The Right To Privacy Essays - Digital Rights, Human Rights

The Right To Privacy In the United States Constitution and its subsequent amendments, there is in no place a reference to the so called ?Right to Privacy.? But in several Supreme Court Cases, the judges have ruled in favor of a certain decision by stating that people of the United States have a ?Right to Privacy.? How do these judges make the conclusion that there is a right to privacy guaranteed in the constitution, when it is not specifically written? The answer is, that they imply the power based on several of the already predefined amendments. In the Supreme Court Case, Gideons vs. Connecticut (1965), the Court ruled that the Connecticut law stating that no contraceptive may be used. The plaintiff argued that they should not be penalized for something they do in there own home. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, stating that there was a right to privacy in a man's home. In Mapp vs. Ohio, Police received an anonymous tip that there was a bomber inside the residence of a Mrs. Mapp. They came to her house, and she refused them in without a search warrant. The police came back later, handcuffed Mapp, and found several items of obscene material throughout her house. The supreme court ruled in favor the Mapp, stating the right to privacy in ones home, and the guarantees that the fourth and fourteenth amendments have. What gives the court the right to base a decision on the right to privacy? The first amendment to the constitution states that people have the rights of speech, religion, press, petition, and ?assembly.? More specifically, ?freedom to associate.? The court ruled that ?the disclosure of membership lists of a constitutionally valid association, was invalid.? It also ruled that ?we have protection in the associations that are not political in the customary sense, but pertain to the social, legal, and economic benefit of the members,? in NAACP vs. Button. Another reason why the right to privacy is implied is the fourth and fifth amendments. In Boyd vs. US, they are used as protection against invasions ?of the sanctity of a man's home and the privacies of life.? In Mapp vs. Ohio, the fourth amendment was referred to as ?a right to privacy, no less important than any other right carefully and particularly reserved to the people.? It is also referred to in Griswold vs. Connecticut case as ?the right to be left alone.? In NAACP vs. Alabama, the fourth and first amendments were used in conjunction to say ?we have the right to associate and to have privacy in one's associations.? Throughout the brief history of the Supreme Court, hundreds of cases have been held. Several of those cases have had the decision based on the ?right to privacy.? The problem is, that no where in any version or in any language does the United States Constitution specifically say we have a right to privacy. Even one of the most controversial cases in history, Roe vs. Wade, had a decision that was based at least partially on the ?right to privacy.? Whether it is written or implied by the courts, one thing is for sure, due to the ninth and fourteenth amendments, there is no way, that a state or national law will ever take away our so called ?Right to Privacy.? A Right To Privacy: Sure why not! American History

Free Essays on The Mis-Education Of American Scholars

Several individuals may believe that general education requirements, such as a Literature course, are merely a university’s attempt to prolong a student’s collegiate career and collect additional tuition fees, but what many of them fail to realize is that these courses create a foundation upon which future knowledge will be based and expanded. This groundwork will give students the ability to handle themselves and will enable them to interact with a rapidly growing and diverse population. Without literary courses, students will be debarred of valuable knowledge and tools that will inevitably become vital to their academic growth and future success. Ever questioned as to why most students even those who have attended esteemed colleges or universities seem to be unaware and unintelligible in reference to life or the world around them? It may possibly be because in the impetuous quest of triumphant sports teams, expensive overly proficient facilities, and the obvious influence of money, colleges and universities seem to have forgotten their principal charge: to teach students something about history, literature, mathematics, the natural sciences, foreign language, philosophy and English. Generally speaking, five of these seven topics are closely linked to the subject matter of literature. The reason most scholars fail to leave college with such a base-line education is simple: It is no longer required of them. Concisely, there has been a purging from the curriculum of many of the required basic survey courses, including literature, which previously familiarized students with the historical, cultural, political and scientific foundations of their society. According to the National Association of Scholars President Stephen Balch, America is "in danger of losing the common frame of cultural reference that for many generations has sustained our liberal, democratic society." According to a study by the NAS, the number of top schoo... Free Essays on The Mis-Education Of American Scholars Free Essays on The Mis-Education Of American Scholars Several individuals may believe that general education requirements, such as a Literature course, are merely a university’s attempt to prolong a student’s collegiate career and collect additional tuition fees, but what many of them fail to realize is that these courses create a foundation upon which future knowledge will be based and expanded. This groundwork will give students the ability to handle themselves and will enable them to interact with a rapidly growing and diverse population. Without literary courses, students will be debarred of valuable knowledge and tools that will inevitably become vital to their academic growth and future success. Ever questioned as to why most students even those who have attended esteemed colleges or universities seem to be unaware and unintelligible in reference to life or the world around them? It may possibly be because in the impetuous quest of triumphant sports teams, expensive overly proficient facilities, and the obvious influence of money, colleges and universities seem to have forgotten their principal charge: to teach students something about history, literature, mathematics, the natural sciences, foreign language, philosophy and English. Generally speaking, five of these seven topics are closely linked to the subject matter of literature. The reason most scholars fail to leave college with such a base-line education is simple: It is no longer required of them. Concisely, there has been a purging from the curriculum of many of the required basic survey courses, including literature, which previously familiarized students with the historical, cultural, political and scientific foundations of their society. According to the National Association of Scholars President Stephen Balch, America is "in danger of losing the common frame of cultural reference that for many generations has sustained our liberal, democratic society." According to a study by the NAS, the number of top schoo...

