Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Literature Review Human Resources Essay

This literature review will seek to research, analyse and evaluate two areas in human resource management (HRM) relating to Ethics and HRM, and Employment relations. Review 1 – Ethics and HRM The study of ethics in Human Relations Management (HRM) seems fraught with a plethora of historical and contemporary theories which seek to find clarity in an ever changing and challenging business environment. This review will identify the challenges faced by human resource professionals in ‘the honouring of duties owed to employees, stakeholders, and society in the pursuit of long-term wealth creation’ (Caldwell, Hayes, Bernal and Karri, 2008: 153) and will conclude that ethical HRM requires an understanding of the theories and principles; the organisational will to integrate these into their organisations strategic human resource management (SHRM) and the need to become a strategic partner in the management of the organisation. Ethical stewardship Smith and Hindman (2007: 16) claim that ‘Most people want to do the â€Å"right thing†. This is true in business as well as in life.’ To consider that this statement has merit, suggests that the debate over the theories and principles of ethics in HRM, can be seen to provide an understanding of how to achieve the best ethical outcome of a given situation. Winstanley and Woodall (2006: 9) clearly state that ‘Ethical reasoning is the ability to draw on relevant theory and frameworks to make more explicit the alternative interpretations and responses that could be made to inform decision-making’. Caldwell, Truong, Linh and Tuan (2011: 178) suggest that the responsibility falls in no small part, to the human resource professionals (HRPs) who ‘must encompass the moral perspectives of ethical stewardship and the unique contributions of transformative leadership’. Caldwell, et al. (2011) asserts that a key to long-term wealth creation is the alignment of the organisations strategic human resource management (SHRM) to their goals, values and priorities coupled with congruent and effective leadership. Smith and Hindman (2007: 21) suggest that the challenge for the human resource professional is to determine ‘how to create a set of employment policies that provide increasing standards of living, fair treatment and adequate job security for employees, while at the same time providing adequate profits for the firm?’ Reason would suggest that this is not enough. Ethical relativism suggests that morality is relative to the norms of each individual’s culture. Schumann (2001: 93) produces an argument ‘that the theory of ethical relativism should be rejected and that it is meaningful to search for universal moral principles’. Schumann (2001) asserts that his moral principles framework incorporating five basic ethical rules or principles, would provide managers guidance, whilst pursuing profits. And yet, Winstanley and Woodall (2006) argue that there are still no universally agreed upon ethical frameworks. Much debate centres on the ethics of organisations human resources. Greenwood, (2002) goes further to suggest concerns regarding the naming of human resources suggesting that this can place staff in the same position as office equipment. Employees are much more that the wheel that turns any organisation. Friedman (2009: 229) identifies ‘†¦ human capital as the critical value driver of corporate reputation’. This reminds us that organisational ethics can impact upon the organisations internal and external stakeholders. Winstanley and Woodall (2006:5) provides a strong case for the ethical ‘rearmament’ of HR professionals, by suggesting practical ways in which the exercise of ethical sensitivity and awareness might become a legitimate reference point alongside the prevalent recourse to arguments justifying ‘the business case’, strategic fit’ and ‘best practice’. Mathenge (2011: 8) makes the observation that ‘A tension often exists between a company’s financial goals and strategies to improve profits, and ethical considerations with right-behavior concerns’. Finally, Smith and Hindman (2007: 29) reinforce the important point that ‘Every business decision must succeed along three dimensions – it must be operationally effective, legally compliant, and morally defensible’. Conclusion ‘Organizations that integrate principles of ethical leadership with a strategic approach to HRM optimize the maximization of values and outcomes and achieve results which pay off long-term (Collins and Clarke, 2003: Caldwell et al, 2011). Friedman (2009: 240) sums up this review by stating that by positively impacting a corporation’s reputation ‘†¦HR managers need to occupy an influential position in the organizational structure, participate in strategic planning and develop efficient organizational practices that are aligned with corporate reputation goals’. Review 2 – Employment Relations Introduction The implementation of the 2009 Fair Work Act had hoped to ‘†¦ usher in a new regime of good-faith workplace relations, support for collective bargaining and vulnerable workers’ access to enforceable labour rights’ (Barnes and Lafferty, 2010: 1). This literature review will identify the salient changes wrought by the 2009 Fair Work Act and suggest that there has been a reduction of managers’ prerogatives to make decisions although Australia has not been forced back to the ‘bad old days’ of conciliation, arbitration and rolling strikes. Neo-liberalism The advent of the Fair Work Act can be considered to have its foundations in neo-liberalism, which espouses the values of deregulated and competitive market place providing free market outcomes. Neo-liberalism was considered to have its modest reforms under the Hawke administration through its 1993 legislation (Michelson, Jamieson and Burgess, 2009: Bray and Underhill, 2009). With the passing of the Coalition government’s Workplace Relations Act of 1996 and Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Act of 2005, decollectivisation was advanced ‘by banning compulsory unionism, eliminating legal mechanisms to protect the right of unions to bargain collectively, expanding the availability of non-union agreements and sanctions against unauthorised strikes’ (Lee and Peetz, 1998). Prior to the election of the Rudd Labour Government in 2007, Australian union membership had fallen by 27 percent from 46 per cent in 1986 to 19 per cent in 2007 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Fair Work Act Far from the hope of a ‘new regime of good-faith workplace relations’, ‘The Fair Work Act has been called ‘Work Choices Lite’ because it has much in common with the legislation it replaced’ (Barnes and Lafferty, 2010: 1 & 5). ‘Rather than overlapping with anti-discrimination legislation, the Fair Work Act provides a new set of general protections against attribute-based conduct by employers’†¦Ã¢â‚¬Ëœto provide a new regime of protection against workplace discrimination’ (Barnes and Lafferty, 2010: 6). Nelson (2009) and Barnes and Lafferty (2010) identify the key features or principles of the Fair Work Act, as: †¢ A safety net of minimum employment conditions †¢ Good faith bargaining obligations and rules †¢ Unfair dismissal provisions †¢ Family life balance †¢ The right to have representation †¢ Fair legislation and protection for low paid employees The Fair Work Act did not return Australia to the unfettered industrial strike action of earlier years. Protected industrial action, strikes and work-to-rules by employees would only be supported under the Act, during enterprise bargaining, if approved by a majority of employees through a mandatory secret ballot and after first obtaining a secret ballot order (Nelson, 2009). To emphasise this point, Hubbard (2012: 18) suggests that there is a large hole in the Fair Work Act that can be found in large scale and intractable disputes where the ‘†¦the legislation places no pressure on Australian employers to do more than sit politely at the table (surface bargaining)’. Hubbard (2012: 18) states that ‘†¦the right to take protected industrial action is hollow for many groups of workers’ where ‘A company makes an application to take away workers rights to protected industrial action, by initiating its own industrial action, which it then claims is significantly harming the Australian economy!’. Hubbard (2012: 19) goes on to state ‘on matters of workplace flexibility and ‘managerial prerogative’, members of Fair Work Australia (FWA) have been historically reluctant to impose conditions or restraints’, especially in economically significant industries, which was highlighted through the Qantas case. Conclusion The Fair Work Act has been shown to have not returned Australia to conciliation, arbitration and rolling strikes and has been shown above to have major weaknesses that can be exploited by organisations. Arbitration through the Act is limited to ‘last resort’ arbitration as outlined by the Australian Government Solicitor (2009). I conclude that although managerial prerogative has been eroded under the Fair Work Act, specifically through removal of the â€Å"operational reasons† clause, seen to be abused under Work Choices, all managerial options have not been removed. With the implementation of good faith bargaining replacing arbitration, there is a clear indication that HRM imbedded in the guiding principles of the Act, can reinforce ethical HRM.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Pros and Cons of Mainstreaming/Inclusion in Middle School Classroom

Inclusion or mainstreaming is the practice of providing a child with disabilities with opportunity of non-discriminatory educational services in the general education classrooms. Till early seventies, over half the children with disabilities in United States did not receive appropriate educational services. It was very common for schools to refuse education to children with disabilities (Neas, 1998). In 1975, Congress passed the Education of all Handicapped Students Act, now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Essence of this act is in provision of least restrictive environment to students with disabilities. Different states are interpreting and implementing this law differently. Some are allowing disabled students to be in regular education classrooms for all subjects, while others allow ‘partial inclusion’ implying that disabled students are brought in regular education classroom for some subjects only. Whatever the level of inclusion, it has generated a number of controversies. This essay will therefore scrutinize pros and cons of inclusion in order to analyze its efficacy. Proponents of inclusion believe that for students with disabilities, inclusion facilitates a rational and balanced social behavior because of higher expectations in the regular classroom. Kochhar, West, and Taymans (2000) conclude from their research that inclusion offers a greater support for disabled children which includes social acceptance from classmates without disabilities. It improves the ability of students and teachers to adapt to different teaching and learning styles. In disabled children, inclusion also promotes levels of achievement higher or at least as high as those achieved in self-contained classrooms, and an environment of better understanding is created among students with and without disabilities. In addition to various benefits of inclusion, the strongest argument coming in its favor is from its philosophical and moral/ethical base. Even opponents of inclusion can not refute the legitimacy of its philosophical and moral/ethical reasoning. Segregated programs are considered detrimental to disabled students since these make them feel isolated and rejected from mainstream. In normal children, the inclusion reduces the fear of human differences by increasing comfort and awareness towards their peers and friends with disabilities. Inclusion has a number of drawbacks too. Despite the support of specialists, it is not possible for regular schools to provide intensive and focused education to disabled children throughout the school day. It is becoming difficult for the schools to manage behavior patterns of disabled children and regulate these with normal children. It is eventually resulting into creating specialized classrooms (Harchik, 2005). The fact can not be ignored that students with disabilities are distinctly different from their non-disabled peers. This fact necessitates different, and specialized services to both the cadres. Students with disabilities can be best served outside the mainstream classroom since such students require individualized and customized training which can not be provided in large classrooms. It is not possible for the regular teachers to handle disabled children with specialized curriculum, which results in inappropriate educational services (SEDL, 1995). Tiner (1995) carried out survey of 120 teachers from six middle schools and found that teachers were concerned about spending too much time on special students which resulted in time taken away from others in the classroom. The proponents and opponents of inclusion have strong arguments to support their stance. Provision of specialized education through regular schools is very challenging and demanding. A school without proper facilities, services, aids and disciplinary strategies can not cope with the task of inclusion. Irrespective of pros and cons of inclusion, IDEA’97 legally bounds all educational institutions to provide least restrictive environments to students with disabilities, and therefore needs strict implementation to make it meaningful and beneficial. References Harchik, Alan. (2005). Including Children with Special Needs in Regular Classrooms: Pros & Cons. News for Parents. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from http://www.newsforparents.org/experts_inclusion_pros_cons.html Kochhar, C. A., West, L. L., & Taymans, J. M. (2000). Successful Inclusion: Practical Strategies For A Shared Responsibility. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. SEDL-Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. (1995). Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, vol. 4, number 3. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from   http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues43.html Tiner, Kathy A. (1995). Conditions conducive to special learners in the general classroom: Inclusion in the 1990s. Dissertation Abstracts International, 55(08), 2348A.   

