Capacity Management in Business

Street Safety Rules Essay Street traffic wellbeing alludes to strategies and measures for lessening the danger of an individual utilizing the street organize being executed or truly harmed. The clients of a street incorporate people on foot, cyclists, drivers, their travelers, and travelers of on-street open vehicle, mostly transports and cable cars. Best-practice street wellbeing procedures center upon the anticipation of genuine injury and demise crashes regardless of human fallibility[1] (which is appeared differently in relation to the old street security worldview of basically lessening crashes accepting street client consistence with traffic guidelines). Safe street configuration is presently about giving a street domain which guarantees vehicle rates will be inside the human resistances for genuine injury and demise any place struggle focuses exist. The fundamental procedure of a Safe System approach is to guarantee that in case of an accident, the effect energies stay beneath the limit liable to create either demise or genuine injury. This limit will differ from crash situation to crash situation, contingent fair and square of assurance offered to the street clients included. For instance, the odds of endurance for an unprotected person on foot hit by a vehicle decrease quickly at speeds more noteworthy than 30 km/h, while for an appropriately limited engine vehicle inhabitant the basic effect speed is 50 km/h (for side effect accidents) and 70 km/h (for head-on crashes). â€International Transport Forum, Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach, Executive Summary page 19[1] As maintainable answers for all classes of street have not been distinguished, especially modest dealt provincial and remote streets, an order of control ought to be applied, like best practice Occupational Safety and Health. At the most significant level is reasonable avoidance of genuine injury and demise crashes, with supportable requiring all key outcome regions to be thought of. At the subsequent level is continuous hazard decrease, which includes furnishing clients at serious hazard with a particular notice to empower them to make relieving move. The third level is tied in with decreasing the accident hazard which includes applying the street plan norms and rules, (for example, from AASHTO), improving driver conduct and requirement. Street car accidents are one of the world’s biggest general wellbeing and injury avoidance issues. The issue is even more intense on the grounds that the casualties are overwhelmingly sound before their accidents. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), in excess of a million people are murdered on the world’s streets each year.[3] A report distributed by the WHO in 2004 assessed that some 1.2m individuals were executed and 50m harmed in car accidents on the streets around the globe each year[4] and was the main source of death among kids 10 †19 years old. The report additionally noticed that the issue w as generally serious in creating nations and that straightforward counteraction measures could split the quantity of deaths.[5] The standard estimates utilized in evaluating street security mediations are fatalities and Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) rates, generally per billion (109) traveler kilometers. Nations trapped in the old street security paradigm,[6] supplant KSI rates with crash rates for instance, crashes per million vehicle miles. Vehicle speed inside the human resiliences for genuine injury and passing is a key objective of present day street plan since sway speed influences the seriousness of injury to the two tenants and people on foot. For inhabitants, Joksch (1993) found the likelihood of death for drivers in multi-vehicle mishaps expanded as the fourth intensity of effect speed (frequently alluded to by the scientific term Î'v (delta V), which means change in speed). Wounds are brought about by unexpected, extreme increasing speed (or deceleration), this is hard to gauge. Be that as it may, crash remaking procedures can be utilized to evaluate vehicle speeds before an accident. Along these lines, the adjustment in speed is utilized as a substitute for quickening. This empowered the Swedish Road Administration to recognize the KSI hazard bends utilizing real accident recreation information which lead to the human resiliences for genuine injury and demise referenced previously. Mediations are commonly a lot simpler to recognize in the cutting edge street wellbeing worldview, whose emphasis is on the human resistances for genuine injury and demise. For instance, the disposal of head on KSI crashes just required the establishment of a proper middle accident obstruction. For instance, roundabouts, with speed lessening draws near, experience not many KSI crashes. The old street security worldview of simply crash hazard is an unmistakably increasingly complex issue. Contributing variables to expressway accidents might be identified with the driver, (for example, driver blunder, ailment or weariness), the vehicle (brake, directing, or choke disappointments) or the street itself (absence of sight separation, poor side of the road clear zones, and so forth.). Mediations may look to decrease or make up for these variables, or lessen the seriousness of accidents that do happen. An exhaustive blueprint of mediations territories can be found in Management frameworks for street wellbeing. Notwithstanding the executives frameworks, which apply transcendently to existing systems in developed regions, another class ofâ interventions identifies with the structure of roadway systems for new areas. Such mediations investigate the setups of a system that will characteristically diminish the likelihood of collisions.