Market Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market Structure - Essay Example However, further he adds that the PeopleSoft products will not be integrated into Oracle offerings and PeopleSoft programmers would have to rewriter the most important functions from the scratch as part of the new Oracle software. Following these two contradicting claims, the conclusion can be made that Oracle just wants to eliminate the dangerous competitor while the interests of PeopleSoft customers are not taken into account at all. In addition, Ellison has claimed that mergers with other smaller rivals are of no interest for Oracle, probably because they do not present the threat for Oracle market standing. Nevertheless, in the long run the merge will prove to be beneficial for the consumers because the company will be able to use specialists of PeopleSoft as the tool to develop new programs aimed at making data easier to manage. Both Oracle and PeopleSoft focus on stand-alone products and probably would not survive and meet growing demands of customers. The PeopleSoft have limited offerings and merge with Oracle provides the opportunity to become the team within the larger structure and accelerate the consolidation among the vendors.

Chinese Literature Final 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chinese Literature Final 1 - Essay Example For proof of the key roles Wang Shao and Tanqian played in the campaigns, Wang Shaos (d. 601) authorship of the Shenli ganying ji, a anthology of miracle account associated with the first two relic-distribution campaigns. And, based on a judgment of the regret text used during the campaigns and a work by Tanqian, Chen influentially argues that Tanqian in all likelihood composed the former as well. Han Yu thought that Buddha was repulsive. Buddha did not respect royal and citizen rights. Yu thought that Buddha’s principles that would have had him incarcerated in modern days. Yu having found Buddha dirty and unclean felt that a reputed bone from Buddha was a bad sign. Since the royal courts were in themselves divine to bring an unclean relic in them was sacrilege. The reputed Buddha bone was also considered dirty due to the fact it was part of a dead man. The dead had no part in the royal residences or around the king. Great care was taken when discarding a dead body, so disease and uncleanness would not spread. Yu went on to defend this view by asserting that even if Buddha came back and struck him down, his duty was to the king first. Religion and relics came second, Yu’s loyalty was to the

Business Etiquette Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Etiquette - Essay Example Research evidence demonstrates that corporations are increasingly establishing joint ventures, building strategic alliances, and establishing direct investments. Successful and effective communication in an international business environment is necessary for business growth as Reynolds and Valentine (2011) have determined.( Lok & Crawford, 2004) Due to the globalisation of business it has become exceedingly important to have an exemplary cross and intercultural communication so as to gain competitive advantage. In current years, scholarly debates have been focusing on globalization of the economy and the diverse workforce that emphasises on appropriate business etiquette that leads to sustainable business relations across international business. Cook and Cook (2011) place premium manners of managers in public and professional while undertaking official duties. Other studies have highlighted that small business and upcoming entrepreneurs have started to invest heavily and competing in the international market. Recent developments show that many businesses are cultivating a global focus by sourcing, producing, importing, or exporting their goods and services around the globe, which makes intercultural communication and negotiation gain substantial prominence in the international business management. Further, international bus iness etiquette (the expected rules of behaviour for intercultural communication and management) has become increasingly important because of the mobility of people. Due to the different systems in politics and economy of the world, and the different history and cultural tradition. Sebenius (2002) points out that cultural difference can influence business negotiations in significant and unexpected ways. Negotiation is an important part of developing business in any market. (Xiaohua et al., 2003). The increasing globalization in the world and the increased mobility of people settling in foreign