Course Note on Organizational Behaviour Essay

DEFINITION OF ORGANISATION According to Gary Johns, â€Å"Organisations are social inventions for accomplishing goals through group efforts†. This definition covers wide variety-of groups such as businesses, schools, hospitals, fraternal groups, religious bodies, government agencies and so on. There are three significant aspects in the above definition, which require further analysis. They are as follows: Social Inventions: The word â€Å"social† as a derivative of society basically means gathering of people. It is the people that primarily make up an organisation. Accomplishing Goals: All organisations have reasons for their existence. These reasons are the goals towards which all organisational efforts are directed. While the primary goal .of any commercial organisation is to make money for its owners, this goal is inter-related with many other goals. Accordingly, any organisational goal must integrate in itself the personal goals of all individuals associated with the organisation. Group Effort: People, both as members of the society at large and as a part of an organisation interact with each other and are inter-dependent. Individuals in themselves have physical and intellectual limitations and these limitations can only be overcome by group efforts. MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Organisational behaviour is concerned with people’s thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions in setting up a work. Understanding an individual behaviour is in itself a challenge, but understanding group behaviour in an organisational environment is a monumental managerial task. As Nadler and Tushman put it, â€Å"Understanding one individual’s behaviour is challenging in and of itself; understanding a group that is made up of different individuals and comprehending the many relationships among those individuals is even more complex. Ultimately, the organisation’s work gets done through people, individually or collectively, on their, own or in collaboration with technology. Therefore, the management of organisational behaviour is central to the management task—a task that involves the capacity to â€Å"understand† the behaviour patterns of individuals, groups and organisations, to †predict'† what behavioural responses will be elicited by  various managerial actions and finally to use this understanding and these predictions to achieve â€Å"control†. Organisational behaviour can then be defined as: â€Å"The study of human behaviour in organisational settings, the interface between human behaviour and the organisational context, and the organisation itself.† The above definition has three parts—the individual behaviour, the organisation and the (interface between the two. Each individual brings to an organisation a unique set of beliefs, values, attitudes and other personal characteristics and these characteristics of all individuals must interact with each other in order to create organisational settings. The organisational behaviour is specifically concerned with work-related behaviour, which takes place in organisations. In addition to understanding; the on-going behavioural processes involved, in ‘their own jobs, managers must understand the basic human element of their work. Organisational behaviour offers three major ways of understanding this context; people as organisations, people as resources and people as people. Above all, organisations are people; and without people there would be no organisations. Thus, if managers are to understand the organisations in which they work, they must first understand the people who make up the organisations. As resources, people are one of the organisation’s most valuable assets. People create the organisation, guide and direct its course, and vitalise and revitalise it. People make the decisions, solve the problems, and answer the questions. As managers increasingly recognise the value of potential contributions by their employees, it will become more and more important for managers and employees to grasp the complexities of organisational behaviour. Finally, there is people as people – an argument derived from the simple notion of humanistic management. People spend a large part of their lives in; organisational settings, mostly as employees. They have a right to  expect something in return beyond wages and benefits. They have a right to expect satisfaction and to learn new skills. An understanding of organisational behaviour can help the manager better appreciate the variety of individual needs and’ expectations. Organisational behaviour is concerned with the characteristics and behaviours of employees in isolation; the characteristics and processes that are part of the organisation itself; ‘and the characteristics and behaviours directly resulting from people with their individual needs and motivations working within the structure of the organisation. One cannot understand an individual’s behaviour completely without learning something about that individual’s organisation. Similarly, he cannot understand how the organisation operates without; studying the people who-make it up. Thus, the organisation influences and is influenced by individuals. ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR The key elements in the organisational behaviour are people,, structure, technology and the environment in which the organisation operates. People: People make up the internal and social system of the organisation. They consist of individuals and groups. The groups may be big or small; formal or informal; official or unofficial. Groups are dynamic and they work in the organisation to achieve their objectives. Structure: Structure defines the formal relationships of the people in organisations. Different people in the organisation are performing different type of jobs and they need to be (elated in some structural way so that their work can be effectively co-ordinated. Technology: Technology such as machines and work processes provide the resources with which people work and affects the tasks that they perform. The technology used has a significant influence on working relationships. It allows people to do more and work better but it also restricts’ people in various ways. Environment: All organisations operate within an external environment. It is the part of a larger system that contains many other elements such as government, family and other organisations. All of these mutually influence each other in a complex system that creates a context for a group of people. NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Each individual brings to an organisation a unique set of personal characteristics, experiences from other organisation, the environment surrounding the organisation and1 they also possess a personal background. In considering the people working in an organisation, organisational behaviour must look at the unique perspective that each individual brings to the work setting. But individuals do not work in isolation. They come in contact with other individuals and the organisation in a variety of ways. Points of contact include managers, co-workers, formal policies and procedures of the organisation, and various changes implemented by the organisation. Over time, the individual, too, changes, as a function of both the personal experiences and the organisation. The organisation is also affected by the presence and eventual absence of the individual. Clearly, the study of organisational behaviour must consider the ways in which the individual and the organisation interact. An organisation, characteristically, exists before a particular person joins it and continues to exist after he leaves it. Thus, the organisation itself represents a crucial third perspective from which to view organisational behaviour. NEED FOR STUDYING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR The rules of work are different from the rules of play. The uniqueness of rules and the environment of organisations forces managers to study organisational behaviour in order to learn about normal and abnormal ranges of behaviour. More specifically, organisational behaviour serves three purposes: What causes behaviour? Why particular antecedents cause behaviour? Which antecedents of behaviour can be controlled directly and which are beyond control? A more specific and formal course in organisational behaviour helps an individual to develop more refined and workable sets of assumption that is directly relevant to his work interactions. Organisational behaviour helps in predicting human behaviour in the organisational setting by drawing a clear distinction between individual behaviour and group behaviour. Organisational behaviour does not provide solutions to all complex and different behaviour puzzles of organisations. It is only the intelligent judgement of the manager in dealing with a specific issue that can try to solve the problem. Organisational behaviour only assists in making judgements that are derived from tenable assumptions; judgement that takes into account the important variables underlying the situation; judgement that are assigned due recognition to the complexity of individual or group behaviour; judgement that explicitly takes into account the managers own goals, motives, hang-ups, blind spots and weaknesses. IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Organisational behaviour offers several ideas to management as to how human factor should be properly emphasised to achieve organisational objectives. Barnard has observed that an organisation is a conscious interaction of two or more people. This suggests that since an organisation is Ihe interaction of persons, they should be given adequate importance in managing the organisation. Organisational behaviour provides opportunity to management to analyse human behaviour and prescribe means for shaping it to a particular direction. Understanding Human Behaviour Organisational behaviour provides under ­standing the human behaviour in all directions in which the human beings interact. Thus, organisational behaviour can be understood at the individual level, interpersonal level, group level and inter-group level. Organisational behaviour helps to analyse ‘why’ and ‘how’ an individual behaves in a particular way. Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon and is affected by a large number of factors including the psychological, social and cultural implications. Organisational behaviour integrates these factors  to provide* simplicity in understanding the human behaviour. Interpersonal Level: Human behaviour can be understood at the level of interpersonal interaction. Organisational behaviour provides †¢ means for understanding the interpersonal relationships in an organisation. Analysis of reciprocal relationships, role analysis and transactional analysis are some of the common methods, which provide such understanding. Group Level: Though people interpret anything at their individual level, they are often modified by group pressures, which then become a force in shaping human behaviour, Thus, individuals should be studied in groups also.. Research in group dynamics has contributed vitally to organisational behaviour and shows how a group behaves in its norms, cohesion, goals, procedures, communication pattern and leadership. These research results are advancing managerial knowledge of understanding group behaviour, which is very important for organisational morale and productivity. Inter-group Level: The organisation is made up of many groups that develop complex relationships to build their process and substance. Understanding the effect of group relationships is important for managers in today’s organisation. Inter-group relationship may be in the form of co-operation or competition.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Historical Definition of Globalization Assignment