[7] Intercessions for the anticipation of street traffic wounds are frequently assessed; the Cochrane Library has distributed a wide assortment of audits of mediations for the avoidance of street traffic injuries.[8][9] For street traffic wellbeing purposes it tends to be useful to arrange streets into ones in developed region, non developed territories and afterward significant expressways (Motorways/Freeways and so on.) Most setbacks happen on streets in developed zones and significant thruways are the most secure corresponding to vehicle mileage. Detailed Road Casualties Great Britain for 2008 show that by far most of wounds happen in developed zones yet that most fatalities happen on non developed roads.[10]

French and American Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

French and American Revolution - Essay Example Thomas Hobbes trusted Man to be savage essentially thus individuals are driven by voracity and self-centeredness as a result of the natural self-conservation of any person. Nonetheless, this terrible circumstance can be relieved to some degree when individuals consent to give a portion of their privileges for an administration they had shaped to manage over them in his implicit understanding hypothesis of administration to accomplish an edified society yet under a solid focal authority with an inherent security highlight where individuals can recover the position given to the State.Based on the above foundation data and conversation, it is evident to anybody that total governments are along these lines intrinsically flimsy on the grounds that the individuals who are persecuted can revolt whenever any place their understanding runs out.Similarities †both the French and American Revolutions were really rebelled against a ruler who was damaging a direct result of his outright power s and scrutinized the privilege of their lords to oversee them with no law at all. It can likewise be said that the two upsets were significantly affected by the political intuition during the Enlightenment Period and particularly by the compositions of Thomas Hobbes and John Lock that had posted the mind-boggling thought that position and by expansion, capacity to control or administer, originates from the individuals and just the individuals can reclaim the power they had given when justified. The reason for the two significant upheavals of the eighteenth century was a craving of the French and American individuals to be free.

Overview of the 6 Major Theories of Emotion

Overview of the 6 Major Theories of Emotion Emotions are an important part of the life of every human being. Plants, animals, perhaps even objects have them, but that’s not the subject we are going to deal with here.Our main focus will be feelings and emotions related to people.We will give you a thorough and practical overview of 6 major theories of emotions, along with explanations of how they work and what are they based on.Have in mind that this won’t be a guide on how to decode emotions because that’s impossible.Our research will simply give you a better insight into their structure, cause and enable you to have a better understanding.We can freely say that emotions have their own lives and what we can do is learn about them throughout the entire life.DEFINING EMOTIONSBeing such a changeable and complex conditions, emotions are indeed hard to define. However, psychology offers some explanation.They represent a complex state which results in alteration of feelings, both psychological and physical.They have an enormou s impact on our thoughts and behaviors.Emotionality is in connection with a wide spectrum of psychological phenomena such as mood, temperament, personality, and motivation.As you can see, even the simplest and the shortest possible definition has a multi-layered structure which requires constant revision.The more approaches there are, the higher are the chances to get to know them better.There are plenty of burning questions regarding feelings-what are they, why do we have them, is it possible to control them, and so on?Experts from numerous fields such as philosophers, researchers, psychologist, scientists, and numerous others give their vision and explanation.As for the list itself, there are also many versions. As far as Robert Plutchik categorized them:Joy is defined as the feeling of happiness (or gladness, as you wish).Sadness, the opposite of the first one, means feeling sad, unhappy. The stronger words we can use to describe this emotion are sorrow and grief.Anger is when a person feels angry. The synonym for this one is rage, expressing even more intense level of angriness.Fear is the feeling of being scared, terrified, frightened.Disgust expresses strong disapproval when we feel that something’s nasty or wrong.Trust belongs to positive feelings when we say that we can rely on someone. A bit more neutral word for this one is acceptance, whereas admiration is a bit deeper option to express this emotion.Surprise comes when