lower and involves people further down the hierarchy in more decisions.Communication. As labour is progressively divided vertically, timely communication and coordination can become harder to achieve. As the number of levels in the hierarchy increases, filtering is more likely to occur. B. Horizontal Division of Labour The horizontal division of labour involves grouping the basic tasks that must be performed into jobs and then into departments so that the organization can achieve its goals. Just as organizations differ in the extent to which they divide labour vertically, they also differ in the extent of horizontal division of labour.A couple of key themes or issues underlie the horizontal division of labour. Job Design. Job design is an important component in the h orizontal division of labour. The horizontal division of labour strongly affects job design and it has profound implications for the degree of coordination necessary. It also has implications for the vertical division of labour and where control over work processes should logically reside. Differentiation. Differenti ation is the tendency for managers in separate functions or departments to differ in terms of goals, time spans, and interpersonal styles.As organizations engage in increased horizontal division of labour, they usually become more and more differentiated. C. Departmentation One way of grouping jobs is to assign them to departments. The assignment of jobs to departments is called departmentation. It represents one of the core aspects of horizontal division of labour. There are several methods of departmentation. Functional departmentation. Underfunctional departmentation, employees with closely related skills and responsibilities (functions) are located in the same depar tment. The main advantage of functional departmentation is efficiency.It works best in small to medium-sized firms that offer relatively few product lines or services. Product departmentation. Under product departmentation, departments are formed on the basis of a particular product, product line, or service. Each of these departments can operate fairly autonomously. A key advantage is better coordination and fewer barriers to communication among the functional specialists who work on a particular product line. They also have more potential for responding to customers in a timely way. A disadvantage is that product-oriented departments might actually work at cross purposes.Matrix departmentation. Matrix departmentation is an attempt to capitalize simultaneously on the strengths of both functional and product departmentation. Employees remain members of a functional department while also reporting to a product or project manager. As a result, it is very flexible. Problems could arise when product or project managers do not see eye-to-eye with various functional managers and because employees assigned to a product or project team in essence report to a functional manager as well as a product or project manager.Other Forms of Departmentation. Several other forms of departmentation also exist. Under geographic departmentation, relatively self-contained units deliver the organizations products or services in specific geographic territories. Under customer departmentation, relatively self-contained units deliver the organizations products or services to specific customer groups. The obvious goal is to provide better service to each customer group through specialization. Finally, it is not unusual to see hybrid departmentation, which involves some combination of these structures.In other words, a structure based on some mixture of functional, product, geographic, or customer departmentation. They attempt to capitalize on the strengths of various structures, while avo iding the weaknesses of others. D. Basic Methods of Coordinating Divided Labour The tasks that help organizations achieve its goals must be coordinated so that goal accomplishment is realized. Coor dination is the process of facilitating timing, communication, and feedback among work tasks. There are five basic methods of coordination. Direct Supervision. This is a very traditional form of coordination.Working through the chain of command, designated supervisors or managers coordinate the work of their subordinates. Standardization of Work Processes. Some jobs are so routine that the technology itself provides a means of coordination and little direct supervision is necessary for them to be coordinated. Work processes can also be standardized by rules and regulations. Standardization of Outputs. Coordination can also be achieved through the standardization of work outputs. The concern shifts to ensuring that the work meets certain physical and economic standards.Standardization of S kills. Coordination can be achieved through the standardization of skills. This is the case when technicians and professionals know what to expect of each other because of their standard training. Mutual Adjustment. Mutual adjustment relies on informal communication to coordinate tasks. It is useful for coordinating the most simple and the most complicated divisions of labour. 61 The five methods of coordinating divided labour can be crudely ordered in terms of the degree of discretion they permit individual workers in terms of task performance.Direct supervision permits little discretion. Standardization of processes and outputs permits successively more discretion. Finally, standardization of skills and mutual adjustment put even more control into the hands of those who are actually doing the work. E. Other Methods of Coordination Sometimes coordination problems require more customized, elaborate mechanisms. This is especially the case for lateral coordination across highly differ entiated departments. Integ ration is the process of attaining coordination across differentiated departments.In ascending order of elaboration, three methods of achieving integration include the use of liaison roles, task forces, and full-time integrators. Liaison Roles. A liaison role is occupied by a person in one department who is assigned, as part of his or her job, to achieve coordination with another department. The person serves as a part-time link between two departments. Task Forces and Teams. Task forces are temporary groups set up to solve coordination problems across several departments. Representatives from each department are included on a full-time or part-time basis. Integrators.I ntegr ators are organizational members who are permanently assigned to facilitate coordination between departments. They are especially useful for dealing with conflict between (1) highly interdependent departments, (2) which have very diverse goals and orientations, (3) in a very ambiguou s environment. II. Traditional Structural Characteristics Over the years, management scholars and practising managers have agreed on a number of characteristics that summarize the structure of organizations. A. Span of Control The span of control is the number of subordinates supervised by a manager.The larger the span, the less potential there is for coordination by direct supervision. As the span increases, the attention that a supervisor can devote to each subordinate decreases. Spans at the upper levels tend to be smaller. B. Flat versus Tall A flat organization refers to an organization with relatively few levels in its hierarchy of authority, while a tall organization refers to an organization with many levels in its hierarchy of authority. Thus, flatness versus tallness is an index of the vertical division of labour.Flatter structures tend to push decision-making powers downward and generally enhance vertical communication and coordination. C. Formalization Formalization refe rs to the extent to which work roles are highly defined by the organization. A very formalized organization tolerates little variability in the way members perform their tasks. Detailed, written job descriptions, thick procedure manuals, and the requirement to â€Å"put everything in writing† are evidence of formalization that stems from rules, regulations, and procedures.D. Centralization Centralization refers to the extent to which decision-making power is localized in a particular part of the organization. In the most centralized organization, the power for all key decisions would rest in a single individual, such as the president. In a more decentralized organization, decision- making power would be dispersed down through the hierarchy and across departments. E. Complexity Complexity refers to the extent to which organizations divide labour vertically, horizontally, and geographically.The essential characteristic of complexity is variety, and as an organization grows in c omplexity it has more kinds of people performing more kinds of tasks in more places, whether these places are departments or geographic territories. IV. Summarizing Structure Organic versus Mechanistic Mechanistic structures are organizational structures characterized by tallness, narrow spans, specialization, high centralization, and high formalization. Organic structures are organizational structures characterized by flatness, wider spans, fewer authority levels, less specialization, less formalization, and decentralization.In general, more mechanistic structures are called for when an organizations environment is more stable and its technology is more routine. Organic structures tend to work better when the environment is less stable and the technology is less routine. Many organizations, however, do not have only a single structure. Further, structure can and should change over time. When a large and established firm gets into a new line of business either on its own or by acqu iring a smaller and newer innovative firm, the innovative unit often requires some autonomy (i. e. differentiation) and a more organic structure than the established parent. As innovative