Historical Definition of Globalization - Assignment Example Nevertheless, there are other different factors that have shaped globalization and define its historical development. One such factor is political. Political systems have promoted, hindered, and regulated trade both today and in the past. Establishment of legal systems, regulatory bodies, and institutions that hinder or serve the development of international trade and solve disputes between conflicting nations has long historical roots (Wright, 2015). In addition, exposure of different regions to political systems and forces in the past was a major determinant of the growth or failure of the process of economic globalization. Case in point, Wright (2015) shows how the Mandinka and Islam contributed to the incorporation and exposure of the Niumi into the global system. The political influences of the Mandinka and Islam in the trans-Saharan trade framework contributed to the strengthening of the Niumi Polity (Wright, 2015). The Portuguese arrival further allowed for entry of the Niumi into trade across the Atlantic complex. Non-economic globalization can also be defined in the form of social and cultural integration. There are four streams of current global culture which have significant historical roots: global academic culture, global business culture, popular religious culture, and popular secular culture (Wright, 2015). Social and cultural interactions have led to the development of a global civil society in which individuals and communities share social and religious perspectives.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Is Immigration a Cause of Crime or is the Fear Media Based Research Paper

Is Immigration a Cause of Crime or is the Fear Media Based - Research Paper Example Those who support the idea that immigration is a cause of crime suggest that illegal immigrants are more likely to cause an increase in crime since the mere fact that they are in the country illegally suggests that have no respect for law and order. However, States (such as Arizona), which claim to be responding to this assumption by enforcing strict immigration laws and policies are often just responding to fear of immigrants that is spread by the media. In fact, contrary to the perception that illegal immigrants are a cause of crime, some studies have shown that it is extreme immigration policies and laws that are more likely to lead to an increase in crime (Fisher). This is because such laws cause fear and resentment among immigrants and this leads to lack of co-operation between immigrants and law enforcement officers. Because of this, law enforcement officers are less likely to detect crime and protect the victims of crime who live within immigrant communities since such victims do not come forward. Laws like Arizona’s are therefore counterproductive (Fisher). According to studies that have been conducted by various sociologists, people are generally afraid of the things/people that they do not understand. Since immigrants are foreigners, it is easy for people to believe most of the information found in the media which suggests that the presence immigrants is a major cause of crime. However, such information is often not based on any solid facts or proper research of crime patterns in various regions. Actually, some sociologists even suggest that the minimal research that has been conducted on this matter has proven that contrary to popular belief, native citizens are more likely to commit crimes than immigrants (McDonald). Studies of the common immigration patterns show that a large percentage of the people who migrate to the US (either legally or illegally) are young men who in most cases have little or no education. Because of this, such immigran ts are easily stereotyped as being likely to commit crimes since their lack of formal education means they are not likely to get jobs (Rumbaut). Based on this, the media creates the perception that immigrants cause crime. This incorrect perception causes fear and ignorance among policy makers and the public. As such, it is accurate to say that immigration does not cause crime and any claims to the contrary are often not based on reason. Since stereotypes are created out fear, they are rarely based on facts and hence those who claim that immigration causes crime based on stereotypes are mistaken. Over the past decade, the number of Hispanics who have been imprisoned has risen substantially. Some media organizations have wrongly concluded that this means that immigrants cause crime and this is the message they spread to their audience/readers. Contrary to this viewpoint, most of the convicted Hispanics are in most cases native born and are not immigrants. Therefore, the perception by the public that immigrants cause crime is at best a myth. As such, when policy makers respond

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Leadership Issues - Empowerment of Employees Essay

Leadership Issues - Empowerment of Employees - Essay Example Internal commitment is developed when workers or employees remain committed towards a person, program or project for their own personal motives. Since the complete decision making authority and responsibilities of a work rests with the worker or employee empowered, the question arises as to whether in that case the position and role of a manager becomes irrelevant or not (Dubrin, 2008, p.204). Extensive research has been conducted on the subject and different researchers have brought forth different perspectives. It is important to discuss whether employee empowerment calls for the complete removal of position of managers in organizations or they still stand to have their position and responsibility in directing group activities towards the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. In this study, a critical analysis is provided on the subject with particular reference to the management and leadership literature. The various views of researchers on the subject are complied an d brought to the fore to arrive at a comprehensive conclusion. ‘Empowered employees’ negates the need for managers- Critical Analysis The debate between employee empowerment and the role of managers can be most prominently viewed with regards to the hotel industry. Most employees in this sector are trained by managers to handle the guest incidents happening at the spot along with good judgement which includes being promptly, professional and courteous. This is aimed at improving services delivered to guests and consequently their satisfaction level, creating a better working environment for employees and creating time for managers to focus on other tasks and managerial activities. According to Brymer (2002) this is not only unusual and unnatural approach towards managing hotel activities but also surprising as the decision making authority accounts for the most important task that managers long for. At the first place the task for managing guests is quite a challenging task which could be difficult for workers or employees to manage. Researchers have regarded this as an indulgence in the way that employees would be inclined towards giving away too much without taking into consideration the costs or its impacts on the bottom line (Brymer, 2002, p.58). The argument has been countered by the fact that decentralization of decision making has been particularly successful in the quest services oriented organizations which includes hotels, restaurants and the like. This success has gradually created a step by step framework which has been used by the hospitality sector for the implementation of employee empowerment programs. These programs have been implemented for long in the hospitality sector and have achieved considerable success also (Brymer, 2002, p.58). Researchers have emphasized on the existence of trust on the part of the supervisors and managers on their subordinates to empower them which determines whether empowering employees would be succes sful or not. However, empowering employees to the desired organization responsibilities and decision making authority does not completely rule out the requirement or need for managers or the requirement of managerial activities though (Straiter, 2005, p.87). It is the managers’ responsibility to determine the competency, reliability and responsibility of the subordinates. Researchers like McAllister (1995), argues that this can be a complicated and uncertain process which

Friday, July 26, 2019

Understanding - Active Listening or Maslows Hierarchy of Need Assignment

Understanding - Active Listening or Maslows Hierarchy of Need - Assignment Example Here people want to be treated with loved, affection and feel parts of groups. The next level of needs is the self-esteem and the esteem from others. When all these have been satisfies, a person would now look for self actualization, where he will be seen trying to achieve individual potential like power in the society. Maslow then sys that if we are motivated by the fact that we want to self-actualize, the every other need will just work out. As managers, we need to concentrate on the client centered skill like active listening. This is the skill that will enable a manger to listen carefully to the customer’s needs and react according to the client’s likes or dislikes. In this kind of feeling, a person is guided by the feelings displayed by the client about the kind of service being offered. It therefore requires one to actively react to such feelings in order to meet the client’s

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Neoliberalism is a fundamental new approach in International Relations PowerPoint Presentation

Neoliberalism is a fundamental new approach in International Relations theory. Discuss - PowerPoint Presentation Example Neo-liberalism works to move a part of the economy’s control to the private sector from the public sector. That is to say that neo-liberalism is an economic conception that values the ideals of free and unregulated market and globalization. Therefore, neo-liberalism occupies a fundamental position in the theory of International Relations. Neo-liberalism is a concept of political and economic practices that put forwards that human welfare can best be developed by liberating personal industrial freedoms and expertise inside an institutional framework typified by sound private property rights, unregulated and free markets along with free trade (Harvey, 2007). In the period after 1945, the liberals resorted to international institutions to perform several functions that the state could not carry out. This was the mechanism behind the integration theory in Europe and pluralism theory in the United States of America. Near the beginning of the 1970s, pluralism had built up a considerable challenge to realism and showed the way to neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism stands for a more refined theoretical challenge to existing realism. They give explanation to the durability of institutions in spite of significant changes in circumstances. As said by neo-liberals, institutions exercise a causal influence on international relations, determining state preferences and fastening them in to two-way co-operative arrangements. It concentrates on new players like transnational corporations, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and new types of relations like interdependence and integration (Galbreath, n.d.). Basically neo-liberalism states that free trade and unregulated market along with unobstructed supply of capital will lead to the production of the most efficient products that are most economically, socially and politically viable. It emphasizes on the significance of sound institutions like property rights, freedom of agreement, open markets, rules of legal responsibility,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Hiring and Recruiting Salespeople Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hiring and Recruiting Salespeople - Essay Example For instance, the hiring of right and dedicated employees increases organizational productivity, internal efficiency, effectiveness and performance. One of the most important jobs of HR managers, who also serve as employee advocates, is to hire right marketing and sales personnel. It is worthwhile to mention that sales’ people play their vital role in success and prosperity of an organisation because they are responsible for push marketing, direct selling, advertising and smooth distribution of goods and services. For instance, the capable, well – trained, educated and professional sales personnel with strong marketing skills could convince and persuade distribution channel members (such as dealers, partners, whole sellers and retailers) and end-users about the scope and profitability of business products. Therefore, the employment of dedicated, motivated, confident, enthusiastic and hard-working salesmen enable the company to increase short and long run sales, build cordial relationships with all distribution channel members, improve sales network and operations management, resolve customer issues and complaints, e nhance customer satisfaction level and perceived loyalty. In short, all manufacturing and trading firms solely depend upon the performance and contribution of sales staff because they produce and sell want – satisfying goods in the market. However, today service organizations such as insurance firms, mutual firms and other financial businesses have also become reliant on contributions from sales people, because they persuade potential customers to benefit from goods and services of their respective business enterprise.