Siemens Change After Corruption Scandal

Siemens Change After Corruption Scandal This change management report is intended to present the boundary condition of culture change efforts at Siemens after corruption scandal came to light on November 2006. Even prior to corruption scandal, Siemens had a system of rules, policies and procedures; however it had not done enough to entrench its values, policies and procedures into company practice. They lacked in subsequent leadership and culture, inconsistent communication, training and company did not take adequate measures to punish conduct in breach. Siemens understood that they have to make some changes to its business to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a one of Germanys largest publicly held corporations and Europes largest engineering conglomerate by sales. Siemens is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors. It activities include cross sector businesses and services, equity investments. The company has around 405,000 employees working to develop, design and install complex project and tailor a wide range of solutions for individual requirements. Siemens has built his reputation and world class with its technical achievements, innovations and internationality over 160 years, generating a sales volume in excess of â‚ ¬75 billion with communication division at the heart of business (Siemens, 2010). Up until 1999 bribing foreign officials to secure contracts was not only authorized but tax deductable in Germany. Siemens were allowed to pay legal fees for employees who got arrested or prosecuted abroad for bribery. Corruption is a part of a countrys culture, so is Siemens. It maintained a culture in which corruption was a likely business strategy to enter into emerging markets. In addition Siemens had grown closer to government (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). A culture of corruption in a dominant organisation does not occur accidently. Why would workers willingly commit an offence? The only likely explanation is if the organisation rewarded such behaviour. Siemens is not the kind of organisation where tens of thousands of slush funds gets unobserved. It is conceivable, certainly plausible, that Siemens top management knew anything about the bribes and corruption scandal. But as top officials they share responsibility for the widespread see-no-evil-hear-no-evil corporate culture in t heir organisation, which suggest that Siemens lacked a corresponding leadership and culture. So it is evident that culture at Siemens was illegal and unethical. Klaus Kleinfeld appointed as CEO of Siemens in January 2005-a conglomerate with 75 billion euros. He was called as wunderkind among shareholders of Siemens after turning the operation of communication division and making profits of 569 million euros or (3.2%) increase in sales. Later on November 2006, Klaus Kleinfeld announced that Siemens net income went up by 38% and sales growth were up by 16% from previous fiscal year (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). Leader will go wrong, if they jammed in single metaphor (Esther Cameron Mike Green, 2009) and this is what Siemens witnessed. Despite knowing the corporate culture of the organisation, he broke accustomed consensual management style, instead he threatened to sell or restructure if they didnt hit targets. Kleinfeld focused only on the colossal task of strategically restructuring the division and ways to improve the company growth. According to business daily Suddeutsche Kleinfeld gave lot of attention about the financial markets demand a nd restructuring the company. Spiegel particularly concentrated more on Klaus Kleinfelds tactical errors: Possibly his biggest failure was to underestimate the impact of bribery scandal (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). He seemed to not fully take control as bribery scandal kept whirling around the company. This shows that Kleinfelds recklessness and negligence. This body of work presents the boundary conditions of the Siemens change effort. It has been believed that organisational leadership and culture, with in the present organisations business environment, are the most critical aspects that determine the dynamics of organisational change. Siemens had policies in place, but they were not lived up to the expectation, the corporate values were not incorporated and leadership has failed miserably, resulting cost of â‚ ¬ 660 MM fines and â‚ ¬ 650 MM attorney and consultant fees (Frank Schmidt Kenny Mok, 2008). Reputation and trust were battered due to the series of corruption scandals which rocked Siemens. Siemens was blacklisted in Nigeria by Federal Government of Nigeria (Felix Onuah, 2007). As a result reputation and trust were battered due to the series of corruption scandals which rocked Siemens. So to keep hold of business, Siemens were in the position to change their culture and leadership style in order to get rid of corruption . Corruption Scandal: But one of the major concerns with Siemens was corruption kept escalating. Siemens has been at the middle of a very serious corruption scandal, since November 2006. Siemens officials have been investigated and scrutinized in a bid to clarify uncertain payments totalling some â‚ ¬1.3 billion ($2.07 billion). In 2006 Siemens was at the middle of one of the Germanys biggest corporate corruption scandal. In November 2006 around 270 police and other German officials ransacked Siemens offices. Six executives were arrested, including CFO of telecommunications division. German officials alleged that the suspects had diverted some 200 million euros through secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and through shell companies, paying bribes for winning contracts in Iraq, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Italy, Israel, Russia, China, Argentina and Greece (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). Repercussions of the Scandal: Siemens identified the expenses of corruption as very high, through slowing down financial growth, rising levels of poverty, foreign investment misallocation, reducing tax revenues and additional government costs. Siemens concentrated on some of the key areas where they lacked quality in order to get rid of corruption. It is also very imperative to keep up their brand name and reputation to do good business and compete against their rivals. After the corruption scandals were unveiled at Siemens, the management started many initiatives to reinforce its compliance controls and corporate governance. New Governance Structure: One of the most important challenges an organisation faces, apparent leadership is crucial if an organisation is to make sure that the board and employees are not engaging in bribery and corrupt practices. It is really imperative that the board members do not transmit mixed signals; urge officials and managers to follow strict codes and high standards. Siemens supervisory board members Huber, Ackerman and Cromme were against their former CEO Kleinfeld, although profits had increased by about a third and sales by about 10%. As a result Kleinfeld was asked to step down because the image of the company was in tatters. For the first time ever in the history, board members turned to an outsider as chief executive officer-the Austrian Peter Loscher (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). Siemens implemented new managerial board position for compliance and official matters. Peter Solmssen, Hans winters and Andreas Pohlmann were appointed as General Counsel, Chief Audit officer and Chief Compliance off icer respectively (Dietrich G. Moller, 2009). Loscher was in a position to develop a power base for him and then make sure his acceptance. Unlike Kleinfeld, Loscher made sure to maintain co-operative relations with unions and employees. Understanding culture is desirable for leaders in order to lead and to make a successful change. For e.g., what the leaders pays more attention to, controls and measures on a regular basis, how do they respond to crises and critical situations, how do they assign limited resources, promotions, rewards and status, all these factors informs the culture that has been developed in an organisation. Training: Since Siemens was listed on New York Stock Exchange, it was expected that Security Exchange Commission (SEC) would interrogate the scandal and might impose higher fines than authorities of German, whilst the U.S justice department would launch a criminal probe (Rawi Abdelal et al., 2008). To meet the challenge, Siemens had restructured the Compliance and started a comprehensive compliance program. So Siemens hired a cofounder of Transparency International to consult on compliance and hired the well-known United States law firm of Debevoise