units mature, they often tend to become more mechanistic and more integrated into the larger organization. V. Contemporary Organic Structures Recent years have seen the advent of new, more organic organizational structures. A. Network and Virtual Organizations In a network organization, various functions are coordinated as much by market mechanisms as by managers and formal lines of authority. Emphasis is placed on who can do what most effectively and economically rather than on fixed ties dictated by an organizational chart.All of the assets necessary to produce a finished product or service are present in the network as a whole, not held in-house by one firm. The most interesting networks are dynamic or virtual organizations. In a virtual organization an alliance of independent companies share sk ills, costs, and access to one another’s markets. It consists of a network of continually evolving independent companies. Each partner in a virtual organization contributes only in its area of core competencies. The key advantage of network and virtual organizations is their flexibility and adaptability.B. The Modular Organization A modular organization is an organization that performs a few core functions and outsources noncore activities to specialists and suppliers. Services that are often outsourced include the manufacture of parts, trucking, catering, data processing, and accounting. Thus, modular organizations are like hubs that are surrounded by networks of suppliers that can be added or removed as needed. By outsourcing noncore activities, modular organizations are able to keep unit costs low and develop new products more rapidly.They work best when they focus on the right specialty and have good suppliers. 62 C. The Boundaryless Organization In a boundaryless organiz ation, the boundaries that divide employees such as hierarchy, job function, and geography as well as those that distance companies from suppliers and customers are broken down. A boundaryless organization seeks to remove vertical, horizontal, and external barriers so that employees, managers, customers, and suppliers can work together, share ideas, and identify the best ideas for the organization.Instead of being organized around functions with many hierarchical levels, the boundaryless organization is made up of self-managing and cross- functional teams that are organized around core business processes that are critical for satisfying customers such as new-product development or materials handling. The traditional vertical hierarchy is flattened and replaced by layers of teams making the organization look more horizontal than vertical. Some believe that the boundaryless organization is the perfect organizational structure for the 21st century. VI.The Impact of Size Organizational size has a number of effects on the structure of organizations. A. Size and Structure In general, large organizations are more complex and less centralized than small organizations. Larger organizations have greater horizontal specialization and require more integrators and other coordination functions. Large organizations also rely more on formalization and often display greater vertical and geographic complexity. B. Downsizing A reduction in workforce size, popularly calleddownsizing, has been an organizational trend in recent years.Downsizing has a number of implications for organizational structure. Downsizing and Structure. Downsizing is the intentional reduction of workforce size with the goal of improving organizational efficiency or effectiveness. Downsizing usually results in a different organization, not just a smaller one. That is because there are different forces at work than those which drive growth. Also, white collar managerial and staff jobs have been hit hardest ch anging how organizations are structured. Downsizing is often accompanied by reducing horizontal and vertical complexity.Organizations become flatter and self-managed teams take over supervisory and quality control functions. Problems with Downsizing. There can be a downside to downsizing. Many organizations have not done a good job of anticipating and managing the structural and human consequences of downsizing. Organizations have a tendency to become mechanistic, particularly more formalized and centralized when threatened which works against needed flexibility in times of change. Firms may also be overzealous in their cutting and end up sub-contracting work to consultants which may be both inferior in quality and more expensive.Removing levels from the organization may be a good idea, provided that it doesnt overload the remaining staff and that everyone is comfortable with the greater levels of delegation required. Finally, the process of downsizing must be considered. Surprising people with workforce cuts is likely to result in low morale, reduced productivity, and continuing distrust of management. Research has shown that contrary to expectations, downsizing does not result in cost reductions in the long run or improvements in productivity. However, when carefully and properly implemented, downsizing can have positive consequences.VII. A Footnote: Symptoms of Structural Problems There are a number of symptoms of structural problems in organizations. Bad job design . There is a reciprocal relationship between job design and organizational structure. Frequently, improper structural arrangements turn good jobs into poor jobs in practice. The right hand doesnt know what the left is doing . If repeated examples of duplication of effort occur, or if parts of the organization work at cross- purposes, structure is suspect. Persistent conflict between departments . A failure of integration is often the source of conflicts.Slow response times . Delayed responses mi ght be due to improper structure. Decisions made with incomplete information . If decisions have been made with incomplete information, and the information existed somewhere in the organization, structure could be at fault. A proliferation of committees . When committee is piled on committee, or when task forces are being formed with great regularity, it is often a sign that the basic structure of the organization is being â€Å"patched up† because it does not work well. 63 Chapter 15: Environment, Strategy, and Technology Chapter SummaryQuestions and Exercises prepared by Alan Saks. I. The External Environment of Organizations The external environment consists of events and conditions surrounding an organization that influence its activities. The external environment has a tremendous influence on organizations and profoundly shapes organizational behavior. A. Organizations as Open Systems Organizations can be described as open systems. Open systems are systems that take inpu ts from the external environment, transform some of these inputs, and send them back into the external environment as outputs.This concept is important because it sensitizes us to the need for organizations to cope with demands of the environment on both the input and the output side. B. Components of the External Environment It is useful to divide the external environment into a manageable number of components. The General Economy. The general economy affects organizations as they profit from an upturn or suffer from a downturn. Customers. All organizations have potential customers for their products and services. Successful firms are highly sensitive to customer relations. Suppliers.Organizations are dependent on the environment for supplies that include labour, raw materials, equipment, and component parts. Shortages can cause severe difficulties. Competitors. Environmental competitors vie for resources that include both customers and suppliers. Successful organizations devote co nsiderable energy to monitoring the activities of competitors. Social/Political Factors. Organizations cannot ignore the social and political events that occur around them. Organizations must cope with a series of legal regulations that prescribe fair employment practices, proper competitive activities, product safety, and clients’ rights.Technology. The environment contains a variety of technologies that are useful for achieving organizational goals. The ability to adopt the proper technology should enhance an organization’s effectiveness. In addition to these basic components of organizational environments, there are a large number of interest groups that can exist in an organization’s environment. Interest groups are parties or organizations other than direct competitors that have some vested interest in how an organization is managed. Events in various components of the environment provide both onstraints and opportunities for organizations. C. Environmental Uncertainty Environmental uncertainty is a condition that exists when the environment is vague, difficult to diagnose, and unpredictable. Uncertainty depends on the environments complexity (simple versus complex) and its rate of change (static versus dynamic). Simple environment. A simple environment involves relatively few factors, and these factors are fairly similar to each other. Complex environment. A complex environment contains a large number of dissimilar factors that affect the organization.Static environment. The components of this environment remain fairly stable over time. Dynamic environment. The components of a highly dynamic environment are in a constant state of change, which is unpredictable and irregular, not cyclical. It is possible to arrange the rate of change and complexity in a matrix. A simple/static environment should provoke the least uncertainty, while a dynamic/complex environment should provoke the most. Some research suggests that change has more influ ence than complexity on uncertainty.Thus, we might expect a static/complex environment to be somewhat more certain than a dynamic/simple environment. Increasing uncertainty has