Culture and workplace ethics Essay Example for Free

Culture and workplace ethics Essay Culture in the workplace has very little to do with the well known culture of literature, music and art. In the workplace, culture actually refers to the shared work environment, belief systems, behavior expectations and expected efforts, all of which usually characterize a certain organization or business enterprise. The work setting culture mainly includes things like, socialization expectations, dress code, how different groups within the organization perceive issues relating to attendance, problem solving and quality of work output. Finding the appropriate culture to fit an organization is a vital element in ensuring that a particular field or job is successful. Corporate culture has a lot of influence on ethics of an organization. It is through it that right or wrong decisions are made. They determine whether to adopt strategies that will benefit majority of the people in the workplace positively or adopting ones with an impact of affecting most workers in a negative manner (Russell, Para 3). Effect of culture on workplace ethics The organization’s culture is quite important perhaps more than most people appreciate. It holds various categories of people within an organization together and thus it has a lot of impact on what people within the organization perceive to be right or wrong. Even though certain conducts like corruption might be considered to be vice and thus culturally immoral in some organizations, there are other workplaces where the behavior is considered to be appropriate. Culture is usually deep rooted in an organization since although it is manmade; it takes several decades to grow. New employees in each and every work place are first introduced to the operating culture in the workplace and thus it is usually in each and every person working in the workplace. Ethics comes after culture and it therefore has to sing to the tune of culture (Lagan, Moran, pp 46). The depth of culture within an organization is usually realized when someone attempts to alter an organization’s culture in a manner that is not consistent with the shared believes and norms of the organization. Such a person usually meets a lot resistance regardless of whether the intended cultural change is ethical or not. Culture within an organization is usually not stagnant but it is rather dynamical so as to take into account the changing business and workplace environment. Due to the fact that the workplace ethics are tied to culture, they also have to keep on changing so as to be consistent with the workplace culture (Russell, Para 4). Workplace ethics is highly influenced by the leadership of the entire organization. These are the people who are charged with the mandate of running the business and making decisions for the entire organization. The organizational culture determines the type of people to take managerial decisions. Therefore, if the culture of an organization is to be led by men and women of high integrity, then the workplace in such an organization is likely to be ethical. This is due to the fact that when an organization is led by such people, they will always make decisions with each and everyone within and without the organization in their mind. Their decisions will in most cases affect majority of the people in a positive manner. In this case, culture is very important on business ethics since it determines in an indirect manner the type of decisions to be made by the managers leading the organization (Hopkins, pp 78). On the other hand, if the organizational culture of a particular enterprise is one that allows men and women of less integrity to lead it, people who enter these offices via unethical channels where merit is not a priority, then such managers will in most cases be unethical. They will in almost all cases make unethical decisions which are likely to only benefit very few individuals within the organization while exposing the majority, mainly the junior members of staff to unfair treatment. Workplaces operating from such environments are mostly unethical and clearly this is as a result of the organizational culture. Most of the decisions adopted in such organizations are usually only aimed at maximizing the profits of the organization without putting into consideration other parties who are likely to suffer as a result of such decisions. These types of managements are mainly self centered and are only worried about their business organizations with little or no concern at all for other people. They are not worried of whether their actions are ethical or not, as long as business is running and making profits nothing else worry them. This attitude is usually enhanced by the organizational culture which in turn affects the workplace ethics significantly (Russell, Para 7). The corporate culture of an enterprise determines the criteria of promotion. If the culture of an organization enhances promotion based on merit, then the workplace will be more ethical as compared to instances where promotion is not based on merit. Since employees seek for promotion every now and then, they have to look for the criterion that is used for promotion so that they can be well equipped to qualify for promotion. Such a culture of promotion will take decades to develop and will thus be very much deep rooted to eliminate within the workplace (Lagan, Moran, pp 69). The culture of an organization determines the values that are to be held in high regard within the organization. If a culture holds unethical behaviors in high esteem, then such conducts will be dominant in the organization. Rewards will be awarded to those people who excel in such conducts. In this case, the organizational culture is mainly concerned with appreciating the efforts of its employees who have excelled in certain field regardless of whether their actions were ethical or not. Such a culture therefore, promotes unethical behaviors among its employees (Brooks, Dunn, pp 120). In other organizations, the culture is very clear and is tailored towards promoting ethical behaviors among its employees. In fact, the employees who excel in ethical conducts in various fields in the course of their work are identified in a fair manner and rewarded so as to encourage them to continue in the same spirit and be even more ethical in future. The other employees are also challenged to act ethically and at the same time they are made to desire to act ethically so as to be rewarded like their counterparts who were more ethical than then in a certain period. This form of culture thus acts as a tool for enhancing ethical behaviors within an organization to develop (Bassman, pp 55s). Culture within an organization determines how the organization as whole perceives the outsiders, more so its competitors. There are cultures which are tailored towards viewing the competitors as enemies and thus it promotes actions which will deal with such enterprises as enemies. Such a culture will promote unethical behaviors to its competitors and enmity arises between the two organizations. Culture is responsible for various unethical actions that might be penetrated to the other organization since it has made everyone within the workplace of the organization to develop a negative attitude towards its competitors (Russell, Para 9). At the same time, culture can act as a catalyst for enhancing ethical behaviors among the various employees of the organization especially in their actions towards the competitors. Culture will in this case promote good relations among the two organizations and it will make the employees to perceive the other organization as a competitor