Compensation Practice

Wall-Mart applies the compensation strategy of offering the workers the lower limit of wages allowed by the law, but misstating for the same through offering its employees with an insurance scheme (Wilkes, 2013). In this respect, while the employees may not be benefiting greatly in financial terms, the future of such employees is well covered, due to the fact that they have been provided with an insurance cover that addresses their needs beyond the monthly pay checks (Wilkes, 2013).However, the Wall-Mart strategy has been termed as unsuitable both for the employees and the economy, since it is a strategy that seeks to categorize the workforce of the organization as an expense that needs to be minimized Wilkes, 2013). This concept is harmful both to the employee motivation and to the public perception, owing to the fact that treating the workforce as an expense that must be kept under control does not work well either with the employees or the public perception, which in turn adversel y affects the sales of the organization directly (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).Thus, while the Wall-Mart compensation strategy has enabled it to keep its expenses low and thus maximize its profitability, it might have even been more damaging than already thought, if the strategy is analyzed from the employee nutrition and the customer perception point of view.Further, the Wall- Mart compensation strategy has emerged to be damaging to the reputation and the goodwill of the company amongst the public and the customers, owing to the fact that it is perceived to transfer the burden of changing hard economic times directly to the employees, by causing them to suffer low wages, so that the company can maintain its profitability levels, as they were during the good economic times (Wilkes, 2013).How Wall-Mart applies compensation practice to determine the positive or negative impact to the many and its stakeholders The effect of the negative perceptions of the customers and the genera l public is to make the organization owners and the top leadership and management to come out as greedy and unethical, which in turn is a turn off for many potential customers of the organization (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).Most importantly is the distinction between the concept of low wages and low labor costs. The fact that an organization offers low wages to Its workforce does not mean that such an organization will in turn incur low labor costs (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 013). This is because, while the low wages may be an alternative for reducing expenses, the costs associated with the labor turnover might exceed the benefit derived from offering low wages (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).Thus, Wall-Mart is an organization that is being faced by the challenge of high employee turn-over, owing to the fact that most of its employees are dissatisfied with the conditions of work and the low wages offered by the organization, such that they tend to quit the job at the rise of any other viable alternative, forcing the organization to engage in a continuous cycle of hiring and employment recruitment, which in turn drives the costs of labor higher (Wilkes, 2013).A recent study has shown that while Wall-Mart offers low wages compared to Cost, Quick Trip and Trader Joey's, the organization incurs an overall high cost of labor compared to these organizations, thus in turn earning low profitability margin (Alter, 2013). The study has indicated that the cost of labor turnover at Cost is 17%, compared to the cost of labor turnover at Wall-Mart, which stands at 44% (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).The overall effect of this study is to show that the compensation strategy for Wall- Mart might be considered to deliver positive results by lowering the expenses associated with the employee wages, but the overall effect is that the company continues to incur very high cost than it would be incurring, if it paid good wages for its employees (Alter, 2013). The other important aspect to consider in the Wall-Mart's compensation strategy is its effect on the employees' productivity.A well paid employee is a productive employee, since such an employee is enthusiastic and motivated about his work, and thus applies extra effort to ensure that the employer will also benefit from the show of goodwill and appreciation of the employee services. In this respect, the study indicated that the productivity of the employees at Wall- Mart was much lower compared to that of Cost, owing to the fact that the profit per employee in Wall-Mart was $11 ,039 compared to that of Cost, which was $13, 647 per employee (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).Thus, the compensation strategy of Wall-Mart is wanting, and as a result needs to be changed so that it can enable both the organization and the workforce to reap higher benefits from their relationship. The ways in which laws, labor unions, and market factors impact the Wall-Mart compensation practices Wall-Mart c ompensation practices have been affected greatly by laws, labor unions and market factors, such that for example, in 2005, labor unions created organizations and launched internet and social media campaign to criticize Wall-Mart for its poor treatment of employees in wages and conditions of work (Atchison, Belcher & Thomson, 2013).The law has also been on collision course in several occasions with Wall-Mart, where it has been investigated for possible prosecution for both monopolistic tendencies and unlawful treatment of its workforce (Green, 2003). The market forces have also been of great influence to the Wall-Mart business, through causing the organization to earn low profitability as a result of economic recession, thus in turn paying low wages for its workforce (Wilkes, 2013). The effectiveness of traditional bases for pay at the Wall-Mart The rotational bases for pay are still applicable for Wall-Mart, although selectively.

Expressing Teen Identity by Using Slang: Attitudes and Opinions Towards the Slang of Teenagers