several predictable effects on organizations including being less clear about cause-and-effect relationships, more difficulty agreeing on priorities, and more information must be processed by the organization to make adequate decisions. Organizations will act to cope with or reduce uncertainty because uncertainty increases the difficulty of decision making and thus threatens organizational effectiveness. D. Resource DependenceBecause organizations are open systems that receive inputs from the external environment and transfer outputs into this environment, they are in a state of resource dependence with regard to their environments. Resource dependence refers to the dependency of organizations on environmental inputs, such as capital, raw materials, and human resources. Carefully managing and coping with this resource dependence is a key to survival and success. Although all organizations are dependent on their environments for resources, some organizations are more dependent than others.As well, resource dependence can be fairly independent of environmental uncertainty, and dealing with one issue will not necessarily have an effect on the other. Organizations are not totally at the mercy of their environments. However, they must develop strategies for managing both resource dependence and environmental uncertainty. II. Strategic Responses to Uncertainty and Resource Dependence Organizations devote considerable effort to developing and implementing strategies to cope with environmental uncertainty and resource dependence.Strategy can be defined as the process by which top executives seek to cope with the constraints and opportunities posed by an organizations environment. It is the perceived environment that comprises the basis for strategy formulation. Strategy formulation involves det ermining the mission, goals, and objectives of the organization. The chosen strategy must correspond to the constraints and opportunities of the environment. A. Organizational Structure as a Strategic Response Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch studied how organizations should be structured to cope with environmental uncertainty.They found a close connection among environment, structure, and effectiveness. When there is a great range of uncertainty across the sub-environments faced by various organizational departments, the organization must be highly differentiated. Lawrence and Lorsch found that successful organizations facing a certain 64 environment were fairly undifferentiated and tended to adopt mechanistic structures. Effective organizations facing an uncertain environment were highly differentiated and tended to adopt organic structures.The argument that strategy determines structure is a reasonable conclusion when considering an organization undergoing great change or the formula tion of a new organization. However, for ongoing organizations, structure sometimes dictates strategy formulation. In general, organizations tailor structure to strategy in coping with the environment. However, structure sometimes dictates strategy formulation. B. Other Forms of Strategic Response Variations on organizational structure are not the only strategic response that organizations can make.Structural variations often accompany other responses that are oriented toward coping with environmental uncertainty or resource dependence. Some more elaborate forms of strategic responses concern relationships between organizations. Vertical integration. Vertical integration refers to the strategy of formally taking control of sources of organizational supply and distribution. Vertical integration can reduce risk for an organization in many cases but when the environment becomes very turbulent, it can reduce flexibility and actually increase risk.Managerial inefficiencies can also devel op as a result of control and coordination difficulties. Mergers and Acquisitions. Themerger or joining of two firms and theacquisition of one firm by another has become common strategic responses. Some mergers and acquisitions are stimulated by simple economies of scale. Other mergers and acquisitions are pursued for purposes of vertical integration. Strategic Alliances. Strategic alliances refer to actively cooperative relationships between legally separate organizations.The organizations in question retain their own cultures, but true cooperation replaces distrust, competition, or conflict for the project at hand. Properly designed, such alliances reduce risk and uncertainty for all parties, and resource interdependence is recognized. Organizations can engage in strategic alliances with competitors, suppliers, customers, and unions. Interlocking Directorates. Interlocking directorates refers to a condition that exists when one person serves on two or more boards of directors. The y provide a subtle but effective means of coping with environmental uncertainty and resource dependence.The director’s expertise and experience with one organization can provide valuable information for another. Interlocks can also serve as a means of influencing public opinion about the wealth, status, or social conscience of a particular organization. Establishing Legitimacy. One way for organizations to respond to the dilemma of making correct organizational responses when it is hard to know which response is correct is to do things that make the organization appear legitimate to various constituents. Establishing legitimacy involves taking actions that conform to prevailing norms and expectations.This will often be strategically correct, but equally important, it will have the appearance of being strategically correct. In turn, management will appear to be rational, and providers of resources will feel comfortable with the organization’s actions. Legitimacy can be achieved by conforming to established industry practices, bringing high profile people onto the board of directors, or making visible responses to social issues. The most common way of achieving legitimacy is to imitate management practices that other firms have institutionalized. III. The Technologies of OrganizationsTechnology can be defined as the activities, equipment, and knowledge necessary to turn organizational inputs into desired outputs. The concepts of technology and environment are closely related. Organizations choose their technologies. In general, this choice will be predicated on a desired strategy. Also, different parts of an organization rely on different technologies, just as they respond to different aspects of the environment as a whole. A. Basic Dimensions of Technology Three classification schemes of technology that can be applied to manufacturing firms and to service organizations are those of Charles Perrow, James D.Thompson, and Joanne Woodward. Perrow†™s Routineness. According to Perrow, the key factor that differentiates various technologies is the routineness of the transformation task that confronts the department or organization. Technological routineness refers to the extent to which exceptions and problems affect the task of converting inputs into outputs. It is a function of two factors: Exceptions. An organization that uses standardized inputs to produce standardized outputs confronts few exceptions compared with one that uses varied inputs and produces varied outputs. Technology is less routine as exceptions increase.Problems. When exceptions occur, are the problems easy to analyze or difficult to analyze? That is, can programmed decision-making occur, or must workers resort to nonprogrammed decision making? The technology becomes less routine as problems become more difficult to analyze. These dimensions can be arranged to produce a matrix of technologies. The matrix includes the following technologies: Craft technolo gies deal with fairly standard inputs and outputs. Routine technologies , such as assembly line operations and technical schools, also deal with standardized inputs and outputs.Nonroutine technologies must deal frequently with exceptional inputs or outputs, and the analysis of these exceptions is often difficult. Engineering technologies encounter many exceptions of input or required output, but these exceptions can be dealt with by using standardized responses. From most routine to least routine, Perrow’s four technological classifications can be ordered in the following manner: routine, engineering, craft, and nonroutine. Thompson’s Interdependence. In contrast to Perrow, James D.Thompson was interested in the way in which work activities are sequenced or â€Å"put together† during the transformation process. A key factor is technological interdependence which is the extent to which organizational subunits depend on each other for resources, such as raw materi als or information. In order of increasing interdependence, Thompson proposed three classifications of technology as follows: Mediating technologies operate under pooled interdependence. This means that each unit is to some extent dependent on the pooled resources generated by other units but is otherwise fairly independent of those units.Long-linked technologies operate under sequential interdependence. This means that each unit in the technology is dependent on the activity of the unit that preceded it in a sequence. The transformed product of each unit becomes a resource or raw material for the next unit. Intensive technologies operate under reciprocal interdependence. This means that considerable interplay and mutual feedback must occur between the units performing the task in order to accomplish it properly. This is necessary because each task is unique, and the intensive technology is thus a customized technology.As technologies become increasingly interdependent, problems of coordination, communication, and decision making increase. To perform effectively, each technology requires a tailored structure to facilitate these tasks.

