Conspicuous Consumption and Veblen

How far is Thorstein Veblen’s theory, that the main function of dress is the display of wealth, still valid? Thorstein Veblen was a sociologist and economist who came up with the term ‘conspicuous consumption. ’ He was the author of the book ‘The Theory of the Leisure Class’ published in 1899 which spoke about the working class in America. During that time the working class was visibly aspiring to the ‘leisure class. ’ The Leisure class was known to be the emerging ruling class of that time, as they would consume and constantly engage in a public display of their status. The following essay is going to explore Veblen’s theory in relation to the display of wealth through dress. I aim to show the relevance of Veblen’s concept today whilst taking into thought the changes in class, consumption and consumerism. Veblen provided a few main ideologies in which he examines the notion of ‘dress’ as an â€Å"expression of pecuniary culture† Veblen (1994:15) He stated that the idea of ‘conspicuous waste’ proved the wearer had the freedom to purchase anything they liked without so much as any economical obstacles. Currently, ‘fast fashion’ feeds the desire to overcome need, and clothes are replaced before they are worn out. The seasonality of today’s fashion is the epitome of conspicuous waste as new trends come out every season which encourages one to throw out items that have gone ‘out of fashion. ’ Trends are changing faster than ever before (Fig 1). (Tesseras : 2010) states; â€Å"textile waste at council tips now accounts for 30 per cent, compared to just seven per cent five years ago. † The thrill of watching each season’s runway shows, to the pressure of ‘joining in’ and following the trends, (Fig 2) fast fashion promotes mass production and waste. Fig 1 Fig 2 Another principle of Veblen’s, is that of ‘conspicuous leisure’ which he defined as a non-productive use of time. Examples of conspicuous leisure include taking long ’unnecessary’ vacations to exotic places which are fully motivated by a social factor (Fig 3). †Time is consumed non-productively (1) from a sense of unworthiness of productive work, and (2) as an evidence f pecuniary ability to afford a life of idleness† (Veblen 1934 : 43) These are time-consuming activities that suggest an indifference to such mundane concerns as working for a living. (Fig 4) â€Å"The leisure rendered by the wife in such cases is, of course, not a simple manifestation of idleness or indolence. It almost invariably occurs disguised under some form of work or household duties or social amenities, which prove on analysis to serve little or no ulterior end beyond showing that she does not and need not occupy herself with anything that is gainful or that is of substantial use. (Veblen 1934: 69) Figure 3 Figure 4 â€Å"Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability†¦ No class of society, not even the most abjectly poor, forgoes all customary conspicuous consumption. †Ã‚   Veblen (1994 :  Chapter 4) In Veblen’s time during the late 19th century (Fig 5) and early 1900’s (Fig 6) woman’s wear was made to look as far apart from any work-wear as possible. Corsets, delicate fabrics and high heels all were worn to prove that they are entirely restricted from any laborious work and would make manual work very difficult. Affluent women crippled themselves in order to put on a convincing display of idleness, and as he put it made them â€Å"permanently and obviously unfit for work. † Veblen (1994: Chapter 7) The tight corsets and luxurious fabrics proved that they could afford to wear impractical clothing which was expensive to clean all for the sole purpose to acquire a certain level of status amongst the public. These consumers could easily fall into the ‘Nouveau Riche’ category which was an emerging class in the 19th century. Style would therefore play a key role in separating the wearer from the working class. â€Å"In addition to showing the wearer can afford to consume freely and uneconomically it can also be shown, in the same stroke, that he or she, is not under the necessity or earning of a livelihood, the evidence of social worth is enhanced to a considerable degree. Our dress, therefore, should not only be expensive, but it should also make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive labour† (Veblen: 1994:105) Fig 5 Fig 6 Veblen’s most well-known principle related to his term ‘conspicuous consumption’ which describes the unnecessary purchase of services and goods which are bought for the sole focus of displaying and advertising wealth. This is done in the endeavour to maintain or attain a certain level of social status. Such goods are now collectively known as ‘Veblen goods’ which is a group of commodities. The fact that these goods are placed at such high prices is the very thing that makes them attractive to conspicuous consumers. Conspicuous consumption was certainly not limited to the western countries, in China, for example, girls in affluent families would have their feet broken and tightly bound so that they grew to have tiny â€Å"lotus† feet. These were thought to be very fashionable since the women who had them were unable to survive without the help of servants. This was a sign of wealth taken to the extreme (fig 7 Figure 7 Mass advertising was kick-started by the Americans when Paris could no longer be relied on for the latest fashions due to ban in exports in the early 1950’s. The Americans capitalised on this ban and created a new form of ‘American Fashion. ’ It was now the Americans’ turn to show the world what’s what. American images swamped the media. By the 1950’s the media had However, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marlon Brando (Fig 8) now were coming onto the scene and headed the iconic ‘all-American’ rebellious look this decade brought about. Subcultures started to form, rebels and gangs adopted denim as a means of revolt against the want to fit the ‘mould’ the media portrayed. The Teddy Boys is a perfect example of such a subculture. The Teddy boys were largely working class men who wore clothes that had resemblances to that of the Edwardian era and would dress up for the evening. This look was strongly associated with American Rock and Roll and this look made it ok for people to start caring again for what they looked like since World War II in Britain. The look compromised of dark shades of ‘drape jackets’, waistcoats, high-waisted tight-fitting trousers exposing the wearer’s socks and velvet collars. In direct contrast to this, the upper and middle class â€Å"white collar† workers, were choosing to dress own during their leisure time, casting off the constraints of the suit they had worn to all week, resulting in a complete reversal of Veblen's â€Å"conspicuous leisure† theory, where the working classes are also rejecting the notion that just because they are involved in productive labour it does not mean they cannot dress socially above their class status. Figure 8 During t he 1970’s the Hippy movement began and as the hippies were mostly from wealthy backgrounds and middle to upper class families this was clearly yet another rebellion against Veblen’s theory. The 1980’s was the decade of ‘money loving’ and is often referred to as an excessive time of conspicuous consumption. The mentality in the 80’s was all about big money and spending (Fig 9). The economy had boomed, greed was good, women entered the boardroom with full force and it was all about power dressing. The yuppies were born due to conspicuous consumption and shopping malls began to sprout up everywhere. Figure 9 Today, there are still many examples of ‘conspicuous consumption’ and the studies on general modern consumption are so intricate, that almost all walks of life are targeted with today’s mass media. Adverts and billboards are everywhere telling the public what’s ‘cool’ and what’s not. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Moet ; Chandon sell a lifestyle. Moet ; Chandon (Fig 10) advert states ‘Be Fabulous’ and shows two beautiful well-dressed women climbing out of an expensive car with a bottle of champagne in one woman’s hand. An advertisement like this is basically trying to show the public what status could be achieved by purchasing a bottle of Moet ; Chandon. The term ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ comes to mind, as studies show that many consumers purchase goods just to ‘show off’ and maintain a certain status amongst their friends. Figure 10 Veblen goods aren’t just restricted to clothes as the purchase of certain magazines, purely for the status they offer. Being seen reading a magazine like Robb Report or Conde Nast’s traveller may give the impression that one can afford what is featured in the magazine. Veblen also spoke about the way dress can prove many things. The wearer can give an impression that they can spend without much thought on the price. Veblen goods are still very much around, such as designer handbags, expensive wines and thousand-dollar watches. The luxury watch is an ultimate example of a Veblen good as the consumer really buys into the allure of a higher status. Companies like Rolex, TAG Heur and Omega have all used celebrities such as Roger Federer, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Craig in his bond suit. Even though its purpose is very practical and can help with everyday decision making. These watches are aimed a business men with a high salary who identify or would like to identify with the sports stars and actors wearing these watches at the back of TIME magazine and the like. A Louis Vuitton bag for example just wouldn’t be viewed the same without the high price tag. Today’s fast fashion and mass production also encourages conspicuous consumption. However mass production has changed the outlook on man’s life and has created a singular type of existence which can be viewed as almost humiliating and that the products are what drives man. The trends we see from designers on catwalks are translated as quickly as possible into high street stores. It is not surprising that with the emphasis on keeping up with the latest trends which ties into ‘fitting in with society’ consumption of clothes has reached an all-time high. The quality of clothes however, is less of a feature than the over-all look of the item. In the Victorian