Plimpton to investigate the bribery scandal. Top officials and divisional heads were asked to submit joint bids for projects, a measure designed to remove corruption. (Andreas Pohlmann, 2008) Compliance program focussed on three important factors Siemens concentrated on providing training, propagating awareness and understanding and implemented a control system in order to overcome substantial deficiencies. Training is very imperative to make sure the exact implementation of the controls. To avoid unethical business practices, the Siemens provided anti corruption programs as a part of training for more than 15,000 employees. In addition, Siemens launched a web based anti corruption training program for more than 120,000 employees (Andreas Pohlmann, 2008) This graphs shows that training is gradually increasing from the year 2008 to 2009 and Compliance staff increasing from 86 in 2006 to 598 in 2009 (Dietrich G. Moller, 2009). Siemens thought, compliance is the common platform and the moral responsibility to sustain the mutual set of morals for which the firm stands: superiority, creativity and accountability. Detect: Siemens relied on the loyalty of their employees towards the company, to detect and Identify potential problems at the early stages. They motivated and encouraged their employees to actively participate in developing a culture of reliability by not allowing anybody to violate in the organisation. They launched a helpdesk with Tell us and Ask us functions, so employees were asked to inform the helpdesk if anybody violates the rules (Dietrich G. Moller, 2009). According to Ask me helpdesk, around 3000 questions were raised regarding particular compliance problems, and many individual violations have been reported at the helpdesk. Respond: Siemens has started responding to non-compliance, violation and misconduct through regular and proper sanctioning across each and every departments of the business. Siemens had enforced more than 550 penalizing measures in fiscal year 2007 (Dietrich G. Moller, 2009). Communication Communication is an imperative factor for Siemens to incorporate its new strategic direction of superior ethical behaviour, corporate social responsibility and transparency. Siemens has started concentrating on more direct discussion between the employees and Managing Board in both directions. Through this way, Siemens communication of morals and values can be sustained right through the business, without being lost in transformation. Siemens has placed tactical significance on making its anti corruption strategies and compliance guide easy to read, this would help the employees to understand better (Article 123, 2008). Approaching Change: Altering the culture of an organization may be the toughest job a CEO will ever take on. The culture in an organisation or department is shaped over years of relations among organization members. The change process requires statistics, cautious study and good consideration of results. Scheins Organisational culture model: Culture is the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with its problem of internal integration and external adaption (Schein, 1990). Culture is not only about programmes and initiatives, it is everywhere in the company (Cameron Mike Green, 2004). Thus culture gives a sense of organizations norms, values, beliefs, rituals and language; the way in which things are to be done around. To understand organisational development, learning and planned change, culture is considered as primary resource (Schein, 1999). Though Scheins model has been criticised (e.g. Collins 1998, Hatch 1993, Parker 2000), it specifies the main aspects of culture, namely its partly learned and unconscious nature. Organizational culture, consequently, is not simply a single new entity which illustrates organizations and which can be also identified from the other entities that impact an organization performance. Scheins assumes culture as a set of shared postulations, which can examined at three important levels. The first level of Scheins culture model consists of perceptible organizational process and various artefacts that can be heard and felt by uninitiated observer. First of all, the fact that will shape the entity of this investigation is culture itself (Schein 1992). Artefacts consist of any physical or tangible elements in a company. Dress code, furniture, history and architecture all represent organizational artefacts (cf. Reason 1997). According to Schein, it is really difficult to understand the true meaning without detailed study, since it symbolizes the most superficial cultural phenomenon i.e. only reflections of the exact business culture The second level of Scheins model consists of the companys espoused values. These are very comprehensible in, for example, the companys objectives, declared values, operating philosophy and norms. However, espoused values do not always reflect an organisations daily functions and businesses. Most key and imperative in terms of functions is the in-depth culture level, i.e. its principal assumptions (Schein 1985, 1992). Actions and behaviours of a successful individual employee in the organisation become benchmarks on which other employees refer to. Such historical behaviours and actions become organizational key values. Third level of Scheins model consists of basic assumption and underlying values. The essence of culture is characterized by the fundamental underlying values and assumption, which are difficult to distinguish as they present at an unconscious level. Underlying values is a array of decisions that form the culture further. Therefore, they are not static (Schein 1985, 1992). Basic Assumptions are considered as an ultimate source of actions and values. Analysing culture: Assessment (What to look for) In order to assess the culture, Siemens has to identify their artefacts. Artefacts can be identified by conducting surveys, group meetings or personal interviews that asks the employees to list their reactions to various artefacts. A pattern for identifying artefacts include: level of formality in relations, working hours, dress codes, rituals, ceremony, myths and how decisions are made (Scheins, 1999). Secondly, espoused values should be examined. This can be obtained easily since every organisation has their written values. According to Argyris Schon, the best word is espoused values, since most of the organisations have written values but act out different values (Scheins, 1992). Finally, underlying assumptions should be identified. Possibly the best way to spot basic assumptions are through progression meeting where all the artefacts are listed, underlying values and assumptions are reviewed (Scheins, 1992). Analysing culture: Analysis (Congruence Test) Using the assessment Siemens can compare the cultural artefacts to the stated values to check if the stated values are congruent with physical materializations of the organisation. Second level is to compare the espoused with the actual value of the Siemens. Then, analyse the type of culture that enhances the mission of the Siemens. Find out the new value and implement it in order to accomplish the companys mission and goal. Finally, culture can be compared to the employees. Here, the employees would be observed in terms of personal ideas, values of what is significant, and personal decision making procedures. Analysing culture: Implementation (Finding changes Final step is to figure out the changes in the organisation to accomplish the mission. Whilst execution of cultural changes is a colossal undertaking that changes sensibly conceived, but conventionally fail (Bolman and Deal, 1997), the gaps between artefacts and espoused values, assumptions and espoused values, workforce and culture or culture and mission are identified in the analysis stage. Implementing Change: Kotters eight step model: Kotter established eight steps and he believed that these 8 steps would lead to successful changes. He has developed an 8 step model where the first four levels focus on unfreezing the organisation, the next three levels focus on what needs to be changed , and the last level refreezes the company with a brand new culture. When organisations need to make huge changes effectively and significantly, these are the eight steps to be followed in sequence. Establish a sense of urgency: For change to take place, Siemens really have to develop a sense of urgency. In order to do that Peter Loscher and other board members have communicated to their employees about the need for change and significance of acting without delay. They examined the market strategies, competitive realities, reputation, how to prevent corruption and potential problem of the failure. This is not merely a matter of just telling employees about