How Relevant Is The Rational Model of Consumer Decision-making to Essay

How Relevant Is The Rational Model of Consumer Decision-making to Marketers Today - Essay Example The author of the essay "How relevant is the rational model of consumer decision-making to marketers today?" begins with the short introduction of the rational model notion. The rational decision-making model would tend to assume that consumer characteristics are universal, meaning that buyers of products and services generally share the same set of homogeneous cognitive thinking traits by which decision-making is a practical and sensible process. For instance, a consumer opens a refrigerator, witnesses a lack of a favorite beverage and then sets about exploring options to fulfill this need. The vast volumes of marketing literature that have conducted studies on consumption behavior would tend to strongly refute this notion. In most East Asian countries, cultures are collectivist in which group opinion and group membership are substantial social values. Shukla (2010) reports that Asian consumers have recurring tendency to consume products that can enhance their social position or gai n some sort of psychological fulfillment when important reference groups applaud their product decision-making, a phenomenon known as conspicuous consumption. The energy drink, Red Bull, for instance, may be more socially acceptable in a group that is familiar with the brand name and trust in its quality over that of a lesser-known juice brand. To choose another beverage brand and then present it to the collectivist reference group could lead to social chastisement or some other dimension of criticism that would influence future repurchases. In this type of social scenario, based on collectivist values, there would be no evaluation of alternatives since the consumer has considerable experience with negative emotions stemming from the reference group opinions and would not want to repeat this social situation again. This would certainly have implications for both Red Bull and for the lesser-known beverage brand. Schiffman and Kanuk (2010) also recognise that cultural values have infl uence on consumption behaviour and even maintain a persuasion about which brands a consumer is most dedicated to. These researchers indicate that the volume of purchases a consumer maintains toward a favourite brand is influenced by how it assists in expressing social affiliation and status. Husik and Cicic (2009) call this status consumption, which is attempting to gain psychological satisfaction by exposing others in the social environment to the choice of product or service consumed. To further lend support for the influence of the cultural or social environment by suggesting an even more complicated and dynamic set of psychological characteristics that influence purchase decision-making behaviour. According to the research, people have an inherent desire to make comparisons to themselves and others in the social environment and generally want to believe they are better than everyone else (Durayappah 2010). When witnessing members of society in less-privileged life situations, it can even enhance the individual’

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

International Organizations in Question of Global Climate Research Paper - 1

International Organizations in Question of Global Climate - Research Paper Example It devastated parts of the Caribbean, Eastern Canada, Northeast of the United States and Mid- Atlantic. It has been termed as the second most costly hurricane of Atlantic after Hurricane Katrina. Losses that have arisen due to Hurricane Sandy have been estimated to be about 50 billion US dollars. In the seven countries that fell in the path of the storm, it was found out that at least 209 people were killed. As a result of such occurrences, the regional and global, international organizations, which are involved in both the political and economic aspects of life, should be able to arrange a global response that is effective (Weiss, Forsythe, Coate, & Pease, 2009, p. 19). So far, very little has been done as these effects of global climate change are so rampant and occur frequently compared to previous centuries. These international organizations face a number of weaknesses that hinder them from effectively dealing with problems such as global climatic change, civil wars, poverty, and disease. As most organizations, the international organization has two major kinds of stakeholders. These include the stakeholders who act as the core of the organization, with members who control it formally. The second type of the stakeholders are those persons who are external to the organization and do not have any form of authority concerning the decisions made, though they are affected directly by any actions or decisions of the organization. International organizations have a lot of responsibilities in the countries which are elements of their membership. Unfortunately, there is little room for citizens in each of these countries to make their contribution in concerning decision making. It is had also been found out that of all nations that are in membership with international organizations, darned few nations participate in the making of decisions.  

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Evolution of Federalism Essay Example for Free

The Evolution of Federalism Essay Federalism is the current type of government used in the United States. In this system of government, there is distribution of power between central authority or the national government and the local political units. The framers of the United States Constitution decided that a federalist government would work best for the country because it can lead to a stronger and unified government thereby giving focus to the needs of each state and the country as a whole. Every type of government is unique in its own way and each has its own pros and cons. The evolution of a federal type of government has both positive and negative effects. Aside from unifying the government, the local government’s independence results in efficiency due to fast decision-making. The federal system provides convenience to the citizens because they can compare the structure in different states thereby giving them the ultimate decision where they want to live in. A federalist government has a greater chance for progress because their system allows them to strategize and formulate different approaches in their economic and political framework. The existence of a federal government avoids and reduces the risk of authoritarianism (Walker, 2001). There are also several disadvantages of the federal government such as the incoherence or overlapping of several policies among different states and the tendency for unhealthy competition among states due to the difference of governance. For its continued existence, the government needs to formulate a system regardless of the form. No type of government guarantees the success of a nation. At present, different structures of government are being used all throughout the world and by far, the only key to a progressive and successful society lies not in the government itself but the people behind it. References Walker, G. (2001). Ten advantages of a federal constitution. On Line Opinion. Retrieved April 20, 2009 from http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1265page=3

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Nuclear pollution

Nuclear pollution Any undesirable effect caused to the environment due to radioactive substances or radiations is called nuclear pollution.Major source is the Nuclear power plants. If traces of the radioactive substances are present in the water that is released from the plant, it will cause nuclear pollution. Emission of radiations can also cause this kind of pollution. It affects almost all life forms in the surrounding environment. From planktons to Human beings nothing is spared. To be more specific, the radiations can cause mutations that lead to cancer, and the dose of radiation or the level of pollution determines lethality or how deadly it is. However, nuclear pollution is extremely hazardous in nature. It occurs as a result of nuclear explosions that are performed while conducting nuclear tests. These nuclear tests are carried out to invent better nuclear weapons. The explosions cause release of 15 to 20% radioactive material into the stratosphere. On entering this layer, they start falling into the earths atmosphere. This fall can take any where from 6months to several years. 5% of these radioactive particles enter troposphere, which is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. The smallest particles of the radioactive material are called fallout. The fallout settles on the leaves of plants and trees. These leaves are eaten by the grazing animals. Radioactive material now enters the ecosystem. Humans consume these particles through the process of food chain. Serious health problems now arise. Ingestion of radioactive material can lead to cancer and genetic mutation in humans. Fallouts that do not drop on leaves accumulate over the sea. This can be harmful for the sea life, which ultimately affects the humans. It isnt necessary that only nuclear power stations cause nuclear pollution. Even other industries, not related to nuclear power production, can also contribute to it. Coal has small amounts of radioactive material in the form of uranium and thorium. These do not burn completely and become part of fly ash. Even while producing oil and gas, radium and similar elements are released in to the air. Radioactive contamination or nuclear pollution is the most dangerous for the environment since the wastes maintain their radioactive properties for thousands of years. There is no way to have them assimilated in the soil, the water or the air in the initial form. Reprocessing is the only solution we have to limit the extent of nuclear pollution and clean the planet from such increasingly harmful residues. The highest likelihood of radioactive elements reaching in open environment is by accident during the transportation to the reprocessing plants located in some parts of the globe. Reprocessing in itself causes other pollution problems adding other risks to an already fragile environment condition. Presently, no country has efficiently solved the issue of nuclear pollution in terms of radioactive waste storage. Every state would like to send the residues to some other place and be rid of them, while no truly viable conclusion is reached. Storage facilities as such require highly intransigent security and safety rules, periodical checks and regular updates on the storage environment. A responsible management of the nuclear waste would limit the risk of nuclear pollution on the long term, allowing us to live on a cleaner and safer planet, also preventing the temptation of dumping the waste in the oceans. Nuclear pollution is not the only hazard that comes together with the use of radioactive energy: mass populations are jeopardized on a current basis if something happens to a reactor, as it was the case with the Russian Chernobyl for instance. There are other energy sources that are still highly effective without the huge risks of nuclear pollution or irradiation: geothermal sources, ocean currents, tidal waves, wind and waterfalls, all make alternative power solutions that should not be neglected. Environment-friendly electricity is one of the chances this planet has to survive. Fish and ocean plants are highly contaminated due to nuclear pollution; Greenpeace has repeatedly signaled out the huge amount of plutonium effluents produced by the nuclear plant on the coasts of England, for instance. Lobsters in the area have been found to be contaminated, hence the effects not only on humans but on the entire ecosystem is devastating. Attempts have been by an American company to even built a radioactive storage facility on Marshall Islands, ignoring the even higher potential threats for nuclear pollution under the circumstances of a growing sea level. Such solutions may appear convenient from a certain perspective, but when considered from a wider point of view, irresponsibility is obvious.