and not an enemy. This form of culture will promote actions that will enhance positive competition between the two sides and thus ethical behaviors will be enhanced greatly (Lagan, Moran, pp 89). While there are employment regulations and laws governing the manner in which employees are to be treated, the ethics of an organization are more tailored by the organizational culture and not such laws and regulations. The ethics therefore goes beyond the regulations and the laws connecting the business practices of an organization to the workers’ personal beliefs. Culture in this case plays a leading role in ensuring that the actions adopted by the organization are in line with it. In this case, the organizational culture ensures that various employees in the workplace within the enterprise work together for a common objective as well as having the intention of doing the right thing in a world that is quite diverse and complex (Bassman, pp 126). The culture in operation within an enterprise determines how an organization treats its outsiders and whether or not it does anything that is likely to affect them negatively. For culture to be able to promote ethical actions among its employees towards the outsiders, then it must be one that encourages decisions that will affect these people in a positive manner. Among the current issues that has brought a lot of criticism in the entire world is that of pollution. An organization is considered to be ethical if it emits fewer pollutants to the environment. This means that it is concerned about the environment and the consequences of disposing untreated chemicals to the environment. On the other hand, there are organizations that are completely unethical. They pollute the environment without really caring how many people will be affected by the same. This affects the workplace environment indirectly since the employees will face hostility from members of public and will in several occasions be referred to as unethical people who do not care about tomorrow. This might make the organization to loose several employees to other companies which are more ethical as employees will like to be associated with organizations with good reputation (Brooks, Dunn, pp 258). Conclusion Culture is a very important element in every organization. It is responsible in shaping the ethical behavior of the employees and also the workplace ethics. This is due to the fact that ethics within an organization is driven by the culture that is in operation within an organization. Culture is therefore a very important force in driving ethical practices of an enterprise. This is mainly because the organizational culture takes time to grow and mature and that it is taught to all new employees which make it to be deeply rooted within all employees. Culture has the ability of making an organization to act either ethically or unethically. Work cited: Bassman, Emily S. ; Abuse in the workplace: management remedies and bottom line impact; ISBN 089930673X, Quorum, 1992. Brooks, Leonard J. Dunn, Paul; Business Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives Accountants; ISBN 0324594550, Cengage Learning, 2009. Hopkins, Willie Edward. Ethical dimensions of diversity; ISBN 080397289X, SAGE, 1997. Lagan, Attracta Moran, Brian; Three Dimensional Ethics: Implementing Workplace Values; ISBN 097574223X, eContent Management, 2005. Russell, Mike; Workplace Ethics Business for Social Responsibility: Initiatives for corporate culture’s committed to ethical business practices, concern for the environment and global humanitarian causes (2008): Retrieved on 5th August 2009 from http://sandiego. jobing. com/blog_post. asp? post=8929.

Report on Organizational Structure and finance of British Airways

Report on Organizational Structure and finance of British Airways This report aims to give an analysis of the organisation of the British Airways Airline. It will discuss the organisational structure of British Airways and its sources of finance; that is where it gets its money from, how it is used and whether a profit or a loss is being made. The market the organisation operates in and its management type will also be discussed. The quality of the good or service provided will also be highlighted and an analysis of the supply chain that is showing the forms of distribution will be given. In conclusion, the report will summarise the information on the organisation and a view of its trading in the last five years followed by recommendations on how I feel the business may proceed in the current economic climate. The report was compiled by drawing literature from the British Airways website, lecture notes and relevant Business Organisation books. History: The British Airways, an organisation that operates in the Travel Market is the largest operating airline in the United Kingdom. It has its base at Heathrow Airport in London. Although the airline has been operational since 1919, developments over the years saw the merging of the British Airways Corp. (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 leading to the establishment of the current British Airways,(Corke, 1986). The organisation operates both domestic and international flights to about 600 destinations around the world. This is the reason why it is one of the worlds leading airlines. The British Airline is a Public Limited Company (PLC). It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1987. Following its privatisation, the airline expanded its operations and managed to take over some competitors such as British Caledonian within the same year and Dan-Air in 1992. During the late 1990s, British Airlines established the One World alliance as it became more competitive to win more customers and had themselves high profit margins during the millennium labelling the airline a major full-service carrier, (Corke 1986). Organisational Structure: Mintzeberg et al, (1979) defines a business as an organisational entity that is legally set up to provide goods and services to customers in a country. He further states that an organisation consists of a large number of people bringing together ideas to achieve common goals using a variety of tactics to come up with short-term and long-term strategies for a businesss future success. Since British Airways is a public limited company (PLC), its type of business organisation is the private sector. Being a Public Limited Company, British Airways is owned by shareholders who buy shares from the stock exchange market and have separate legal identity from the business. If the business goes into debt each shareholder will only lose the amount of share capital they invested and not their personal possessions. Due to the airline being a private limited company, the government is not involved in its running. Its aims and objectives are to maximise profit in the long-term by focusing on improvi ng and maintaining outstanding customer service and becoming the worlds leading premium airline. An organisational structure is important because it determines how the organisation will be run in order to meet its aims and objectives, (Cunnee, 2008). He defines an organisational structure as the number of ways used in a business to set up division and specialization of labour focusing on maintaining co-ordination to achieve the same targets. British Airways has a flat structure meaning it has a small number of management levels but a wide span of control. The airline has adopted a divisional structure mainly because of the nature of its business which is customer focused. The advantages of this method are that it gives clear identification of job roles, less time consumed in decision making and easy