Expressing teen identity by using slang:attitudes and opinions towards the slang of teenagers Introduction One of the most significant elements which people notice while meeting with someone is the person’s language. As Trudge (2000:2) points out, the manner in which we use our language has a great importance while â€Å"establishing social relationship and while conveying information about the speaker†. Ethnic background, gender, education, social class, age and many other aspects may influence the way we talk.And the way we talk may influence other people’s perception about us. Language in the society also differs in the formality levels. When talking about any specific kind of a language we use the term language variety. The variety of the language which is used in a particular situation is called style. Styles are mainly characterized by the vocabulary differences, but also by syntactic ones. Styles range on the scale from very formal to extremely informal. V ocabulary which is at the extremely informal end of the continuum is known as slang. 1] Some people might think that slang is only a young people issue. However the truth is that all of us use some kind of slang, and this usage is influenced by many factors. It is obvious that slang creates barriers between people or groups of people. So if you do not want someone, who is not a member of your group, understand what are you saying, you may use a particular slang, which is inherent only for your group. Using slang may also be part of a person’s identity.Therefore the main task handled in this paper is to examine the use of slang among teenagers and the sources they are influenced by. This essay presents a view on teenage slang as a means of expressing their identity. It also includes society perspective and opinions on the adolescent use of slang. The teenage language was for a long period under-represented in language corpora. In order to repair this, a very comprehensive teen age language corpus, the Bergen Corpus of London Teenage Language (COLT, 2002), was created.This large material is focusing on the spoken language of teenagers between 13 to 17 years in London. It consists of five hundred thousand words and it is a part of the British National Corpus. [2] As a basis for my arguments I will be mainly using corpus compilation, analysis and findings named Trends in Teenage Talk published in 2002 by Anna-Brita Stenstrom, Gisle Andersen and Ingrid Kristine Hasund, because as it consider the teenage slang language, it is the most relevant corpus for this essay. Slang and teenage languageIt is hard to give a definition of slang, because there is a difficulty of distinguishing it from jargon (special vocabulary used by particular profession), colloquialisms (special use of vocabulary according to geographical region), usage of vague terms (statements with unclear message) or neologism (new coinages or senses of words or phrases). Definitions do, however, ex ist, and the online Oxford English dictionary (2012) classifies slang into the three types: The first type consider slang as the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type.Another definition is that it is the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or profession; the cant or jargon of a certain class or period. And finally the last one says that it is the language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Slang is natural part of each language. It is the non-standard vocabulary usually connected with particular group of people. When discussing slang, we should consider its history and development.Slang has its origin in the middle of the 18th century. In that time slang was seen as a low level language, since it was used primarily by criminals, revelers and drunk en people in pubs. Later on slang became regarded as a specific vocabulary of certain professions, like printers, poets and even lawyers or doctors. During the beginning of the nineteen century slang begins to be seen as a highly colloquial part of almost any language. [3] Moreover as the online Oxford English dictionary demonstrates, the word slang appeared in the connection with the language of youngsters for the very first time in 1818, when Sir J. T.Coleridge was recorded to have stated the following: †Two of the best [students] come to me as a peculiar grinder (I must have a little slang)†. [4] This connection appeared as well in William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair: â€Å"He was too old to listen to the banter of the assistant-surgeon and the slang of the youngsters. †[5] This fact proves that the importance of the adolescent talk has been seen as an important variety of language for a relatively long period. As well as human language also slang is continuously changing its form and vocabulary and not all of the expressions have to disappear as its generation grew up.On the one hand there are new slang words springing up and on the other hand old ones are dying. This means that the slang expressions used by teenagers may sometimes overlap the barriers of a particular group and become more widely used. Some of the slang expressions may absorb into the English language and become part of Standard English. Types of slang As I stated previously it is hard to distinguish slang from other types of informal language. Linguists therefore tend to use different terms when describing types of slang.Slang is generally divided into general slang and specific slang. While general slang is used among all people without the need to be a member of an exact group, mainly to avoid conventions; specific slang is used with a purpose to show that a person belongs to a specific group and has a loyalty with other members of this group. It se ems obvious that teenager's slang belongs to the specific one. In the Norwegian study Trends in teenage talk Stenstrom, Andersen and Hasund (2002: 65) stated that adolescent talk do not include only general slang, but also vague (E. . â€Å"stuff like that†, â€Å"lots of†), vogue (words which already exists in the language, but become fashionable for a short period of time[6]), proxy (the usage of a verb â€Å"go† or â€Å"be like† instead of the quotation), small words (E. g. â€Å"you know†, â€Å"sort of†, â€Å"yeah†, â€Å"like†), taboo and swear words; which he described with a term â€Å"slanguage†. In the next section I will look at these features of â€Å"slanguage†. Teenage talk Before we start to talk about teenage language in depth, we must define the word teenager. The word teenager firstly appeared in 1941.Earlier on expressions like puber, adolescent, teen, farrow or teener were used to refer to a young person between the ages of 13 and 19. [7] The teenage years might be viewed by some as the most difficult period in a person’s life. It is typical that society views them as rebellious, sloppy, messy and imprecise. And this view is also reflected on their language. The rebellion might be seen in a use of slang words and new expressions in order to shock, the imprecision in the lack of grammar, sloppiness in amount of fillers like â€Å"like† or â€Å"um† and messiness in their handwriting.They are to some extent expected to act like adults, however, they might still be treated as children. Sometimes even parents may not understand their children language, so that their attitude towards their slang use might be negative. However, the present generation of teenagers is not the first to have these kinds of informal expressions. Each generation uses a language composed of informal words and phrases or a special own way of using a standard vocabulary. Everyone use different kind of language in different situations, so that adolescents will not use the same language while speaking with their parents as they do with their friends.The only reason of using this slang in front of their parents might be to keep them out of the loop. And this generally happens while they are talking about sex, drug or ethnic issues. Although many of these slang expressions are harmless and teenagers are using them just to be on the same boat as they peers, parents should be aware of this slang, so they can avoid some unpleasant situation. Teenage age is the part of life when most people do not yet know what to do with their life.That is one of the reasons why many teenagers are trying to find their place and identity by joining some social groups, which they can feel connected with. They usually feel a need to become members of some subcultures that relate to their own attitudes and interests. Some subcultures have their own private language code, which helps it s members to support their values, attitudes and uniqueness even more; in other words slang language. As already mentioned, apart from general slang, teenagers also use other characteristic linguistic features known as â€Å"slanguage†.One part of the teenage slanguage is vogue expressions. Vogue words are already existing words like â€Å"massive†, â€Å"paranoid† or â€Å"reckon†, which have become trendy in teenage talk, but they tend to lose their popularity in a short time. It might also be words like â€Å"wicked† or â€Å"sad† used in a different new way: a) Sad drinking habits = secret drinking in a boarding school[8], and b) A wicked pair of ragamuffin trousers, wicked rap, wicked music[9]. As Stenstrom, Andersen and Hasund (2002: 86-89) states another fashionable feature in teenage language is the usage of vague words.Some classic examples of vague words are: lots of, stuff like that, kind of, for ages, and so on, and whatever. Vag ue words are used instead of the adequate words in talk. The reason for using them is to take up the talk to a more colloquial level and fill the gaps in a sentence. These words occur in adults talk as well. The example of vagueness we can see in this conversation: Tommy: and they like wanna see like how we talk and all that. [You know] Regina: [Yeah] Tommy: rastafarian style and all[10] According to Chanell (1994: 197) vague words do not have a function of fillers without meaning.They are used for purpose to contribute the communicative message. Vague words are discussed with two interesting features in COLT (2012: 105;106): a) The research showed that usage of vague words is more frequent among adults than teenagers. However this finding might be quite inaccurate, because adults in COLT conversations mainly appear in the position of teachers and they might adopt the language means of their students to get more closed to them; and b) COLT study find that it is not possible to assoc iate the use of vague words with a specific gender or social background.Another trend in present teenage language is the usage of proxy phrases. It is the way of using verbs such as â€Å"go†, â€Å"say†, â€Å"be like† to substitute verbs of quotation. By using these verbs they can report to some situation or conversation and meaning can be also influenced by the tone or mimicry. In the corpus I have found following exmples: a) It was like sort of, she just went (banging noise), and just fell over and I just†¦ [11], and b) Well what I tried last weekend, not quite crying but I did a sort of moody sort of thing, I di= I was really quiet and I just gnored everyone and I was like really like, you know, didn't say a word. [12] According to Stenstrom, Andersen and Hasund (2002: 165) other typical feature of teenage talk are small words, which can be divided into hedges, empathizers and tags. The usage of invariant tags namely â€Å"yeah†, â€Å"eh†, â€Å"okay†, â€Å"right†, and â€Å"innit† is one of the most frequent feature in teenage slang. Empathizers are used to evoke sympathy between speaker and listener. An example of this is â€Å"you know†. By hedges are considered expressions like â€Å"just like† or â€Å"sort of†. Their purpose is to make speech sounds more or less unclear or fuzzier.Another feature of slanguage is a vocabulary which is considered as forbidden because of its offensive character known as taboo words. Taboo words are usually connected with sex, death, excretion or the human body. Slang taboos are used to replace the regular synonyms. Examples of these might be â€Å"take the piss out of† (make fun of), â€Å"screw up† (ruin), â€Å"to be pissed† (to be drunk). Teenage age is generally seen as an age of rebellion. Adolescents want to shock not only with their style of music, clothing, entertainment, but also with the talk style.That is the reason why