times, garments had to be made of the best lace, but with today’s technology, garments can be made to look more expensive than they really are. Keeping up-to trend with accessories such and bags and shoes is still very expensive to do. Designer’s put their signature touches on shoes and bags which make them more lust after. Christian Louboutin’s shoes have the signature red sole, Louis Vuitton may feature an LV and a Mulberry bag could carry their characteristic tree on the logo (Fig 10). To be seen with any of these items offers a instantaneous status that comes with it. The recession did not bring about any less ostentatious designer bags from luxury fashion houses during the recession. Joseph Nunes, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business recently stated in the  Journal of Consumer Psychology (2011) â€Å"A good chunk of America loves using products to signal their status. If the recession didn't hit them, their need for status outweighed their need to follow social norms. † Figure 11 Most high fashion haute couture designers have yet to cater for a poorer crowd, and still target people with a higher income. The current obsession with what celebrities are wearing can also dictate what a large group of the public choose to wear. This is where Veblen’s theory is still very much in place. Victoria Beckham, Alexa Chung (Fig 12) and Kate Moss (Fig 13) are all very much followed by what they wear. By buying into the current ‘celebrity craze’ where being seen with a Birkin bag can greatly increase ones chances of a higher social status, one is also buying into conspicuous consumption. Magazines devote much of their features to ‘Who’s wearing what. ’ Most celebrities still choose to wear designer labels, thus making the public lust after these individual items, and save up for them just to be part of ‘the craze. This feeds into the label-hungry shopper where Burberry’s checked pattern and Gucci’s brown, red and green stripe offers a satisfaction worth shopping for. Fig 12 Fig 13 Charity shopping has presented a new outlook on inconspicuous consumption and the consumer no longer needs to spend a lot of money to look fashionable and be part of the ‘in crowd. ’ Five years ago the thought of purchasing second hand goods would be flinched at. Fashionably vintage items can be found and are lusted after in charity shops. Now you don’t have to spend money to look good which Veblen surely did not foresee. Even the media has gotten involved and magazines feature articles on how to be a ‘smart charity-shopper’, how to recycle your own clothing and the art of buying ‘classic’ pieces which will last forever. A few notable factors have changed since Veblen’s time which presents a new outlook on conspicuous consumption. In the late 1800’s when looking at the display of wealth through clothes, one would look at the wearer’s fabric quality to determine their status. Good handmade lace and beautiful tailoring was a status of wealth. Now hints that determine wealth have become less subtle with the ntroduction of labels that indicate the garment’s worth. Logo’s like Ralph Lauren’s man playing polo on a horse (Fig 14) , Lactose’s crocodile, Burberry’s knight on a horse and Hermes horse drawn carriage. Many of these logo’s feature a horse, and this might be because of their age and may hint to a previous era o r because of the fact that the ownership of a horse is a luxury in itself and is very expensive to maintain. There is much thought that goes into labels and there is always a message and reason behind them. Nike’s logo for example features a tick which means it is ‘correct. Subliminal messages such as these, feature everywhere today and there’s no doubt that Veblen would have never anticipated this. â€Å"This antagonism offers an explanation that the restless change in fashion which neither the canon of expensiveness nor that of beauty alone can account for. † (Veblen: 1994:108) Figure 14 Veblen’s theory in the modern day can be seen as somewhat of a sweeping statement and is not entirely applicable to the present day. Veblen relied on the concept that only if you were of the nouveau class would you take part in looking fashionable, thus ignoring the middle class completely. The internet, television and magazines (Fig 15) have brought fashion to a significantly larger audience where not only rich people partake in frivolous buying. Figure 15 I believe Veblen’s theory is still applicable today in some instances. However, with the introduction of mass production and the changing attitudes in class as that of which I have mentioned. Wealth is still very much shown through dress, from the use of logos and labels which hint on how much the wearer has spent on their clothes. However today with so many fake products and good imitations of these well-known labels it may be impossible to know how much the individual spent on their garment. One thing remains the same however, the item was bought for the primary purpose of being ‘seen’ and acknowledged by others, fake or not. Designers pay celebrities to endorse their products or ‘be seen’ wearing them which indicates that Veblen’s theory has stood the test of time, it is still very much the taste of the wealthy that has an impact on fashion and dictates what sells and what doesn’t. Veblen wrote that the lower classes would imitate the dress of the leisure class which as shown, is still applicable to today. Mass consumption and mass production are amongst the features that have changed since Veblen’s time. Throughout the decades since Veblen’s time there has not been as much of an emphasis on individuality and self expression through clothes as there is now, and this is where Veblen’s theory slightly loses its relevance. The movement to express oneself without considering wealth as much in a liberal society. Other factors have started to replace the display of wealth such as, religion, age, music taste and gender. This is obvious because of the large amount of subcultures found today. I have shown how Veblen’s ideologies have lost and increased in relevance through the decades. Veblen was able to show how consumption can also be a symbol of social structure and that conspicuous consumption is relational and not functional and is a conscious display of affluence and status through the consumption of these garments. Bibliography Info Books * Malcolm Barnard (1996). Fashion as Communication. First ed. London: Routledge Publishers. (p59-64) * Thorstein Veblen (2005). Conspicuous Consumption. London: Penguin Books. p. 42-62) * Tim Delany & Tim Madigan (2009). The Sociology of Sports. North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc. Websites * Tricia Ellis-Christensen. (2010). What is conspicuous consumption? .Available: http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-conspicuous-consumption. htm. Last accessed 6th Dec 2010. * Dr. Paurav Shukla. (2010). Middle-aged consumers & luxury consumption. Available: http:/ /www. evancarmichael. com/Management/1066/Middleaged-consumers–luxury-consumption. html. Last accessed 5th March 2011 * Ben Steverman. (2011). Conspicuous Consumption Is Back. Available: http://www. businessweek. om/investor/content/jan2011/pi20110127_382340. htm. Last accessed 7th March 2011 * Lexic. (2011). Literary usage of Conspicuous consumption. Available: http://www. lexic. us/definition-of/conspicuous_consumption. Last accessed 9th March 2011. Quotes * Thorstein Veblen (1994). The Theory of The Leisure Class. New York: Dover Publications. (p. 256) * Lucy Tesseras, 2010. Fast fashion: a throw away trend? {blog} 12 July, http://www. supplychainstandard. com Available at: {Accessed at: 2nd March 2011} Joseph Nunes quoted by Ben Steverman (2011). Conspicuous Consumption Is Back. Available: http://www. businessweek. com/investor/content/jan2011/pi20110127_382340. htm. Last accessed 7th March 2011. Images: (Fig 1&2) Image . (2008). Shop the Spring Trends. Available: http:/ /fashiontribes. typepad. com/fashion/2008/02/shop-the-spring. html. Last accessed 8th March 2011. (Fig3) Couple on Yacht. (2010). Image. Available: http://www. corbisimages. com/Enlargement/42-18292911. html. Last accessed 9th March 2011 (Fig 4) John William Godward. (1900). Conspicuous Leisure. Available: http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/File:Godward_Idleness_1900. jpg. Last accessed 8th March 2011. (Fig 5) Truly Victorian , (2010),  1899 Fashion Plate  [ONLINE]. Available at:  http://trulyvictorian. com/history/1890. html[Accessed 06 December 10]. (Fig 6) Chanarambie Victorian , (1905),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Very Latest† back in the days of 1905  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~usgenweb/mn/murray/history/098-099. htm  [Accessed 06 December 10]. (Fig 7) Daniel Schwen. (2010). Footbinding. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/File:Foot_binding_shoes_1. jpg. Last accessed 8th March 2011. Fig 8) Columbia Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images, (1953),à ‚  Marlon Brando  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. stylelist. com/2010/05/25/joes-jeans-marlon-brando/  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 9) image. toutlecine. com, (1988),  Working Girl  [ONLINE]. Available at:  http://www. ellecanada. com/fashion/lights-camera-fashion/a/28965/4  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 10): Brandsizzle, (2006),  Moet & Chandon  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. brandsizzle. com/blog/2006/12/sexy_advertisin. html  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 11): Geek Handbags, (2009),  Mulberry Bag  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. eekhandbags. com/mulberry/mulberry-does-an-interestingly-classic-daria-hobo-bag  [Accessed 09 December 10]. (Fig 12): HOTELFASHIONLAND. COM, (2010),  Alexa Chung  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://lexposure. net/style/spotlight/people-and-parties/londons-top-10-it-girls  [Accessed 10 December 10]. (Fig 13) Kate Moss. (2008). Image. Available: http://www. handbagfairy. co. uk/blog/fashion/a-decade-in-fashion/. Las t accessed 9th March 2011. (Fig 14) Ralph Lauren Logo . (2010)  Image. Available: http://flockedwallpaper. co. uk/Stockist/index. php? main_page=index&cPath=1604_770_464_440. Last accessed 2nd March 2011.