supervision for managers between departments. This increases efficiency as different people are given the opportunities to effectively utilise their different skills, but it can also be in efficient because the managers have a large number of subordinates reporting to them therefore increasing their workload. On the other hand, employees may not feel secure about their jobs as they are being strictly watched over and may be de-motivated to work effectively. Another shortfall of this method is that each department may focus on its own objectives which may conflict with other departments, (Martin, 2010). Sources of Finance: British Airways is financed by issuing shares to the general public on the stock exchange market and from convertible bond issues. The bonds which have low interest rates could be used as a long-term fund which can be changed into share capital of the company during times of bankruptcy, (Rutterford, 2007). In 2009, the Market Watch reported that British Airways got a boost of  £600 million through the issuance of convertible bond and an agreement with its pension fund to release bank guarantees back to the airline. Of this amount  £300 million worth of convertible bonds due to mature in 2014 and will be convertible into 15% to 20% of its share capital. The other  £300 million which will only be accessible in the case of bankruptcy will allow British Airways access to bank funding of  £3330 million up June 2012, (Market Watch, 2009). Like most public companies, British Airways aims and objectives are to maximise profit. In 2008, British Airways made a profit of  £726m while its 2009 Income Statement shows a loss of  £358m. Part of the loss is due to the effects of the recession that affected a large number of United Kingdoms businesses and the whole world. Because of the recession, there was a high increase in fuel prices due to limited resources. This left British Airways with no choice but to buy the fuel regardless of the price as it is important for its business. Fewer consumers were able to afford travelling expenses due to high costs. The wage bill of the company also had a great impact during such hard times. The employees demanded high wages for them to be able to afford their own personal needs as well. The differences between the airlines management and the employees led to strikes that also contributed to the loss of profits by the company. The strikes led to a destruction of many consumers travel plans that has also led to bad public image causing a negative influence on the airlines market. The conflict of objectives between the airlines management and its employees still remains unresolved. In 2009, most of the expenditure expenses were made up of fuel and oil costs and employee costs of  £2969(m) and  £2139 (m) respectively. The loss made in 2009 was carried forward through to 2010 of which a loss of  £425(m) was made. Marketing Management Marketing is the identification and provision of customers needs at the same time ensuring that the organisation makes a profit. Marketing management is essential for a business such as British Airways as it allows for flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the market. In this strategy, the organisation is always assessing the needs of its customers in order to design products of better value. There are many different strategies a business could adopt for better marketing management and this could be done through the marketing mix. Marketing mix is the identification of the 4/7Ps. In this report I am only going to talk about the four main Ps. The 4Ps are the product being made, the place it is going to be provided, promotional strategies put in place and the price to be paid by consumers, (Kotler et al, 2009). The nature of the business of British Airways is to provide flight services to consumers across various places around the world. The airlines product strategy includes f light services that are offered in various packages for example, the differentiation between the business, first and economic classes. This is done to satisfy each consumer as the airline has considered and provided for different classes of the economy. Promotion is the extra cost of a business to differentiate itself from competitors and try to win consumers attention by persuading them to choose them over their competitors. British Airways has branded itself as an airline that provides a luxury, safety, reliable and convenient service that transfers people to different destinations which is why one would want to go out and travel with them. Price is the value placed on the exchange of goods or services during the marketing process. Customers pay up money in return to satisfy their needs, (Smith, 2007). The price should be based on the quality of the product, taking into account customers expectations. However, charging a low price to a product worth more may not be beneficial to the company as that would lead to a loss in potential profit (Kotler et al 2009) while on the other hand; charging a high price for a product not worth it will cause a reduction in demand and bad public image. British Airways pricing policy entitles one to get what they paid for with the freedom of choice in the payment package for the type of flight service they would like. The airlines pricing strategy is based on three class seats provided by the airline. These are premium, medium-value and economy strategies. With the premium strategy, business and executive consumers are given a high quality service being charged a high price for it. British Airways competitors in this service are other giant airlines such as Virgin and American Airlines. The medium-value strategy consists of a standard charge with quality less than the premium strategy but more than of the economy strategy. The economy strategy provides just the basic services with extra benefits like entertainment and free food and drinks adding to the quality and advantage of British Airways brand image, (Kotler et al, 2007). However, the airline has revised its pricing policy to competitive based pricing meaning it charges fares at the same level as competitors or lower. The airline wants to compete with rival low-cost airlines on short-haul European flights. Free food will still be offered alth ough a fuel surcharge of  £8 per single journey ( £16 return) has to be paid by customers on top of their regular payments, (British Airways,). Another advantage of British Airways pricing strategy is that low-cost airline ticket prices a cheap when you book them well in advance but as it gets towards travelling dates they become very expensive, even much more expensive than British Airways. With British Airways the price will relatively still be the same until the week one travels. Quality Quality is a word which is defined differently by different people. From the different meanings, quality is the sum of all the features of a product or service that ensure that the customers needs are met appropriately. The products or services should be at least worth the price charged on them likewise, the quality of employees could be based on their performance with regards to the given tasks, (Mauch, 2010). British Airways adopted a high quality service approach although it eventually came to conflict with cost-cutting measurements that had to be put in place due to increased competition. The service provided by British Airways is flights from one destination to another and its brand core is Quality flights for all people meaning it tries to satisfy and accommodate all different kinds of consumers. As a consumer you get the feel of being a business man and executive traveller and the airline has the