the corruption, poor sales statistics or discussing about increasing competition. Board members explained about the drawback of corruption and why corruption has to be removed. It is really imperative for Siemens to spend significant energy and time to develop the urgency in order to lead the change. Form a powerful guiding coalition Team: Top management of Siemens should shape powerful corporate governance with enough leadership skills, authority, credibility, communication ability and energy to lead the change. Leaders should be able to convince the employees that change is necessary. So Siemens appointed Peter Loscher as their CEO in 2007. Siemens implemented new managerial board position for compliance and official matters. After joining the company Peter Loscher communicated both his and shareholders expectations, and to set comprehensible compliance targets based on values of responsibility and integrity for all firm departments, units and levels. Develop a clear vision and strategy: The mission is to create a culture of openness and honesty right through the business, evidently driven from the board. The first step will typically be for the CEO to make a presentation to the board, possibly after review by board committee or risk management function. The important lesson learnt at Siemens is that a cadre of managerial positions is necessary at organisations to make sure the reliability, operation and integrity of the organisation. The frequency and level of bribery and unprofessional behaviour had significantly increased until Peter Loscher took over; top management, board and employees realised that they wanted to change their culture when world largest corruption scandal came to light. Tone from the share holders after corruption scandal The tone from the shareholders is Only Clean Business is Siemens Business! Everywhere Everybody Every Time! Compliance as Part of Corporate Responsibility is 1st Priority! Peter Loscher and board restructured the corporate governance and enhanced the compliance department. Communicate the Vision: In this step the new vision and strategies should be communicated in every possible ways to employees. Make sure that everybody in the organisation understand and accept the strategy and vision. After identifying the strategies, Siemens communicated those strategies to the employees by the compliance department and anti corruption programmes. To avoid unethical business practices, the Siemens provided anti corruption programs as a part of training for more than 15,000 employees. In addition, Siemens launched a web based anti corruption training program for more than 120,000 employees. Training is very vital for altering the mindset and developing a culture of integrity and responsibility. Siemens vision is to remove the corruption and change the culture, because Siemens understood the cost and impact of corruption and were very desperate to get rid of corruption. Empower others to act on the vision: They motivated and encouraged their employees to actively participate in developing a culture of reliability by not allowing anybody to violate in the organisation. They launched a helpdesk Tell us function, so employees were asked to inform the helpdesk if anybody violates the rules. It is really imperative for Siemens in order to get rid of obstacles. So they enforced around 500 disciplinary measures in the year 2007, mostly the cases of violation, and corruption. Create Short term wins: Changing the culture, either good or bad, it is not going to happen overnight. Siemens achieved their short term goal when their employees began to realize that they were anticipated to do their duties in a professional and ethical manner. Siemens monitor the progress of the compliance program by conducting employee survey. Survey results include: Positive perception of compliance program, compliance communications understood and well regarded. Siemens thought that compliance issues have changed the economy and society and it has changed Siemens. Consolidate improvements and producing still more change: Siemens engaged in variety of co-operative initiatives with international organisations committed to fight against corruption and sustaining and establishing freedom of competition. Siemens continuously improved their compliance program by co-operating with international and non government organisations, such as World Bank institute by exchanging knowledge and vice versa. By monitoring the process and receiving the feedback continuously will help Siemens to improve change. Institutionalise the new approaches: Siemens needs to believe a leading role in integrity, transparency and compliance with the clear aim of becoming a respected international organisation in the fight against bribery and corruption. They needed to move towards a value based culture and to bench mark with the best. In order to achieve these objectives they have to inst ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­itutionalise the new strategies and approaches. Conclusion: The above study has looked at the context, content and process adopted by Siemens in order the change their culture after the bribery came into light on November 2006. This study will also give an overview of how Siemens has implemented detailed anti programmes policies on bribery and corruption, altered its management structure to fit its new values and policies, developed a new compliance department and has made changes to their communication with direct conversation between workforce and management. The Scheins model analysis helps us to understand the culture of the organisation and what changes needed to be done, while Kotters model helps us to understand how the change can be implemented. Unprofessional behaviour and violation of rules and standards are something all organisations must constantly be alert of. Eventually, the changes at Siemens have allowed the management to successfully meet its mission, which is an obligation to public safety. References: Andreas Pohlmann (2008) A New Direction for Siemens [online] http://www.enewsbuilder.net/globalcompact/e_article001149152.cfm?x=bd2Hd2m,bb6LfBj8,w [accessed 2 April 2010] Article 123 (2008) Integrating Transparency and Anti-corruption throughout the business [online] http://www.article13.com/UNGC/Siemens%20anti-corruption%20case%20study.pdf [accessed 4 April 2010] Collins, D. (1998). Organizational Change: Sociological Perspectives. London: Routledge. Dietrich G. Moller (2009) The Siemens Compliance Program -A Change Management Process [online] http://russland.ahk.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Events/Praesentation/09-11-18-Siemens.pdf [accessed 4 April 2010] Esther Cameron mike Green. (2009) Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change, 2nd ed. London: Kogan page Esther Cameron mike Green. (2004) Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change, 2nd ed. London: Kogan page Frank Schmidt Kenny Mok (2008) The Siemens Compliance Program -A Change Management Process [online] http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13221847/Compliance-Program-SlidesSiemens [accessed 4 April 2010] Felix Onuah (2007, December 5) Nigeria to blacklist Siemens after bribery scandal [Online] http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL0539089320071205 [accessed 4 April 2010] Hatch, M.J. (1993). The Dynamics of Organizational Culture. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 657.693 Parker, M. (2000). Organizational Culture and Identity. London: Sage Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Jonathan Schlefer. (2008). Corruption in Germany: Managing Germanys Largest Corruption Scandal. 9-709-006, p1-8. Reason, J. (1993). Managing the Management Risk: New Approaches to Organisational Safety. In: Wilpert, B. Quale, T. (eds.). Reliability and Safety in Hazardous Work Systems. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum. Reason, J. (1997). Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents. Aldershot: Ashgate. Schein, E. (1985) Organizational culture and leadership 1st ed, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schein, E. (1992) Organizational culture and leadership 2nd ed, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schein, E. (1999) The corporate culture survival guide: sense and nonsense about culture change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schein, E. (2004) Organizational culture and leadership 3rd ed, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Siemens (2010) About Us [Online] http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/about_us/index.htm [accessed 29 March 2010] Siemens (2010) Compliance [Online] http://www.siemens.co.uk/en/about_us/index/corporate_responsibility/compliance.htm [accessed 29 March 2010]