Legal Process Essay

The scenario for this paper states that John is an employee in a private sector organization and he wants to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and explain in detail what the legal process is for filing such complaint. The paper will also explain the part that the courts play in these types of complaints. Every case is different so the paper will explain how these laws potentially apply to John. John has decided to file a discrimination complaint against his employer. However, John is not sure how or what needs to be done in order to do this so he must first do some research. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created to protect employees like John from discrimination violations. The laws against discrimination at work include race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability (Bennett &Anderson, 2007). All these laws are enforced by the EEOC. The law states that if a person believes that they are a victim of discrimination they must first file a complaint through the EEOC before filing a lawsuit against the employer (EEOC, 2013). John has several ways that he can initiate the process of filing his complaint he can choose to file in person at a nearest location or he can file through mail. He will need to disclose some information in writing like his name, phone number, employer’s name, address, and a brief but detailed summary of the violation/s with dates and locations. All these things are very important because the EEOC can determine whether or not an investigation is needed. According to the EEOC John has 180 days to file a complaint but if in his state there are any laws against discrimination it can extended to 300 days to file a complaint. Also it is important to know that in some cases there are state and local laws that prohibit discrimination in the work place so the EEOC will automatically file the charge with the Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPA) which protect the victim under both federal and state law (EEOC, 2013). Now that John is ready to file his complaint with the EEOC he know just needs to wait for them to handle the charge. The EEOC must notify the employer within 10 days of receiving the complaint. Depending on the case that John may have the EEOC may offer that both parties participate in mediation as a way to resolve the issue. However if the case is more severe and or if this doesn’t resolve the issue the case will be given to an investigator for the case to be looked into with more detailed (EEOC, 2013). The EEOC will establish the priority level of the claim and if any laws have been broken. Of course at any point during the process a settlement may be pursued; however if it is not workable, the investigation will carry on and once the investigation is complete the EEOC will make a decision on the case. If the investigation determines that there was no breach of the law the discrimination charges will be dismissed. Notification is then provided to John as a right to sue and he may then file a lawsuit against his employer. In some cases there may not be an investigation because the EEOC finds that John has very little evidence and that there really was no discrimination violation they may choose to close the complaint. If that is the case John would also be notified by mail and he has the option of filing a civil lawsuit against his employer. Once John decides to proceed with the civil lawsuit the courts would now get involve. At this point it would be a good idea for John to hire an attorney who specializes in employment law. In this type of lawsuit the employer can request to have a jury present, if that is the case the jury would listen to both sides of the story, their evidence and their witnesses. A judge will make the final decision in instances such as this. If however, the losing side feels the verdict is unjust they are still able to request an appeal of the verdict. The Appeals Court renders the final judgment except in cases in which a petition is filed with the US Supreme Court. Discrimination has become difficult to distinguish in the global workplace, for the protection of the employee and the employer; businesses must be mindful of relevant state and federal employment laws and the procedure for tackling discrimination. Companies must communicate the â€Å"no tolerance policy† for discrimination to all employees because employee rights are esteemed. Discriminatory acts can be found in varied workplace environments, the employment hiring process, the office setting, and even during the termination of an employee. When a discrimination suit is filed against an employer, the process can be long and extensive. These discrimination laws have been made available to employees to use when individuals believe that a violation of employee rights has occurred in the workplace.

Managing resources and controlling budget costs Essay

Managing resources of a business can be hard for the business they have to maintain the resources by doing various checks over the years. For example maintaining a physical resource like a building, can be challenging, but in order to maintain it, a business has to insurance the building and the contents need to be in place, if the building needs repairs then they need to be repaired in time, the building needs to have security systems in place such as, entry codes, cctv, gated areas and areas maintained regularly; the person in charge to manage this resource can be the site manager, it’s his responsibility, to keep everything in order; if he doesn’t the do anything about the repairs, install security etc. The building can be in serious danger since the business will have to pay more in order to maintain it. Another resource the business should manage is ICT, a business, e.g. Paapapii’s in order to maintain resources they need to purchase the appropriate software package, in order to work efficiently, they also have to provide training of computer software to employer’s in order to facilitate the work for them, and also the have to safe storage their data, if anything bad happens they can get their work back so they don’t slow down their sales. The person responsible to maintain this resource is the ICT manager. Furthermore businesses should manage their human resources, in order to recruit people that are qualified for the job, some people might have the right qualifications but they don’t have the right experience, by improving the human resources, your business will develop a recruitment and hiring process that engages the manager and makes them responsible for the right hire, they can develop an employee performance process to evaluate and fairly reward employees for their work and create an employee file checklist for retaining the proper documentation for all employees. This will make the business work more efficiently so they can achieve their goals. Managing the resources of an organisation and looking closely at its  budgetary control is absolutely vital in business. It improves performance over every department and gives the business management team a clear view on where they can expand and develop in the future. Every public limited company that allows people to buy shares within their business must publish their accounts so that investors can see how well they are doing and judge whether or not to buy their shares on the stock exchange. All the multinational companies have a clear view on their resources and budgets; this is evident from Tesco who have lists of all their resources and a clear cash flow all on one financial statement. They made profits of over  £2 billion in 2005 and this tells us that managing budgets and resources well really does improve businesses performance. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4435339.stm- BBC News. Managing the budgetary control effectively helps improve the performance of an organisation as, if you can mark up the break-even point on a chart of business, you can identify the point where your business has sold enough products or service in order to cover your expenses. This is crucial information for any business trying to avoid losses, knowing the point that you break even is a good target to reach and keeps everyone in your organisation focused and therefore improves performance. Furthermore, the margin of safety can also be found in order to allow the business to work out the amount of units by which sales can fall before the business starts to make a loss. This improves the businesses performance in hard times such as the current recession as the management team know how much security they have until they start making a loss. An example of the margin of safety could be when John Lewis has 65 units and a break-even point of 50 units. This gives them 15 units of lee way until they start making a loss. Another example of how managing the budgetary control and resources within a business helps improve performance is the effect of changes in fixed costs. When running a business there is fixed costs that are always the same, these include costs such as rent, insurance and road tax. Knowing the changes of your ‘fixed’ costs could save a lot of time and keep a more clearly  financial statement and management decisions. For example the government orders all insurance on cars to increase by 15%, this used to be a fixed cost however on the odd occasion it can change. Applying close attention to changes within ‘fixed’ costs can be crucial and will improve the performance of management decisions in the future as you have valid data to hand. The pricing in times like the recession for rent could always be changing and product prices can go up or down according to competitors within the marketing environment, using invalid information for predictions on what will happen with the business is suicidal and managing resources and budgets can cover this problem and in turn improve the company’s performance by making accurate marketing decisions that will benefit the company. Also, in any recession businesses need to insure their safety by keeping reserves from the cash flow cycle for emergencies. An emergency could render anything from a downturn in the market to an offensive attack on your business premises, keeping reservations will help soften the effects of these situations. Business analysts recommend that reserves should be maintained which will allow the business to continue for at least three months in the event of an emergency. Also having a high liquidity figure helps, this is the ability to turn assets or stock into cash to be able to pay bills. Making reservations and emergency funds will improve performance in the long run in poor economic times and help see your business through, giving each department a limited budget to handle and giving limits on resources. The importance of costs and budgets is extremely high within any organisation that wants to do well. The advantages of managing your costs and budgets are that it is easier to have a constant cash flow, cash flow is vitally important within all businesses as it helps pay the bills whilst you await debtors to pay for your services. Another advantage of managing your costs and budgets is that it helps you avoid getting into debt as you always know how much you have to spend and whether you can afford certain assets or advertisements. If the costs and budgets are not monitored the company could be working at a loss, with the information in hand that you are losing money and not even making enough profit to cover costs you could, as a result,  start dropping staff and maybe selling assets such as computers and vehicles that are, not necessarily not needed, but aren’t useful without the staff operating them. The business value will eventually decrease significantly as a result of an unmonitored financial system not checking the costs and budgets effectively. An example of a company that manages its costs well is John Lewis. They manage their costs and budgets effectively by having a whole department of finance and numerous staff working under their command. Their job is to look at all the costs and budgets of the store that they are allocated to and to see whether an investment of new advertising or a new product is financially viable with their budget. This way they can avoid spending large amounts of money that the company doesn’t have. Also, it is clear that they manage their costs well as their financial statement for the half year leading up to August 2009 saw a profit of  £86.3 million profit. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/sep/17/john-lewis-profits-drop- Guardian. Conclusion To sum up, the management of costs, budgets and resources all work co-ordinately to improve overall business performance. This is done in many ways but mainly in that it increases the break-even point, the margin of safety and can reduce overheads significantly, this all results to greater profits which is the core of all non-charitable organisations therefore making the management of resources and budgets vitally important. In my opinion anyone who starts up a business is to make sure that right from the start you have an effective budgetary control and a well-managed resource department. Make sure that you stay up to date with your marketing environment that is relevant to your niche market to ensure you gather correct information in order to make accurate marketing decisions. Any business that doesn’t have a good budgetary and resource control system is deemed to fail sooner or later and, if this is relevant to you, then I would re-design your business before it starts maki ng a gaping loss and you’re  left wondering why, without any accurate information to go by.

Schedule and Cost Control Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Schedule and Cost Control Techniques - Essay Example Project Evaluation and Review Technique or PERT as it is called is a model of project management which is basically designed to analyze and represent various tasks related with the project management. CPM or critical path method is the technique developed by DuPont essentially to address the issue of shutting down the plants and then restarting them. In its essence CPM models the activities and events of a project as a network. (NetMBA, 2008) This therefore provides a graphical overview of the project and the project is seen as a series of visualizations of the various interconnected activities related with the project. A) PERT and CPM both view projects as a group of activities which are complex as well as sequential in nature. However both the models also outline some of the activities which can be performed parallel also. B) Both the methodologies consider a project as a series of events which can be performed in order to achieve the desired goals of the project however what is different between the two approaches is the fact that there remains a high degree of uncertainty regarding the completion of project related activities. PERT though is a good method but lacks a clear path to define the timelines attached to various activities of the project. C) One of the most important and a basic difference between the two approaches is the fact that PERT view the project related activities and time association with them as random variables whereas CPM demands a clear, singe deterministic value for each activity related with the project. Thus in doing so both the techniques, if used for project estimation ad scheduling would view both the activities in different time dimensions. For our proposed project of the new email integration, both the tools can be effectively utilized however what is most important is the fact that given the scope and limitations