they have favored the use of taboos. Just like taboos swear words are also considered as a part of forbidden language, which should not be spoken out loud. Although what sets them apart from taboos, might be their acceptance. If person use a swear word in some relevant situation, for example hurting oneself, as a relief, than it might be more acceptable. For example in the Czech republic is not forbidden to curse â€Å"kurva† if you hurt yourself. The purpose of swearing is quite obvious, it can come out of surprise, or anger or it may be used when people want to upset someone.Teenagers usually use some swear words when talking to their friends to look â€Å"cool†. In a recent study by Stenstrom, Andersen and Hasund (2002:64), it has been found that swearwords can be used as intensifiers to put more emphasis on adjective or adverb (extremely, fucking crap), abusives to refer to a person you are talking with (you dickhead/sod/motherfucker) or expletives expressing strong feelings, or serving as an oath or curse (for fuck’s sake, shit). Reasons for using slang British lexicographer Partridge (1993) pointed out a good deal of reasons for using slang.These were: to have fun by using playful expressions; to be different by using new expressions; to make your talk seems more witty, inventive and humorous; to be picturesque; to draw attention; to escape from cliches, or to be brief and concise; to enrich the language; to be solid, concrete or abstract; to strengthen or reduce your statement; to soften unpleasant situations; to reduce or disperse the seriousness of a conversation; to entertain the audience; for a social purposes to induce either friendliness or intimacy; to show that one belongs to a certain school, trade, profession or social class; to not be understood by others; to show someone that he or she is not a part of a group. For instance Stenstrom (2002:16) provides an example that shows how someone is not a part of a group. He gave a tape recorder to few teenagers, so they could record their daily conversations. The following is a transcription of one of these conversations: Johnny: We can’t have a squeak in this room. Get out. Brett: I’m not a fucking squeak, I’m just in a choir. Bradley: /laughing/ Yeah, precisely Rick: /laugh/ Ah that just shows your ignorance dunnit really? Yeah I’m a member of that one. Johnny: Shows my ignorance?Brett: Yeah if you weren’t ignorant you’d know there’s four parts to a choir and not just one castrate section. Johnny: And you’re in the Castro section? Brett: /laugh/ No I’m not. Johnny: With a laugh like that you’ve gotta be. Rick: Actually I tell you one good thing about being in this choir yeah, I’m in this little choir tonight, chamber choir yeah, which is only about, which is only about like eight or nine people yeah? Bradley: Oh so you’re the creme de la choir As we can see Johnny is using the slang word â€Å"squeak† when speaking about Brett and, who are members of the school choir. By this he means that they have mutating voice, while singing in the choir and he is also making a fun, that they are castrated.An important aspect of adolescence is to be perceived as â€Å"cool† or accepted by one’s peers. Because being â€Å"cool† also usually means being popular, and popularity is connected with higher social status. Teenager’s desire for being part of a group, and also being a popular member of a group, may by many be considered one of the most important matters in this point of their life. Teenagers have a tendency to favor unique styles of music or clothes. They choose own friends and places where they like to spend their free time. And they also tend to use specific language. So that the usage of particular phrases, words and slang expressions might be seen as an identity marker for them.The aims of young people are to be independent and free, so that they may use rather informal language than formal, to express their positive or negative attitudes towards other people or situations. Nevertheless at the same time they should be aware about choosing right language, while talking with different people. If they are not capable to choose right way to talk for example with older people, then there is no surprise they might be perceived cheeky, rude or less intelligent. Sources and factors influencing teenage speech Compared with the past days, when the society was not influenced by the mass media, the talk of teenagers is very different today. It is mainly affected by the pop-culture. Most teenagers have access to the same music, films, TV shows, and advertisements and especially they have the connection to the internet.Before the introduction of mass media such as internet, television or radio, slang varied mostly according to the regions you lived in. However in present days as there is a poss ibility to access the world via these electronic medias, adolescents share same or very similar culture. The reason why are these sources included to this essay is that they are influencing adolescent’s language and at the same time they help to spread this language quickly and easily. According to editor of the Oxford English Dictionary Jesse Shaidlower, technology has been one of the biggest drivers of new vocabulary for centuries. [13] There is no doubt that the internet is a great source of influence on the English language.In 2010 there were made an experiment by Salzburg academy about the addiction on media including internet. They asked students in ten universities around the world not to use internet, phone, email or any media for 24 hours. The results were comparable with withdrawal symptoms from drugs or alcohol. [14] We can see that most of the adolescents are addicted to the social pages like Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin, therefore their language is influenced by these social networks. Abbreviations like â€Å"LOL† (laughing out loud), â€Å"OMG† (Oh my God), â€Å"FB† (Facebook) or â€Å"BTW† (By the way) appear on internet pages every day and sometimes you can hear them in a normal spoken language as well.Also there is a grammar issue, because while chatting in the internet grammar is usually missing so the message like this can easily appear: â€Å"BTW hope u r F9 2day. † (By the way hope you are fine today. ) Teenagers tend to save time by reducing proper words to acronyms or symbols. We may say that Net Lingua is slang used among the internet at emails, social networks, online games, etc. We can also find many slang expressions which comes from TV shows, films or advertisements. For example according to Tagliamonte (2005) TV-show Friends popularized the usage of intensifiers such as â€Å"so† and â€Å"very as a means to emphasize some point of view. Another example is the popularization of th e greeting â€Å"Wassup? which is the colloquial pronunciation of the phrase â€Å"What's up? †. It became popular after the screening of the commercial campaign for Budweiser beer in 1999. [15] This phrase was also used in one of the episodes of a popular TV show How I Met Your Mother named Trilogy Time. Another element which influences the adolescent talk is the music they listen to. Most of them prefer main-stream music like pop, pop-rap or pop-rock or hip-hop music. And mainly hip-hop music is the one which has been influencing the English language already for some time. Hip hop renew and usurped already existing words like â€Å"cool†, â€Å"soul†, â€Å"chill†, â€Å"swing† and many other. ConclusionThis assignment has given the overview of lifestyle and speech among today's teenagers and it has find out why teenagers tend to use particular slang to express their identity. Moreover it served the main sources, which influences adolescentsâ₠¬â„¢ language like internet, television or music. It also mentioned the question if the use of slang may leave a bad impression on people they talk with. It was not easy to write about slang, because there are so many sources considering this topic. So that I chose to write about the group I thought uses slang the most, about teenagers. Firstly I tried to explain the term slang, show its origins and development.I have found that for the first time slang appeared in connection with teenagers in 1818. This work showed that above the general slang, adolescents’ talk also include vague, vogue, proxy, small words, taboo and swear words. According to Stenstrom, Andersen and Hasund (2002: 65) this typical vocabulary can be described with a term â€Å"slanguage†. This essay has shown teenagers use the slang to express positive or negative attitudes towards people or situations. On the one hand they use it to support their values, attitudes, and uniqueness and to show their sym pathy for someone. On the other hand they use it to draw the attention, shock, to show the rebellion or antipathy.Perhaps the most important aspect in the life of a teenager is to be perceived as cool. This essay showed that the way teenagers use their language can make them either popular for their peers or outsiders. References: ABC News (2011). OMG! The OED [Hearts] A Few New Words. [ONLINE] Available at: http://abcnews. go. com/US/omg-oed-words/story? id=13220816#. UIgSOsVrit8. [Last Accessed 24 October 12] Ayto, J. , Simpson, J. (1993), The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Battistella, E. L. (2005), Bad Language: Are Some Words Better than Others?. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Channel, J. (1994), Vague Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Eckert, P. (1989).Jocks and Burnouts: Social identity in the high school. New York: Teachers College Press. Green, J. (1988), The Slang Thesaurus. London: Penguin Books. Jelinkova, H. (2011), Slang Used among British and Czech Teenagers. Zlin: Tomas Bata University in Zlin. Oxford University Press (2012). slang, n. 3. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. oed. com/view/Entry/181318? isAdvanced=false&result=3&rskey=tyORJE&. [Last Accessed 16 October 12]. Oxford University Press (2012). teenager, n. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. oed. com/view/Entry/198559? redirectedFrom=teenage. [Last Accessed 17 October 12]. Partridge, E. (1933). Slang To-Day And Yesterday. London: William Press.Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change (2010). Unplugged: Living without the media. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. salzburg. umd. edu/salzburg/new/news/unplugged-study-goes-global. [Last Accessed 30 October 12] Stenstrom, A. B. , Andersen, G. , Hasund, I. K. (2002), Trends in Teenage Talk: Corpus Compilation, Analysis, and Findings Studies in Corpus Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. Tagliamonte, S. A. , Roberts, Ch. (2005), So weird; so cool; so innovative: The us e of intensifiers in the television series Friends. American Speech. 80. 3: 280-300 Thackeray, W. M. (1999), Vanity fair: A Novel Without Hero. New York: Modern library. The New York Times (2012).Young Women Often Trendsetters in Vocal Patterns. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2012/02/28/science/young-women-often-trendsetters-in-vocal-patterns. html? _r=2&emc=etal. [Last Accessed 24 October 12]. Thorne, T. (2005), Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. London: A & C Black Publishers Ltd. Trudge, P. (2000), Sociolinguistic: An Introduction to Language and Society. (4th ed. ). London: Penguin Books. ——————————— [ 1 ]. Trudgill (2000) 83. [ 2 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 2. [ 3 ]. Ayto, Simpson (1993) 5. [ 4 ]. OED (2012) http://www. oed. com/view/Entry/181318? rskey=ncdjjC&result=3#eid [ 5 ]. Thackeray (1848) 390. [ 6 ].Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 65. [ 7 ]. OED (2012) h ttp://www. oed. com/view/Entry/198559? redirectedFrom=teenager. [ 8 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 42. [ 9 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 45. [ 10 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 86. [ 11 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 128. [ 12 ]. Stenstrom, Andersen, Hasund (2002) 117. [ 13 ]. ABC NEWS (2011) http://abcnews. go. com/US/omg-oed-words/story? id=13220816#. UIgSOsVrit8 [ 14 ]. Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change (2010) http://www. salzburg. umd. edu/salzburg/new/news/unplugged-study-goes-global [ 15 ]. Winn (2008) http://www. trendhunter. com/trends/ultra-viral-political-videos-wassup-2008