we are not prepared for something, and it can be both positive and negative.Anticipation can also be described as a positive feeling, as it’s the sense of looking forward to some future event. If we want to use a bit more neutral option, the expectation is an appropriate word.The extended lists include an entire palette of feelings such as friendship, kindness, envy, hatred, anxiety, craving, nostalgia, sexual desire, and many others.However, whichever of these additional ones you take, you can easily conclude that it represents a combination of two or more of the eight basic ones we listed.Each of the emotions encompasses three key elements:1. Subjective ExperienceAlthough basic emotions are a thing in common for all the people around the world still experiencing them depends on one to another individual.The intensity of the emotions also plays an important role, as an individual personally sees a situation as more or less sad/happy/disgusting and so on.In addition to this, mixed emotions add more diversity and complexity to subjective experience.2. The Physiological ResponseThe sympathetic nervous system is a branch of the autonomic nervous system and it controls numerous physiological reactions.Those include an excessive heart-beating, palms sweating, rapid breathing and so on.This system has another significant role, as it’s in charge of controlling involuntary body reactions (fight-or-flight, for example).Some recent studies pointed out that amygdala, part of the limbic system has a significant role i n emotion and fear, and is in charge of motivational states such as hunger, thirst, emotions, and memory.This was confirmed in various studies where it was noticed that amygdala activated when people were shown some disturbing pictures.Therefore, damaged amygdala leads to the lack of the fear response.3. The Behavioral ResponseThis represents the actual expression of the emotion.It’s a fact that many expressions are universal across cultures, but the culture itself makes slight differences in interpretations.That ability to understand the expressions precisely involves emotional intelligence and has a notable impact over body language. Source: verywellmind.comCATEGORIZATION OF THEORIESBefore we get down to analyzing one by one of 6 theories, we would like to point out that, based on approaches, they can be divided into three following types:Neurological which claim that emotional reaction is a result of brain activity.Cognitive which believe that thoughts and other mental activities are responsible for forming emotions.Psychological which imply that reactions within the body play an important role in emotions forming.All of them are crucial for creating a clearer picture about possible, as every single aspect is an integral part of every emotion and feeling that we experience.Our entire body and mind, both conscious and unconscious part take part in making emotions more or less intense.For that reason, learning about as many theories as possible will help you understand yourself and other human beings much better. EVOLUTIONARY THEORY (AS SEEN BY CHARLES DARWIN)Some people believe that he’s one of the greatest scientists of all times, while the others deeply disagree with all his work and conclusion.Nevertheless, this naturalist proposed an important theory regarding emotions. As he declared, emotions evolved due to adaptability allowing human beings and animals to survive and reproduce.According to him, humans seek the other halves and they desire to reproduce because they feel affection and love. “Flight or flee” when in danger happens because we feel fear.These two and all the other emotions exist to serve an adaptive role.Their ultimate purpose is to motivate human beings to respond quickly to stimuli in the environment.By doing so, they increase the chances to succeed and of course survive.For that reason, having a deep understanding of how emotions work improves the chances to survive and to maintain safety at some balanced level.Let’s take a simple and practical example from life to explain this. Imagine yourself walking through the fields of colorful flowers and you suddenly encounter a clawing animal that hisses.What do you do?Well, if a creature is significantly smaller than you, chances are you will instantly realize that the poor critter is terrified and his behavior implies he/she is ready to defend.You will also feel relief because you will realize your life is not in danger. In case it’s a bear…how about we do not imagine that scenario?In any case, the point is that your mind and body interact together and help you interpret other people’s (or animals’) emotions and react to the situation adequately.That way we avoid danger and minimize chances to panic in some not so risky situations such as the one we described.COGNITIVE APPRAISAL (BY RICHARD LAZARUS)This theory puts the thinking process before experiencing emotions. As far as it explains, the sequence goes as follows:Stimulus thought the simultaneous experience of response emotionRemember the bear we mentioned? Well, unfortunately, we have to imagine that terrifying situation, for the sake of explaining this theory as precise as possible.So, if by any chance, we encounter this gigantic animal while walking in the woods (stimulus), we will naturally think that we are in a dangerous situation (thought).This further results in being afraid (experience