glamour any traveller would dream of. Being a fast mode of transport, less time i s consumed for people in a hurry, you are assured of being at your destination at the estimated time shown when purchasing you ticket. Most people who fly with British Airways are the business man as suggested by its brand, although all different cultures are welcome on board. Marketing wise, the airline offers luxury travel with safety and comfort whilst flying. Despite increased competition and cost-cutting, the airline still remains one of the best airlines because low-cost airlines such as Easy-Jet and Raynair do not offer extras or as much comfort and security like British Airways. This is for example, Low-cost airlines only provide cheaper fares but they do not offer luxury comfort like TV entertainment or free food and drinks on flights and business seats compared to British Airways. Supply Chain A supply chain consists of a link between different channels of distribution that is, from the raw materials to the final customer. Supply Chain Management includes five key areas that are transportation, suppliers, warehousing, meeting orders and retailers; (Chopra et al, 2010). British Airways operates in the final product that is providing the service to customers. This makes the supply chain shorter and more effective due to the provision of direct services and saves time on any occurring problems as they can be dealt with quickly. The airline operates from many different locations with its major base at Londons Heathrow Airport. The customers have the strength of buying that can be divided into two main parts that are price sensitivity and relative bargaining power. The price sensitive buyers will look at an alternative option and compare prices charged to similar products and choose the one which is more beneficial. Therefore holiday packages have been introduced to overcome bi g volume products and for the airline to gain control over its supply chain and strengthen its brand. British Airways tries to satisfy all its customers with various needs from the different classes it provides for. Value is added in its supply chain process by providing different lounges and on board food and wine menus for the first class seats. Also the regular customers of the business class seats get blue, silver or gold cards and executive lounge at all main airports. Overall, the airline provides a good service for all fliers that is giving them free food and drinks, different types of entertainment including two in flight magazines, movie collections, radio channels and TV programs, British Airways target market is both domestic and global. Although the airline welcomes customers from all walks of life, it has made a lot of effort in maintaining its business and first class sections where it maximises its profits and increases its competitiveness at the same time customers who use these two sections get real value for their money. Conclusion Due to increasing competition in the flying industry, consumers expect a reduction in the prices charged which would cause the companies to reduce the quality service provided. Although Easy-Jet and Raynair seem to have succeeded, they have had to compromise the quality of the service by making it basic with nothing much to offer apart from the reduced fare. Because of its outstanding service the British Airways has remained competitive in the current economic climate. In the three of the last five years that are 2006, 2007 and 2008 British Airways made profits of  £451(m),  £304(m) and  £726(m) respectively, however in the other two years, 2009 and 2010 it made losses of  £358(m) and  £425(m). This is mainly due to the effects of the recession that started towards the end of 2008. The airline has managed to survive the recession despite having made profit losses. I believe it has the potential to recover from its financial crisis and maintain its position as one of the leading airlines worldwide. The management and employee issues need to be addressed sooner than later in order to avoid strikes that will further increase the financial crisis of the company and also negatively affect its image in the market.

Sherman Act And The Antitrust Movement Politics Essay

Sherman Act And The Antitrust Movement Politics Essay There are three main sections/provisions under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The first section prohibits specific anticompetitive conduct like the establishment of a monopoly. The second section prohibits deals that have the ending results that are anticompetitive in nature. These can be combinations in forms of trusts that lead to restraint of trade or commerce. The third section extends the provisions of the first section into US territories and Washington DC and it also states that people who are hurt by a business that breaks this act are eligible to sue for damages (threefold). The purpose of the act was to oppose the combination of entities that could potentially harm competition, such as monopolies. The Act is not clear because a trust is an older form of contract whereby one party entrusted another with its property. This did not encompass the owning of stock in another company. The courts also would put their own words into the act that the Congress did not actually write into the Act. There was too much room for interpretation of the act which made it inconsistent and not very efficient. The Sherman Antitrust Act was able to pass with only one dissenting vote even though the Congress was mostly comprised of Republicans. I believe it passed because the Congress realized what the snowball-effect of a monopolistic economy would have on everyone, especially consumers. Congress knew that if trusts continued a huge gap between the poor and the rich would develop. The monopolies could charge any price they wanted to and people would have to pay it. The Congress realized this and knew competition increases the quality of goods which would help the U.S. compete with companies outside the U.S. because the global market was forming during this time. The Congress knew that monopolies would stunt the expansion and growth of American industry and technology, which would hurt the U.S. against other countries. The nations view of antitrust regulation was that it would benefit all consumers because competition allows for better products and increased development. Businesses could not have a very big market share because that diminishes the ability of a new smaller business to enter the market and bring new ideas to the market. The nation and consumers want there to be competition because this lowers prices while quality of goods increases. It is a win-win situation for consumers and the American people. The liability of the creation of a monopoly should be the responsibility of the monopoly. The monopoly is creating the unfair trade and is able to control the price of goods. The consumers are the ones who are hurt in the end because of the monopolies. What was Roosevelts analysis of the trust problem? What role should government play in resolving this problem and why? How should it do this? What should it not do? Roosevelt became president in 1901 and had a plan that was between the Republican Laissez Faire policies and the Socialist policies. Roosevelt was able to gain the respect of the public, even though they didnt want big government, because the trusts were growing in numbers and power. Roosevelt never opposed giant corporations because of their sheer size though. He believed that big corporations were more efficient than smaller ones, but believed that competition among these big corporations in the same field would be dangers and