Research paper for case study about Tort and Negligence (course Legal

For case study about Tort and Negligence (course Legal Foundation for Accountants) - Research Paper Example A tort law can be described as a civil wrong not arising from a contract and in the case of negligence, one should owe due consideration to one’s neighbour (Capiro Industries vs. Dickman 1990). Negligence therefore, can be described as the act of doing something a reasonable man would not do and a plaintiff must prove in such a case that the defendant owes a duty of care (Donoghue V. Stevenson 1932). In this case, it is of paramount importance for the claimant to be able to prove that the negligent behaviour of the defendant which is Bull Pty Ltd would have caused the loss of the lucrative contract to supply the toys in order to win the claim that the subsequent loss after the action of the Dan could have been avoided in the event that he would have acted within reasonable limits. There are traditionally four elements of the tort of negligence which the plaintiff has to prove in order to be successful in winning the claim. There is need to prove that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty by falling below expected standards, the defendant’s conduct caused the plaintiff to suffer physical or economic harm and the harm suffered by the plaintiff was reasonably foreseeable (Name of author and year). The four stage test has been reformed by statutory civil liability reforms in all States and Territories where recovery for loss in that situation must not be excluded by the statute. As going to be discussed in detail below, Kids P/L can establish the four elements of negligence. The House of Lords in the case of Capiro Industries vs. Dickman (1990), proposed the adoption of the following conditions where the three stages should be taken into consideration which include; foreseeability, proximity as well as reasonability. In some cases it may not always follow that a duty of care

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business law - Essay Example The claims to be made in the paper will be proved with the help of legal cases which have been solved by applying the legal approaches of Parole evident rule and collateral contract. Introduction: Business dealings are made among enterprises by large each day which makes it evident that there needs to be a jurisdiction that would help the parties agree and abide by the clauses in the agreement. It is for this reason that business law is being practiced by the common law. In return common law is being applied to majority of the states making it liable for organizations all around the world to sign agreements and follow the legalities. Considering the legal courts of Australia, It would not be incorrect to state that it has provided the business enterprises many benefits regarding restitution and contracts. However, there are different types of contracts with exceptions which are being practiced and legally prosecuted. In this context, the written contracts in Australia are provided wi th a lot of remedies in case the contract is breached. But verbal promises that have not been included in the written contracts are not solved in case breached. ... Definitions to the terms: Breach--violation of the law which is written or oral in nature. Plaintiff-- a person or a party that would file a lawsuit against the violating party Defendant--- a person or a party against whom the case is filed. Points of Focus: Parole evident rule and exception followed by the suitable cases Collateral contracts and definition with the suitable cases Australian Courts and Remedy to breach of Parole evidence rule: It is an Australian law which is applied in case it is a matter of a written contract. Within the approach of parole evidence rule, it is evident that the court will note that all the clauses which are written or mentioned in the agreement are carefully following the signed affirmation of both the parties. This approach completely denies in case either of the party proposes a claim which is verbal in nature. The Australian court represents jurisdiction that completely disqualifies any verbal or oral promise making it much easier for the parties and the court to subject litigation if notice in any case1 The reason behind employing this legal approach in Australia for the business agreements is merely because it is able to save a lot of time. Another reason behind setting up the approach of parole evidence rule exemplifies the prevention of any faulty statement coming from either of the parties agreed upon the agreements. There has been a common ground of deviation noted in most of the legal business cases. All such cases have marked statements which were put forward by the parties in order to bring deviation the focal point of the agreement. In other words, it could be said that at times either of the parties is more likely to override