John Updike :: essays research papers

Evolution of Sirenia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many scientists believe that sirenians evolved around fifty-five million years ago from small hoofed animals. The closests living relatives today are elephants and small asian mammals called hyraxes. Although there are vast differences between elephants, hyraxes, and sirenians, fossil evidence shows that all three evolved from a common ancestor. The manatee’s physical characteristics are visible remnants of their ancient heritage. The dugong’s tusks are another link to elephants. Like elephants, sirenians are enormous animals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are five species of Sirenia, but scientists theorize that there were many more in the past. Early forms of manatees are thought to have originated near the Amazon basin in South America. Some remained there to become the Amazonian manatee, while others migrated up through the Caribbean, giving rise to the Antillean and Florida manatees. Another group managed to swim or where carried on currents across the Atlantic and became the West African manatee.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dugongs thought to have evolved along with mantees once ranged from Europe to Africa, and along the East and West coasts of the Americas. At the present time, they are only found in the Eastern Hemisphere in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Steller’s Sea Cow, another species of Sirenian became extinct by fisherman within 25 to 30 years of its discovery in the 1700’s. Physical Characteristics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An adult manatee has a rounded body, usually light to dark gray or black, that tapers to a horizontally flattened, rounded tail, which provides propulsion and also serves as a rudder. Manatee’s range in length from 8 to 14 ft. long, depending on the species and can weigh 440 to 1300lbs. Although males can grow larger than the females. The small head includes a straight snout and a cleft upper lip with bristly hairs. Whiskers can be found on the surface of the lips, each attached seperatly to nerve endings and its own blood supply in the follicle. A manatees only teeth are 24 to 32 molars located in the back of the mouth, in addition to molars, manatees have horny, ridged pads at the front of the upper and lower jaws. The manatees upper lip is cleft with two lobes this isn used for gathering food. There small eyes are located on the sides of the head. Its nostrils, set on the upper surface of the snout are closed tightly by valves when the animal is under wa ter. Their lungs and diagphram run lengthwise along the body, unlike other mammals, in which they run crosswise.