Choosing a Strong Research Topic

Choosing a Strong Research Topic Teachers always emphasize the importance of choosing a strong research topic. But sometimes it can be confusing when we try to understand what makes a topic a strong topic.   Additionally, you should consider that you’ll be spending a lot of time on a research paper, so it is particularly important to select a topic that you really enjoy working with. To make your project a real success, you’ll have to ensure that the topic is strong and enjoyable.   You also have to choose a topic that enables you to find resources. Unfortunately, you might find a topic that you like a lot, and go on to develop a strong thesis with no trouble at all. Then, you find yourself spending an afternoon at the library and discovering one or two problems. You could find that very little research is available on your subject. This is a common hazard that wastes time and disrupts your mental flow and confidence. As much as you may like your topic, you may want to give it up at the start if you know you’re going to run into trouble finding information for your paper.You may find that the research doesn’t support your thesis. Oops! This is a common frustration for professors who publish a lot. They often come up with intriguing and exciting new ideas, only to find that all the research points in a different direction. Don’t stick with an idea if you see lots of evidence that refutes it! To avoid those pitfalls, it is important to select more than one topic from the start. Find three or four topics that interest you, then, go to the library or an Internet-connected computer at home and conduct a preliminary search of each topic. Determine which project idea can be supported with plenty of published material. This way, you will be able to select a final topic that is both interesting and feasible. Preliminary Searches Preliminary searches can be done pretty quickly; there is no need to spend hours in the library. As a matter of fact, you can start at home, on your own computer. Choose a topic and do a basic computer search. Take note of the types of sources that appear for each topic. For instance, you may come up with fifty web pages that concern your topic, but no books or articles. This is not a good result! Your teacher will be looking for (and perhaps requiring) a variety of sources, to include articles, books, and encyclopedia references. Don’t select a topic that doesn’t appear in books and articles, as well as on websites. Search Several Databases You’ll want to make sure that the books, magazine articles, or journal entries that you do find are available at your local library. Use your favorite Internet search engine at first, but then try using the database for your local library. It may be available online. If you find a topic that’s widely researched and seems to be available in a number of books and journals, make sure those are books and journals that you can use. For instance, you may find several articles- but then you realize later that theyre all published in another country. They may still be found in your local library, but youll want to check as early as possible, to make sure. You could also find books or articles representing your topic, but they’re all published in Spanish! This is absolutely great if you are fluent in Spanish. If you don’t speak Spanish, it’s a big problem! In short, always, take a few steps, in the beginning, to make sure that your topic will be relatively easy to research over the days and weeks to come. You don’t want to invest too much time and emotion in a project that will only lead to frustration in the end.

I'm one, Archie Anderson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I'm one, Archie Anderson - Essay Example ing fed up – I’d like to get the government off my back.† This statement possesses a tone of conviction and through the manner by which he conveys the rest of his argument in a piece of story, Anderson exhibits an ethos via defending his natural right to make choices and decisions for himself, as a man of the right age and maturity in a free country. According to him, regulation must be fair to everyone and Anderson acknowledges the good impact of the segregation scheme in restaurants and public places where smokers gather in a particular area apart from non-smokers. However, he expresses fervent disagreement toward the prevailing notion that smoking must be banned anywhere for this would entail terms of illegality being imposed upon his own territory and properties over which he believes he has every right to exercise freedom. He retaliates as well against the probability of charging 800% tax-increase on cigarettes which to him is a such discriminatory proposition of the government. It makes no just treatment for smokers and once the state officials manage to accomplish this task, Anderson figures that the government would have a way of implementing other policies in which prohibitions may further affect the interests of non-smoking parties. With the nature of his argument, Anderson occurs to have effectively delivered pathos through the details that communicate concern regarding suppression of rights especially as he sounds democratic in the process. The target audience is the reader who could be a smoking or a non-smoking individual residing in the U.S. and Anderson calls the audience to a collective thought and action by the logic (logos) that if the government intervenes and is able to carry out certain measures that hold illegal an activity or inclination of most people and the latter fail to react properly, it would be as though they would be deprived of right to options and democracy. Hence, he convinces the target audience by making them perceive

Was the great leap forward Chinas failure to comprehend stalinism Essay

Was the great leap forward Chinas failure to comprehend stalinism - Essay Example Only during the war years he turned his attention to the occupying Japanese imperial army. In all other cases his fight was against either internal opposition or other warlords. Thus he perhaps felt constrained in a peaceful environment. Thus Mao wrote â€Å" War   is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes†. "(Mao, 1936, Selected Works,   Vol. I, p. 180). Part of his psyche can be gauged from the fact that just after gaining power in 1949 he entered the Korean War and also talked of exporting world revolution. After Stalin’s death in 1953 he assumed that the leadership of the communist world would descend on him. When this did not happen he thought of ways to assert his authority so that the communist movement recognized him. He occupied Tibet and waged a border war with India in 1962 and supported Castro at about the same time during the Cuban missile crisis. At home Mao enforced Stalinist concepts in agriculture and industry and he talked of the great leap forward. ... (Jacques, Andrieu (2002) The psychology of Mao, Brussels, Editions Complexe) History records that both the campaigns of Mao the Cultural Revolution and the hundred flowers bloom brought untold hardship to the common man. The policy of a hundred flowers was abandoned forthwith after Mao gauged the mood of his opponents, of whom many were arrested and sent to labor camps for rehabilitation. By launching this campaign of a 100 flowers Mao was able to purge any challenges to his power and dissidents were all eliminated. Jung Chang opined in her book that the Hundred Flowers Campaign was merely a ruse to root out "dangerous" thinking.( Chang, Jung. 1991,Wild swans: three daughters of China. New York: Simon & Schuster.) The great leap forward which started in 1958 was Mao’s attempt to by pass the historical concept of industrialization and development by keeping society in ferment as well. This was different from Stalin who set up a state controlled economy and no mass upheaval in s ociety. Mao assumed that a perpetual revolution was a necessity in the development of China. In this his mind conditioned by decades of war and turmoil made him believe in quick solutions, irrespective of the hardship it could cause to the people Thus he started collective farms and abolished land ownership. The result was disastrous and famine stalked the land as Agriculture production fell to its lowest level. ( Ashton, Basil, Kenneth Hill, Alan Piazza, and Robin Zeitz. "Famine in China, 1958-61." Population and Development Review) He also decided that China needs more iron and thus enforced a scheme where he ordered all peasant houses to be converted to smelters for pig iron. But he erred grievously in