Evaluation of alternative growth paths available to organizations Essay

Evaluation of alternative growth paths available to organizations - Essay Example Everything takes some time and any initiative taken by a new entrant takes some time to fructify and yield desired results. There are four different strategies that can be chosen by a new entrant to penetrate a new market. These strategies are embodied in what is popularly known as Ansoff’s Matrix (Pearce and Robinson 2007). The four pronged attack that a marketer must implement in order to make a mark in a new market are aptly embodied in this matrix which clearly identifies between existing products and new products and existing markets and new markets. The pictorial representation of the matrix is: (tutor2u 2009) It is quite obvious that the strategies differ in different situations. If a company wishes to make its presence felt in an existing market with existing products it needs to adopt strategies that would help it in penetrating the market. But if the company is attempting to introduce new product in an existing market, it needs to concentrate more on strategies relat ed to product development as that would help it in creating a firmer hold on the existing market. Similarly, if the company is attempting to introduce existing products in new markets, it must concentrate on strategies that are closely associated with market development. Whereas, if the company has grand plans of entering new markets with new products it must embark on a path of diversification and devise relevant strategies. Market Penetration Product/market placement This strategy attempts to increase the market share of an existing product in an existing market and is generally adopted by firms that want to increase their turnover without altering their product portfolios. Main Principles As the main emphasis is on increasing the turnover, management should concentrate on increasing sales personnel while offering attractive discounts and bargain sales that are made to appear genuinely appealing through aggressive sales promotion and advertising. However, there is no assurance tha t such moves would pay dividends and a firm should adopt such strategies only if it feels the market has not matured or its market share is steadily decreasing due to onslaught of rivals. Organizational Example The best example of such market penetration strategy is observed in the way Airtel is promoting its services in the mobile telephony market in India. Pros and Cons There is bound to be a lot of investment in advertising and promotion and per unit revenue gets reduced due to discounts. So, the sales volumes must be sufficiently large to offset these reductions. But that can never be guaranteed. However, if the venture becomes successful, the firm can earn substantial revenue. Market Development Product/market placement When a firm tries to discover new markets for an existing product it is termed as market development strategy. It is obvious that a new market would result in additional turnover and consequent bolstering of the bottom-line. Main Principles There are two basic m ethods of focusing on a potential market. Such a market can be configured on the basis of geographical location such as state, country, region or even a city, or it could be delineated on the basis of demographic divides as gender or age. It could even be demarcated on the basis of income or educational or family background. This move is obviously riskier than market penetration as the firm is entering new and uncharted territories and should be undertaken only after potential for further expansion in domestic market is exhausted. Organizational Example The best example of market development strategy is exemplified by the ventures made by Pakistan Oil Company in new markets in Afghanistan or the way Chinese products, especially consumer products that have expanded their market all over the world. Pros and Cons A

Midlands Auto-Parts Limited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Midlands Auto-Parts Limited - Essay Example However, after the emergence of the object-oriented languages new development technologies have turned out to be gradually more and more well-liked as well as extensively utilized in industrial businesses and university organizations (Firesmith, 1991; Holt, 2009; Stair & Reynolds, 2003). The object oriented development methodology is a components based system development methodology. Object oriented development methodology emphasizes on the creation of classes that encapsulates both data and algorithm used to manipulate the data. The main intention of the object oriented software development methodology is to develop a class that would be reusable to different applications and computer based system architecture (Pressman, 2001). In addition, object oriented development methodology incorporates lot of working functionalities of the spiral software development methodology. It is also an evolutionary system development methodology (Sommerville, 2004). Human resource required: This object oriented development methodology is more related to spiral model for the development of the overall system. In this way in this software development methodology there is no need of large development staff as compared to system size, because each problem is broken into small workable functions (Pressman, 2001). Resources needed: Due to less human resource working for system development through object oriented development methodology, there are fewer resources required for development of system (Pressman, 2001). Development domain: Object oriented development methodology is mostly used for huge application development that encompasses major aspect of reusability. It is also most excellent for complicated project for the reason that it develops system though components based approach (Pressman, 2001). The main similarity in this development methodology and object oriented methodology is the main phases of the system development. The system

School-Appropriate Social Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

School-Appropriate Social Skills - Essay Example These skills include feeling confident and being approachable, being interested in others, and the degree of feeling alone. Feeling acutely lonely and being extremely shy can cause the child to be "pushed" into a situation or into participating and this is counterproductive. Activities such as "Show and Tell" will help a child in building confidence, being approachable, developing an interest in others, and to thwart the feelings of loneliness. as they learn all the other social skills that come with participating in group activities. Changing the seating arrangement occasionally and playing games such as "Star of the Week" where a child brings in his/her favorite photos and/or snack, etc. and are asked questions by other students. This promotes group time and social interaction. Alone time, quiet time, and individual activities will help children have the appreciation of self, the desire to be alone, and to build self esteem. Quiet time such as reading, doing a puzzle, and drawing are examples of individual things that students can do. These activities led by the teacher will help give children the balance that they need as they are encouraged to develop the skills that kindergarteners should acquire.

The significance of cross-cultural negotiation skills for the success Essay

The significance of cross-cultural negotiation skills for the success of international mergers and alliances - Essay Example This is where the term ’cross-cultural’ acquires significance in discussing negotiating skills essential for the success of international mergers and more specifically for success in acquisitions and alliances. More often than not, mergers and acquisitions are types of corporate businesses which amalgamate to form one single legal entity. The word alliance may cover activities like joint ventures, technology sharing agreements, and (seemingly in danger of violating anti-trust laws by price fixing) cartels, but not necessarily forming a single legal entity. Mergers and acquisitions among business firms have occurred within state boundaries before they became an international phenomenon. It perhaps speaks volumes for the lack of negotiating skills by one party or the other, when it is reported that 60 - 70 percent of M&As failed to deliver on what had been expected financially, as the outcome of the liaison. Less than a fifth of international M&As are said to create added value to the resulting organization. At the least, domestic mergers and acquisitions can expect shared traditions, regulatory laws, and custom and practice, which presumably make it easier for two or more parties to agree on common business aims and work towards achieving them.

Objectives of GPFRs in AASB and IASB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Objectives of GPFRs in AASB and IASB - Essay Example It is to be noted that both the boards have set down the objectives of General Purpose Financial Reports on the different basis. The further sections of this report focus on the helpfulness of the objectives set down by International Accounting Standard Board to improve the general purpose financial report. There are several questions that have been raised regarding the usefulness of the objectives. A comparison of the objectives of both the Australian Accounting board and the International Accounting board is made to analyze which one of the two is better suited as objectives for the general purpose financial report. The next section deals with the meaning of general purpose financial report and helps understand the main reason why these reports are produced. General Purpose Financial Reports are prepared to focus on the requirements of users who require understanding the company’s financial status. This report provided the common information to users who cannot prepare speci fic information to meet their needs. There are a few financial entities that are authorized to prepare these reports. Since these reports are very general most of the time these reports focus on general information of the company which benefits only a few groups of people. The main users of General Purpose Financial Reports are divided into three main categories namely. Resource providers like employees, lenders, supplier, lenders, investors, etc. These groups of people are interested in knowing the financial status of the company to understand whether the resources provided are being put to efficient use and if the company is performing economically, efficiently and effectively (CPA Australia, 2002). Recipient of goods and services like consumers, customers, or any person benefiting from the goods or services provided by the reporting entity.  