The Death Penalty Deterrence And Morality Philosophy Essay

The Death Penalty Deterrence And Morality Philosophy Essay There have been numerous studies illustrating that the death penalty does in fact deter murder. However, due to recent reanalysis and other new studies which prove that there are many statistical flaws in those studies. This paper will address the misconceptions of deterrence to murder rates by way of right to life and will discuss how morality is just cause to abolish the death penalty. It is statistically proven that states within the United States of America who have abolished the death penalty, have lower murder rates than states that enforce the death penalty. This paper will draw a comparative study between the United States and Canada. Since Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, it has seen drastic declines in murder. This paper will also outline on how the United Nations have been integrated into the issue of the death penalty. What strategies and steps they have taken to abolish it worldwide. The analysis from this paper will illustrate that the data from the past in r egards to claims of deterrence are a statistical artifact of the anomalous nature. After reading this paper, one should have a great deal of knowledge has to why the death penalty does not deter murder and how morality should be an antiquate reason to abolish the death penalty. Introduction The death penalty is a form of punishment against the most heinous of crimes used in 84 countries. Does the fact that men have judged someone to be guilty of a crime give them the right to take the life of that individual? Are human beings born with a right to life, or do their determine actions whether or not they should live another day? There is the issue of government having the power to say who is allowed to live and who are subject to death according to the laws of the country. These are all questions that are heatedly debated when the subject of the death penalty and human rights comes up. The death penalty is generally only imposed on those individuals that have taken the lives of other human beings in a premeditated manner. There is the argument that the death penalty is acceptable in these circumstances because the victim that the perpetrator killed did not get to choose whether or not they would like to live. The criminal that is being put to death is guilty of taking the right to live away from the people they murdered so the government of their country feels for justice purpose; it is alright for them to take the life of the criminal. Is this not just a vicious cycle of violence being perpetually perpetrated. There is complexity when taking of one life justified as a means of payment for the taking of another life? The death penalty does not bring the victim of the first crime back to life. Would restitution to the families that the criminal inflicted pain and suffering on be a better punishment and a more humane punishment? When a human being is born into the world, they have nothing but the right to draw another breath. They are merely a living thing that breaths air in and exhale the air. If someone inhibits your ability to breathe the air into your lungs then they are taking away the one and only right that you have. Do not confuse the right to breathe with a guarantee of life because life is not guaranteed. Life is subject to end due to your a ctions, the actions of others, or naturally occurring causes. If the country you are born in decides that they have the right to extinguish the life of anyone that commits a certain crime then you no longer have the right to breath, you have the right to live according to the laws of the country and the government has the right to decide who breathes and who stops breathing. The succeeding research will illustrate clarity as to why the death penalty does not deter murder rates. The findings will discuss the reasoning as to why some speculate that the death penalty deters crime and will attempt to show that morality is just cause for the abolishment of the death penalty. The findings will prove that past statistics were flawed in their models. The United States of America and Canada will be the comparative cases in this study. Literature Review The trend towards enforcing the death penalty is at a downward slope. However, 84 countries still enforce the death penalty (Dieter, 1999, p.1). Protocols that have been put into action are that by the Council of Europe. They made effective Protocol 6 which calls for the abolishment of the death penalty (Dieter, 1999, p. 6). The European Union has abolished the death penalty and made it a precondition for the entry into the Union. In turn, this lead to numerous eastern European countries forced to abolish the death penalty if they want membership of the European Union. This includes such countries as Poland, Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro. Even the nation of Turkey is moving closer to abolishing the death penalty in order to gain entrance into the European Union (Dieter, 1999, p. 5). Because of such rigorous protocols established by the European Union, they have threatened the observer status of countries that enforce the death penalty. They stated that unless there is a full abolishment of the death penalty throughout the whole country, a country with observer status may be rejected that status (Dieter, 1999, p. 5). Even though the death penalty has been practiced for almost every century, as of present time there has been dramatic turnaround. For nations that have abolished that death penalty, it is of varied reason. For example, Spain abolished the death penalty in 1995, stating that, The death penalty has no place in the general penal system of advanced, civilized societies (Hood Hoyle, 2008, p. 63). In similarity to Spain, Switzerland abolished the death penalty because they believed that it is a flagrant violation of the right to life and dignity (Hood Hoyle, 2008, p. 11). For other nations that have abolished the death penalty, it might have been of monetary inclination because of cost efficiency. Contextualizing the Case Per the research that has been illustrated in democratic societies postulates the following question: How has the deathly penalty affected murder rates in the United States of America and Canada? The reasoning behind the following research is too proof that the death penalty does not deter murder rates. There have studies that show that there is in fact correlation between the death penalty and murder rates. However, they have been clearly skewed and flawed in their methods to proof that the death penalty deters murder rates. There is great importance in providing findings that distinctly show a clear illustration on how the enforcement of the death penalty has no influence on murder rates. Within this research, the findings will incorporate solely individuals who have been charged with murder. The variables that are present in this research are the death penalty and murder rates in respect to the human right the right to life. Within this research it has brought forth the following two hypotheses: 1) The death penalty does not deter murder rates 2) Morality is just cause to abolish the death penalty. The following findings will prove both nulls wrong which illustrate the following: 1) the death penalty does deter murder rates; 2) morality is just cause for the abolishment of the death penalty. Findings Death Penalty does not deter crime United States. The big case against how the death penalty does not deter crime has numerous supporting documentation and data. It is stated that the death penalty is a waste of the U.S. taxpayer money and provides no public safety incentives (Bedeau, 2011). Here is an interesting quote by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point (Jones, 2010, p. 123). For example, the state of Wisconsin has had the death penalty abolished for 150 years and has half of the murder rates that states like Texas or Florida have in which those states enforce the death penalty (Jones, 2010 p. 25). A great example, are the studies of Oklahoma and California which resulted failing to find that the utilization of the death penalty is a true deterrent of violent crime (Bailey, 1999). Adding to this, a study by William Bailey and Ernie Thompson has shown that there was an essentially significant increase in murders after the death penalty was reinstated (Bailey, 1998). A New York Times survey done by Raymond Bonner and Ford Fessenden validated that homicide rate in states with the death penalty have been 48% to 101% higher than those without the death penalty (Bonner Fessenden, 2000). A food for thought that is substantial is those who commit these violent crimes in actuality do not consider the consequences. In most cases where there is murder committed, emotions are high. However, when emotions run high, that is when rationale starts dissipate. A police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department states that I am not convinced that the death penalty, in of itself, is a deterrent to crime because most people do not think about the death penalty before they commit a violent or capital crime (Jones, 2010, p.125). A police chief in a massive metropolitan city claiming this makes for a compelling argument in regards to how the death penalty does not deter crime. The police chief in fact does deal with heinous crimes on a daily basis, which means there is empirical proof that the death penalty does not influence murder. Law enforcement professionals claim that the death penalty is of the lowest tier in regards to rank of violent crimes. The FBI also mentioned that states with the death penalty enforced, in reality have the highest murder rates (Bedeau, 2011). A statistic illustrates that 2 out of every 3 law enforcement officers do not believe that the death penalty decreases the rate of homicides (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). There is empirical evidence and data proving that the death penalty states in the U.S. in fact have higher crimes than states that are non-death penalty. The following table illustrates the differences between U.S. states that are a death penalty state and states that are not: Table 1. U.S. States Murder Rate, 2010 State Death Penalty State Murder Rate California Yes 1,809 Massachusetts No 210 Texas Yes 1,249 Minnesota No 96 Florida Yes 987 Wisconsin No 155 *Reference- www.deathpenaltyinfo.org The Journal of the American Statistical Association issued a journal article by Jeffrey Grogger titled The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: An Analysis of Daily Homicide Counts (1990). Grogger analyzes daily murder rate data to help determine if the death penalty has a deterrent effect on murders (Hunt, 2004, p. 4). The figures that are examined which were acquired from the California Department of Health and Statistics contain no accidental deaths from 1960-1963. After Grogger achieved his regression analysis, he fails to prove that there is a short-term deterrent effect when the death penalty exists. Canada. Since the abolishment of the death penalty in Canada in 1976 there was a drastic decline in crimes by a staggering number of 27% (Amnesty International, 2012). Since the abolishment of the deathly penalty in Canada, there has generally been a trend of declination in murder rates. 2.8 per 100,000 are where the murder rates were at the year of abolishment. In 1995, Canada reached a 30 year low in 1995 of 1.8 per 100,000 (Warren, 2012). Some of Canadas populations have vouched their opinions in favor of reinstating the death penalty, however the Canadian government is firmly holding their stance in regards to abolishment. It is fact that all of the Canadian political parties oppose the reintroduction of the death penalty. In 1987, there was a motion to reinstate the death penalty in Canada in the House of Commons, however the motion was defeated (148-127) (Warren, 2012). Even though there was an attempt to reinstate the death penalty, the government was in realization that it is not in the nature of a government or even down to the micro-level (an individual) to make such dramatic decisions (Chandler, 1976, p. 194). There is still an abundant about of citizens in Canada who want the death penalty to be reinstated, however their argument is flawed. Their flaw is that they seek justice on immoral grounds. It is proven statically that Canadian heinous crimes are of the lowest throughout the world and especially compared to the United States. As of today, the Canadian government is strictly opposed to the return of the death penalty and has rejected all calls for a national referendum. Additionally, there has been a slight rise in Canada in regards to crime rate. However, there is no direct correlation between the death penalty and crime. If there is no direct link how can an entity such as a government determine if an individual is to lose their life. The following table below illustrates the murder rate in three territories of Canada. Table 2. Canada Murder Rates, 2010 Territories Death Penalty Murder Rate Nova Scotia No 21 Quebec No 84 Ontario No 189 *Reference- www.statcan.gc.ca Country comparisons: United States v. Canada The difference between the numbers of crimes committed between the United States and Canada is 21% (nationamaster.com, 2012). The United States in reality has the number one spot in regards to crime rate. Policy analysts Hashem Dezhbakhsh and Joanna Shepherd deliver a testimony claiming that executions in fact do have an influence on crime. He claims that a panel of recent studies shows that the death penalty saves lives. The study shows that there is a strong link between executions and reduced murder rates. As he states, there was a sophisticated panel done by Emory University which involved over 3,000 counties from 1977 to 1996 showing that because of execution there was an average of 18 fewer murders (Dezhbakhsh Shepherd, 2003). This is however flawed, because there are countless variables that could have influenced these executions and every case in regards to crime is varied. A direct opposition to Dezhbakhsh Shepherd is provided by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). To make note, there is domestic opposition to the death penalty within the U.S. They state that there is no laudable evidence linking the death penalty and murder. It is proven that states that have the death penalty do in fact have higher murder rates than states that dont (aclu.org, 2012). The ACLU strongly explains that the panels that have been conducted to linking the death penalty and crime are extremely discredited due to thorough social science research (ACLU). They elucidate like mentioned earlier in the paper in regards to emotion, people commit crimes in the heat of passion. This includes adultery, deception, under the influence of drugs, or they are mentally ill (aclu.org, 2012). They give little or no thought to the possible consequences that face them. Like mentioned before, since the abolishment in Canada decline of murder rates has consistently been on the decline. Even the number of police officers killed in Canada has not been higher than in 1962 (Howard, 2001). Th e table below illustrates the regime, polity score, and the use of the death penalty between the United States of America and Canada. Table 3. State Regime Polity Score Death Penalty United States Democratic 10 Yes (35/50) Canada Democratic 10 No *Reference- www.deathpenaltyinfo.com *Reference- www.systemicpeace.org John J. Donohue and Justin Wolfers provide additional opposition against the death penalty. In 1975, an American economic review paper written by Isaac Ehrlich analyzed the years of 1933-1969 in regards executions in the U.S. and how each execution