The Gap in Women's Education and Employment in Saudi Arabia Dissertation

The Gap in Women's Education and Employment in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The Global Gender Index was developed in 2006 as a method for measuring the gender gap in different states (Greiner 2011). The index puts together a number of indicators such as economic, education, political and health information as a means of measuring the gender gap. States registering a value near 1 will indicate gender equality while states with a 0 value reflect a wide gender gap (Greiner 2011). Saudi Arabia’s value is ranked at 0. 5713 overall. In terms of â€Å"economic participation and opportunity† Saudi Arabia’s is 132 out of 134 countries with a ranking of 0.3351 (Global Gender Index 2010, p. 9). In terms of â€Å"educational attainment† Saudi Arabia is 92 out of 134 countries with a ranking of 0.9739 (Global Gender Index 2010, p. 9). The Global Gender Index (2010) report is consistent with developments released by Booz & Company (2009). The report by Booz & Company (2009) indicates that the Saudi government has invested significant funds in public education and as a result has reduced the gender gap in terms of access to education. However, the educational opportunities for females are limited by virtue of course content and curriculum. At a result of these limitations employment opportunities for women are likewise limited (Booz & Company 2009). This research study examines the efforts made by the Saudi government to expand educational opportunities for all Saudis and how these opportunities have closed the gender gap, yet have failed to significantly reduce the employment gap among men and women. This research study is therefore divided into five parts. The first part of this research provides a literature review reflecting theories and assumptions relative to gender inequality generally and in terms of Islamic cultures. The second part of this research provides a factual background setting out demographics in terms of the female population, educational and employment statistics. The third part of the paper focuses specifically on education from both a theoretical and factual perspective. The fourth part of the paper focuses likewise on employment. The final part of the paper provides an analysis and conclusion relative to the findings presented in the previous parts of the research. I. Literature Review In an attempt to u nderstand the gender gap in employment and education in Saudi Arabia, it is necessary to examine theories and assu