Ethics Application Paper Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics Application Paper - Case Study Example The teacher always strives to treat all of her students fairly and teach them the best that she absolutely can, but once in a while a questionable scenario arises that calls her ethics into duty. This is the case one day when she finds herself cornered at work. The school operates on the quarter system. During Week 10 of Quarter Four of last year, the school's Registrar approaches the teacher to tell her that she 'needs' to pass a particular student, regardless of his performance and the fact that did not attend class at all for the first 10 weeks. The Registrar informs the teacher that it is the student's final quarter and that he has a job lined up for him upon graduation that is going to make the school look really good. She also informs the teacher that the Director of Education has sent explicit instructions that the teacher is to pass the students with no questions asked per her demand. The teacher is in absolute shock, is confused, and has no idea what to do in this situation. If she were to pass the student, it would be completely unfair to the other students in the class. It might even be illegal. Certainly it would be against the school's accreditation standards. However, if she were to fail the student, the Registrar had made it clear that she would likely lose her job for making the school look bad if the student did not graduate and, thus, could not start working right away and the highly-regarded company in question. The Moral Agent The moral agent in this particular ethical scenario is the teacher. She is the individual who must make the moral decision. She has to choose between passing the student and being unfair to her other students and quite possibly disobeying the law and/or violating accreditation standards but pleasing the school's administration and keeping her job or failing the student and making the school look bad and possibly losing her job. Two of the Ethical Theories Discussed For the purposes of this paper, virtue theory and ethical relativism will be the theories that are applied and discussed with regard to the ethical scenario in question. "Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008, pg. 1), whereas "Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards -- standards that can be universally applied to all peoples at all times" (Velasquez, et.al, 2008, p g.1). Since ethical relativism can go either way, the culture in which the teacher was raised will determine her actions. If she looks more at herself and her own desires than at those of others, she would probably choose the safest route that allows her to keep her job since it is in her own best interest. Making this decision, she would violate her other students, but could probably keep it quiet, satisfy

Politics of Crime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Politics of Crime - Research Paper Example Of course, there is a general societal consensus that certain things are wrong and should be discouraged or criminalized, but for proponents of the Nanny State, the government should seize control of actions and issues where there is no consensus and unilaterally impose its view of morality on these issues. Why is this happening more and more these days? Many experts believe that in an increasingly complex world people are more willing to turn over power to the government in order to make their own lives easier. There is a sense the world can be and should be completely ordered and that government is the right body to do this. This is an unfortunate state of affairs as it tips the important balance between liberty and order far to the side of order. There are so many examples of this way of thinking that it is hard to know where to begin. One of the most shocking examples from recent years is the following headline: â€Å"Chicago Prohibits Foie Gras.† In 2006, Chicago city council voted to ban the delicious appetizer foie gras from the city’s restaurants. Proponents of the ban said the production of foie gras was inhumane. Opponents had a different view. "Government shouldnt be dictating what we eat," said the chef at one French restaurant. The Mayor too was unhappy. "We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers," he said. "We have real issues here in this city. And were dealing with foie gras? Lets get some priorities."1 These opponents are right. In an era where people expect to be coddled and protected from everything that could possibly harm, they are allowing things as personal as menu choice to be dictated by the government. If an individual does not like to eat foie gras no one will forc e them to eat it; but the Chicago city council went a step further by eliminating this choice completely and limiting the rights of those who do like foie gras. The Nanny State continues to expand, rolling

Reducing your Carbon Footprint Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reducing your Carbon Footprint - Assignment Example 2) As indicated above, my CO2 emissions are above the average of Americans mainly in home energy where they stand at 66%. There are different measures that I can take in order to reduce CO2 emissions at home. For instance, I need to resort to methods such as using solar power for heating purposes of water. I also need to make sure that I switch off all electrical gadgets that are not in use at a particular moment. I also need to seriously take into consideration elements such as recycling of waste products. The other important step that I can take is to avoid using fossil fuels for energy at home for different purposes such as heating water. These fossil fuels emit large quantities of carbon dioxide and these emissions negatively impact on the environment and climate at large. Instead of resorting to artificial cooling systems is homes such as air conditioning, I can resort to open windows during the day for fresh air since this helps to reduce the quantity of CO2 emissions into the environment. There are CO2 gases that are emitted into the atmosphere during the air conditioning process. 3) The emissions of the average American are way above that of the world average mainly as a result of industrial activity. America is a heavily industrialized country and a lot of fossil fuels are used as energy in the industries. America also has a large population of automobiles that use fossil fuels as their major source of power. Combustible fuels such as oil, petrol kerosene among others produce large volumes of carbon dioxide when they are used for different industrial purposes. Excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the atmospheres is detrimental since it leads to global warming (Waugh, 196). This entails that excessive heat is trapped in the atmosphere and this condition can lead to climate change. Perennial droughts and floods are likely to be experienced in different parts of the globe and

Compassion Fatigue in Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compassion Fatigue in - Essay Example In this case, a Compassion Fatigue Self-Test (CFST) consisting of thirty questions was administered to 500 public health nurses who could have been deployed to assist hurricane victims. These nurses were identified by the Florida State Department of Health (DOH). The commonest data collection methods used in survey research is questionnaires and interviews (Nieswiadomy, 2008). At first, the nurses were asked to go back in time and think of their hurricane experience and respond to the questionnaire based on those feelings. Secondly, they were requested to answer the same questionnaire based on their current feelings. The second responses were printed on a different colored paper in order to distinguish it from the initial. The participants had to rate the questions on a scale of how often they experienced that feeling or event. In this case, the Likert scale was used (1=rarely, 10=very often). The range of possible scores of the thirty questions would automatically be 30 to 300. The scores obtained from each issue are then added up to give a total score of (range from 173) and the risk level of compassion

Selection Of A Pressure Vessel Manufacturer Essay

Selection Of A Pressure Vessel Manufacturer - Essay Example Further more the visit was to check the offer made in the proposals. This means that if Atomic products or Nuclear vessels quoted price x, is that what it is going to be at the end, why is the price x, is there better Quality because of higher price, are they offering something more because of the price and so on. In short , discover the story behind the story. Furthermore in terms of feasibility both were relatively feasible. Atomic products had a fixed price which was lesser to Nuclear vessels. However Nuclear vessels because of their variable cost they could end up to be cheaper then Atomic products. Further feasibility factors are discussed later in the answer. The second factor was to weigh the pros and cons of the two short listed suppliers. Even though this is discussed in detail in answer 3 and four, but in essence the discovery was that both of them were in comparison better in one field and relatively worse of in the other field. The fourth factor was to discover the story behind the story. In essence they did discover the story behind the story. The detailed answer is in question 4, but the summary of it would be that in nature, motivation and cooperation which play an essential part in any company even though on paper (proposal) one seems to be better. Furthermore a product is not good if it is cheap and of bad quality. Likewise guarantee is no good if the product does not meet specifications. In the end one ends up with no product with a period of time lost. The fifth factor was to evaluate whether the vision of Oceanics Company would materialize if the task was given to Atomic products or Nuclear vessels. This factor would be highly dependent on the perception of the Oceanics representative. As the case speaks that after the proposal and after the two visits Jack Tooles, the representative of Oceanics Company was in split between the two companies. Therefore the vision that Oceanics Company has, is applicable to both companies. Hence this completes the evaluation for both companies. 3. Based on the face value of the written proposals, which company appeared to submit the better offer which is better Proposal Point ATOMIC PRODUCTS NUCLEAR VESSELS Price.(estimated costs) x Price.(variable costs) Hence resultant lower costs x Shop facilities x x Past experience x Need for Subcontracting x Organization. x x Delivery. x x Guarantee x As the summary shows

Naming the Three Anonumous Photographs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Naming the Three Anonumous Photographs - Essay Example The child being La Shawndrea and the mother being Tiny. Although not immediately eminent in the photograph that Tiny was crying then, her mood was depicted in the clarity of the shot. Wanting to find out more about Tiny, a quick search on Streetwise revealed that in the Spring of 1983 â€Å"Tiny is a fourteen-year-old girl, malnourished, an accomplished prostitute with a lengthy record of occupational diseases; her alcoholic mother says that Tinys prostitution is "just a phase." Tiny’s real name is Erin Charles and as of 2006, she already bore nine children. I think in the photograph, Tiny was lost in her thoughts or seriously reflecting on the events of her life. There was not much details on attached on the photograph except that it was taken by Mary Ellen Mark in Seattle, Washington, in 1999. So I surmise, the reflective details of my â€Å"before readings† were basically true. The only statement definitely incorrect was the identity of the photographer, who was originally though of to be â€Å"possibly be a member of the family – the father, or brother, or even a sister†. As it turned out, Mary Ellen who had been in close contact with Tiny since taking her photographs in 1983, continue to make Tiny the subject of her contemporary photos . The â€Å"before readings† essay was totally out of context. Who would have known that those guys were indicted for violation of civil rights of three murdered civil-rights volunteers? They do not appear any more remorse for what is forthcoming or what has been done. The photograph does not clearly show that these men are in court, attending their trial. I believe this photograph is a clear example of possibly deceiving the viewers without the appropriate content. If I had made appropriate reflection on what these guys were doing â€Å"before readings† – I could have reflected more that I knew what this photograph was all about. It seems to be totally strange that these guys were basically sneering and all in happy