of response) which initiates the “fight or flight response” in us (emotion).This learning is built on Schacter-Singer’s theory, which shall be introduced later.As with the previous one, it’s always a stimulus that is in charge of some responses going on in our bodies and minds.FACIAL-FEEDBACK (CHARLES DARWIN AND WILLIAM JAMES)According to this study, there’s a connection between facial expression and expressing emotions.Two scientists suggested that in a certain number of occasions, psychological reactions frequently have a direct impact on feelings, rather than being just a consequence.Furthermore, this means that there’s a direct relation between emotions and alterations in facial muscles.For example, if you were to attend a boring party that you would like to avoid, what should you do? Put on a neutral facial expression or try to smile politely?In case your choice is number two, be sure that you will have a much better time than appearing with a dull face.Even if this represents masking your true emotions, your body will somehow realize what are you trying to achieve and will “assist” you in creating the illusion.This certainly doesn’t mean that we can control our emotions, but we can mask them to a certain extent.The whole point is that the feelings inside us reflect on our face because our body is looking for a way to express them.JAMES-LANGE’S VISION OF EMOTIONSBeing one of the most frequently mentioned concepts regarding defining emotions, this idea was independently suggested by two experts.William James (psychologist) and Carl Lange (physiologist) came up with an idea that sentiments are a result of physiological reactions to certain occasions.It’s time to invit e our bear again so that we can explain this precisely!So, if you were to encounter one in the woods (hopefully not) and you begin to tremble.As far as this theory suggests, the reaction will depend on how one interprets the reaction.So, after you interpret your responses (“I am trembling!”) you will conclude how you feel (“I’m afraid.”).Source: psychologynoteshq.com  The theory implies that a person is not trembling because he/she feels frightened, but feels terrified because he/she is trembling.Sounds puzzling, doesn’t it?Well, to put it simply, they say that the reason we experience some emotion is that an external stimulus provoked a physical response.To illustrate their vision even better we shall take one more situation.What do you think do we blush because we feel embarrassed or vice versa?Well, these guys opt for the second version- we feel embarrassed because we blush.This means that physiological arousal comes before the experience of emotion.CANNON-BARD (STRON GLY OPPOSING JAMES-LANGE)Disagreeing with their idea in several various aspects, Walter Canon gave his vision of what emotions are.As he pointed out, individuals can experience physiological responses related to emotions without even feeling them.How’s that possible?For example, if your heart is beating, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you are afraid. The reason may be exercising.He also added that emotional reactions occur to fast to be considered products of physical states.So, if a bear appears before your eyes, or some other immediate danger, you will feel terrified before you even begin experiencing physical symptoms that are in relation with fear (rapid breathing, trembling, heart beating, and so on).So, the approach favors the opinion that we experience physiological reactions and feel emotions at the same time.Using scientific vocabulary, when thalamus transmits a message to the cerebrum reacting to a stimulus, the result is a physiological response.While this g oes on, at the same moment a signal comes to the cerebrum and activates the emotional experience.As far as theory concludes, psychological and physical experience of sentiment occur synchronously, they don’t cause each other. This idea was primarily suggested by Cannon in 1920.In the 1930s, Philip Bard, a physiologist upgraded his work, which is why this approach bears the name of both experts.SCHACHTER-SINGER’S TWO-FACTOR THEORYBelonging to the cognitive beliefs, this one implies that the physiological arousal comes first, after which a human being needs to identify the reason for the arousal and label it as a specific emotion.Scientifically said, a stimulus leads to a physiological reaction which is later cognitively interpreted and defined, resulting in an emotion.This idea relies on two important theories we already described- James-Lange and Cannon-Bard’s.Similarity with the first one lies in the fact that individuals express emotions based on physiological feedback.The c ritical factor is the event and cognitive interpretation that human beings utilize to identify that very emotion.As for the similarities with the second one, this idea implies that similar physiological reactions lead to diverse emotions.For example, when the heart is beating and you are breathing quickly during an interview, this will be defined as anxiety.However, if the same responses occur during a date with someone special, the responses will be labeled as affection or love. WHICH ONE IS THE MOST TRUSTWORTHY?Now that you have all the six approaches explained before your very eyes, is it easier to answer this question?Not at all!All of them have more or fewer supporters.Some theories and views are more researched