Analysis of Industrial Relations Law Research Paper

Analysis of Industrial Relations Law - Research Paper Example Her self-professed aim was to shift the balance of power in industry and restore management prerogative in the workplace. The extent to which her policies succeeded in transforming the character of production politics and industrial performance has been the subject of intense debate. One line of argument suggests that, in contrast to the Donovan reform strategy which failed to deliver significant performance gains in the 1970s, Thatcher's policies appear to have done the trick (Metcalf 1989). The potent combination of rising unemployment, tougher labor laws, privatization, and deregulation allegedly gave birth to 'new' industrial relations practices in the workplace and a corresponding improvement in productivity and competitiveness. The analysis which follows challenges this perspective. It argues that the system of industrial relations and employment regulation which came to dominate key sectors of the economy after 1945 was not conducive to industrial modernization: not, it should be stressed, for the reasons cited by proponents of the conventional wisdom, but because the trade unions and other regulatory mechanisms were too weak to force firms to abandon progressively outmoded business practices. The presence of a relatively cheap, disposable, and malleable labor force inhibited the emergence of high wage, high productivity growth strategies and helped entrench a relatively low wage, low productivity industrial system from which it is now proving difficult to escape. There is also a second sense, which concerns the academic study of industrial relations and its relationship to economics. Much more so than in other European countries and the United States, there has been a sharp demarcation line in Britain between the study of the institutions of job regulation and the study of their economic consequences. This may seem an academic point, but it is not without consequence, for this unwelcome division of academic labor has served to impede theoretical innovation and entrench established ideas, particularly the conventional wisdom. It is relatively uncontroversial to note that in the three decades after 1945 British industrial performance exhibited significant deficiencies as compared to other leading capitalist economies. Relevant performance measures in this context include output and productivity growth rates, the balance of trade, and investment in technology, plant, and people. The evidence of British underperformance is most striking in the case of manufacturing. Comparisons of output and productivity movements across time, sectors, and countries are fraught with measurement problems (Nolan and O'Donnell 1995). Nevertheless, the evidence--whatever its shortcomings-reveals a substantial and enduring shortfall between Britain's record and that of other leading economies. Fig. 5.1 charts the movements in manufacturing output and exposes a significant and growing gap between Britain and the other countries. For the period shown, domestic output has remained more or less stagnant.  Ã‚  

Standalone vs networked computers Essay Example for Free

Standalone vs networked computers Essay This report will clearly explain the differences between standalone and networked machines, as well as give a brief insight into the basic components of the network. Also, it will state the possible advantages and disadvantages to keeping the current standalone set up opposed to the idea of creating a network. A synopsis shall be included to summarise your options, and give a professional opinion on what would be the most beneficial for your small furniture business. STANDALONE ENVIRONMENT WHAT IS IT? A standalone environment is when a computer is used independently without connection to any communication devices. Each computer will need a copy of the operating system and software being used. If you need to transfer data between departments, it will have to be done manually. They vary from networked computers which are able to communicate to other computers because as soon as a computer is attached to a communication device, it instantly becomes in a network. The main characteristics of a standalone computer are: * It has no connection to any other computers * It does not have an internet connection * Data would need to be manually transferred via CDs, etc COMPUTER NETWORK WHAT IS IT? A basic network consists of several computers and hardware devices such as printers and scanners that are linked together so that they can communicate with each other. It features four distinct elements in addition to the computers themselves. These are: * Communication devices * Networking Software * Data transfer media * Standards and procedures Communication devices are pieces of hardware that are needed to turn standalone computers into networked computers. Before a computer can be connected to a network it must have a network interface card (NIC). This is a card that contains essential circuitry and a plug-in socket that allows a connection between the computer and the cabling. The NIC basically prepares and convert data to a form that can be transmitted through media (such as a metal cable or fibre optic cable). Networking software varies dependent on the size of the network. Because your furniture firm is only a small business, the networking software on Windows XP shall suffice, but take note of this information in case the business planning future expansion. Specialised network operating systems coordinate the activities of all the computers and other devices connected to a network. Popular network operating systems include: UNIX owned by the SCO group as 2000, Linux and Novell Netware, a popular client-server network operating system. Data transfer media is the physical material through which data travels from one computer to another. The main data transfer media an offer in todays market are metal wires, and fibre optic cable which add the cost of creating/installing a network, or alternatively wireless. Standards and procedures are important because without them one device in your network could be sending data to another device in a form that the other device may not be able to interpret. In order for a network to run properly it must adopt certain procedures. Without procedures the security of the network might be comprised, as well as the health of the employees. Legislation such as the Data Protection Act and Computer Misuse Act may accidently be disobeyed. ADVANTAGES OF STAYING STANDALONE The advantages to keeping the current 5 machines set up as they are, as standalone machines are: * It would be a cheaper option in terms of hardware and software. The cables, especially high speed fibre optic cables can be money consuming, as well this NIC and data transmission media can be costly * Less ICT knowledge is needed to keep the systems running efficiently, hence qualified network managers/administrators do not need to be employed * Training costs (such as money and time) on how to maintain/operate a network are unneeded if every member of staff knows how to use a basic standalone machine * The spread of viruses and bugs can be keep minimal as each of the computers arent communicate, meaning the virus cannot be transferred from computer to computer * Hard is less of a necessity, as servers arent needed. This is beneficial in two ways: * If a piece of hardware malfunctions, it doesnt affect every machine whereas, say, if a file server crashed the whole network would be sabotaged * Initially purchasing costs and maintenance costs do not need to be funded if the complex hardware for a network isnt needed * Standalone machines can operate a lot faster as if they are only need for a specific task (e.g. Word processing) other software doesnt need to installed on the hard drive, hence making the machine more efficient ADVANTAGES OF CREATING A NETWORK The advantages of setting up a network far outweigh the advantages of staying standalone. There are however disadvantages which will be covered on the next page of this report: * Manual file transfer is rendered inept if the network operates using a file server, which holds all the important documents an organization needs, where every computer has access to instantly * Hardware such as printers can be shared between multiple computers, meaning a separate printer doesnt need to be purchased/installed to every machine * Software such as application are shared, meaning its easier to control software maintenance and making sure the software is up-to-date is easier and more efficient * Costs of purchasing software is reduced as you can purchase a single copy which can then be installed the server so every machine has access, which would be cheaper than the alternative of purchasing the software multiple times * Network managers can control what websites employees do and do not have access to, so distracting game websites can be blocked from every computer * Downloaded material can be checked with the latest virus checking software universally, so individual scans do not need to take place * Backing up files to save loosing valuable documents can be done automatically or by the network manager so less responsibility is placed upon the work force and the likelihood of lose is reduced * Internal business communication can be made easier throughout the means of e-mail, which will improve communication between workers DISADVANTAGES OF STAYING STANDALONE When there are advantages, there are usually disadvantages to go with it. The disadvantages of keeping the current layout format are as follows: * File transfer is time consuming and frustrating, as documents cannot be directly sent to each computer, hence file transfer media such as USB memory sticks or CDs need to be purchased * Communication when working on a joint computer project can be fussy, as e-mails cannot be sent, so the employees will have to engage in face-to-face communication * Information is hard to keep up-to-date as two or more users could be updating the same piece of information unaware the other is doing so, hence two or more documents will be produced causing confusion * Software needs to be installed individually on each of the 5 machines, which can be costly as the software needs to be replicated enough times and wasteful of businesses time * Back-up of files isnt centrally done, hence each machine need to be backed up and checked regularly to ensure to lose of data * The internet or intranet cannot be accessed by employees, meaning topics cannot be research, information cannot be posted in a bulletin, etc, hindering employees efforts DISADVANTAGES OF CREATING A NETWORK The disadvantages of creating a network are scarce as networks are beneficial to almost every organisation in todays society. However, they include: * The task of running and maintaining a network, ensuring that it is fully functional requires expertise, so a professional shall need to be hired * If hardware fails or malfunctions, every computer is faced with the inconvenience. For example if the network file server goes down, no computer can gain access to the shared files * The initial costs involved in setting up a network are high as all the hardware and software need to purchased, although a network will save money in the long run, in the short run it is costly * Viruses can be spread more easily and quickly to every computer on the network, whereas if it happened to a standalone computer only one would be affected SYNOPSIS Overall, the advantages to your small business of creating a network far outweigh the advantages of keeping the machines standalone. The ability to share files such as orders, receipts, etc would be drastically improved as a file server could be emplaced for ease of access. Providing you have the funds to invest in the highly priced equipment, the option of setting up a network would be beneficial in the long term for the business especially in major growth happens which can be foresaw with the increasing mass of technology used. You could use the internet research competitors prices, to offer your customer the best quality service available and even start trading online using e-commerce. Make sure sufficient antivirus software is in place to protect from the risk of hackers or viruses; this may cost extra money, as it needs to be updated. The ICT department may need to consider employing highly qualified employees to run and maintain the network to make sure its operational on a day to day basis. So the options are to keep the 5 standalone machines and be faced with the disadvantages of them, or set up a network of computers and experience the change.