Chromatography method that measures everything Essay Example for Free

Chromatography method that measures everything Essay Yes, it is possible to have a single Chromatography method that measures everything. Chromatography is a laboratory technique that enables separation of mixtures. In most cases, the mixture is dissolved in a fluid and directed to a structure to hold another material called stationary phase. The process may be analytical or preparative. What is important is the whether the process can separate the mixture for advanced use, professionally called purification or whether the process is attempting to accomplish minor separation process. Zhang (2007, p. 247) attempts to argue for the possibility of single chromatography; it is suggestive to apply separation including LC and GC. This allows the separation to occur in stages, primarily, the stationary phase, where the substance is held in a narrow tube through and the mobile where the liquidized substance is held under low pressure. Zhang proposes the use of planer chromatography. This technique endeavor uses flat surface, where the substance component is spread. The technique is effective since it allows different compounds to respond to different distances according to how they significantly interact at the stationary phase. Also, this technique uses the retardation factor (IUPAC, 2006), which is distance travelled from the center of spot to the solvent front, where the substance is separated completely. However, for more complex substances, it is good to use a Universal Chromatography interface (UCI) device. This device allows the usage with Chromatography Management, which establishes a hybrid based analytical mechanism combining various Chromatographic devices. Essentially, the device control is through four ports known as RS-232 ports with eight contact-closure relay as well as, eight TTL inputs aided through a computer communication mechanism (Ottosen, Grout MÃ ¼ller, 2009). Technically, the device accepts analogue from multiple detectors from high performance electronics by ensuring accurate signal measurement. In encapsulation, a UCI combines various technologies in one simpler purification process. References Zhang, C. (2007). Fundamentals of Environmental Sampling and Analysis. New York: John Wiley Sons.IUPAC. (2006). Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. Retardation factor, RF in planar chromatography Retrieved January 16th, 2014 from http://goldbook.iupac.org/R05353.html Ottosen, C., Grout, B., MÃ ¼ller, R. (2009). Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Postharvest Quality of Ornamental Plants. New York: ISHS Source document

Human resource management function Essay Example for Free

Human resource management function Essay Human resource management function -Able to outsource production or manufacturing in other countries such as Italy, Morocco, Poland and Turkey which are able to make the shirts cheap enough and good enough. -Under a smart boss who is Passionate and skilled in his business. -Limited human capital especially operation directors so that Robert can concentrate on design. The opportunity to bring more operations director on board so that Robert can concentrate on design. -An adverse Change in the international market environment given that they are unable to manufacture cheap and good quality shirts off the road. Accounting and finance function -Very healthy financially especially due to use retained profits to expand. -Has been self-financed after the paternal startup deal. -Good enough people apart from Robert who are able to do tasks such as analytics, accounting and warehousing much better than Robert. -A paternal startup deal which had higher interest rates than local bank rates. -An extremely conservative approach to financing -Angel investors and equity financiers will be willing to invest in the business given its good financial health. -Cutthroat angel investors who has the potential to affect the growth of the business. Issuing out part of equity will dilute control of ownership which may bring wrangles in future. Marketing function -E-commerce which is already accounting for 15% of sales. -A Loyal customer’s base that is able to market the business by word of mouth and thus no much marketing needed. -Broad patterns of up to 500 patterns -A number of details about the expansion plan still remain sketchy. -Marketing and promotion only rely with word of mouth. -A chance to build itself as a brand by diversifying into other products such as jackets, shoes, belts. -An opportunity to diversify customers seeming to be demanding diversification. -Opportunity for increased number of outlets -The opening up of an online shop which has potential for multiplying sales from the current 15%. -A longer term vision of taking advantage of the growing appetite for the British luxury brands in emerging markets. -Limitation by design and material. A number of parts or areas of the business need more strengthening so as to accelerate the growth and expansion of the business. The area that should be given priority in terms of strengthening it is accounting and finance since it will affect the other functions. The very conservative approach of financing ought to be loosened and the cutthroat angel and equity investors avoided so as avoiding problems that may arise in the future. The human resource management function should be strengthened by encouraging more specialization within the organization such as by hiring operations directors to manage operations that other may concentrate on other tasks like design. Also trying to engage in manufacturing off the road may help to overcome eventualities such as incase of change in the international market environment. The marketing function can be strengthened by having a clear and concise expansion plan and also by getting more materials and designs to help in curbing shortage in future even after outlets have been increased. Culture is a set of shared expectations, beliefs and norms by the members of the same organization. In depth Organizational culture can be described as the ideological system that is shared by the members of the organization, this culture is transmitted through interaction and socialization in the organization and help to shape the behavior of individuals (Schwartz and Davis, 1981: p. 33). The culture in Emmett shirts is shaped by the following factors. First the sector in which the Emmett shirts business operates in greatly influences it and in this case given that the business deals with clothes and specifically shirts where they sell them on retail to the customers. The fact that they are in direct contact with their final consumer makes them to be more friendly to consumers, listening to their suggestions and demands and showing them that they care. Secondly the influence of the founder or the business leader shapes the organizational culture. Robert Emmett being the owner and boss of the organization is key into formulating ideas and ideologies that are embraced by the others in the organization. Robert refers to himself as a smart boss but also quick to note that he is not there yet, this depicts him as someone setting the precedent to work smart and still seeking to do it better and better. He is also very passionate about his business having has started it from scratch and also not to fail to mention his skills especially in design. The other people in the organization tend to benchmark themselves with the leader and thus in Emmett shirts Robert is very crucial in terms of changing the organization culture. The history and tradition of the business also shapes the culture of the organization. Emmett shirts started as a really small entity with a loan from Robert`s father and now through retained earnings it has grown to three outlets all of which are doing great. The history of the business to its current position shapes the ideas and beliefs of what the business can achieve in future. These ideas and beliefs about the business in turn affect the actions and behavior of the workers and all members at large. The organization expectations in terms the growth plan, returns expected, expectations on the workers, the objectives, long term and short term goals, mission and vision to a great extent dictates the culture of the organization. The culture of the organization should support the realization of the organization expectations. The reward system and measurement of performance of the organization also goes a long way in determining the member’s culture. Emmett`s shirts business is also dictated mostly by this factor since its culture has to support its expansion plan of establishing more outlets. The customer base combined with the broad business environment such as legislation and other aspects like competition defines the culture of the organization. A change in the business environment may necessitate a change of culture as the organization adjusts to the changed environment. Emmett shirts may have to change a few aspects so as to address customer’s demands, respond to their feedback and move along with them. The culture of the organization can also be shaped by its environment such that an environment which is competitive may call for the organization to believe in its being the best, deliver quality products and offer excellent services. A Stakeholder of any organization refers to any person or party with an interest in the organization, the interests of different groups may at times conflict. Financial stakeholders in an organization are those who have financial interests in the organization or they will be affected by the state of the organization financially. Table 1.2 showing different stakeholders and their interests. Stakeholder category. Stakeholder. Interests. Internal stakeholders Owner(s), Robert Emmett Financial return or profits and capital gain or increase in value of his investment. Management team or Employees of Emmett shirts. A sense of belonging, payment, job satisfaction, and training. External stakeholders Lender, Robert`s father. Security and interest rate Community Contribution to community. Government/Authorities Taxes and compliance. Customers Supply of properly priced quality goods and services. Plans concerning