and studies, the others are less.Some of them are more intricate, the others seem simple or simply not enough explained.But, the main point is that each of them makes some sense.Each of the approaches gives us a valuable insight into how our mind and body work, why do t hey act the way they do, and how we may expect them to develop in specific occasions.However, as we said somewhere in the beginning, we still cannot decode them precisely.Not just us, no one can do so.Though we have a definition what are they, we cannot be sure if we will react the same in the same or similar situations, because numerous factors have a significant influence over that.It’s the age, culture, sex, situation, number and structure of people involved in the event, and a plethora of other aspects that will lead the reaction in one or another way.Nevertheless, these theories altogether drastically improve our knowledge and help us deal with situations easier.EMOTIONS AND/VS FEELINGSBefore we give some conclusion to this interesting and multi-layered topic, there’s one thing left to clarify.Though we used them as synonyms here (and not just us, numerous people do so), there are distinctions between these two phenomena.They are intertwined, they represent two sides of the same medal, but they are not the same.Emotions are lower level reactions occurring in the subcortical areas of the cerebrum, the amygdala, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortices.The biochemical reactions in our bodies and changed physical conditions are a result of these procedures.Their very first role was to increase the chances for human beings to survive by rapidly responding to various situations such as threat, reward, and variations of these two in their surroundings.These responses are written in our genes.Despite the slight distinctions on an individual level and the fact that they vary based on circumstances, human beings and even other species share universal emotions.Speaking of the feeling of joy, people smile and dogs, express the same thing by waging the tail.The amygdala is in charge of emotional arousal and it controls the release of neurotransmitters vital for memory consolidation.Thats why emotional memories can be so much intense and last very long.Emotions ap pear before feelings, they are instinctual and physical so they can be evaluated and defined precisely by diverse parameters, such as brain activity, blood flow, facial expressions (micro and macro), and body language.Feelings are born in the neocortical areas of the cerebrum. They are impacted by personal experience, beliefs, and memories.Feelings can be defined as mental connections and responses to emotions. They can also be individual.A feeling represents a mental depiction of what happens in our body when an emotion occurs.It is the “side-effect” of our cerebrum and it recognizes an emotion, assigning certain meaning to it.   They are the next thing occurring after having an emotion.They include a subconscious cognitive input, so it’s impossible to evaluate them precisely.Feelings are triggered by emotions and painted by the thoughts, memories, and images that have become unconsciously related to that particular emotion.But it functions vice versa too.For example, just im agining something that terrifies us can spark an emotional fear reaction.While personal sentiments are temporary, the feelings they inspire may endure and grow over a lifetime.Because sentiments provoke subliminal feelings which in turn trigger emotions and so on, our life can become an endless cycle of puzzling emotions which result in negative feelings which trigger more negative emotions.And we never really know the exact reason.While basic emotions are instinctual and common to all human beings, the meanings they take on and the feelings they cause are based on personal past and present events.Feelings are shaped by a person’s temperament and experiences and vary greatly from one person to another and one occasion to another.They represent the driving force behind many deeds, which can be either helpful or not.Being able to understand the distinctions between them will result in appropriate feedback.That’s what makes the difference between a calm or chaotic life.That’s how we determine the way we navigate and experience the world.In the gaps between emotion, feeling, and acting, we all have the power to alter and lead our lives in some positive direction.Understanding our emotions and managing your feelings with conscious thinking so they don’t hijack our brain and acting mindfully can influence our life significantly.FINAL WORDThough this topic belongs to “never-ending stories”, a subject that has so many meanings and approaches, still we hope that the picture is at least a bit clearer than it was before you encountered our detailed guide.Again, our idea was not to give you a secret formula but to improve your overall vision on emotions, their causes and effect, and a variety of ideas about how they occur and function.This useful lesson will certainly help you understand the laws of emotions a bit better which will consequently improve your overall understanding of yourself and other beings. And that’s a lot.Our overview certainly brought a multitude of valuable information, but what we would like you to do is not just read our article, but try to find the practical application of it in real life.