DEFINATION OF SUSTAINABILITY PHENOMENON

DEFINATION OF SUSTAINABILITY PHENOMENON In todays world where populations are growing, where natural resources are stressed and where consumers expectations are expanding, sustainability is absolutely critical issue for our planet. Sustainability is a significant term for many disciplines and one of the important key for living. Then, it has become an important part of organizations with the effect of todays rapidly changed competitive business environment and surely the effect of globalization. Economic Sustainability Environmental Sustainability Social Sustainability Figure 1. Three dimensions of sustainability Sustainability can be described as a permanent ability.  Meaning in the science of ecology, diversity and productivity of the biological system is to ensure the continuity.  Today is a very popular sustainability concept, or fashion in the phrase sustainable growth, underground / aboveground resources, without jeopardizing their life opportunities of future generations to consume to sustain economic growth targets. In 1992, Sustainable Development was the main theme of the Rio Conference, later all the other United Nations conferences had been deeply affected and the basic principles of the UNs approach turned into the world Sustainability. According to the United Nations Environment and Development Commission definition in 1987, Humanity, future generations need to answer capability without jeopardizing the daily needs by providing development to sustain the ability to have. According to Nelson and Winter (1982, pg.5) sustainability adverts to a accumulated and persistent way of growth, at economic level- the economic sustainability or at company level- the business sustainability; an included growth way that provides benefits to people at different types of levels of social position, both within countries and all over the world the social sustainability; and a growth trajectory that recovers and protects the natural environment and is well balanced in terms of exploitation of natural resources- the environmental sustainability. According to all of these senses, sustainability can be related with the accumulative and path dependent nature of the innovation process. (Nelson and Winter, 1982) With regard to Tekeli (2001), sustainability is emerged in the environmental movement and has become widely accepted in the political process content and it is tried to be redefined as a moral principle. As determined in many academic studies, for humanity, the long-term prosperity and ease the situation related with the worlds natural balance and protection of natural resources usage responsibly. 2.2. HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY The concept of sustainability used for the first time in 1713 in order to explain economic use of forests by Carl von Carlowitz was put forward by a woodsman, much later it have been translated into English. The first form of sustainability, without consuming the essence of the forest, which grew up just sprinkling the cut, was expected to benefit from that. Todays sustainability thinking is also called three-legged model (triple bottom line / 3BL). The short-form of definition is, Sustainable development of the existence of the people with economic, environmental and social dimensions to the future. Sustainability is a kind of ideology that involves social life to economy, environment and atmosphere; can see the right to intervene, the world, people and life. As the area of interest and interfere with thinking, sustainability has unprecedented coverage area in history ever. In todays world of science is accepted by everyone. Therefore the appreciation of science to sustainability issues are expected to accept from everyone. 2.3. CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY In recent years, there has been significant discussion in the business, academic, and popular press about corporate sustainability. This term is often use in some cases as a same meaning with other terms as especially with sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. In this part of the research, corporate sustainability and the relationship with other terms will be analyze. Sustainability has been defined as economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland, 1985). For businesses this includes issues of corporate social responsibility. In other words, corporate sustainability can be identified as meeting the needs of a firms direct and indirect stakeholders like shareholders, clients, employees, pressure groups and committees, without compromising its ability to meet the needs of future stakeholders at the same time. To achieve these objectives, companies must have to take into account and expand their social, environmental and economical capital base while contributing sustainability in the global business area. Recently, companies have become more sensitive to social issues and stakeholders interest to become better corporate citizens. Regarding this, the result for the companies that they should make significant changes for managing their social, environmental and economic impacts. Worlds largest, best-known organizations like Coca Cola, GE, Unilever, Procter Gamble are leading the world economy the way with taking into consideration social and environmental issues. The Corporate Sustainability Model describes the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes to implement a successful sustainability strategy (Epstein, 2008). For Wilson, sustainable development corporate social responsibility stakeholder theory accountability are the four pillars of corporate sustainability (Wilson, 2003). The contribution of sustainable development to corporate sustainability is two folds. First, it helps to identify the issues that firms must concentrate like social, environmental and economic performance. Second, it provides social objective for companies, governments to work for same aim, ecological, social and economic sustainability. Nevertheless, sustainable development does not provide the important evidence for the reason that firms action should look like (Wilson, 2003). The importance of sustainable development will be examine in detailed in the following heading of the research. Figure 2: The Evolution of Corporate Sustainability DISCIPLINE UNDERLYING CONCEPT CONTRIBUTION TO CORPORATE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINABILITY Economics Ecology Boundaries of the subject matter and description of a common societal goal. Social Justice CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Ethical arguments as to why corporations should work towards sustainability goals. Moral Philosophy CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY Strategic Management STAKE HOLDER THEORY Business arguments as to why corporations should work towards sustainability goals CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY THEORY Ethical arguments as to why companies shouldreport on sustainability performance. Business Law 2.3. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The conceptual idea of sustainable development has become a long-term place. This concept has been formed as a result of many international organizations especially The United Nations intensive works. Especially since 1970, a lot of scientific research and conferences were held both globally, national and local levels. Every new study has contributed to the idea of sustainable development become conceptual. Aforementioned studies should be sort chronologically in this format; i. The World Conservation Strategy-WCS The concept of sustainable development is first used at the World Conservation Strategy. This is the first formulation of sustainability and it is more ecological approach. According to this approach, development policies should have three priorities (Soussan, 1992: 21-24). Soussan, J. G. (1992), Sustainable Development, Environmental Issues in the 1990s, A. M. Mannion and S. R. Bowlby (ed.), John Wiley Sons, West Sussex, England, ss. 21-35. Protection of ecological process. Sustainable use of resources. Preservation of genetic diversity. The World Conservation Strategy (WCS) is more focused on the physical environment.  This approach of WCS has been criticized by the anti-growth. (Soussan, 1992: 24) ii. World Comission on Environment and Development Report- Our Common Future (1987) Brundtland Report was formed in 1983 by the period of the United Nations Secretary Generals request and upon the proposal and headed by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and the participants from twenty different countries in The World Environment and Development Commission (WCED) and submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in 1987. The most detailed used definition of sustainable development was expressed by WCED report, Our Common Future (1987), as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. iii. United Nations Environment and Development Conference- Rio de Janeiro (1992) United Nations Environment and Development Conference was organized between 3-14 June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the participation of 178 states. Rio Conference was adopted that Sustainable human development is at the heart of the case, consistent with the nature of every human being, the right to a healthy and productive life. With the Rio Conference, the scope of the sustainable development concept has greatly extended and has gained a place in the multi-disciplinary work area. iv. European Union 5th Action Program (1992) The most significant feature of this work is the first program that accepts local government as a coalition partner. (Hams,1994: 44-46). Hams, Tony (1994), Local Environmental Policies and Strategies after Rio, Local Environmental Policies and Strategies, Julian Agyeman and Bob Evans (ed.), Local Economic and Social Strategy Series, Longman Group Ltd, ss. 23-46. v. The Commission on Sustainable Development (1993) The purpose of the organization committee is implementing the principles which adopted in the conference, to strengthen the integration of environment and development issues for intergovernmental decision-making capacity. vi. The United Nations Conference on Human Settlements-Habitat II (1996) The concept of sustainable development followed in the historical course, The United Nations Conference on Human Settlements-HABITAT II had an important role. Istanbul Declaration and Habitat Agenda have both adopted in the Habitat II and the concept of sustainable development with a fairly close relationship between human settlements are discussed in detail. Sustainable development process based for many years before, however, it has been in the worlds agenda, widely after 1987 Brundtland Report and a lot of research, conferencing and meeting topics to be continue to be the subject. Sustainable development, the Brundtland Commission defined differently, although described in different ways by different authors during the 25 years.  There is no doubt that, this identifies the most common and accepted definition as a partner in this field, has described the 1987 Brundtland Report. With the words of Harlem Brundtland (1987) sustainable development refers a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation. This comprehensive report is published by United Nations. After a long period of study, the commission headed by Harlem Brundtland published Our New Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland, 1987). Coverage of the report was almost unique by its comprehensiveness; it covered numerous serious global issues like food security, population pressures and human resources, energy supply alternatives, species and ecosystem protection, industrial production and efficiency and peace security issues (WEC, 2001). According to the report, by over-exploiting resources societies may damage their capability to meet the needs of their future generations. The report noticed that, until recently, interventions of human society on environment were small in scale and their impact was limited. However, parallel to industrial and demographic trends observed in recent decades, these interventions have become more constitutional in scale and impact. Sustainable development is a concept that includes society, environment and development and all matters related to complex relationships with each other. In other words, sustainable development is a way of upgrading economic growth and the level of welfare with protecting the environment and quality of life of all people on earth. Increasing world population and its consumption rate, with rapid development in technology in the industry for increased production and environmental pollution hazards has led to the destruction of natural resources. In fact, until the middle of 20th century, the definition of sustainable development covers only environmentalism and nature preserve. The relationship between humans and the environment has always been throughout history, will continue to be. Especially 19  century industrial revolution which occurred in 19th century, these relationships have increased even more and human activities found more damaging for the nature. This fact has not escaped the attention of scientists and in this field has revealed the need for measures to be taken. Starting establishing in the late 19th century early 20th century of some associations and ongoing community of human natures the main objective was to prevent these losses. 2.4. THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Become the most important actors in the globalized world, multinational companies can be defined as companies that have operations in several countries and provider of benefits from international manufacturing (Aribogan, 1996). The term multinational corporations first occurred in 1960 Lilienthal used it to imply to such corporationswhich have their home in one country but which operate and live under the laws and regulations of other countries at the same time.(Kobrin, 2002) When we look at the period 1970-2000, massive growth of multinational corporation activities can be seen. In 1970 only 7000 Multinational Enterprises were existed in worldwide. In 2000 this score picked up to with 63,000 parent firms to totally 690,000. (UNCTAD,2000). Multinational enterprises have been expanding not only numerically also financially. Total sales of the largest 100 multinational enterprises increased from $3,2 trillion to almost $8,4 trillion (World Resources Institute, 2003). As a result, due to their power and capacity, multinational companies usually can affect the domestic policy of host developing countries. Sustainable Development can not be ignored in studies about management science and theory. (Galdwin et al.,1995). Over the last few years, the number of articles and projects about global implications of sustainable development has significantly increased (Banerjee, 2002). Because of increasing ratios of academic researches, debates abound among the basic players in the economy is multinational companies. These enterprises operate worldwide and they are strictly committed to foreign direct investment (Mclntyre, et al,2009). Multinational companies play a significant role in the generation of sustainable development strategies. Multinationals inflict dynamic and complicated strategic processes that consolidate social phenomena in different ways like social, economic, cultural and legal aspects of these phenomena influence each other (Mclntyre, et al,2009). Through to the incredible increase of knowledge related with sustainable development strategies and growing importance of multinational companies, it is necessary to review last few years research process. In a global context multinational enterprises had an slightly increasing importance till these years. Many studies have examined the role and importance of Multinational Enterprises in sustainable development in developing and underdeveloped countries. These studies identified that a variety of economical, social, political and legal situations in the host country may pick up or slow down the progress of sustainable development process. For instances, researchers highlight that multinational enterprises have a crucial role at the beginning of this process because they are decision-makers in countries. On the other hand, environmentalists are generally dejected the addition values of Multinational Enterprises especially about protecting the natural environment in host developing countries (Gafaru, 2006). Because of their exigent need for employment occasion, many low-income countries are usually obliged to organize their regulations about environment flexible, to attract foreign investors. According to Gafaru, developing countries are likely to be a haven for pollution intensive industries of Multinational enterprises. Rasiah (1999) also pointed that, the reason of the inferior machinery transferring from multinational firms to Malaysia is the countrys incompetent and lower environmental standards and regulations. Likewise, Blackman and Wu (1998) obtained important reinforcement. They claimed that foreign investment in electricity formation in China increased energy performance and reduced perilous emissions. Neoliberal researchers claim that multinational companies are the key issue to success sustainable development with transfer of new and innovative technologies. Technological development is a significant element for conserving the natural environment because development of technology may help in the manufacture of products which are environmentally-friendly to use. However, the current global trade and investment policies do not require from multinational firms to create new, modern and environmentally-friendly technologies in host countries (Gafaru, 2006) 2.5. IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY There are four main reasons why sustainability has an urgent attention for these years; Regulations Community Relations Cost and Revenue obligations Societal and Moral imperatives Government regulations and industry codes of conduct involve that firms must increasingly address sustainability. On the other way, the general society and activist are becoming increasingly aware of sustainability and impacts to society and the environment. A good performance on sustainability has a positive effect on improving community relations and business performance. Sustainability can also create financial value for the corporation through developed incomes and lower expenses. In other words, managing sustainability is definitely a perfect business decision. Societal and moral imperatives have an impact on environment and for this reason companies have a responsibility to manage sustainability. An individual interest for social and environmental impacts and their social and moral imperatives has led companies to include sustainability in their strategies. (Epstein, 2008) 2.6. SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING Sustainability reporting is the implementation of being responsible to internal and external stakeholders as related to the corporate performance measurement explanations with the aim of sustainable development goals. Sustainability reporting is a broad term used synonym with Corporate Responsibility Reporting that is also used to identify economic, environmental and social impact reporting . In a sustainability report, the reporting of sustainability performance assessment of institutions should be balanced with both positive and negative contributions. Sustainability Reports are generated by GRI (Global Reporting Initiative ) Reporting framework and cover reporting period that have the institutions commitment, strategy and management approach that has emerged in the context of the implications. In other words, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a network-based organization that has pioneered the development of the worlds most commonly used sustainability  reporting framework and is committed to its continuous  improvement and application worldwide. (www.globalreporting.org). From the beginning of GRI in 1997, it has developed in over 70 countries. The main reason of this growth is admittedly a bounce of the coming age of sustainability reporting. In ten years over 1000 companies announce the use of the GRI Guidelines in their sustainability reports. According to King, sustainability reporting has become critical for companies. It is important for companies to build the trust and confidence of its stakeholders. Basis and Guides ve Sector Effects Framework of Report Standard Explanations What to Report? How to report? Problems Figure 3: The Framework of GRI Reporting Consequently, GRI reporting has a significant importance for the companies because it provides to evaluate the sustainability performance with laws, rules, regulations, performance standards and voluntary interventions. It is also important to show how the company affect the expectations about sustainable development and how effected. Multinationals use GRI for comparison the performance in the company and with different institutions