future growth of Robert`s business through consideration of a number of available business opportunities. The growth plan will affect the different groups with a financial interest in the business. Robert want to expand his business by establishing more outlets, having an online shop, increasing production and in the long term the vision of taking advantage of the growing appetite for the British luxury brands in emerging markets. Implementing these expansion plans means more risks, increased costs and multiplied management problems. The costs will be elastic to changes in the market in which the organization is operating in and thus the cost is likely to vary with future plans. The owner(s) interest to get higher financial returns could be thwarted in the short run if the expansion plans are implemented. The cash which could have been considered as returns to the owner are used in conjunction with other resources to implement the expansion plan. The owner, Robert will have to contend with nil returns for a time as he awaits the newly established projects to break-even. Expansion also means more finances are needed in the process and Robert may be forced to surrender a good proportion of the ownership of the organization to investors who are ready to invest their money in the organization in exchange to a share of ownership. The management and employees of Emmett shirts will also encounter more management problems in the expansion process and also later as they manage the new establishment in its new environment. Some of the workers may be transferred to different locations and others assigned different and more challenging roles. The above will in turn kill the sense of belonging amongst the employees as they are shifted to different locations and probably also diminish job satisfaction. The management and workers may also have to spend cash and time training so as to be able to handle the new challenges in the organization. Lenders of the business such as Robert`s father who provided the capital for starting the business, their financial interest in the firm i.e. repayment of principal amount and interest may be adversely affected. Loans are supposed to be repaid periodically of which it may not be possible if the expansion plan is quite over-ambitious or done over-aggressively without considering the ramifications of doing that. To avoid a scenario where loan repayment plan fails it is instrumental to plan and budget wisely. Costs can be differentiated into different types and categories which require different treatment in the budget. Variable (VC) or proportional and fixed costs (FC) are the main costs incurred in any business. Although there are intermediaries between the two main costs such are: semi-variable costs, semi-fixed costs. The above classification depends purely on the cost responsiveness to changing levels of business activity. Fixed costs remain constant throughout and do not change even if the level of business activity changes, semi –fixed costs tend to change a little bit to changes in business activity. Variable or proportional costs change with a change in the level of business activity; semi-variable costs have an element of not being very much responsive to change in the level of business activity. In the expansion phase FC rarely change much but VC will change with a slight change in activity level. Table 1.3 Showing the different types of costs in Emmett shirts business and their classification. No Item(Cost) Category Description Rent Fixed costs Cost of hiring space for retailing or warehousing. Labor and wages Variable costs Payment to workers and casual laborers. Designing Variable costs This is the cost used to make designs for manufacturing. Materials Variable costs These are materials or garment used to make the shirts License Fixed costs The newly established outlets will need licenses for them to start operating. Research Variable cost This helps to determine aspects such as location and demand. Depreciation Fixed cost It is the cost of loss of value of machines Motor vehicle Variable cost It will help in transportation of materials and personnel Marketing Variable cost Promotion and advertising especially for new outlets. Consultancy costs Variable costs To help comply with regulations and requirements in the new environment Packaging materials Variable costs Management Allowances Variable costs Establishing new outlets may necessitate additional allowances. Furniture Fixed costs Such as additional tables and chairs The human resource management in the case of Emmett Shirts is wanting in terms of specialization of tasks in the organization. Those doing design should be different from those engaged in managing the operations of the business. Hiring more talented personnel such as operation directors may go a long way in enhancing efficiency and dealing with future challenges that may arise as the business grows. Under the marketing function the expansion plan should be clear and the option to take that is whether to diversify as per customer demands. E-commerce has more potential and can help much in online marketing of the shirts. (Hurley 2011 p. 16) Globalization is the integration of economies, markets, industries, cultures and policy formulation. Globalization has both positive and negative effects on the economy of each country that has embrace it. Emmett shirts to a really sensible extent can be termed as a globalised business, due to the following reasons and aspects that can be seen in it. First under globalization there are four drivers that drive globalization namely: cost driver, market driver, technology driver and competition driver. Emmett Shirts have greatly embraced technology and has plans to continue to do so. Already 15% of the organization total sales are from E-commerce and plans are underway to have a well established online shop which is the same as establishing six physical stores. Having embraced E-commerce the business can be able to sell its product to any person in any place in the world and also do its promotion, marketing and advertising online. This intense online presence will help create more awareness about the product, announce introduction of new products and outlets. It is also easier to solicit support from the existing loyal customer base and even benefit from customer referrals online. Technology level is the number one determinant of whether a business is a globalised business. In my opinion I would say that Emmett Shirts is a globalised business given that it has embraced technology in its operations and has embraced E-commerce and continues to do so. Market driver is another key driver of globalization under which companies take into consideration the various markets to invest that is giving attention to open market economics. Emmett Shirts considers as part of its long term ambition or goal to take advantage of the emerging markets in the east such as in China and others awakening giants. These markets have got high appetite and demand for British luxury products or brands. We also see the business benchmarking itself against a brand from Dunhill road which has more shops in China than in London. This action tells us more about what the business is likely to focus on in its long term plan that is establishing shops in the emerging markets in the Far East. This reason leads me to conclude that Emmett Shirts is a globalised business. In regard to whether Emmett Shirts is globalized we realize that the business outsource its production or manufacturing of shirts from other countries such as Poland, Morocco, Ital and Turkey depending on style and material. The reason doing for this is that in the country it is hard to produce cheap enough and good enough shirts. In summary this action shows us that the business has embraced cost driver as a key factor driving globalization and thus can be termed as a globalized business. There are four drivers of globalization which include: technology driver, competition driver, cost driver and market driver. Under market driver globalization is driven by a desire to expand the market base to the emerging markets which are growing in terms of population and increased consumer purchasing power in these markets. Companies consider investing or shifting their investment to open market economics. This also comes in handy with the aspect of competition amongst different countries and companies which are moving beyond their national or regional spheres to international spheres of the whole global market. Technology has been a driver of globalization in quite a number of aspects such as through E-commerce and Electronic transfer, telecommunication gadgets, platforms and software’s. Platforms such as the social media examples being face book, Twitter linked in and others, the media at large, emails, video links such as Skype have continued to accelerate communication and sharing of key information. In business spheres outsourcing some business tasks have been made possible. Government driver or change of policy framework in different countries and formation of trading blocks. Trade and non trade tariffs and shift in open market system. Formulation of G.A.T.T. (General Agreement of Tariff and Trade). Countries which are willing enter into agreements to carry free trade around the world. The tariffs were initially to protect the local infant industries I a country but the realization that countries have to work together for them to achieve economic development continues to propel countries to loosen their trade tariffs. According to my own analysis technology is the strongest driver of globalization of all the others. This is so because at a click of a button one can buy or sell any product or service while in any part of the world. Technology has turned the world into a global village and communication is made with ease amongst people who are very far from each other as if they were just next to each other. Telecommunication devices such as tablets, smart phones and computers at large have interlinked every corner of the world through the World Wide Web. Reference Hurley, J. (2011) ‘Emmetts Luxury Shirts: Deciding whether to specialise or diversify a luxury brand’, The Daily Telegraph (London), 19 July. Source document