The Kite Runner/Life of Pi: the Foil

The Kite Runner/Life of Pi: The Foil In both The Kite Runner and Life of Pi, the relationship between the major character and a minor character—the foil—help to highlight the main character’s qualities, illuminating his traits to be seen in an extraordinary, nonstandard way. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini creates Hassan as the foil for Amir. Hassan’s character, as perfect as he is, causes Amir to pale in comparison, something that Amir channels throughout his life, governing his actions.Similarly, Yann Martel employs Richard Parker as the foil for Pi in Life of Pi. The strength and ferocity of the tiger emphasizes Pi’s hopelessness and fear. Pi utilizes these emotions to fight and continue living. In both novels, the foil character underlines the main protagonist’s characteristics and provokes certain feelings that ultimately determine his fate. In The Kite Runner, Hassan is Amir’s half-brother, best friend, and servant. His chara cter is nearly perfect—loyal, courageous, caring, kind, and selfless. He has no evil qualities.When compared to Hassan, Amir’s value and positive qualities fall flat and are seen as insignificant and mediocre. Even more, his bad features are amplified and made more prominent. Amir cannot live up to Hassan’s goodness. This inadequateness is put into words and exemplified through Baba, who declares that, â€Å"If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull [Amir] out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son† (Hosseini 23). Baba often treated Amir and Hassan equally, which was unusual because the Hazara was essentially their servant.If Amir asked for a big and fancy kite, Baba would buy it for him—but then he would buy it for Hassan as well (Hosseini 51). These displays of affection were later explained in that Baba was actually Hassan’s real father, but the effect they had had on Amir stuck. Amir was always desperately vying for his father’s love and approval. The fondness Baba treated Hassan with vexed and aggravated him. Without the knowledge of Hassan’s true parentage, Amir felt many flashes of jealousy and frustration—emotions that, compared with his own brother’s understanding and humility, projects him as criminal.The most prominent situation that highlights Amir’s character is when he witnesses Hassan being raped. The event leading up to the incident is of Hassan running after the final kite—just for Amir. He finds it, only to be cornered by Assef who demands the kite as retribution for the â€Å"rude manners† he showed him during and earlier incident (Hosseini 71). Hassan refuses, retorting back, â€Å"Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite† (Hosseini 72). He is assaulted in reply.Here, Hassan’s traits of extraordinary loyalty and courageousness are displayed; however, switc h the scope to Amir and the qualities revealed are the exact opposite. Amir witnessed the raping of his best friend and did nothing. He was afraid of getting hurt, afraid of losing Baba’s newly earned affections and simply ran away (Hosseini 77). When compared to Hassan, Amir’s qualities of selfishness and cowardice are highlighted and intensified. From the presence of Hassan, Amir’s selfishness and cowardice, in addition to his desire to be â€Å"good enough†, are not only emphasized, but acknowledged by Amir himself.These are the traits that ultimately drive him throughout his life. The recognition of the evil in himself coupled with his will to do good lead him to search for redemption—one of the main themes of the novel. With the immense guilt over Hassan’s rape pushing him forward, Amir lives his life stiffly until taking the move to America where he starts a new morally upright life, where he helps his father and marries a good woman, and then finally completely redeeming himself through returning to Afghanistan and saving Sohrab from Assef.By establishing Hassan as a foil character for Amir, Hosseini creates a domino effect in which his main character discovers himself, realizes he dislikes what he finds, and fights his way towards the â€Å"way to be good again†Ã¢â‚¬â€redemption. In Life of Pi, Pi’s fellow passenger throughout most of his time at sea is Richard Parker, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The wild, aggressive tiger initially places the sensitive, intelligent Pi in an immense state of fear. Pi is overwhelmed by terror over an animal known for its ferocity and power, an animal he’s seen viciously attack and devour a live goat (Martel 35).Richard Parker scares him witless. His main focus, then, is to survive this creature. Richard Parker’s intimidating nature at first reveals Pi’s initial sense of surrender and loss of faith and general humanity. â€Å"With a tiger on board, my life was over† (Martel 135). As he accepts the presence of the tiger, however, he becomes determined. Richard Parker’s animalistic nature rubbed off on Pi. In place of his slight loss of humanity arises a sense of instinctual will to live. â€Å"I will not die. I refuse it.I will make it through this nightmare† (Martel 148). He hatches â€Å"several plans to get rid of [Richard Parker]† and ultimately decides to tame him (Martel 157). The decision gives Pi a sense of purpose, a distraction from the hopelessness of his situation—stranded in the middle of ocean, completely and utterly alone. If he killed Richard Parker, Pi acknowledges that he â€Å"would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger† (Martel 164). He declares, â€Å"It was Richard Parker who calmed me down.It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare sa y even wholeness† (Martel 162). In the end, Pi was able to survive because of Richard Parker. He kept Pi from â€Å"thinking too much about [his] family and [his] tragic circumstances. He pushed [him] to go on living† (Martel 164). Richard Parker’s role as the foil character to Pi is characterized by the fear and determination that the tiger incites in Pi. Compared to the magnificent animal, Pi becomes a defenseless, hopeless human.But, motivated by the feeling of weakness, Pi’s inner animalistic nature reveals itself. Through the daunting presence of Richard Parker, Pi discovered within himself that he had â€Å"a fierce will to live† (Martel 148). Richard Parker’s, the foil character’s, relationship with Pi personifies one of the major themes of the novel: the will to live. The entire novel is centered on Pi’s struggle to survive in this seemingly impossible, dangerous, and depressing situation. Pi’s instinct to survive is represented by the tiger itself. The qualities of Richard Parker, of the animalistic characteristics, were crucial to his survival.Despite some hesitation, Pi ultimately learns to embrace Richard Parker. He learns to embrace that fierce will to live, learns to fight for survival and, in the end, makes it out alive. The Kite Runner and Life of Pi were both written with a foil character. In both novels, the character motivated and provoked the main protagonist into discovering himself. The fates of both main characters were determined by the ways their foil affected them. This relation between two characters not only significantly establishes the characters themselves, but illuminates the meaning of the work.

Archetypes essays

Archetypes essays Archetypes in The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood The film The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood examines the lives of four southern women who have sustained a bond over many decades based on a mysterious childhood alliance, unmet dreams and dark secrets. When the relationship between one of these women and her daughter threatens to become permanently broken, her childhood friends come together, as always, to help them mend their relationship as well as heal the painful past that drove them apart. The alcoholic parent, is manifested in the character of Vivian Joan Vivi Abbott Walker, mother of the young playwright Sidda Walker, a daughter who is just beginning to make her mark in the New York theater circuit. At the start of the film, Vivi is portrayed as a woman who, troubled by the comments made by her daughter in an interview for Time magazine, resorts to extreme outbursts of anger and grudge holding. In flashbacks of her life as a young mother, Vivi turns to alcohol to soothe her own pain however the alcohol works to blur her role as mother and causes her to neglect and, on more than one occasion, abuse her children. In fact, the alcoholic as archetype is manifested not only in the character of Vivi, but also in the characters of the other ya ya sisters, Neci, Caro and Teensy, who regularly ensure that they have alcoholic drinks available throughout the film. The scapegoat as archetype can also be identified in this film. Through much of her young life, Sidda Walker has had to play scapegoat to her mothers eccentric and alcohol-charged behaviors. Vivi randomly takes out her pain on the young Sidda through verbal chastising and unusual mother-daughter role-playing, which often leaves her daughter confused about whether her mother is a tyrannical caretaker or peculiar playmate. Siddas role as her mothers scapegoat is demonstrated from the start when Vivi b...