Social mobility

Social mobility What is social mobility? Drawing on different perspectives, assess the impact of the education system on opportunities and life chances on the basis of social class. What implications does this have for the work of helping agencies? Social mobility simply describes how people move along the social ladder. For this to happen there must necessarily be some form of social class in place. Social class occurs everywhere, even in the poorest communities. Take a typical village in Ghana for example, you will find that probably the village palm wine tapper or renowned farmer may be at the top of the social ladder; by village standards, they are the rich guys; these in addition could also serve as money lenders or movers and shakers. In the middle of the social ladder in the said village you might find the middle class who constitutes probably the majority of villagers with average incomes making just about enough from their farming or other vocations to make ends meet. Of course, at the bottom of this ladder will be the lower classes that have no jobs or qualifications and are at the mercy of the rich palm wine tapper. Social mobility describes how the classes move from their level of class upwards or downwards. This movement could involve the acquisition of new skills or education in the bid to get better jobs and hence get more income. Sometimes movement is caused by for example winning the lottery, an inheritance from parents or relatives or any procedure either deliberate or accidental which moves a person from one class to another. Social mobility or intergenerational mobilityas economists prefer to call it measures the degree to which peoples social status changes between generations. It is seen by many as a measure of the equality of life opportunities, reflecting the extent to which parents influence the success of their children in later life or, on the flipside, the extent to which individuals can make it by virtue of their own talents, motivation and luck. (Blanden J et al 2005) The Sociology guide has described Social mobility as a vital part of social stratification and an inseparable part of social stratification system because the nature, form, range and degree of social mobility depending on the very nature of the stratification system. Stratification system means the process of placing individuals in different layers or strata. In a social mobility paper Stephen Aldridge describes social mobility as a movement or opportunities for movement between different social groups and the advantages that go with this in terms of income, security of employment, opportunities for advancement etc. (Aldridge, 2001) There are types of social mobility. Intra-generation is when there has been a change in a persons social position. A typical example will be clerical assistant who works his/her way up in an organisation. However, if a persons social position changes over a generation it is called inter-generation mobility. An example is Margaret Thatcher and many others. She became prime minister as a grocers daughter. There appears to be significant intergenerational mobility in the United States, although perhaps less than is sometimes believed. Origins significantly affect destinations. Specifically, adult sons and daughters are more likely to look like their parents in terms of occupation or income than one would predict on the basis of chance. Still, there is considerable mobility. Indeed, even when occupations or income categories are broadly defined, a majority of adult offspring occupy a different occupational or income category than their parents.(Daniel P et al 1997) Horizontal mobility is another type of social mobility where a person changes their job-related position but does not change social class. An example is where a clerical assistant moves from Wellingborough to London and becomes an administrative officer. Vertical mobility on the hand takes the stage where people change their job-related position and change their social class as well. An example of vertical mobility will be for example a street cleaner becoming a solicitor or an army officer becoming a cleaner. They have fundamentally changed their socio-economic position. There are types of vertical social mobility. If someone moves down the social ladder it becomes downward mobility. When they move up on the social ladder it becomes upward mobility. For example if an Army officer is promoted in rank it becomes an upward mobility. The magazine Business Week in 2007 wrote an article about how mobile phones in Africa are creating high standards of living and boosting upward mobility. Only a few years ago, places like Muruguru didnt even register in the plans of handset makers and service providers. What would a Kenyan farmer want with a mobile phone? Plenty, as it turns out. To the astonishment of the industry, people living on a few dollars a day have proven avid phone users, and in many parts of the world cellular airtime has become a de facto currency. The reason is simple: A mobile phone can dramatically improve living standards by saving wasted trips, providing information about crop prices, summoning medical help, and even serving as a conduit to banking services. (Business Week, 2007) Another recent example of downward mobility is in this article in the telegraph. Though she is married to a builder, the 27-year-old housewife has rickety wooden planks for walls and covers her roof with plastic sheeting to keep out the rain in Harares Hatcliffe suburb far from the neighbourhood where she used to live. Right now I dont have a housing lot, but we are paying money to local co-operatives (to save for a down payment) so we may get lots to build houses, Chama said. And she is far from alone. According to official estimates, around two million Zimbabweans in this country of 12.2 million need accommodation. (Reagan Mashavave, 2009)- Another type of social mobility is structural mobility which involves vertical mobility but its movement is brought about by a major disorder. It can also be brought on by changes in society that brings improvement to a large number of people. Typical examples will be industrialisation, expansion of education and computerisation. These changes have all brought improvement to people in the UK and around the world. People have through it acquired higher social status and found higher paid jobs than their parents. There is also individual mobility which involves people being hindered from taking opportunities because of where they were live, their colour, gender, religion, their educational background, job, wellbeing and many others. The impact of the education system on opportunities and life chances on the basis of social class is enormous and hasnt changed much since education began. It is still difficult for working class children to access grammar and good comprehensive schools as the middle class and upper class have populated areas where these schools are placed. Childrens social class is still the most significant factor in determining their exam success in state schools, the Governments head of teacher training acknowledges today. In an interview with The Independent, Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency, said: The performance of a school and a child in it is highly linked to social class. If you turn the clock back on pupils in school today 15 years and predict their outcomes from where they were born, you can do it. (Garner, 2008) Working class families are tied to the low paid jobs and often live in areas where schools are failing. Jobs are hard to find in these areas and its inhabitants are usually heavily dependant on benefits. Their lives are occupied with how to manage everyday living and not on reading to their children and giving them music and language lessons. The poorest children still have little chance of becoming lawyers, doctors, senior civil servants and financiers, a report published by the Liberal Democrats today shows. The Social Mobility Commission, set up by the party, said billions of pounds spent on improving social mobility over the past decade has helped middle-class rather than working-class children. Last year only 35% of pupils eligible for free school meals obtained five or more A* to C GCSE grades, compared with 63% of pupils from wealthier backgrounds.(Shepherd J, 2009) Disadvantaged children have little chance of watching educational programmes on television nor do they have the chance of reading the broad sheets. They are simply not patronised in their households. Libraries are rarely used and mobile libraries are not highly participated in working class areas. Areas in London for instance have seen various housing developments but they are not in the reach of the low paid. Overcrowding has many implications for the already struggling families as there is often no where to do homework. After school clubs charge for their services leaving low paid families out in the cold. Therefore chances of disadvantaged children reaching high levels of achievement in school are slightly dim. Young people in manual social classes remain under-represented in higher education in Great Britain. Despite increasing from a participation rate of 11 per cent in 1991/92 to 19 per cent in 2001/02, participation remains well below that of the non-manual social classes. Participation rates for the non-manual social classes increased from 35 per cent to 50 per cent over the same period. (http://www.statistics.gov.uk) The consequences of the manual or low class remaining under-represented in higher education is unthinkable as children from these background will experience either downwardly mobile or not move on the social ladder at all as a result of them not entering higher education. Todays job market is very competitive and even those with good qualifications are finding it difficult to hold onto their jobs. It means that most all white collar jobs will be held by the middle class and upper class families. All the independent evidence shows overall standards to be rising. But the bad news is that when it comes to the link between educational achievement and social class, Britain is at the bottom of the league for industrialised countries. Today, three-quarters of young people born into the top social class get five or more good GCSEs, but the figure for those born at the bottom is less than one-third. We have one of the highest university entry rates in the developed world, but also one of the highest drop-out rates at 16.(Independent, 8 September 2003) Anthony Giddens writes in Sociology and Social Mobility that education is not necessarily a means to an end. Education would have to work with other factors to foster social mobility. Education shouldnt be seen as a panacea for all societys problems. It has a significant role to play, but we cant hold schools and Universities solely responsible for promoting social mobility. Its important not to think of the education system as if it works in a vacuum factors like changes in employment and the economy, and the social determinants of childrens educational attainment, are critical in determining patterns of mobility.(Giddens, 2007) However, education definitely has opportunities for people to progress along the social ladder by providing relevant new skills, information, courses and therefore creating opportunities in life for them. A few years back a hair dresser did not need know too much about what she/he did as a hair dresser but in today environment he/she would have to know all the science there is to cutting, dressing and managing the business. Technology and other factors have raised the standard of work so high that without continuous professional development opportunities are not stretch far. In this new labour market, the value of college degrees overall is greater than ever before. Between 1984 and 2000, employment in jobs requiring a college degree grew by 20 million in the US, accounting for two-thirds of total job growth. Over the same period, wages for college graduates increased. In contrast, high school graduates in America who did not continue with education saw their wages fall below middle class levels for the first time. As a consequence, the opportunities for Americans with terminal high school diplomas are less than a generation ago.(Social Mobility Foundation, 2008) Although a small percentage of poor families are accessing higher education there is evidence that the UK government for instance is working frantically to improve the chances of the less privileged through innovations like Every Child Matters. This innovation is to give every child the chance of accessing education and other services in the community to give them better outcomes in life. Hence the establishment of Surestart Centres which is a one stop service for early education, childcare, health and family support. This Government has invested heavily in policies designed to give all children the chance to succeed. There have already been significant improvements in educational achievement, and reductions in teenage pregnancy, re-offending and children living in low income households. Todays children and young people experience wider opportunities and benefit from rising prosperity, better health and education than those in previous generations. The implications on the work of helping agencies are many. Helping agencies like Childrens Centres pick up the brunt of any inequalities that lay in society. We bid or vie for large sums of money to run various courses and projects that underpin social mobility. In the bid of helping families read we have set up borrow a chattersack in our childrens centre. This is to encourage parents who might otherwise not access libraries or buy books for their children. The books and toys are expensive but we charge a very minimal fee for them. Often people bring to us various problems like divorce, debt and housing issues which we do our best to refer to other agencies for further assistance. We hold classes with Citizen Advice Bureau to advise people on budgets and other financial incapability. Many of our clients are lone parents or young families struggling on low incomes. They are often in debt and or have little financial knowledge. They often live on large council estates where aspirations are not that great. The recent recession has hit these areas hard and some people are experiencing downwardly mobility. This comes with various demands like counselling, retraining and financial loss. Equality of opportunity is a sine qua non for any modern society and, in Britain, is a principle supported by all mainstream political opinion. Despite this, household income remains the biggest single predictor of a childs future success, and a recent report by the Sutton Trust found that, all too frequently, young people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds end up in a cul de sac of opportunity. (Social Mobility Foundation, 2008) Below is an example of some the types of work some helping agencies do. They use government funds to bridge the gap between rich and poor by organising trips to parks, educational establishment to boost confidence and increase knowledge. Nearly 175,000 bright children on free school meals will be given a chance at the age of 11 to visit a university as part of a drive to lift the aspirations of working-class people and increase stalled social mobility in Britain. Young people in the top 20% of ability based on test results, and who are eligible for free school meals, are about half as likely to go to university as those who are not eligible for free meals. They will now be offered two chances to visit universities. (Wintour, 2007) We organise sporting activities that will encourage the less privileged to put their feet in door of expensive sporting activities. We work with other agencies to bring information and understanding to parents who in effect calve their childrens place on the social ladder. A new report by the British think-tank Demos has hit the headlines, with its claim that Parents are the principal architects of a fairer society. Based on research from the Millennium Cohort Study, the report argues that how children are parented has a more significant impact upon their future life chances than just about anything else, including poverty and the social class into which they are born. (Bristow J, 2009) Helping agencies are faced with many demands for services they can and cannot provide. At our centre for instance there is the demand for certain services like computer classes, some sort of back to work training, cooking classes but we havent got the facilities and the man power to run such courses. We are therefore forced to send clients to other childrens centres in that losing their business. If we do manage to run any of the courses that put pressure on our facilities then we have to limit the numbers which in turn causes us to run the courses several times to fit everyone in. There is also a steady demand for information on sensitive family matters like finance. Education seems to be one the important factors manipulating social mobility. In todays society, education is becoming increasingly important as it used to ascertain the jobs people will end up in. Education is also used to determine peoples social class position. The recent government for instance has introduced many initiatives. Free child care for two year olds was trialed for sometime and is going to be offered to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Back to work incentive of  £500 and the investment into early years, FE schools and workplace training are all initiatives which research has suggested that has not boosted social mobility. In 1999 Tony Blair told the Labour Conference: If we are in politics for one thing, it is to make sure that all children are given the best chance in life. A decade on, the Government has had to admit that billions of pounds of investment in nurseries and schools and on training has failed to bridge the class divide, and that social mobility in Britain has stalled. (Bennett and Bahra 2007) As mentioned before there are many factors contributing to this fact. One such fact is the advantage that middle class families have over poorer families when it comes to education. References Web Sources Daniel P et al (1997) Intergenerational mobility in the United States [online] Available from: http://www.urban.org/publications/406796.html [Accessed 16/12/09] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051054.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech[ Accessed 27/12/09] http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/about/background/background/ [Accessed 16/12/09] http://www.polity.co.uk/giddens5/news/sociology-and-social-mobility.asp#intro[Accessed [16/12/09] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=7308 [Accessed 27/12/09] Jennie Bristow (2009) There is more to human character than sharing toys [online] Available from: http://www.parentswithattitude.com/parentsforum/tag/social-mobility[19/12/09] Non Web Sources (2003), Class still counts in Britain. Independent, Monday Sept 8 Bennett and Bahra (2009), Social mobility: Labour tries to revive flagging crusade to help poor children. The Times, Wednesday Jan 14 Blanden J et al (2005), Social Mobility in Britain Low and falling, Centrepiece 2005 Mashavave R. (2009) Downwardly mobile in Zimbabwe. Telegraph, Tuesday Dec 15 Richard G (2008), Social class determines childs success. Independent, Thursday Sept 18 Shepherd J (2009), Social class still determines success. Guardian, Monday Social Mobility Foundation (2008) A national project for social mobility Stephen A (2001), Social Mobility , A discussion Paper , Performance and Innovation Unit The Sutton Trust (2008) : Social Mobility and Education. London Wintour P (2009), Social mobility drive focuses on schools. The Guardian, Wednesday Jan 14