The Decade Known as The Great Depression - 840 Words

The decade known as the Great Depression was an era filled with both hardship and tribulation. Historians continue to debate the root causes of the collapse of the stock market which led the country into depression. Other deride the ineptitude of the Canadian government’s response to the crisis. At any rate, the â€Å"Dirty Thirties† was a period of time unlike any other. While those who suffered through it are largely gone, the memory of those dark days remains to this day. Firstly, there are many factors that contributed to making the Great Depression start. Over-production and expansion was a problem because almost every industry was expanding in the 1920’s. Industries made products quickly that weren’t selling and in order to slow down†¦show more content†¦All the ranks on the social class had dropped. The poor became poorer than the poor. Finding work was sporadic at best and it was impossible for men to pay for their homes which led to people having to move into their cars, piano boxes and anything they could possibly find shelter in. The Great Depression got farmers the worst as severe dust storms hit the prairies. Temperature raised immensely in 1936 making wind storms hotter and drier, and with no rain there was no crops. Western prairies became almost completely dependent on the export of wheat but grass hoppers and plant diseases cause the last few crops destroyed. Farmers had to sell their farms as debts raised because they couldn’t afford their families as the drought prolonged. The school boards had to decrease the number of teachers and increase the amount of students. Even marriage was effected, while Canada experienced the Great Depression, many couples refrained from marrying due to economic uncertainty and high unemployment. These causes of the Depression impacted the everyday Canadian. Moreover, the Canadian government took many measures to pull Canada out of the Depression they tried, monthly relief rates, vouchers, governments money, relief camps, buying Canadian, make work projects and tariffs. Monthly relief rates were when people would have to go to a welfare office to prove that they were unemployed too get a certain amount of moneyShow MoreRelatedThe Great Depression In The 1930S Ultimately Began Due1472 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Depression in the 1930s ultimately began due to the economy in the past decade. The Roaring Twenties was a decade filled with underground bars, voiding prohibition, jazz music, and elegance. People made their own rules and created their own fashion. October 29th, 1929, also known as â€Å"Black Tuesday† is the day that the roaring twenties ended with a screeching halt. This decade had been a haven for the stock markets. Black Tuesday occurred just after the day that the sellers traded in theirRead More Causes of The Gre at Depression Essay1592 Words   |  7 PagesThe Great Depression It is said that the cause of the catastrophic stock market crash known as the great depression was due mostly to uncontrolled political and industrial systems otherwise known as capitalism. However, the timeline leading up to the Great Depression proves that many other factors played a role in the stock market crash that occurred in the decade of the 1930s. So lets take a look at rather four, factors contributing to the great depression that we will further discuss inRead MoreThe Great Depression Effects On America1351 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Depression had a profound effect on the generation that lived through it, with many people struggling just to get by, and the crisis lasted for years. An entire decade was shaped by this event and so were its people. 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Rowland1524 Words   |  6 Pageshave chosen to review is Decade of Despair: Winnebago County During the Great Depression 1929-1939. Authors are Werner E. Braatz and Thomas J. Rowland. Copyright 2009 by University Press of America. Published Lanham, Maryland 20706. ISBN-13: 978-0761846406. The stock market crash of October 1929 drastically affected the economic growth of the entire United States. In Wisconsin the attitudes of many changed and several began to devise plans on surviving the worst depression in the Nation’s historyRead More The Impact of the Great Depression Essay926 Words   |  4 PagesThe Impact of the Great Depression The stock market crash of 1929 sent the nation spiraling into a state of economic paralysis that became known as the Great Depression. As industries shrank and businesses collapsed or cut back, up to 25% of Americans were left unemployed. At the same time, the financial crisis destroyed the life savings of countless Americans (Modern American Poetry). Food, housing and other consumable goods were in short supply for most people (Zinn 282). This widespreadRead MoreCulture during the 20s-40s: Great Gatsby1365 Words   |  6 PagesHistory has shown that music, dance and fashion have a great affect on society and culture. Iconic artists and