Child labour in the global economy

Child labour in the global economy This report proposes to examine the key effects, elements and issues surrounding child labour in relation to the global economy. Through their thorough and convincing research, the authors, Eric .V.Edmonds and Nina Pavcnik (2005) estimate the number of economically active children between the ages of 5-14 years and claim that parental poverty is its main cause. However, they are hesitant to endorse the widely held belief that international policies are the solution to this global crisis; rather they suggest more domestic measures to limit it, such as affordable education and more job stimulation. They also argue that contrary to popular perception most working children engage in domestic/market work rather than in manufacturing establishments. Introduction The term Child Labour is a widespread phenomenon often equated to child abuse. In Erics footnote on What is Child Labour? He states the International Labour Organisations (ILO) definition of child labour which is defines an economically active child as a child labourer if she is under 12 and economically active for one or more hours per week, 12-14 and working more than 14hours per week or one or more hours per week in activities that are hazardous by nature or circumstance and if she is 15-17 and works in unconditional work forms of child labour (trafficked children, children in bondage or forced labour, armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, illicit activities)(ILO 2002, cited in Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005; pp.200). Edmonds asserts however that these forms of child labour are rare. He insists stating that children engage in activities which could either be harmful or beneficial depending on the type of activity and also the impact on the child should depend on what the child would be doing if not working (the childs alternative foregone). Household Survey evidence by the ILOs Statistical information and monitoring program on child labour (SIMPOC) also defines child labour as A child is defined as economically active if he or she works for wages (cash or in-kind); works in the family farm in the production and processing of primary products; works in family enterprises that are making primary products for the market, barter or own consumption; or is unemployed and looking for these types of work (ILO 2002,cited in Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005; pp.201). This is a more practical definition taking into account that most children work at home for their families; either on the farm or domestically. The rare hazardous forms of labour stated in the ILOs definition are difficult to make out in household surveys which the SIMPOC are based on thus specialized surveys are conducted by the ILO and other concerned organizations. As a result of these surveys, the ILOs SIMPOC (2002) estimates 8.4 million children engage in unconditional work forms of child labour and of these, 68 percent are in bonded or forced labour (forms of slavery). According to Edmond and Pavncik most child labourers are employed by their parents to work on the farm or domestically which goes against the widely held view that children work mainly in manufacturing establishments and other forms of employment. They argue that children also face risks in the simplest forms of labour as they get older, for example agriculture, due to exposure to toxic chemicals, harsh weather conditions, animals/parasites. Ashagrie (1997) agrees with this point stating that the self reported injury rate from child labour surveys of chi ldren working in agriculture is actually higher at 2 percent than the 9 percent level reported in manufacturing. (Ashagrie 1997 cited in Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005; pp.208) Edmonds and Pavnciks article posits an open research question as to whether the reasons children engage in these hazardous working conditions differs from the driving force of children working on their family businesses or domestic work. Literature review. Child labour in the global economy is estimated at 211million, ILO (2002), which accounts for 18 % of children, aged 5-14 worldwide. Of these, 60 % are in Asia and 23 % in sub Saharan Africa. Although Asia has a greater percentage of child labours Africa has a higher participation rate estimated at 30%. SIMPOC also estimates that 4 % of children work in transition economies (i.e. countries undergoing economic liberalization) and 2% in developed countries. The United Nations childrens educational fund (UNICEF) conducted three surveys in thirty-six less developed countries in 2000 and 2001 providing information on the participation rates in both domestic and market work for 124 million children. The first survey helps buttress Edmond and Pavcniks point on child workers engaging mainly in domestic/ market work rather than manufacturing establishments. Participation rates in various activities for 124million children 5-14 from 36 countries in 2000. All children 5-14 Age 5-9 10-14 Gender Male Female Location Urban Rural Market work (MAR) 25.0 15.3 35.2 26.6 23.3 18.9 30.5 Paid 2.4 1.0 4.0 2.8 2.0 2.2 2.5 unpaid 5.8 4.4 7.3 5.6 5.9 4.0 7.3 family 20.8 12.4 29.7 22.4 19.1 14.8 26.2 Domestic work (DOM) 64.6 50.8 79.2 59.3 69.9 60.7 67.4 Any work (MAR + DOM) 68.4 53.5 84.3 64.8 72.1 64.1 71.7 20 or more hours per week 20.7 10.3 31.8 19.4 22.1 14.1 26.4 40 or more hours per week 6.4 2.7 10.3 6.1 6.7 3.6 8.8 UNICEF End of Decade Assessment microdata, (2000). See Edmonds and Pavcnik (2005, JEP). From the table above it is evident that less than 3% of children work outside the household for pay and this is mainly the case in rural settlements rather than urban where manufacturing activities are dominant. Approximately 6% participate in unpaid work. Edmonds and Pavcnik interpret these unpaid children as those children who help their neighbours in the farm or business or could also be children receiving in-kind payments (food) as well as children who are indebted to their employees by their parents. However in contrast to this, 20.8% of children work in family businesses and of this figure, 26.2% are in rural areas and 14.8% in urban. The authors further research shows that there is an agreement with this UNICEF survey from other available data from countries like Nepal, South Africa, Vietnam, India as well as Bangladesh where child labour in its garment industry also had a figure of 1.2% unpaid children age 5-14 as cited in a 2002 child labour survey. According to the table ap proximately 65% of children work domestically and 68% work in both market and domestic work. There is a high participation rate pattern by older female children age 10-14 in rural areas. The table also shows that they tend to work longer hours than males. This is probably due to cultural domestic values. Agriculture takes the largest part of the employment sector in countries (e.g. Kenya 77% In 1998, Guatemala 63 %in 2000, Ethiopia 89% in 2001 etc) followed closely by domestic work and then manufacturing which is only a percentage of economically active children. Figures from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 2004 (FOA 2004 cited in Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005)match with this indicating that most adults work in agriculture and since most children work with their parents they also work in agriculture. There is a trade off between work and school for child labourers. Most working children attend school and the UNICEF estimates in its second survey the total hours of work in relation to different types of work as well as school attendance. The data shows that on average, children spend 26 hours on market work weekly. Children that work for their families and are unpaid spend 27hours weekly. Paid employment takes up more hours in a week and by older children. Children that take part in domestic work spend 16 hours per week .Edmonds and Pavcnik further stated that these figures should not imply that domestic work is insignificant because on average, majority of the hours spent on market work is indeed domestic work. However children that attend school spend less hours working than those who do not attend school. The third survey below by the UNICEF reports the school attendance of children aged 5-14. From the table we observe that approximately 70% of children in that age range attend school and this attendance is mainly in favour of older male boys, in urban areas. School attendance conditional on work status accounts for 74%. There is a 14% likelihood that children who do not work do not attend school but this is reflected mainly in younger children. Less than 5 % of the 30% of children that do not attend school work in market work only and we see that domestic work is more popular in this case as 32% of the 30% participate in it alone. Thus Edmonds states that in ignoring this figure of domestic work researchers would lose out on one of the segments of children not attending school. A large fraction of children, 42%, well known as idle attend neither school nor work Work and schooling status for 124million children 5-14 from 36 countries in 2000 All children 5-14 Age 5-9 10-14 Gender Male female Location Urban rural Attend school 69.5 58.9 80.8 70.768.3 75.1 63.9 Attendance rates conditional Any work Not work 73.9 60.0 64.1 80.6 52.9 82.2 75.7 72.3 61.6 57.8 80.1 68.3 64.9 52.8 Conditional on nonattendance Domestic only Market only 32.0 4.5 30.8 34.9 2.8 8.3 27.1 36.6 6.3 2.7 31.8 32.0 4.9 4.3 Both market and domestic Not work 22.0 41.5 13.1 42.2 53.3 14.6 20.3 23.5 46.2 37.1 12.8 26.6 50.6 37.1 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey End of Decade Assessment microdata.(2002) Child labourers face consequences on schooling attainment because time spent working gives less time for extracurricular activities and might weaken their school performance. Orazem and Gunnarsson (2004) find that third and fourth graders who attend school but never work in market or domestic work perform 28 % better on mathematics tests and 19% better on language tests than children who attend school and work. Empirical evidence of this is given in an example by Beegle, Dehejia and Gatti (2004) wherein after five years of working and schooling they examined the status of young adults in Vietnam. They observed that a one standard deviation increase in the hours worked by children attending school is equated to a 35% decrease in educational attainment. Edmonds and Pavcnik however are of the school of thought that this negative correlation between working and grade advancement might reflect that low performing students engage in work rather than that work generates low-performing stude nts. Parents send their children to work not by choice but as a result of economic necessity thus Child labour is caused fundamentally by poverty and as far back as data show, there have been several policies proposed with the aim of fighting against child labour worldwide. Have these legislative acts helped solve the problem of child labour? To answer this question Edmonds and Pavncik give two examples, firstly the US Congress enacted laws prohibiting the importation of goods made by children and as a result of these sanctions, Bangladesh was said to have released over 10,000 paid child workers below the age of 14 from its garment industry in the mid 1900s. Evidently this is not drastic as the figures are a tenth of the percentage of child workers in Bangladesh. Furthermore Moehling (1999) finds little evidence that minimum wage laws in manufacturing sectors put into practice between the years 1880 and 1910 contributed to the decline in child labour during this period. In addition, the a uthors state that more recent studies show that the US House of Representatives have discussed the Child labour elimination act which would enforce punitive measures, alter financial support, and order US oppositions from multilateral development banks to 62 developing countries affected by child labour. Edmonds and Pavcnik argue that although these policies might help reduce child labour, they are not guaranteed to be successful in less developed nations where they are targeted at for these reasons enumerated in their article: Lack of available resources to implement policies (i.e. bans) mainly in cases where the children engage in market work for their parents wherein the end product contributes to the family income. Child labour policies are seen as a case of multiple equilibrium, Basu and Van (1998), whereby children that work at low wages are at one equilibrium and increased adult wages when children do not work are at another therefore defeating the purpose of the ban. Moreover according to Basus example (2003), if firms are fined for child labour, the cost of the fine increases the demand for cheap child labour as opposed to high earning adult workers in order to make more profit to offset the fine which in turn makes child labour necessary. Children that are prohibited from working legitimately might move into more hazardous forms of child labour or non exporting sectors of the economy such as prostitution however there is no scientific evidence of this. Since Poverty is the main cause of child labor it would be logical to combat child labor by A) Improving the standard of living of families i.e. increasing adult income which in turn does the following Diminishes the marginal utility of income which decreases the value of marginal contribution because as more income comes into the family form parents it eliminates the satisfaction derived from the income contribution of the child. Brings about the purchase of alternatives used in place of child labour (e.g. washing machines) Increases a childs productive level in schooling (human capital) because the family is now able to afford necessary materials (e.g. textbooks) B) Encouraging credit markets to give loans to poor households is another suggestive method because child labor has been said to be a result of credit market imperfections. Baland and Robinson 2000; Ranjan, 2001 agree with this stating Several theoretical studies emphasize that if credit markets allowed households to borrow against future earnings child labor could be much reduced C) Providing affordable education because parents would be willing to contribute to improve their childrens long run chances yet, are however left with no choice but to send their children to work due to the perceived returns to schooling. Policies have been adopted to reduce chid labour through educational subsidies. An example of such is the Progresa program in Mexico which is predominately used in many countries worldwide. It gives parents an incentive to keep their child in school. Parents are paid if the school certifies that the child has been attending school regularly. Thus it is a demand approach aimed at reducing the cost of schooling, which varies with age of the child, and increasing family income. Conclusively relying on laws and their enforcement as discussed previously, is a necessary but unsatisfactory solution to child labour. Overall, economic development interventions relevant to the underlying cause are more effective policy tools to reduce the incidence of child labour.