Race and gender

Race and gender The major foundation and the cornerstone that binds a given people together, aside from the tribal affiliations is the race to which each of us belongs. Stereotypes aside, the perceptions that we hold or believe in to a large extent determine our attitudes towards a certain group of people who fall within the brackets of these labels.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Race and gender specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the movie Race, the Power of Illusion†, a rather uncommon path of argument is explored on one issue that has been rather fundamental to the whole human race yet it is ignored much of the time it come to light. The movie explores race and the assumption human beings behold in relation to this aspect of our social life, and explores the possibilities that lie beyond these daily perceptions(Money, 1994). Questions abound though, is there any slightest possibility of the existence of the idea that huma n beings can be categorized and handled differently depending on their racial affiliation? Are whites generally at an advantage as a result of our institutions taking heed to the perceptions that white people are superior? A difference in opinion over what race is superior above the rest has resulted to mayhem in any two wrangling societies with different races. This is evident in testimonies that bear stories of tribal cleansing, war and even in sensitive areas such as the rules that affect immigration among different countries. The debates about race have dominated almost all spheres of our social lives yet all of us, whether racist or not do not question the truth behind this. Scientific evidence discards the whole behind â€Å"race† as a myth, one that is not at par with the times or rather Neanderthal. A long history of research and analysis of the differences among the different races has yielded only one result; that racial differences go only skin deep (Buss, 2001). T he intrinsic delicate features that comprise the human DNA do not show any difference between people of give races. Gender identity, on the other hand is another aspect of social interventions that influence our interactions. It s not a state of inexorableness, rather it is just an attitude that people link to certain qualities that comprise character.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The differences, though they come out through the biological standards that define the different sexes, are far apart and their classification goes deeper than the biological constants that are male and female (Gould, 1996). A break down of this scenario would to put into perspective this thought; that people inherit their sex, and not their gender. For instance, biologically, one’s sex is determined by the result of the interplay of the chromosomes physically expressed through the reaction of hormones and other organs such as the reproductive organs. Contrary to this, somebody’s gender is to a large extent determined by the society and the norms that define the lifestyles of a given people (Gould, 1996).). The societal perception about masculinity and feminists is to a large extent dictated by their social behavior and what the different cultures practice as norms. One school of thought advocating for this idea purports that had people’s characters and behaviors’ be dictated by the differences that arise out of their biology, then the differences universally would widen. Higher hormone levels would lead to increased activities, and that in many places their reactions would be alike irrespective of the geographic locations. If ones’ sex would automatically determine their gender then it would subsequently follow that all men and women would have uniform characters. References Buss, M. D. (2001). Human nature and culture: An evolutio nary psychological perspective. Journal of Personality, 69, 955–978. Gould, S. J. (1996). The Mismeasure of Man. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. Money, J. (1994). The concept of gender identity and Racial classification. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 20, 163 – 77. Web.

Hacking the Accounting Information System Essay

Hacking the Accounting Information System - Essay Example These authorized personnel will for this reason have passwords and codes to access these document. Mostly these passwords to the system will be only available to heads of departments. These passwords can sometimes be breached by individuals with capability to unlock them and thus access some accounts. This act of illegally accessing accounts of a firm by breaching their password is what is referred to as hacking. These hackers usually illegally enter into these accounts with the intentions of getting confidential information of that particular firm either to help them counter competition illegally. Accounting system provides firms with a platform to record and document all their daily business transactions. In today’s technology environment, most firms choose to launch and keep their accounting system in modernized recording keeping platforms (Turner &. Weickgenannt, 2013). Accounting system can also be launched and kept through manual record keeping system though. Both manual and electronic systems come in with different benefits and challenges. Manual systems for example tend to be costly considering expenses and time needed to manage it. The manual system however provides a relatively better platform for understanding the underlying guideline of accounting (Turner & Weickgenannt, 2013). Electronic system on the other hand comes in handy in terms of speed of processing accounting data. These automated systems are never prone to mathematical errors. This error free attribute is due to the fact that in automated systems, the accountant just need to enter information and then the alternate steps like keeping up ledgers and accounts is performed from the prior information documented earlier. The automated systems are thus quicker and work well in recovering already stored data. Most advance firms tend to prefer this system to the manual system. The automated system is however often exposed to several sever danger like hacking (Turner & Weickgenannt,

Reed supermarket case analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reed supermarket analysis - Case Study Example However, as the case highlights Reed Supermarkets is facing stiff competition from newer entrants which because of their nimbleness and ability to offer steep discounts (at a discount 1 to 5% from the prices at Reeds) combined with better management of logistics have ensured that the market share of Reed Supermarkets (currently at 14%) is steadily eroding. The point to note is that Reed Supermarkets has positioned itself to cater to quality conscious customer rather than cost a conscious customer which makes for eminent business sense given the demographics of Columbus where the number of people earning more than the national average income is high. Further, Reeds scores heavily in the quality index of consumer perceptions (consistently averaging around 8.3%) whereas it scores lower in the price index (averaging around 4.3%). This is the crucial aspect of the case i.e. Reeds is perceived as a place to get high quality goods but not at an attractive price. Though a combination of high quality and low price is something that is a bit of a paradox, the fact that other retailers have been able to wean away the cost conscious consumers with their discounts and bigger floor areas means that Reeds needs to seriously rethink its strategy as it is faced with the problem of holding on to its market share and worse, losing ground to other retail ers as well. The suggestion that is being offered is that Reeds can stock different varieties of products at all price bands and also ensure economies of scale which other retailers seem to be doing. In this way, it would be able to cater to all segments of consumers as well as derive savings in costs that accrue from leveraging upon economies of scale. As the statistics point out, price is the major determinant which is followed by range of products and location and ease of shopping. If Reeds is able to circumvent these factors, then it would be in a position to