performers, and particular events during these decades influenced many rebellious outbreaks going against societal norms. The â€Å"Roaring 20s† (1920-30), had a major impact on adolescent behavior in America, starting in New Orleans, moving into Chicago and later, New York City. Throughout the 1930s-1940s a new adolescent culture emerged , influenced by early upheavals during the 1920s. TheRead MoreThe Assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.1304 Words   |  6 Pages Each decade has it’s own defining events. The 1960s had the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the 1950s had the first people to ever reach the top of Mount Everest, and the 1940s had the infamous World War Two. But no decade in the twentieth century, other than the 1930s, has had one sole event define its entirety. This event was the Great Depression. Beginning in 1929, the Great Depression was present in every aspect of society from the richest CEO to the poorest pauper. Although theRead MoreThe Great Depression And Its Effects1166 Words   |  5 Pages The Great Depression The Great Depression is one of the single most important events in the financial history of the United States and the world; the effects of and leading to the Great Depression lasted for several years (Shindo). The great depression was a very difficult time in the time that it occurred. It hit people hard and left an everlasting memory (Shindo.) It would lead to a lot of devastating events better all over would feel the affect of this crisis. It was a very unexpected and suddenRead MoreEssay And What I Say552 Words   |  3 Pages The Great Depression lasted from October 24, 1929 until the economic recovery of the 1940s. On October 29, Black Thursday, the stock market crashed heavily, and continued to fall sharply throughout the coming weeks. As a result, the United States and the world were thrown into a decade of poverty and unemployment. The depression affected all sectors of the economy. Farm owners and agricultural workers suffered from falling crop prices. Businesses failed f rom a lack of investment support and a decline

Stanley Cohens Concept of a Moral Panic - 1692 Words

Introduction Stanley Cohen has become famous due to his brilliant works on sociology, criminology and human rights. His talent allowed him to depict human fears and concerns, conflicts between different social groups and human sufferings which resulted from these conflicts. Stanley Cohen’s career started to move in the upward direction with the publication of his first serious research in 1972. The book called â€Å"Folk Devils and Moral Panics† was devoted to the issues relevant to the British society in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Exactly in this book he introduced for the first time such a term as â€Å"moral panic†, which became rather widely used since then. The author of the book concentrated his attention on the rivalry of the two†¦show more content†¦In any case they will be labelled as deviant. Stanley Cohen’s book â€Å"Folk Devils and Moral Panics† was devoted to â€Å"youthful delinquencies and vandalism† [6]. He studied the pheno menon which occurred in the English society in the 1960s which received the name of â€Å"The Mods and Rockers†. These two groups of youth were the first one to appear after the so-called â€Å"teddy boys†. However, Cohen does not accuse either Mods or Rockers or the conflict between them of being responsible for the moral panic. Instead he states that it was mass media, which assisted greatly in developing the conflict between young people. Thus, â€Å"the core idea of the book is that interventions - usually in the name of benevolence or â€Å"doing good† - can sometimes actually make situations worse not better† [6]. The peaceful life of the English society of the 1960s was struck by the clashes between the Mods and Rockers. Both Mods and Rockers were called â€Å"gangs†, which is a â€Å"structure sharing the same ideas, attachments and solidarity† [7]. Every gang usually has its own â€Å"interests, activities, membership, and status† [7]. Usually such groups appear spontaneously. Both gangs - Mods and Rockers - â€Å"represented opposite tastes with regard to a number of social conventions such as clothing, grooming, music, and so on† [7]. For example, the Mods (modernists) preferred to wear suits and pointed shoes, listen to Jazz and Rhythm Blues style of music and ride scooters. In theirShow MoreRelatedThe Sociologist Stanley Cohen Define The Concept Moral Panics1501 Words   |  7 Pagessociologist Stanley Cohen define the concept moral panics? What, if any, is its continued relevance? Discuss with reference to sociological research. Natali Milligan (University of Glasgow) ‘Teen Jihadi â€Å"poster girl for the Islamic State† killed by group for trying to escape’ ‘Youth crime and punishment’ These headlines − from google news − are both explanatory in what Stanley Cohen meant in his definition of moral panics. Sociologist Stanley Cohen defines the concept of moral panics as a wide-spreadRead MoreAnalysis Of Stanley Cohen