Essay --

Government type: Republic Capital: Suva Geographic coordinates: 18 08 S, 178 25 E Time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins fourth Sunday in October; ends third Sunday in January Legal system: the legal system of Fiji is similar to the Canadian system. National holiday: Independence Day, second Monday of October (1970) Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal Administrative Divisions: 4 divisions and 1 dependency*; Central, Eastern, Northern, Rotuma*, Wester Fiji is an island, which demonstrated get value and potential this can be shown through theirs Government system. Fiji government was formed in 1970; its legal system is similar to the English government. The three branches of government that make up Fiji are the Executive branch Legislative branch and the judicial branch. Each branch of government takes care of a specific part. The executive branch takes care of the law being made in Fiji. These laws are made and appointed by President Ratu Epeli NAILATIKAU. The Legislative branch acts to amend and repea...

Limitations
 of the BCG model Essay

The BCG model is criticised for having a number of limitations (Kotler 2003; McDonald 2003): âž ¢There are other reasons other than relative market share and market growth that could influence the allocation of resources to a product or SBU: reasons such as the need for strong brand name and product positioning could compel resource allocation to an SBU or product (Drummond & Ensor 2004). âž ¢What is more, the model rests on net cash consumption or generation as the fundamental portfolio balancing criterion. That is appropriate only in a capital constrained environment. In modern economies, with relatively frictionless capital flows, this is not the appropriate metric to apply – rather, risk-adjusted discounted cash flows should be used (ManyWorlds 2005). âž ¢Also, the matrix assumes products/business units are independent of each other, and independent of assets outside of the business. In other words, there is no provision for synergy among products/business units. This is rarely realistic. âž ¢The relationship between cash flow and market share may be weak due to a number of factors including (Cipher 2006): competitors may have access to lower cost materials unrelated to their relative share position; low market share producers may be on steeper experience curves due to superior production technology; and strategic factors other than relative market share may affect profit margins. âž ¢In addition, the growth-share matrix is based on the assumption that high rates of growth use large cash resources and that maturity of the life cycle brings about the expected profit returns. This may be incorrect due to various reasons (Cipher 2006): capital intensity may be low and the business/product could be grown without major cash outlay; high entry barriers may exist so margins may be sustainable and big enough to produce a positive cash flow and a growth at the same time; and industry overcapacity and price competition may depress prices in maturity. âž ¢Furthermore, market growth is not the only factor or necessarily the most important factor when assessing the attractiveness of a market. A fast growing market is not necessarily an attractive one. Growth markets attract new entrants and if capacity exceeds demand then the market may become a low margin one and therefore unattractive. A high growth market may lack size and stability. Given the aforementioned weaknesses, the BCG Growth-Share matrix must be used with care; nonetheless, it is a best-known business portfolio evaluation model (Kotler 2003).

Why You Should Avoid Racist Halloween Costumes

Why You Should Avoid Racist Halloween Costumes Once upon a time, Halloween costumes were simple. Witches, princesses, and ghosts surfaced as the most popular get-ups. Not so anymore. In recent decades, the public has taken a fancy to costumes that make a statement. Unfortunately, these costumes sometimes make statements viewed as racist or anti-Semitic, such as when Englands Prince Harry donned a Nazi outfit to a party. Want to make a splash with your Halloween costume but not one that’s racially offensive? Then avoid the following get-ups. Ghetto Person/Black Person Rappers introduced the term â€Å"ghetto fabulous† into the American lexicon in the 1990s. The term refers to the flamboyant fashions that arise from the streets of inner cities. Who knew in the ’90s that college kids nationwide would throw parties in the new millennium with â€Å"ghetto fab† themes? Guests at such parties sport lots of â€Å"bling,† or ostentatious jewelry. Some might cover their teeth with fake gold or platinum caps and their heads with do-rags. Women might wear huge hoop earrings, fake fingernails and the scanty clothing that rap video vixens wear. Men might style their hair in cornrows or don Afro wigs. The problem with these ghetto fab costumes is that they invoke stereotypical images of African Americans as low-class, gauche, thuggish and sexually provocative, among others. These costumes tend to be classist and racist, impelling black college students who become aware of â€Å"ghetto fab† parties to have disciplinary action taken against party organizers for creating a racially hostile environment on campus. Redneck The flipside of the ghetto fab costume is the redneck or hillbilly Halloween costume, which is also both racist and classist. Those opting for such a costume might wear a mullet wig, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, along with jeans and a plaid shirt. Such costumes promote the stereotype that poor whites are ignorant and worthy of ridicule. They suggest that poor and working-class whites are inherently inferior to their more affluent counterparts. Geisha Girl Oddly enough, the geisha girl costume is popular among girls and women, alike. Considering that geishas are perceived to be high-end prostitutes in many circles, that’s cause for concern. Also troubling is that, along with the dragon lady, china doll, and lotus blossom, geisha girl is a racial and sexual stereotype thrust upon Asian women. The geisha stereotype is one that paints Asian women as submissive, doll-like and existing only to sexually gratify others. A contributor to Racialicous.com who goes by the name Atlasien poignantly spelled out why she objects to the appropriation of the geisha image. â€Å"Geisha are not very relevant in modern-day Japan. They’re a fossilized archetype, almost like a ninja,† she remarked. â€Å"But a lot of people, especially white people, are invested in defending geisha, in putting them on a pedestal. And when they do that, it does harm to Japanese-American women and to all Asian-American women.† Muslim The 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon not only put Arab and Muslim Americans under additional scrutiny in the U.S., but they also resulted in a rise in costumes related to Islamic fundamentalism. Want to wear a burqa for Halloween? There’s a costume for it. How about a Muslim suicide bomber? That costume’s available as well. The question is why would you want to wear one of these costumes? They’re far more likely to offend people you encounter than to make them laugh. To boot, they raise the worst stereotypes about Muslim Americans, the overwhelming majority of whom are peaceful and law-abiding citizens. American Indians (With or Without Cowboys) Considering the backlash against Native American mascots in sports, it should be no surprise that donning an American Indian costume is likely to rub some the wrong way. Whether you’re a kid dressing up as an Indian during a Thanksgiving play or an adult rooting for your favorite sports team while wearing faux war paint and a headdress, you’re likely to get a reaction because these costumes typically paint Native Americans as cartoonish and savage. Throwing cowboys into the mix only adds insult to injury. When European â€Å"cowboys† settled the Americas, they not only set out to appropriate Native lands but to decimate or neutralize the indigenous population. â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties make light of the atrocities committed in the name of manifest destiny. A January 2009 editorial written by college student Tefari Abel Casas Fuchs reveals how emotionally damaging â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties can be to Native American students. In addition to these issues, the sexy Pocahontas costumes on the market for women are racially offensive as well. Not only do they sexualize Pocahontas, a young adolescent girl, but Native American women generally. All too often, the sexual relationships Native American women had with European settlers were exploitative or abusive, with Native women regarded as the derogatory term â€Å"squaw.† Gypsy Gypsy getups frequently make the rounds at Halloween functions. Like Native American costumes, however, these costumes typically paint Gypsies, more appropriately called Roma, in cartoonish terms. â€Å"The romanticized image of the ‘Gypsy’ is alive and well in song lyrics, novels, costume parties, musical groups, and other forms of cultural imagery: ‘They are exotic women in colorful skirts, dancing in sensual swirls....’ They dance by campfires, travel in caravans, tell fortunes with crystal balls or Tarot cards,† notes advocacy group Voice of Roma. In addition to this, the Roma are stereotyped as being beggars, pickpockets, and con-artists. A case in point is that one can use the expressions â€Å"I got conned† and â€Å"I got gypped† interchangeably. Rather than counteract such stereotypes, Gypsy costumes promote them, ignoring the fact that the Roma have long been persecuted and continue to face virulent discrimination throughout Europe. During the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million Roma were exterminated. In the present, Roma are denied their rights to housing, employment, healthcare, and education, according to Amnesty International. The agency also reports that Roma are often victims of forced evictions, racist attacks, and police brutality. How stiff is bias against the Roma? When Madonna asked for Roma discrimination to stop during a concert in Bucharest in August 2009, the crowd reportedly jeered. Wrapping Up When choosing Halloween costumes with a racial bent, err on the side of caution. You’ll be less likely to offend if you dress up as a specific person rather than an anonymous member of a racial group. In other words, consider going as Barack Obama for Halloween rather than a black guy, any black guy. And be sure to avoid changing your features in a way that’s offensive. This means not wearing blackface to be President Obama or taping your eyes so that they slant if you’re dressing up as Bruce Lee. Plenty of Obama masks are available in Halloween stores, and a black wig, fake scratches on the face and a martial arts outfit might be all you need to be Bruce Lee.