wasteful. Roosevelt felt that these large companies should be allowed to combine and cooperate, but they should not be allowed to use their size or power to oppress smaller producers and consumers. Roosevelt wanted to neutralize the power of the great corporations and he supported measures to extend the control of the federal government over the national economy. Roosevelt supported the creation of the Bureau of Corporations (1903), which investigated busines s practices of corporations and other businesses. Roosevelt argued that only an acting and strong government could bring control to big business and there should be different standards for bad trusts and good trusts. I believe government need to regulate big businesses like Roosevelt. A business should be able to be as big as it wants with acquisitions and mergers but it should not be able to control 100% of the market. If a company controlled the whole market then it would affect every consumer, probably in a negative way. The government needs to protect the consumer and put down rules that do allow a company to get very big but not own 100% of the market and have extreme pricing power. There needs to be at least a little bit of competition to give the consumers a better product, being price and quality, through competition. The government should not take control of big businesses once they acquire a large market stake through success because a company should not be punished for that. If though, the company raises its prices without reason or for no reason lowers its prices into an area of net loss to reduce competition or entry into the field they should be punished. How would you characterize the rule of reason and the dissenting opinion? What do you think has been the impact of this ruling? Chief Justice Edward D. White proposed the rule of reason in the Standard Oil Case of 1911. It was difficult to solve by proof whether the particular contracts, combinations, or trusts involved in each case is or is not a unreasonable or undue restraint of trade. The rule of reason is a circumstance test asking whether the challenged practice promotes or suppresses market competition. The rule of reason states that only combinations and contracts that are unreasonably restraining trade are subject to actions under the antitrust laws and the possession of a monopoly is not inherently illegal. A dissenting opinion is when one or more justices disagree with the majority of the Supreme Court. Usually the justice writes an opinion of why they disagree with the majority decision. The dissenting opinion is used to get the public attention and get the public to also disagree with the majority opinion. In the end, the dissenting judge hopes that the Court will reconsider its decision and over turn it. I would then characterize these two to be amendments to the antitrust laws that were already in the forms of acts. The dissenting opinion lets a judge get there opinion out to the public and helps the public more of decide what is right and what is wrong in a judicial case, even if the case does not get overlooked again. I believe the rule of reason does not add that much to the antitrust laws. I believe it lets there be more interpretation and this would then differ from judge to judge. Along with that I believe judges should be able to go against the majority ruling and show their opinion and support it with facts. The public needs to know both sides and they then can decide on their own. The majority decision is not always correct so by there being dissenting opinions more people hopefully will see the correct side and the court could then overturn the result. How did Wilson view the problem of big business and antitrust? What role did he see for government and why? What did he see as the limits to involvement by the government? Wilson was even more outspoken against the trusts than Roosevelt. Unlike Roosevelt, Wilson did not believe in government regulation of big businesses. Wilson wanted to use the antitrust laws to break up monopolies to restore competition, make businesses more efficient, and create a new type of individualism that had before made America a powerful nation. Wilson said, If monopoly persists, monopoly will always sit at the helm of government. I do not expect monopoly to restrain itself. If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the U.S., they are going to own it. Wilson also said that monopolies are not inevitable and if they were, then the government would have to take hold of monopolies and regulate them. Monopolies, not being inevitable, then there have to be laws to break them up and prevent them from forming again. Wilson does not believe that these big combinations are inevitable and says he can prove they are not by the process of how they were started. Wilsons believes that it was the old form of competition that enabled these men to create their monopolies, so there has to be new systems established to stop it from happening again. Wilson believed that the government may not be able to control monopolies but can regulate competition. It is a criminal law of the U.S. for a company to go into a community and sell below cost for no other purpose than to squeeze out a competitor. Also, Under Wilsons administration the Federal Trade Commission and the Clayton Antitrust Act were passed in 1914. Both of these new developments greatly strengthened the ability of the government to control corporations. The Clayton Antitrust Act made it illegal for directors of one corporation to be directors of another corporation in the same field which reduced the ability for trusts to be created. What was Debs analysis of the problem of big business? What role did he see for government in regulating big business and why? As a Socialist, what did he suggest should be the workers view of antitrust and regulation? How do you think he, as a Socialist, viewed big business and bigness, per se? Eugene Debs believed that big business took away from the work of the working class. Debs believed that the workers should own and control their own jobs and not be at the mercy of the big businesses. Debs said that big business controlled the work environment and destroyed advances and innovations that would help the workers. Debs wanted people to think the only way to overcome big business and the capitalist class was to overthrow it. Debs had a very strong belief in unions and the power of the workers also. When the owners of the trust finance a party to put themselves out of business; when they turn over their wealth to the people from whom they stole it and go to work for a living, it will be time enough to consider the merits of the Roosevelt Progressive Party explained Debs, that only when big business was destroyed would be the time for a progressive party. Debs did not really want the government to regulate big business; he wanted the unions/workers to regulate the businesse s they were a part of, so the power would be with the unions. He wanted the workers to get past big business and form unions to take control. Being a socialist, Debs would agree with how socialism is an attempt to bring social organization, especially in the form of unions. From this social organization comes a new level of technology and progress which can then be fully taken advantage of. Capitalism and big business concentrates power and wealth within small segments of society that controls the means of production and derives its wealth through a system of exploitation, under the socialist point of view. Socialists do not want big business because power is located narrowly and the workers are more like slaves. What is the role of the Federal Trade