yielded 8 fewer homicides (Donohue Wolfers, 2006, p. 2). A re-analysis of Ehrlichs work was conducted by Peter Passell and John Taylor showed that Ehrlichs work was skewed. To elaborate, Ehrlichs estimations were highly driven by a strong jump in murders from 1963-69. However, in the mid-1960s there was a decline in murders across all the states, even including the states that have never had the death penalty enforced (Donohue Wolfers, 2006, p. 3). The model that Ehrlich demonstrated showed no correlation between executions and murder, because if those seven years were taken off, the majority of the years from 1930-1969 show low murder rates. This same model can be compared to Canada. There was no correlation between the death penalty an d murder rates, the realization of this issue manifested inside the Canadian government and the result was abolishment. It is said that even the National Academy panel completely criticized Ehrlichs model. Another study that is criticized by Donohue and Wolfers was performed by several professionals by the names of Dezhbakhsh, Rubin, and Shepherd (DRS) (Donohue Wolfers, 2006, p. 3). DRS claim that each execution performed leads to 18 lives saved. This is clearly contested and is proven flawed and is deemed not credible by the Stanford Law Review. An instantaneous issue with this study is that the regression model that was run by DRS essentially went against their own views. In actuality, each execution is associated with 18 more executions (Donohue Wolfers, 2006, p. 3). This study is related to Ehrlichs study, because the DRS misuse an erudite econometric technique which is instrumental variables estimation. The problem with misuses leads to skewed results. The DRS used a quasi-ex periment by categorizing a group of variables that may cause changes in execution rate (Donohue Wolfers, 2006, p. 3). However, their study is flawed because their techniques are not applicable to the death penalty. The instruments utilized by the DRS are not valid to their study, because it is composed of too many experiments which dont reflect changes in crime markets or social trends making it extremely flawed. This can be applied to Canadas case as well, this is because the theory by DRS was debunked by Donohue and Wolfers and proves otherwise. Robert B Ekelund a professor of Economics at Auburn University explains how the death penalty is a deterrent of murders. Professor Ekelund elaborates on his study stating Empirically, we find that execution and the death penalty have no significant effect on multiple murdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦our study also shows thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦single murders are deterred by execution variablesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the form of execution-electrocution being considered marginally more painful than lethal injections-is an added deterrent to single murdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Ekelund, 2006). This study however is flawed, because of statistical problems in data collection. Please refer to the table below for realistic statistics without theoretical connectivity to show that the numbers speak for themselves. Table 4. Comparisons of Murder Rates between U.S. and Canada State Death Row 2009 2010 Executions 2009 2010 Murder Rate 2009 2010 United States 3,173 3,158 52 46 5.0% 4.8% Canada 0 0 0 0 1.81% 1.62% *Percentages are calculated per 100,000 people *Reference- www.statcan.gc.ca www.deathpenaltyinfo.org Morality is just cause to abolish the death penalty. Morality undoubtedly comes into consideration when discussing the death penalty. Is there just cause for taking away someones life? Should a single judge or jury be the ultimate deciding factor in determining if a person keeps their life? The UN General Assembly claims that the utilization of the death penalty is clearly a violation of a basic human right, which is the right to life. It is proven through decades of the uses of the death penalty in the U.S. is extremely v flawed by design (ccrjustice.org, 2012). One should not only consider that the death penalty alone is a human rights violation. What should also be considered is the torture leading up to the execution. This includes decades in solitary confinement with minimal human interaction. An interesting factoid is that the U.S. ratified a treaty in 1994 by the name of Convention Against Torture (CAT). It is defined as the following, any act by which severe pain or su ¬Ã¢â €š ¬ering, whether physical or mental, is in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡icted on a person for such purposes as [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] punishing him for an act he [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] has committed or is suspected of having committed (ccrjustice.org, 2012). However, clearly the U.S. is in practice of human isolations and tortures until the actual death of that inmate. Facts show that there are approximately 3,250 prisoners in the U.S. on death row, the majority of those prisoners serve in solitary and crippling conditions until their executions (ccrjustice.org, 2012). Twenty-five of the thirty-four states that enforce the death penalty hold their death row inmates in for 23 hours of the day in solitary confinement. There is opposition on both sides of the spectrum in regards to the morality of the death penalty. An esteemed individual who is pro the death penalty is a well known Judge Antonin Scalia. Antonin Scalia explains that as a judge it is his duty to abide by the laws. He states While my views on the morality of the death penalty have nothing to do with how I vote as a judge, they have a lot to do with whether I can or should be a judge at all (Scalia, 2002). Based off this, we can assume that as a Judge, one has to by law convict a person if they fall into the category of being put on death row. From his perspective, it is not his job to determine whether it is immoral. Another esteemed Judge in America is Alex Kozinski. His belief is that the death penalty is of moral essence. His argument is backed up by Immanuel Kant, which explains that society is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody elses life is simply immoral (Kozinski, 2002). Kozinski states that if th e system works and when the judicial system does an efficient job on identifying an individual of such heinous crimes, do we has a society have the right to take life? Simply Kozinski says yes (Kozinski, 2002). The last advocate of the death penalty in regards to morality that will be discussed is by constitutional lawyer and general counsel to the Center for Law and Accountability is Bruce Fein. His take on the issue is plainly that the perpetuator is in control of his own actions and destiny. To quote Fein, The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral sense, thus subject even to butchery to satiate human gluttony (Fein, 2008). Moreover, the death penalty celebrates the dignity of the humans whose lives were ended by the defendants predation (Fein, 2008). From this quote, it seems that Fein is relishing in the fact that an eye for eye persp ective, to get even in other words. And it is the responsibility of a human, because of dignity to enforce the death penalty in order to have a prosperous system of society. Canada on the other hand does not see a kill for a kill as of justice means. They do feel that person who committed murder should be taken out of society and confined. However, there is no justice for killing on behalf of killing according to the Canadian government laws in regards to the death penalty. Now, we go into the defense of morality and how it is just cause for the abolishment of the death penalty. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution has much to do with the issue of the death penalty. In the case of Furman v. Georgia, former Justice of the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall verbalizes some of his perspectives in regards to this issue. He begins with explaining that the death penalty is a violation of the Eight Amendment because it is morally unacceptable to the people of the United State at this time in their history (Fitzpatrick, 1995). Most court systems have stated that the death penalty is just, however if there is a shockwave amongst the conscience of the people and a sense of justice elucidating from the people there can be a transformation. Marshall explains that if all knowledge and facts were presented about the processes before death row in his humble opinion, the majority of society would not stand for the death penalty (Fitzpatrick, 1995). In th is given time, society is interconnected in more ways than one can imagine compared to the past. Through globalization means, the world has become interconnected through means of information and knowledge. Based off of what Marshall said, it can be fairly claimed that in todays societal beliefs, most would not favor the death penalty. An academia professor of sociology named Sandra J. Jones also elaborates on how morality is a just cause of the abolishment of the death penalty. Jones has interviewed countless activists against the death penalty and the majority of them stated are not absolutely immoral to kill on behalf of killing. She explains in juncture with an activists perspective that not only is it dehumanizing, but everything else that wraps around it is immoral. It is an immoral action to have a human being strapped down for the purpose of killing them, because it is for justice (Jones, 2010, p. 197). Jones also explains how the prison warden or the prison guards should not be placed into such conflict of interests. It is simply inhuman actions (Jones, 2010, p. 197). In regards to Canada, even though they refuse to sign the Protocols established by the United Nations, they have abolished the death penalty. The ACLU also makes strong claim on how the death penalty is immoral in principal and prejudicial. The ACLUs outlook on the government just cause is a negative one by nature and is deceiving. They state that no one deserves to die and when the government enacts their so called vengeance in the sake of justice, it is disguise (aclu.org, 2012). According to the ACLU in a civilized society, the people should reject the principle of killing as such the criminals did. In other words, society is only reenacting of what the criminal committed (aclu.org, 2012). Instead of one person losing their life due to the criminals actions, society would lose two individuals. Lastly former Governor of Illinois George Ryan lashes out on the judicial system. He exposes the judicial system by saying that reformation of the death penalty is not of interest to them. Ryan states that there has been a lack of justice for countless death row inmates with possibly meritorious claims-because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious-therefore immoral- I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death (Ryan, 2003). From this quote alone, it can be assumed that this is the case for the majority of the states who still support the death penalty are of bureaucracy perspectives. When sentencing an individual to death, it is a given that the sentencing maybe a wrong conviction. With Canadas complete abolishment of the death penalty, if the court system wrongfully convicts an individual, there can be justification. However, in the United States if someone is wrongfully is convicted and placed on death row and executed. The court system is flawed in the sense that the enforcement of the death penalty has a strong immorality factor to it. The case of David Milgaard is a great example of case in Canada where the individual was wrongfully convicted. David Milgaard was sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder of Gail Miller in 1969. Milgaard spent 22 years in prison. Then in 1992 the Supreme Court revamped Milgaards case and he ended up being cleared by DNA evidence in 1997 (CBC, 2012). The government ended up awarding Milgaard $10 million for the wrongful conviction. An example from the United States was the case involving Larry Griffin. Quintin Moss was kille d on June 26, 1980 due to a drive by killing in association with drugs. Robert Fitzgerald who was at the scene of the crime, testified that he saw three black men in a car firing shots at Quintin Moss (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). Fitzgerald testified that Griffin was the one who fired and killed Moss. Fitzgerald made it clear that Griffin fired the shot with his right hand. However, it was found out that Griffin was in fact left-handed (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). This was the first murder trial of Griffins attorney and he failed to address certain crucial factors. Griffin had explained that he was giving a ride to a man and his daughter, Griffins car ended up overheating (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). In the process of fixing his car, is when the drive by shooting occurred. Ten years after the conviction of Griffin, it was later revealed that the credibility of Fitzgerald was not substantial. However Griffin was executed through leth al injections means. The case was later reopened, by a professor at the University of Michigan Law, and the investigation concluded that Griffin was indeed innocent (innocent and executed) (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). This is the major difference between the United States and Canada, if there was complete abolishment of the death penalty, wrongfully convicted individuals have a chance to seek justice and clear their name. However, if there is someone executed and later proven innocent, that cannot be taken back. The Death Penalty Information Center presents six indicators as to how individuals get wrongfully accused which benefits citizens of Canada as opposed to the US. First one is eye witness error, which is deriving from confusion or faulty memory (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). There can be multiple variables as to why an individual might be confused when witnessing such a heinous crime. They do not know the specifics of the story or even recognizing the actual individual who committed the murder. A study in 2001 was done by Northwestern Law School analyzing 86 Death Row Cases in the United States. Forty-five of the cases were of eye witness error (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). The second indicator is government misconduct, which are both the conduct from police officials and the prosecution officials (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). Seventeen cases involved government misconduct. The third indicator is junk science. Science is ever evolving; th eories and practices are consistently renovating (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). Due to mishandled evidence at times or the use of unqualified experts have a strong influence on the conviction. Nine of the 86 cases were of junk science. The forth indictor is snitch testimony, which is habitually given in exchange for a reduction in sentence (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). The court systems both in the United States of America and Canada have similar processes. Taking that into consideration, lawyers at times want to just collect their money and move onto the next case. In turn, they jeopardize their clients for monetary gains or simply no interest in the case anymore. Snitch testimony involved 10 out of the 86 cases. False confessions is the fifth indicator, this usually results from mental illness or retardation and torture from police officials (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). Due to mishandling cases by prosecution officials, an individual who