water ways essays

water ways essays Do Water ways effect how we look at the world today? Waterways influence the economic, social, and the political developments of a nearby nation in many different ways. The water ways that I have chosen to discuss are seas, rivers and oceans. In this essay I will talk about how water ways influence a nearby nation. Water ways play a significant role in everyday life. The first example of how water ways effect a nearby nation are the Seas. The seas that I have chosen are the Mediterranean, and the Red sea. The Mediterranean effects the nearby nation by allowing Italy to trade with Egypt. People built boats to travel to other nations. It also helps spread and receive culture from their travels. The Mediterranean can help protect Italy, and Greece from invaders. It also can provide food for the northern part of Africa and for the southern part of Europe. The Red sea effects a nearby nation by helping Egypt and Asia to trade and spread culture. It also allowed people in Egypt to travel do in and go to India without having to go all the way around Africa from using the Mediterranean. It was also a food source for both of them. The second example of how water ways that effect a nearby nation are rivers. The rivers that I have chosen are the Nile, and Amazon river. The Nile river helps people in lower Egypt to use it to trade with people from upper Egypt. The gift of the Nile is that the river floods and provides the soil with rich nutrients. The the farmers can use the rich alluvial soil to grow crops. The Nile also provides food for the capital of Cairo. The next river is the Amazon it helps people in South America to trade and spread ideas within the nation. It provides the people with food for Manaus to eat and us it to trade with. The third example are oceans that effect nearby nations. The oceans the I have chosen are the Atlantic, and the Indian ocean. The Atlantic ocean helps the U.S. trade with Europe. It pr ...

Perform a highest and best use analysis on two properties Essay

Perform a highest and best use analysis on two properties - Essay Example The building is in urgent need of total maintenance. Keeping in mind the cost of buying a flat in this building and then contributing 1/6 of the total cost of renovation is high. But to make my flat financial feasible to the prospective buyer as well as lucrative enough for me to sell, I will have to invest money in its renovation. Then only can it be termed financially feasible from both the buyer and seller's point of view. There is no question of the supermarket not being financially feasible. Since it is a recent construction, there will hardly be any renovation required for a long time to come. This supermarket is economically doing fine so it is at its highest and best use. Legal conformity: Both the properties are legally fine. The only thing is that the residential building can legally never be converted into a commercial property as it is situated in an area meant for residential houses. Maximal productivity: Both the properties are maximally productive. The flat in which I live will guarantee highest net value to the developer because of the area in which it is situated. The supermarket is fit in all aspects and is unquestionably maximally productive. Physical possibility: Both the properties scored well in the physical possibility test. Keeping in mind the topography, shape, size and other attributes of the sites, any potential future use will not be a problem for both the sites. After

Seawest Services Association v Copenhaver Case Brief Study

Seawest Services Association v Copenhaver Brief - Case Study Example Residents outside the housing development that received the water services were also required to pay the supply and maintenance fee. The Copenhavers were limited members of the housing development, they purchased a house outside the housing development but received water services from Seawest Services Association. The Copenhavers paid for the water services for eight years since 2001 (Clarkson, Miller & Cross 233). In 2009, they refused to pay any water bills and maintenance bills. Seawest Services Association sued the Copenhavers. The courts found the defendant liable for the charges. The plaintiff, Copenhaver, appealed.Rule In an instance where a party enters into an agreement with another party, the courts have a mandate to decide whether there existed a valid quasi-contract between the parties. Application A quasi-contract is a contract that is implied by the law. There are not actual contracts. The Copenhavers did not have an actual contract with Seawest Services Association. Ho wever, the defendant knew the fact that no residence could be provided with water services without paying supply fee to the Seawater Services Association (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 233). Consequently, this meant that a quasi-contract between the parties. Conclusion The court ruled that the quasi-contract does not allow for the enrichment of the Copenhavers as a result of unpaid water supply and maintenance charges (Clarkson, Miller & Cross, 233). For this reason, the defendant is found liable for the charges incurred.