Commission? What powers does it have that are new for antitrust law? How does it resolve some of the problems of Sherman Act antitrust activity? What is required to make it work? How did the Clayton Antitrust Act affect the enforcement of the Sherman Act? The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. The mission of the commission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of harmfully anti-competitive business practices such as monopolies. The Federal Trade Commission had the power to investigate and prevent deceptive trade practices. If there were unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts affecting commerce they were illegal. This commission helps solve some of the ambiguous content that was in the Sherman Antitrust Act. Now the commission has the specific reason to act on anyone who is affecting the consumers or commerce. For the act to work, it is necessary for a company to be doing something inherently anti-competitive. This can also be interpreted so there is again misinterpretation. The company does not have to be a monopoly for this act to affect the company also. The Clayton Act was established in 1914 and it was established to prevent anti-competitive practices in the start up or beginning of anti-competition. There are four principle changes that affect the Sherman Antitrust Act from the Clayton Act. The first, price discrimination between different purchasers, if discrimination substantially lessens competition or tends to create a monopoly, is illegal. The second, sales where the buyer cannot go to different suppliers or where competition is lessened, is illegal. The third, mergers and acquisitions where the affect may substantially lessen competition is illegal. The Clayton Act also allows greater regulation of mergers since it does not require a merger-to-monopoly before a violation. The fourth is that any person cannot be the director of two or more competing corporations. The Clayton Act helped strengthen what was written in the Sherman Antitrust Act with these provisions. Why were there so few convictions under the Sherman Act early on? What changed and why? What types of firms/industries were charged during the 1920s? Why has the prosecution of antitrust violations ebbed and flowed in American history since the beginning of the twentieth century? At first, there were not many convictions under the Sherman Antitrust Act. This is because there was a very loose interpretation of the Act and the Act was not very clear. The Act, only being a few paragraphs, let there be a lot of room for the monopolies and corporations to interpret and present what they defined the rule/Act as. There were few convictions also because of the intense political pressure from the trusts and with the loose wording of the Act. The trusts pointed out that the Sherman Antitrust Act failed to define such key terms as combination, conspiracy, monopoly and trusts. Also, there was narrow judicial interpretation as to what constituted trade or commerce among the states. Five years after its passage, the Supreme Court in effect reduced the Sherman Antitrust Act in the US vs. EC Knight Company in 1895. The Court ruled that the company had not violated the Act despite the fact that it controlled approximately 98% of the whole market place for that sugar industry. The court explained that the companys control of manufacturing did not constitute control of trade. The standard that emerged from this decision applied a two part test to determine if a company was set up to have monopoly power. First, the company must possess monopoly power in its market and second, it must have improperly used acts to gain power or protect their power as a monopoly. In 1920, the US Supreme Court relaxed antitrust regulations so that only unreasonable restraint of trade through acquisitions, mergers, and predatory pricing constituted a violation. Under Herbert Hoover in the 1920s, the government promoted business corporations and this continued with Calvin Coolidge who had a hands-off policy towards businesses. In the 1920s the companies that were charged were not just companies that were massive; it was mostly smaller businesses that were charged. Throughout history the Sherman Antitrust Act kept getting redone with the new acts and commissions that backed up and helped find trust companies. The prosecutions of new companies was able to flow because of these new acts that came about to revise the original Sherman Antitrust Act. When people had been able to find holes in the Sherman Antitrust Acts, these new Acts were there to help patch up those holes and let the process of trust busting continue. Looking at the case against Microsoft, has the efficacy of antitrust law been reduced? In the United States vs. Microsoft case Microsoft was being accused of abusing monopoly power on Intel based computers in its use of the Windows OS and web browser integration. The issue was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle Internet Explorer browser with its Windows OS. Microsoft stated that the merging of the two was the result of innovation and competition and that the two were the same product. In the final settlement, Microsoft had to prevent from engaging in predatory behavior or other acts that might diminish the ability for another product to enter the market. I do believe the efficacy of the Act has been reduced, I believe it is less trusted now. With this case the government got into the regulation of computer technology which could hinder the progress as a result and many people do not like the idea of a big government. In this case Microsoft was said to just get a slap on the wrist because they were not really punished. I believe they did not do anything wrong, Internet Explorer was part of the Windows OS and people who bought the OS were expecting to have a browser packaged with it. There would be no point for Microsoft to put a third party browser on their Windows OS because they built it. The OS is theirs and they have full rights to whatever goes into the OS and, therefore; they should be allowed to put their own browser integrated into the software. I believe the antitrust law needs to be redefined and the old law is looked down upon because it can be interpreted in various ways. How did the success of antitrust law after 1900 affect the growth of oligopolies in the economy? Growth of oligopolies was greatly diminished because acquisitions and mergers of smaller companies into bigger ones were reduced because of the laws. US Steel in 1901 had 62% of the market share and then in 1920 it only had 40% of the market share. The American Can Company in 1901 had 90% of the market share and by 1912 it was significantly reduced to 50% of the market share. Even though this is just showing one company from an industry it still shows that the laws were effective in breaking the companies down into smaller companies. These laws helped reduce the amount of oligopolies being constructed the same way it broke down monopolies and other oligopolies. The laws have diminished the amount of trusts between companies but there are still companies today that try to get around them. There are many companies who have been convicted of price fixing with their competitors to reach a higher level of market price, which in turn hurts the consumers. For example, Dow Chemical, Dupont, and Bayer, the biggest companies in the chemical industry, were price fixing in the early 21st century and there are still premonitions that they are still doing it today. The Acts have diminished the growth of oligopolies but then again people always will try to get around the law to increase their benefits.