Analysis of Global Corporate Strategies: Honda Case Study

Analysis of Global Corporate Strategies: Honda Case Study Introduction Honda may be the worlds leading automobile manufacturer, but the company is far more than cars. Some might assume that part of Hondas success came from its rich Japanese heritage and discipline, some might attribute the companys success to Hondas efficient and manufacturing and unique manufacturing system, which continues to turn out some of the industrys most impressive cars. However, thats only a very small part of the company strength. Managers who hope to emulate Hondas success must look beyond its administration and manufacturing system. The many pieces that comprise Honda from applications to management philosophies to products, combine to create a growth machine that is remarkably consistent. Therefore, this report is carried out to analyze the global corporate strategies adopted by Honda Motors and other world-class automobile makers. A) Compare and contrast the meaning of business level strategy and corporate level strategy in a global context. Business level strategy is a strategy that concerns developing competitive advantage. A firm must be able to supply a product or services more closely fitted to clients needs than rival firm. (De Witt and Meyer, 2004, pg. 667) By integrating and coordinating the sets of commitment and actions, a firm gains competitive advantage by exploiting core competencies in specific product market. In the Honda case study, it is clearly shown that Hondas strategy of right-first-time or build in quality give Honda the competitive advantage by going against the theory of the western management model which says that: high quality cost more and took longer, low cost meant low quality; fast delivery cost more and risked low quality. (De Witt and Meyer, 2004, pg. 667) By adopting the right-first-time strategy, Honda saves a lot of money and time due to the reason that less wastage will incur and also the save on the time of testing the product again after it was completed. With the money and time save d, Honda can concentrate on further research and development plans. Corporate Level Strategy on the other hand is mainly is concerned with what type of businesses the company should venture in to compete with the development and coordination of that portfolio of businesses. Corporate Level Strategy is made up of strategic plans at the highest organization and corporate level. It involves portfolio analysis, diversification and primary structure. It is not restricted to one particular area such as marketing, personnel, production/operational or financial implications, all the departments that were mentioned are all taken into consideration. For multi-business firms, corporate level established the allocation of resources such as cash, allocation of staff, equipments and other resources are being distributed. In addition, because market definition is the domain of corporate-level strategists, the responsibility for diversification, or the addition of new products or services to the existing product/service line-up, also falls within the realm of corpor ate-level strategy. The corporate level strategy that Honda adopted to venture in the automotive industry from a motorcycle manufacturer has shown result by being the top manufacturer in the world for economy and midsize cars, compact SUVs and midsize SUV. (http://google.mini20.com) B) Critically evaluate the process of reconciling dichotomies at Honda Motors with reference to the product-related core competencies versus process-related core capabilities dichotomy. The competitive advantage that Honda has over its competitors such as General Motor and Ford is its advanced internal combustion engines which can be found in all the various model of Honda Motors, which is an evident that Honda has successfully reconciled dichotomy. Let us take an example of the Honda case study, when all the players in the automotive industry are doing nothing to reduce pollutants due to the traditional view of pollutant can only be reduced by cleaning up the pollutant after combustion. Honda on the other hand did not believe on that view and after RD, came out with a CVCC (compound vortex controlled combustion) engine which will be able to reduce the pollutant in the internal combustion by lowering the maximum combustion temperature. At the same time, while its competitors do not believe in a car can be both fuel economy and engine power, again Honda do not believe in that and manage to introduce its VTEC (variable valve timing and lift electronic control) engine which in normal mode, the electronic controlled fuel injection system will control the fuel thin mixture which provide economy; while accelerating, the electronic controller will then allow a fuel rich mixture to provide significant more power. On the process related core capabilities, Honda has sought to combine the advantages inherent in what have normally been seen in the West as dichotomous. It is a norm for automotive manufacturer to produce with the traditional chain driven line which is controlled by a centralized system in the assembly line, which need very little skilled workers, what they needed is those workers that can obediently follow the instructions given to do the same job repeatedly to cut down on the cost of production. Honda on the other hand sees things differently. It has experimented on the free flow system which allows the worker to control the unit that is going to be assembled. The worker will confirm that the unit is in satisfactory condition before it will be sent to the next assembly point. That way, the cost of retesting the unit in later part will be eliminated. In addition to that, workers could be given a sense of control over the production process since they could make the decision that th e task has been carried out properly and should be sent to the next assembly point. In this way, efficiency and dignity can be combined. Again Honda has did things differently by over turning the traditional Western thinking that both efficiency and dignity could not exist at the same time. Another example of Hondas success is the production planning. Unlike its competitor which, completely adopting the large lot mass production production line system which, means that the production is organized to produce thousands of identical or virtually identical products in a row or series. In this system, at the expense of the product variety, cost reduction is achieved. Honda on the other hand, planned its production on a batch basis. Even though it is still implementing the large lot mass production, it had developed a small batch production system. With the system implemented, the units are sent down the assembly line in batches in which each vehicle is exactly the same including its colors. Workers therefore execute exactly the same task for each batch. Components are delivered to the assembly line in batches which exactly match the vehicles they will be fitted into. The objective is to combine the advantages of large lot mass production (simpler logistics and quality contro l, less error, and easier to program schedule) and small lot production (ability to offer a wider range of products to customers and greater worker involvement and satisfaction). Question 2 A) Too much Debt and Risk of Bankruptcy Mergers and acquisitions do not always benefits a company that initiates it. It will be very costly for a company if the decision of MA is made wrongly. Lets take Proton in Malaysia and QQ in China as an example; both are vehicle manufacturer in their respective country. QQ is not doing very well in China, but Proton is eyeing on the huge low cost vehicle will have in China market. Proton hopes to get into the huge low cost vehicle market in China by merging or acquiring QQ. The first obstacle could incur is the high legal expenses. Proton paid a huge amount of money for the legal expenses to acquire QQ and right after that the amount of debt that QQ is carrying will be transferred under Protons custody. Investment on RD is the next step in order to produce the right type of vehicle for the low cost vehicle market in China which may take a long time to develop, and then followed by the advertising and promotion. All the steps that were mentioned earlier will require a big amount of f unds that it is impossible for Proton to have. The only alternative is to seek back up from finance company. Adding up the debts that QQ is having previously and the exposure of Proton from the finance company, the debts are too much for Proton to handle. If the ROI was not realized as what Proton has forecasted, Proton will have a very high risk of being sued bankruptcy by the finance company or the debtors. B) Potential for Product Synergies It has long been viewed that product market synergies are key drivers of mergers. Mergers are a quick way to potentially increase product offerings if synergies arise from asset complementarities. One important dimension of synergies is the ability of merging firms to create new products and differentiate themselves from rivals when merging firms have complementary assets. Rhodes- Kropf and Robinson (2008) model similarity and asset complementarities as a motive for mergers but do not present direct evidence of their importance. In competitive markets, mergers are a quick way to potentially increase product offerings to increase product differentiation if synergies are important. Thus, firms may have incentives to merge with _firms that have different skills or technologies that increase the ability to introduce new products through synergies. However, because acquirers may be better at managing similar products due to managerial expertise and familiarity, mergers offering greater pr oduct similarity can also add value. There is thus a tension between merging with a firm whose product is very similar, and a firm whose skills or technologies are different enough from rivals to help differentiate the acquirer. C) Access to New Technologies and Emerging Markets Benefits such as access to new technologies and emerging market generate cost efficiency by having economies of scale and gain in market share can be obtained from having MA. For example, Chinas Chery and Japans Mitsubishi. If MA were to happen between this 2 company in 2 different country, it will be a win win situation for both parties. Firstly, Chery as a new player in the automobile industry would not have the technology to manufacture high performance engine, but by having MA Mitsubishis technology is accessible by Chery, in order to make sure that even Chery is a Chinese company but owns Mitsubishi technologies in its engine. It is very crucial to portray the image of Chery as a China product with Japans technology to ensure that a larger market share can be captured in China itself. Secondly, if Mitsubishi wanted to venture into China which is an emerging market it would not be easy due to the cost issue. To set up a manufacturing plan in China is the only way to deliver the v ehicle to the customer in the fastest way, but by doing that if the demand for their vehicle is not what Mitsubishi has forecasted, the will be in the financial upset stage. Therefore, by having MA, Mitsubishi can train the local staff to be more skillful to handle their assembly job. All they have to do is send in the parts for the local employees to assemble. In that way, the cost of operating a manufacturing plant can be eliminated and will be able to meet customer requirement of a shorter time to receive the vehicle that they have ordered. Question 3 A) Using information from relevant literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and appropriate examples from global automotive makers and suppliers; explain the impact of CSR on organizational performance in both financial and non-financial areas. CSR is defined as open and transparent business practices that are based on ethical values and respect for the community, employees, the environment, shareholders and other stakeholders, in short is a form of corporate regulation integrated into a business model. CSR basically do not take into consideration that how a firm spends it money but what is the way used by the firm to make money. In financial areas for those who are in the automotive industry, the most impact that CSR will create lies within the environmental issue. All of us that are living in todays world are talking about environmental friendly. As all of us know that while fuels are burned to create energy to move a vehicle, it will create pollutant to our environment. Therefore, those who are in the automotive industry must seriously take this factor into account to improve on the technology of the engines to reduce the amount of pollutant being release by vehicles into our environment. In order to do that, it will req uire RD, and that will automatically require a lot of funds to be invested in. To recap on the above phase of what is the way used by the firm to make money, the way used by the firm to make money in this case is environmental friendly by investing in RD so that the engine will release lesser pollutant to be more environmental friendly. In addition to that, for those loyal and skillful staff, the company should send them for training in Head Quarters for their carrier advancement. That will at first cost funds from the company but once they are back from training, their productivity and skill will be improve and in other words will transfer into profit for the company. As for the non-financial areas, those companies which put weight on CSR will have a better reputation among the end user. For example, Honda organizes a one day activity for all his staff to help clean up the city or organize tour to visit old folks home and orphanage. As an end user, I will have a feeling that even t hough Hondas final objective is to make money but it did have the consideration to give it services back to the society. B) Compare and contrast Japanese and Western strategic leadership model by reference to Table 5 in the Honda case study. Explain which of the two model you prefer, and why? There are 2 different kinds of management models in the Honda case study. Let us now compare the 2 models and later part decides on which model is more suitable for todays business. Let us compare the two models by the category. In Western management system, the work process model shows that its employees are categorized in the are those employee who just do their daily job but do not have a thought of how to improve on their job and they poses no skill to do their job. The Japanese on the other hand will have workers that are the thinking type and are multi-tasking. The production organization and logistics in the western management model will produce large lot production and just in case logistics and uses the push system; where as the Japanese will only have small lot production and just in time logistics and uses pull system. In the organization, westerners practice vertical type of management, fragmented duties and individually responsible for the action they have done. Japanese on the other hand practice horizontal type of management, broad duties and the group will be responsible even if the actions are cause by individual doings. As for the labor relations, the westerners will be more on job control focus, cross-company unions and hire and fire. Unlike the westerners, the Japanese emphasize on employment condition focus, enterprise unions and job for life. In the industry organization set up, western management model separates firms and have a distant inter-firm relations. The Japanese on the other hand believe in Keiretsu families and close inter-firm relations. Overall, the western management model is based on mass, standardized and fordist; where as the Japanese is lean, flexible and post-fordist. In my opinion, both of the model has its pros and cons. Therefore, the best thing to do is to integrate both of them. For example, a firm should implement horizontal management style to allow more communication but individual for responsible so that employees will have the motivation to work hard to climb up the corporate ladder which will create value for the firm. For production and logistics, both large lot production and small lot production can be integrated so that no wastage of time if some of the parts are not supplied on time. When comes to labor relations, the firm should also uses both hire and fire and job for life. Hire and fire for those bad workers and job for life for those who is good and loyal. Therefore, no single management style is suitable for all kind of business. The important thing is to customize the theories to the type that best fits the business.

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest Essay -- essays research papers

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This film unlike most others on the same topic had no real event to focus on. There was not just one climax or specific scene that the others built up to or supported. I cannot say that I enjoyed it but I do feel it has to a great extent affected me. The only reason I feel that this film is one worth watching is because of the latent message it holds. It very successfully exposes authority and bureaucracy in society. The characters in this film portray people that are either convinced or have been convinced that are crazy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mac, a man with no real purpose in life but to sail through it somehow, is sent to a mental institution for doctors to determine whether he is crazy. There he makes an enemy of the head nurse in the ward, whose methods of taking care of the patients are harsh and rigid. What intrigues me most about the Ms.Ratched’s (the nurse), character in this film is the fact that even though so much out of the ordinary happens, she returns to her normal self in a matter of seconds. It seems that years of routine and monotony have taken over her and she simply cannot have things any other way. Anything out of the ordinary is repugnant to her, thus her firm resolve to not allow the patient’s to view a ball game during the World Series. Which is why when she encounters Mac, she feels she needs to suppress his â€Å"outrageous† acts in any way possible. She goes to the extent of sendin...