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Poverty: A Form of Slavery Essay -- poverty essay

Today they say that we are free, Only to be chained in poverty -- Bob Marley This paper will discuss poverty, the different types of poverty and their definitions and who is affected by each type of poverty. It will look at the some of the major reasons why poverty exists and what causes poverty, like such things as inequality, stratification and international debt. Some of the impacts of poverty will also be analyzed from a national and global perspective; things like education, literacy rate, and crime. This paper will demonstrate that poverty affects almost everyone in some form or another and exists because those with power and wealth want and need poverty to exist to force a dependence on the wealthy. A few of the main approaches that this is achieved is through economic systems, influencing government policies, and global stratification. Defining poverty is not a simple task and this is what this paper will tackle first. WHAT IS POVERTY Poverty is difficult to define exactly, as it has different meanings to different people depending on what country they live in, what culture they belong to, and how much income they earn. All these factors and more will change the way poverty is defined by an individual or organization (Seabrook, 2007, p.35). Adam Smith the classical economist had this view of poverty â€Å"poverty is a lack of those necessities that the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without† (Richmond and Saloojee, 2005, p.33). Another popular view of poverty is that of Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen who said the poor â€Å"cannot participate adequately in communal activities, or be free of public shame from failure to satisfy conventions† (Richmond and ... ... of slavery. Works Cited Deveaux, B. (Director). (2010). Poor no more [Motion Picture]. Ferrante, J. (2006). Global inequality and the challenges of reducing extreme poverty. (Cover story). Sociological Viewpoints, 225-19. McNally, D. (2006). Another world is possible: globalization and anti-capitalism. Winnipeg, Canada: Arbeiter Ring Publishing Murray, J. L., Linden, R., & Kendall, D. (2011). Sociology in our times. Toronto: Nelson Education. Raphael, D. (2007). Poverty and policy in Canada: implications for health and quality of life. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Richmond, T., & Saloojee, A. (2005). Social inclusion. Black Point: Fernwood Publishing. Seabrook, J. (2007). The no-nonsense guide to world poverty. Toronto: New Internationalist Publications Sidel, R. (1998). Keeping women and children last. New York: Penguin Books

Friday, July 19, 2019

Marketing the Target Audience :: Clothing Retail Advertising Advertisements Essays

Marketing the Target Audience It was another day shopping for clothes, nothing new, in fact I thought I was going to get something here and there, look else where and go home. As I was walking through a mall, I stumbled upon a store that I thought looked cool and casual. I thought to myself anything that was interesting enough to catch my eyes, had to be investigated thoroughly. As soon, as I walked in I new that I could easily begin to shop at the store for certain things I needed. Buckle is a clothing store that shares its store by selling Lucky Brand clothing. Now many people may disagree on the prices that are set on the clothing, however, in a society where being cool and individualism is valued, Buckle is the place to go. Interested in wanting to see what more the clothing line had to offer, I visited the Buckle website, noticing that everything seems to fit in place and markets what it is supposed to very well. The clothing line is for young men and women who want a change from their old sho pping outlets to a more exciting, fun, cool and casual store. In the next pages we’ll explore what Buckle and Lucky Brand have in store for today’s youth and why it is marketed well. Buckle and Lucky Brand are the product’s manufacturer and distributor. Young, middle class, men and women who are cool and spontaneous seems to be the main stream of consumers for the brands. The website is mainly focused on traditional American patriotism for the modern youth. The website, clothes and stores generally emphasize that in order for one to be cool, one must buy their merchandise. Luck Brand Dungarees are a perfect example of claiming to dominate the world of quality jeans. The word â€Å"dungaree† means a pair of sturdy, durable, twill-weave of cotton fabric made into jeans. Written on the dungarees (and on the website) are the Lucky Brand slogans â€Å"Americas Favorite† and â€Å"Wear us, be lucky†. I bought two pair of jeans recently, on the inseam of the zippers is the phrase â€Å"Lucky You† and I also found a strip of paper that once again notes that if the customer wears the jeans, he/she will be lucky.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Monitoring Human Rights Essay