Reducing Drug Trafficking in The United States Essay -- Illicit Drugs

The drug problem in the U.S. and around the world is an important issue and seems to be a difficult problem to tackle across the board. The inflow of drugs has become one of the largest growths in transnational crime operations; illicit drug use in the United States makes it very difficult for nation states police and customs forces to get a handle on the issues. War on drugs, drug trafficking has long been an issue for the United States. There has been a proclamation of â€Å"war on drugs† for the past 44 years. Drug trafficking and drug abuse has long been a frustrating feature of United States and other country around the world. The United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention points out that the fight against drug trafficking and drug abuse has met with some successes in recent years to restrain the trade that affect community as a whole (World Drug Report, 2010). The U.S. need to increase security at the borders and that will help eliminate the drugs brought into the country. I believe when you put a plan in place that is well develop it will help eliminate the number of illegal immigrants that traveling back and forth into the United States who want to drug trafficking in our country. We need better security checks at the border that will help eliminate the drugs that brought into our country. In 1972, Mexican President Luis Echeverrà ­a met with President Nixon and, along with several government agencies, developed The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). There has been much effort to fight the war on drugs such as: increase in law enforcement, allowing federal officials to access military intelligence, and training and much more including campaigns. A recent national drug survey, released last October, shows... ...roQuest Newsstand. (Document Palmer, S. A. , 2006-11-01 "The Incidence of Illicit Drug Use in Canada 1977-2004" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA Online . 2009-05-24 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p125275_index.html Ruby, M. (1993, December 12). Should drugs be legalized? . U.S. News & World Report., http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/931220/archive_016323.htm Lorraine Mazerolle, David Soole, Sacha Rombouts Drug Law Enforcement: A Review of the Evaluation Literature Police Quarterly, June 2007; vol. 10, 2: pp. 115-153. http://online.sagepub.com/ World Drug Report, 2010, published by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, New York, 2010, p. 2. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2010.html

Raves :: essays research papers

Raves Imagine you are in your room and it’s about 1:00 in the morning. It’s pitch black outside and you’ve been lost for hours. There’s nothing good on the radio. You’re dying of thirst and you’re drenched with sweat. You’re just about to turn around and open your window for some fresh air and you hear it. The bass is in sync with your heartbeat and the lights are flashing everywhere. So you follow this music and you arrive at your destination: A rave. It is the vibe that is so commonly talked about within this culture. The dictionary defines "Rave" as: to utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; to rave nonsense, which makes you wonder why raves were ever called raves to begin with. Raves consist of about 300-6,000 kids aged to about 17-25. A big empty wear house, lights, a fog machine and a DJ. Every single rave has 1 type of music: techno with a lot of base. It's electronically created with a very fast-pace. Techno music has its origins in gay dance clubs. Hip-hop also has had a big impact on techno music. Rave dancing ranges from being highly choreographed and stylistic all the way to thrusting your body back and forth. Ravers say they lose themselves to the beat and become one with the music by letting the music control their movements. Someone once said: Techno was made not only to be played, but to be listened to loud†¦we are called not to listen, but to feel. How do you know when the rave is and where? Well flyers are put up. A flyer isn’t going to straight out say â€Å"RAVE!† you have to look for the secret messages only Ravers know. They do this to avoid the mainstream. A rave poster can be spotted by noticing that within the words that are on the poster, every E, X, and K, are capitalized. There are certain colors that the flyers will have on them. A lot of times there will be a cartoon character on it, or smiley faces and aliens. Now, I could do a whole paper on fashion. There are four classes of people grouped by what they wear not how much money you have or what kind of car you drive. The most common class is the â€Å"Candy Ravers† they are always female and have short hair that’s usually in barrettes or pigtails.

A Medley Of Lu Xuns Writings :: Lu Xun Author Writer papers

A Medley Of Lu Xun's Writings Lu Xun‘s writings are my choice for my presentation. He was an author who also studied medicine and was known for his in-depth thinking. Xun came from a poor in wealth family, but was rich in intellectual talents. He did not choose to accept the Chinese traditions without critically addressing some aspects of his culture a review in thought. After studying medicine in Japan, he gave up his profession to write about the apathy of his fellow Chinese countrymen. To explore the thinking of his people, we are introduced to his astonishment of an execution that he watched. He watched this execution with horror while the other onlookers seemed indifferent to the event. This act brought to his attention that he wanted to bring about change to his fellow countrymen’s approach to life. Writing was his medium. He went on to embrace reformist political views and to share those views with the reader. All of his input was his way of trying to make the world that he was inhabiting a better place to live. We can bring about change by waking up our community to new ideas. In the story, â€Å"Diary of a Madman†, we read how the author is basically attempting to elevate the reader into believing that human beings do not have to eat, that is do not have to take advantage of their own kind. He spreads the word that the human race has the capability to make choices in determining their intake of food. We read a good bit about this belief. The story takes place in the time frame following a famine in China. There were many famines in China throughout history. We have read of different circumstances where people are reduced to eating other humans. There was one instance in recent times when an airplane crashed on a mountain in South America. Those survivors ate some of the dead to stay alive. While this is uncommon, we humans are, in the bottom line, definitively survivors that sort of survival is not the issue in Lu Xun. The famine in China reduced the strong to snag the weak so as to stay alive. The author was not sharing with the reader that he thought this was proper behavior for a human being.