The Crucible :: English Literature

The Crucible Explore how Miller dramatises the conflicts within John Proctor and presents him as a good man, despite his failings. How does Miller make him dramatically effective for an audience? Refer to Act two and Act four. Miller's purpose through writing 'The Crucible' was to express his own views on what was happening in America at the time in 1953 - McCarthyism, a period of intense anticommunism. Miller uses the character of John Proctor to put across his views. He is interested in the character who does not allow himself to be caught up in hysteria, but thinks for himself and stands up for his values. Miller wants to teach us, his audience, about social awareness with deep insights into personal weaknesses through his characters. Miller also wants to teach us the important moral lessons about human nature of the notion of goodness. Miller's play deals with difficult and controversial issues making the audience think about the pleasant and unpleasant experiences of humans and relating them to today's modern world. When writing 'The Crucible' Miller was influenced partly by witchcraft. For many hundreds of years there was a belief in witchcraft throughout Europe. This belief in witchcraft persisted among the English colonists in America. In 1692 there was an outbreak of accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, which lead to twenty innocent people executed. In the play John Proctor was one of the twenty innocent people executed. Of those women accused many were old women with knowledge of herbal medicine or other folk remedies, an example of a character with this description would be Rebecca Nurse, who was hanged with John Proctor in the dramatic last scene. The English colonists were Puritans and they felt surrounded by ungodly people and associated the forest with savages and evil. Miller uses this belief in the play at the beginning, when Betty, Abigail and ten or twelve other girls were seen dancing in the forest; this event was greatly frowned upon in the village and led to many accusations. Miller also links his characters to the Salem witchcrafts as during the witchcrafts one man was pressed to death by stones; this links to the character Giles Corey. This trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts deteriorated the rational and emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the population's weakest qualities, and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salem's social order led to this tragedy. McCarthyism also influenced Miller when writing 'The Crucible'. In the early 1950s Joseph McCarthy, a senator, exploited his fear of communism and managed to create a national campaign against Communists, ex-Communists and anyone associated with them. The play was produced when McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign was at its height

War and Propaganda: A Look at How the Two Have Been Inseparable Though Time :: Essays Papers

War and Propaganda: A Look at How the Two Have Been Inseparable Though Time There have been many wars that the Unites States has been a part of. Some were fought on American soil, others fought abroad. But through it all, there has always been a need for the public’s support. And what better way to get that support than by putting information out there for the public. Now of course this is biased information that it put forth in front of the general public; just enough to get people caring and thinking about the war, but not enough to keep them fully educated on the subject. Once people start knowing too much and researching, it becomes something that they either feel has too much support, or they take stands that the government does not want. The different media that is out there is geared towards the general public knowing the truth. But I pose the question that â€Å"what is the truth?† especially back in the old days? Who, but those who put the information out, knew what was really going on when it came to wars and the enemies? This is why I thought it might be interesting to look at the way the citizens were swayed towards believing certain things during the war. Why was there such a scare about the Japanese being in the United States during WWII? The propaganda that was out at the time was highly against the Japanese, even the Japanese Americans, calling them the enemy. While it is sad to know that these sentiments are true, it is important to remember the past and to learn from it. History of Propaganda Propaganda has been a human activity as far back as reliable recorded evidence exists. The writings of Romans like Livy are considered masterpieces of pro-Roman statist propaganda. The term itself originates with the Roman Catholic Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, the department of the pontifical administration charged with the spread of Catholicism and with the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in non-Catholic countries (mission territory). The actual Latin stem propagand- conveys a sense of "that which ought to be spread". Propaganda techniques were first codified and applied in a scientific manner by journalist Walter Lippman and psychologist Edward Bernays (nephew of Sigmund Freud) early in the 20th century. During World War I, Lippman and Bernays were hired by the United States president Woodrow Wilson to sway popular opinion to enter the war on the side of Britain.

Religion, Morality, and the Good Life

Religion, Morality, and the Good Life Does morality depend on religion? Many believe the fundamental aspects of morality and religion join to form the basis on how one chooses to live their life. Some would define morality as a system we humans use to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Morality could derive from a number of different factors including, religion, culture, and upbringing. Those that believe that morality derives from religion or God’s commands trust in the Divine Command Theory.The Divine Command Theory is the idea that morality is dependent on God; that one’s moral obligation be determined by their obedience to God’s commands. This theory has been and probably will continue to be controversial to many. Morality must have a purely secular foundation. Although religion might not be the concrete basis for morality, it is certain that religion is needed sometime when dealing with specific aspects of morality. There are 2 types of mor ality, justified and unjustified. Justified morality is common sense and does not require intense interpretation.For example, â€Å"Do not steal† is a justified moral command because when one steals they are bringing evil to someone and that is immoral. Unjustified morals are much harder to find reason for than justified morals which can be easily justified by common knowledge. â€Å"Do not have sex before marriage,† is an example of an unjustified morality. It is difficult to explain why doing the act is immoral. This moral standard is irrational in that there is no reasonable answer why one should not do this act in order to remain moral.Religion comes in handy when dealing with grey areas of morality. Those grey areas are known as the unjustified moral commands or unjustified morality. Given the example for an unjustified moral command, one could answer the question â€Å"Why should I not do this in order to remain moral,† by saying it is immoral to have sex before marriage because God commanded us not to because he will punish one who does not follow his commandments. There is no central harm because if this action but one’s self-interest or fear of God’s wrath will keep one from committing this immoral act.The use of God and religion to justify these issues is only useful when dealing with a God-fearing and moral person. Although using religion with morality, in this case, may cause one to agree that morality needs religion and that the Divine Command Theory explains why, it does not justify that religion is the basis for morality. Are right and wrong actions commanded by God? The Divine Command Theory states that good and bad are created by God, not by humans. It has been illustrated that the Divine Command Theory cannot be logically true.The Divine Command Theory states that if God commands â€Å"A,† his commands by itself are sufficient to make â€Å"A† good. â€Å"A is good† just means â€Å"A i s commanded by God. † God’s commands are good simply because God commands it. If there were no God, or if God did not issue any commands, then there would be no such thing as moral right or wrong. However, if actions are good on their own without influence from God, then the Divine Command Theory is false because it is naturally commanded that we do things which are good and avoid those in which we know to be wrong.One’s belief in the existence of a god or gods may cause one to believe that morality assumes God’s existence. Their beliefs seem to give their lives purpose and clear understanding. In Genesis 1:27 it says, â€Å"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. † (NIV) According to Christianity, God created us in his likeness as to fulfill the plan or purpose that he had intended for us. With this idea, the Catholic Church developed the concept of natural law.This natural law concept stated that by working out what one’s purpose is, we will be able to see how we should act and/or behave; it would be apparent in the way in which we have been designed. Within the Catholic Church, the Pope’s condemnation of homosexuality is an example of the natural law theory at work. The natural result to sex is conception, and any other sexual act that is not available to this possibility would be an immoral rejection to the plan God had intended for them. It is obvious that this natural law approach to ethics can cause controversy.It might be perceived as a poor imitation of morality in that it fails to provide justification for many basic moral principles. The supposed link between God and morality provides the idea because God is omnipotent and our creator; we have an obligation to obey his commands. With him being our creator, we owe him our existence. Many ask the obvious question, â€Å"Why do we have this obligation? † Although this view has n ot stood up to reflection, people once believed that children owed the act of obedience to their parents only because children depended on their parents. This view is remarkably similar to the reasoning given for feudalism.In feudalism, in exchange for the protection of the lord, the vassal would give some sort of service to the lord. The obligation between the lord and the vassal regarding the fief or land forms the basis of the feudal relationship. The weakness in this political system was that the vassals never agreed to this plan. By answering the above question in saying that our obligation to obey God’s command is because obedience is morally right, the assumption has been made that morality exists independently of God. Why things are right in the first place is justified and explained by the Divine Command Theory.The Divine Command Theory shows an apparent resemblance to the natural law approach as discussed just before. Rather than focusing on features of his assumed creation as with the natural law theory, the Divine Command Theory implicates a focus on God’s orders. An obvious example of God’s orders would be the Ten Commandments. The most common objection to this approach is that it makes morality seem somewhat subjective. It implies the theoretical likelihood of rape being right simply because God commands this. Some may say that God would never command such an act as rape. God has not, in fact, commanded that rape is good.Assuming that the Divine Command Theory is, in fact, true, it would see God’s goodness in that he will not do anything wrong. But it does not follow that he won’t be unjust or cruel. As long as he is not violating any of his commands, no matter what God does, he will not be doing anything wrong. God is omniscient and morally perfect. Surely this gives us exact reason to why we ought to obey his commands. God’s moral perfection, after all, guarantees that he will issue only those commands that he thinks are right. His overall insight and expertise assures that he will never be wrong in what he believes is right to command of us.It sees God as the highest possible moral guide, giving us reason to always obey his commands. Although this is correct, it does not support the Divine Command Theory. To argue this point is to assume that the greater moral quality is dependent of God’s will, in which the basis for what he commands is. Some thinkers like Immanuel Kant and John Newman, just to name a few, have argued that a sense of conscience is evidence of God. With morality and religion being independent of one another, the independence is considered to be compatible with the existence of God.If we accept that the existence of conscience assumes a being to whom we owe responsibility, God would seem like the only candidate. He is the only person with omnipotent power to see and judge our every action. Newman furthered this thought by asking why people would feel guilty if they did not think they were being watched. In conclusion, there is something wrong with every way of linking morality to religion. I am not claiming that religion cannot have things to say about morality or that it is incapable of helping people do what is morally right.Instead, my claim is that ethics is enhanced with a religiously neutral foundation. Religion can be defined a set of practices independent of a belief system. Religion is the way in which you worship. Some people have participated in religious worship for a while without giving a great deal of thought to a belief system. Morality can be based on religion, but it also can be independent of one’s religion or faith. Although it is possible to hold a religion and not hold to any strong moral principles and vice versa for holding just moral principles, many people hold religious and moral principles.As with Christianity, religion is doing what you are told to do regardless of what is right, and morality is doi ng what is right regardless of what you are told to do. Although morality and religion are used at times to justify one another, they are not dependent of one another. . Works Cited â€Å"Genesis 1 NIV – The Beginning – In the beginning God – Bible †¦ † Bible Gateway. Web. 15 Apr. 2013 . â€Å"The Internet Classics Archive | Euthyphro by Plato. † The Euthyphro. N. p. , n. d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013