Human rights have had a major impact on international human life and constitute a very important test for national institutions. Moreover, they constitute a standard for reforming society and evaluating the policies and practices of international economic and political platforms[1]. The Human Rights Committee closely monitors the proper implementation of the International Covenant by state parties. Therefore all the state parties are under an obligation to submit periodic reports to the Committee. These reports should contain the details of the implementation of human rights in their respective states. In the first instance, these states are required to submit their report within one year after having ratified the Covenant. These states are also required to submit these reports whenever the Committee insists upon their submission. Upon receipt of these reports, the Committee reviews them and suggests its recommendations to the states. These recommendations are generally in the form of concluding observations. In order to ratify international human rights treaties, there is a need for state parties to work in compliance with international monitoring frameworks. These frameworks require the provision of periodic reports on the status of implementation of the requirement of these treaties[2]. The act of issuing general observations by a treaty body depends on the process of reviewing the reports submitted by state parties. Observations are the collective assessment of these reports and the governments are enabled to determine the steps to be undertaken by them in order to promote and effectively implement human rights. The importance of the dialogue is to receive advice on the measures to be adopted in order to implement treaty provisions in a better fashion. Hence the state parties are required to implement the concluding observations made by the treaty bodies and address these observations in their subsequent reports[3]. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or OHCHR plays an important role in promoting efforts to obtain global ratification by undertaking campaigns for ratification. This initiative would act as a catalyst and stimulate state governments, civilians, intergovernmental organizations and other organizations. The OHCHR promotes the integration of targets for ratification of the international treaties on human rights. It is an instrument that has been designed by the Common Country Assessments and UN Development Assistance Frameworks[4]. The OHCHR is a technical cooperation device, which is aimed at assisting state parties in implementing and promoting human rights. Technical assistance programs are provided upon requests from governments and should be utilized by them. There should be a transparent process with the consultation of civil society to be adopted with regard to nominating state representatives to the treaty. This could further enhance the effectiveness in finding a suitable candidate for the purpose. State parties have to advertise vacancies in the treaty bodies in the national press and other media. This would improve the chances of obtaining better candidates and also facilitates assessment of the candidate’s expertise. Subsequent to the nomination, the state governments should exhibit the list of applicants to the public at large[5]. Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requires the state parties to submit a report on the legislative, judicial and administrative measures that a state had to initiate in order to promote the provisions of the Convention. It also stipulates that the state has to furnish the progress report with regard to the status of human rights, within one year after entering the Convention. Subsequently, this report had to be submitted every four years and whenever the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women requires it[6].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this respect and in order to fulfill the obligations laid down by Article 18, the Committee suggested that the state parties should invariably follow the general guidelines with regard to the form, content and date of reports. These guidelines were designed in order to assist state parties to submit the reports in a uniform manner so that the state parties and the Committee would be in a position to have knowledge about the implementation of those provisions[7]. Under Article 14 of the Convention on all Forms of Racial Discrimination a state can recognize the competence of the committee to receive and consider representations from its citizens who allege violation of rights granted by the convention. The state is required to change its laws if the committee discovers a violation of the convention.   Moreover, the state parties have to furnish details of the convention measures adopted by them as a report, once in two years and the committee, in turn, reports to the UN General Assembly once a year in this regard.[8] The Human Rights Committee or the HRC was formed in order to monitor state compliance with the ICCPR. Article 40(3) of the HRC, stipulates that the HRC’s members have to serve in their personal capacity. Moreover, Article 38 states that newly elected members should work in an impartial and conscientious manner[9]. The ICCPR consists of eighteen experts in human rights, who have a good moral conduct. The monitoring measures of the ICCPR are first, state parties are required to submit periodic reports to the HRC that must describe their efforts to promote the Covenant provided human rights and the developments in the provision of these rights. On receiving this report, the HRC would evaluate the facts and make the necessary observations. Second, state parties have to accept the HRC’s authority to entertain complaints from other state parties regarding non – compliances with ICCPR obligations[10]. General Comments, which are adopted by the HRC, address articles or issues of the ICCPR and indicate the ability of the HRC to examine worldwide reports in respect of the diversified political, legal and social systems[11]. Article 41 of the Covenant authorizes the Committee to hear complaints among the states and the First Optional Protocol enables the latter to entertain complaints from individuals in respect of violations of rights guaranteed by the Covenant by the State Parties. There would be three sessions per year of the Committee and it has to publish its interpretation of the Covenant of human rights provisions. Moreover, the Committee’s power covers the Second Optional Protocol, which deals with the elimination of the death penalty[12]. The report E/CN.4/1997/74 of the United Nations, which is based on previous reports that had been, submitted to World Conference on Human Rights, concerns the ratification of some of the treaties. This report assumes that the existing supervisory system is sound and valid. In addition, it also assumes that adequate reporting has taken place. Moreover, it assumes that the progress in the quality of reporting procedures is by its very nature very slow. Further, this report is based on the premise that the extant system is not viable and that the overall objectives cannot be achieved in the absence of drastic remedial measures being adopted[13]. This report makes several assumptions. Some of these assumptions are that the treaty’s supervisory system are sound and remain legitimate; despite difficulties, considerable progress has been registered by the treaty bodies; progress has to be based on an effective monitoring system, which beneficially modifies the relevant procedures and institutions and the extant system is untenable and the achievement of the various objectives requires significant changes to the reporting system[14]. International efforts to promote human rights require the universal ratification of the essential treaties.   The rate of ratification of these treaties has shown a remarkable increase after the Vienna Conference. The reasons responsible for the increase in the number of such ratifications are described in the sequel. The first reason is that several new states succeeded to these treaties. The second reason is that the Fourth World Conference on Women resulted in the ratification of the CEDAW by a large number of states. The third factor is that of the unimaginable success that was attendant upon the efforts to enhance the number of countries that were in favour of ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite the success of this convention on the rights of the child, it has come to light that there is a need to take further steps against countries that have failed to ratify this convention[15]. In addition, these treaty bodies are available only in two languages and translations take quite a bit of time for completion. Some of these treaty bodies have laid a great emphasis on upon what have been termed as special reports[16]. It was contended by Tomuschat that the submission of reports pertaining to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was inadequate to the extent that the whole system could be deemed to be a failure[17]. Some of the recommendations of this report are that there should be consultations with the major international organizations in respect of efforts to promote ratification. In addition, special advisers should be appointed in order to ratify and report. Moreover, there should be an adoption of special measures in order to streamline the reporting system for the less populated nations[18]. Article 28 of the ICCPR requires the Human Rights Committee to consist of eighteen members. These members should possess and exemplary moral character and should be bestowed with acclaimed expertise in the human rights[19]. Article 40 of the ICCPR requires the States Parties to inform the Secretary General of the UN regarding the measures adopted by them in respect of this Covenant[20]. In a meeting conducted in Geneva on the 27th and 28th of July 1996, the committee discussed the possibility modifications to its reporting procedures. The decisions arrived at in this meeting were transformed into an official document at the sixtieth session of this committee. In this meeting discussions were conducted regarding the format and focus of periodic reports, the methodology to be adopted by the committee in dealing with state reports, the standards that had to be established in respect of state reports and the procedure to be adopted in the case of delinquent reports[21]. Although the working of the committee can be influenced by the work of the more specialized treaty bodies it is empowered only to interpret and apply the ICCPR. The standards that are applicable to the protection of human rights differ from one treaty provision to another and the committee may choose the most appropriate of such standards in any particular situation. Moreover, the committee should, wherever and to the extent possible, avoid a conflict with the provisions of other treaty bodies[22]. During the 1626th and 1627th meetings the Committee thoroughly examined the fourth periodic report submitted by Iraq[23] on 27th October 1997 and on 5th November 1997 in the 1640th meeting, and the Committee declared its observations. It condemned the apathy of the state in dealing with the implementation of domestic laws and the provisions of the Covenant. The Iraqi delegation interacted with the Committee and submitted its answers to the Committee, furthermore this delegation made detailed clarifications regarding the prevailing conditions in the state[24].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In its examination, the Committee acknowledged that Iraq’s war with Iran and the aftermath of its invasion of Kuwait had resulted in a substantial destruction of the nation’s infrastructure. However, the Committee was of the view that despite these difficulties, the government of Iraq had been responsible for the implementation of the provisions under the Covenant and that it could not evade its responsibility in this regard[25].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Committee further suggested that reasonable steps should be taken in order to ensure equal rights for people of all religious groups, in addition to the ethnic minorities. Further, the government of Iraq was directed to furnish this information in its next periodic report and to give sufficient details regarding the implementation of Articles 26 and 27 of the Covenant[26].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Committee further directed that there should be submission of reports with regard to the difficulties encountered by non – governmental organizations in respect of establishment and operability. The Committee acknowledges that the necessary initiatives should be undertaken immediately so as to facilitate the establishment and smooth operation of independent non – governmental organizations working in the area of human rights[27].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Committee furnished these guidelines to the government of Iraq along with reports submitted by other state parties to be referred to as a model. Moreover, it requested the government of Iraq to submit in its next periodic report full particulars of the steps taken by it in this regard[28].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During its 1628th and 1629th meetings held on the 28th of October 1997, and during its 1642nd meeting held on the 5th of November 1997, the Committee reviewed the second periodic report of Sudan[29]. The reports submitted by Sudan were helpful in assessing the prevailing conditions in the state. The Committee recognized the fact that the implementation of the Covenant was hindered due to the armed conflicts in the southern regions of Sudan. These differences were causing difficulties in the implementation of the Covenant and the Committee advised the government of Sudan to include the provisions of periodic reports of the other state parties in its next periodic report[30].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the 1675th to 1677th meetings, the Committee reviewed the initial report of Israel[31]. The Committee recognized the fact that the reasons for non implementation of the Covenant could be attributed to the frequent attacks on the population, the other problems that related to its occupation of territory and its war with bordering states. Nevertheless, the Committee instructed the government of Israel that according to Article 4 of the Covenant, the state should not fail to provide fundamental rights even under such emergency conditions[32].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Committee was satisfied with the steps initiated by Israel like establishing several ministries that dealt with the status of women. It was also satisfied with the functions of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women. Another measure that the government had taken was the establishment of a national level authority on the advancement of women in the state by bestowing several responsibilities on it. The government’s amendment of the Equal Employment Opportunities Law made employers liable in sexual harassment cases and the government also enacted legislation to bring about the Equal Pay (Male and Female Employees) Law[33].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Committee reviewed the second periodic report of Algeria[34] in its 1681st to 1684th sessions and complimented the state party for having resolved some of the issues pointed out in the Committee’s concluding observations,[35]which had been made in the initial report on Algeria in 1992. The factors that had contributed to the inadequate implementation of the Covenant were the extensive and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, which resulted in great loss of human life and the violent activities in the state. These issues made it imperative to maintain law and order in the state in order to protect fundamental rights in Algeria[36]. As such the states have been provided with insufficient support in putting into practice their duty to ensure human rights and in modifying their domestic laws, policies and practices in order to be more effective in establishing human rights. There is little guidance in respect of the manner in which the laws are to be sustained and construed by the states with the result that states have to face an even greater problem while carrying out their human rights obligations[37]. Bibliography Tomuschat, â€Å"Human Rights, States Reports†, in R. Wolfrum and C. Philip (eds.), United Nations: Law, Policies and Practice (Munich, Beck and Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff, 1995), vol. 1, p. 631. Charles R. Beitz. Human Rights as a Common Concern, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 95, No. 2. (Jun., 2001), pp. 269-282. 26 August 2007. Christian Tomuschat, Human Rights: Between Idealism and Realism. (2003). Oxford University Press. P. 140. CCPR/C/133. December 22nd, 1997. Report on the informal meeting on procedures. ICCPR. United Nations. CCPR/C/103/Add.2 CCPR/C/75/Add.2 CCPR/C/81/Add.13 CCPR/C/101/Add.1 CCPR/C/79/Add.1 Document E/CN/4/1997/74, dated March 27, 1996. United Nations Economic and Social Council. Effective Functioning of Bodies Established Pursuant to United Nations Human Rights Instruments. Final Report on Enhancing the Long Term Effectiveness of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty System. E/CN. 4/ 1997/74. March 27, 1997. Commission on Human Rights, Fifty – third Session. Human Rights Committee. Monitoring civil and political rights. Retrieved 2 September 2007. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force 23, 1976. Michael Banton, The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring. Chapter 3, Decision – Taking in the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Philip Alston and James Crawford (Eds). 2000. Cambridge University Press. P. 55. Monitoring State Obligations on International Human Rights: United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies/Committees. 26 August 2007 Report of the Human Rights Committee. Volume I. General Assembly Official Records †¢ Fifty-third Session Supplement No. 40 (A/53/40). Retrieved September 2, 2007 Thynne, Kelisiana. ANZSIL CONFERENCE 2007 REFORM OF UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS: CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS Enhancing the rule of law in international human rights treaty bodies. United Nations Proposals to Strengthen the Human Rights Treaty Bodies