Beatrice and Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing” Essay

Dramatically, the two scenes in which the friends of Beatrice and Benedick deceive them into believing that the love of the other is whole-heartedly directed towards them, is very appealing, and on of the reasons for this is the dramatic effects. Shakespeare delves into the deeper and more continuous themes of the play in this scene, both through the language and the visual actions, and one of the themes explored is the emerging of true emotions from behind a mask. When Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio enter, Benedick mocks â€Å"the Prince and Monsieur Love!† and hides â€Å"in the arbour†. As well as Benedick’s outward demonstration of the cynicism he has towards affectionate emotions being humorous for the audience, it also implies a deeper impact that the developing relationship of Claudio and Hero is having on him. The audience has learnt from Act 1 Scene 1 his seemingly obvious distaste for love, as Benedick proudly states that he would look pale â€Å"with anger, with sickness, or with hunger †¦ not with love†. This demonstrates that he considers it dull and inhibiting, and further that it makes a man a domestic creature, leaving him only to â€Å"sigh away Sundays†. Yet in the same scene, when Claudio tentatively requests Benedick’s opinion of Hero, he replies, â€Å"Do you question me as an honest man †¦ or would you have me speak after my custom, as being a professed tyrant to their sex?† Benedick utters this with a dismissive tone, and yet it implies that inwardly he struggles with the persona that initially he willingly created for himself, yet now is assumed by others. There is a slight vulnerability suggested through the way Benedick hints at a subconscious desire to experience love despite his tendency to scorn it, and Shakespeare uses this to allow his friends to manipulate and play upon his emotions. Don Pedro initiates the comical deception, asking whether the others have noticed â€Å"where Benedick hath hid himself†, and thus the gulling begins. The exploration of this theme is mirrored with the women and Beatrice’s  deception. Beatrice and Benedick are similar in several personality traits that they portray, perhaps indicating the suitability of their match, and Beatrice too struggles with the restrictions of adopting a contemptuous attitude to both love and Benedick. She claims that she would rather hear her â€Å"dog bark at a crow that a man swear he loves† her, and again although this is very convincing, there is a suggestion later on that this is not entirely honest. After the dramatic scorning of Hero by Claudio on their wedding day, Beatrice vehemently declares, â€Å"O that I were a man for his [Claudio’s] sake† and this is because she understands she cannot rebel against the traditional man-woman divide. This indicates that to compensate for this, her words have become her weapon, and therefore her sharp distaste for love may not be true. Another theme that Shakespeare develops in the gulling scenes is that of traditional values, and again this is both through language and actions. There is a clear gender division throughout the play as this reflects the way society was in the time of Shakespeare, and the most clear indication of this is the way that Benedick is deceived by men – Claudio, Leonato, and Don Pedro – and Beatrice is deceived by women – Ursula and Hero. This is a very symbolic, and is furthered by the use of different language. The men’s gulling scene is entirely written in prose, with the men using powerful and emotive imagery, for example, that of Beatrice loving Benedick with â€Å"an enraged affected† that â€Å"is past the infinite of thought†. As well as emphasising the masculinity of the scene, this also outlines the effect that flattery has on people. Claudio comments that he â€Å"never did think that lady would have loved any man†, and thought to the audience it is clear that this is spoken with an edge of humour, to Benedick it appears entirely serious as he is unaware of their knowledge of his presence. Therefore the frenzied and angry love that the men profess Beatrice must, in his opinion, be anything but false, and this Leonato confirms by saying. â€Å"Counterfeit?! There was never counterfeit of passion came so near the life  of passion as she discovers it.† The affect of this revelation is a subtle weave of both pity and obsequiousness. Benedick is astounded and immensely pleased, and he displays his clear pleasure in saying, â€Å"By this day, she’s a fair lady! I do spy some marks of love in her.† Yet on the other hand, when he declares that â€Å"it must be requited†, his tone implies that this is just as much a favour to Beatrice as to himself, and is merely trying to save her from the way â€Å"she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses†, as Claudio disclosed. The women’s scene is contrasting, as it is written in blank verse, which is far more poetic, and suggests a richness and value which symbolises the femininity of the characters. The imagery is far more delicate, as Hero talks of â€Å"honeysuckles, ripen’d by the sun†, and the â€Å"sweat bait† that they are laying for Beatrice. The latter image is particularly effective, as it suggests a beautiful reward at the end of their light-hearted deception, and steers away from the men’s use of particularly forceful language. The scene also differs slightly in a different employment of flattery. Whereas the men launched firstly into language that would relax Benedick and so encourage him to believe their supposed falsehoods, Hero, knowing Beatrice can hear her, calls her â€Å"disdainful†, â€Å"coy and wild† The ironic comedy played on Benedick in the previous scene is repeated here on Beatrice. Shakespeare ensures audience participation in the plot enacted by Hero and Ursula, while Beatrice is unaware of it. By indulging in the pretense that Beatrice is too scornful to accept Benedick, who is presented as both wise and noble, they produce the intended reverse effect. Beatrice decides she is in love with Benedick. Appearance and reality are constantly juggled to produce the desired effect. This appears to be the stock theme in most of Shakespeare’s comedies. The trio of Claudio, Leonato, and Don Pedro are extremely ingenious in  executing their plan, originally conceived by Don Pedro. Benedick automatically falls into the trap because of his great respect and trust for Leonato, whom he cannot believe guilty of such deception. Don Pedro’s conversation with his friends appeals greatly to Benedick’s self-love. That a lady of such an excellent nature as Beatrice should be attracted to him boosts his pride greatly. It increases his opinion of himself. His soliloquy gives ample proof of his thoughts and is one of the best examples of comic irony in the play. His views on marriage have all of a sudden undergone a drastic change. â€Å"The world must be peopled,† he emphasizes. There is a great deal of audience participation in this scene. The supposed plot gives an additional role to the audience in that its members share in the inside story–the fooling of Benedick. The irony lies in the fact that the plotters know that Benedick is listening to them. Benedick does not ‘note’ that the conspirators know his hiding place while the audience ‘notes’ both deceptions.