s Folk Devils And Moral Panics 1438 Words   |  6 PagesThe term Moral Panic was an expression created by Stanley Cohen in his 1972 book â€Å"Folk devils and Moral Panics†. Cohen, who was a sociology professor at the University of Essex in the 60s, developed the concept of Moral Panic as a way to describe the media coverage of the violence that spawned between two rival youth gangs (the Mods and the Rockers) and to explain the following societal reaction to that era’s adolescent sub-culture. Since then the term has been regularly used in the media to referRead MoreCrime, Moral Panics and the Media Essay1726 Words   |  7 Pagescausing a moral panic. ‘A moral panic is a semi- spontaneous or media generated mass movement based on the perception that some individual or group, frequently a minority group or subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses menace to society. These panics are generally fuelled by the media, although not always caused by, media coverage of social issues†¦ These panics can sometimes lead to mob violence†¦ (newsfilter.co.uk). Some of the governing models of moral panics includeRead MoreEssay on The Concept of Moral Panics1884 Words   |  8 PagesThe Concept of Moral Panics A moral panic is said to occur when the media mobilises public opinion around the condemnation of deviance (Media coverage of deviance: moral panics, lecture handout, 07-10-02). Deviance, in this context, refers to the violation of social norms and values, and the subsequent disruption of social order. This essay will begin with a clarification of the terms moral panic and deviance and outline how the two conceptsRead MoreThe Influence of the Media in Shaping the Publics Understanding of Crime1878 Words   |  8 Pagescontroversy. It is clear that crime constitutes a major realm of societal concern. Initial focus in this essay will be on how influential media is on peoples understanding of crime through exaggeration. The subject of Cohen’s and Hall et al work on moral panic will be largely touched upon. A basic understanding Wilkins theory would be mentioned, finally a conclusion would be drawn up. Maguire (2002) Mass media representations of crime, deviance, and disorder have beenRead MoreDance Music and Moral Panic3609 Words   |  15 Pageswriters in relation to popular music culture: Stanley Cohen. You may use a case study approach in your answer. Scholars such as Rietveld suggest that; The British Culture has a long history in regulating pleasures associated with parties. A fear seems to exist of the unregulated body that dances and is intoxicated...It is therefore not surprising that the acid house parties; that heady mix of house ‘n’ E events in 1998, were followed by various moral panics. (Rietveld, 1998, pp. 253-4.) The danceRead MoreHigh Tech Or High Risk : Moral Panics2053 Words   |  9 Pagesus to view young people in a contextual way that creates moral panics and discourses. According to Justine Cassell and Meg Cramer’s article ‘High Tech or High Risk: Moral Panics about Girls Online’, moral panics about how girls use the web as a means of communication is a case that has existed for many years. Their reasoning attracts parallels between moral panics about girls’ use of social platforms in today’s world, and the moral panics that occurred in the past regarding the girls’ use of theRead MoreFolk Devils and Moral Panics in Malaysian Context2936 Words   |  12 Pagesnotion of ‘moral panics’. Illustrate your discussions with examples of ‘folk devils,’ and incorporating concepts such as ‘the deviancy amplification spiral’ and the need for law and order. ------------------------------------------------- In one if his countless speeches, Adolf Hitler once said, â€Å"If we do not take steps to preserve the purity of blood, the Jew will destroy civilisation by poisoning us all.† Societies all around the world have been under the ‘attack’ of the moral panics countlessRead MorePower Of The Fourth Estate : How Does New Media Coverage On Polarized Criminal Justice?2420 Words   |  10 PagesFollowing the strong misuse of power exemplified during the Holocaust ten years prior, the citizens of the United States possessed a strong distaste for communism and those who associated with its dealings. Senator Joseph McCarthy produced a national panic within the United States when he declared to have had a list of communist infiltrators within both the state and federal departmental agencies. Senator McCarthy captured the attention of the American public with his televised ambiguous investigationRead MoreSociological and Psychological Theories of Crime Causation1978 Words    |  8 Pagesthat is often credited with the development of the labelling theory. However the origins of this theory can be traced back to sociologists at the beginning of the twentieth century who made invaluable contributions to the creation of the â€Å"labelling† concept. The first was Charles Cooley who wrote â€Å"Human Nature and the Social Order† in 1902, in which he introduced the term the â€Å"looking glass self†. This idea suggests that an individual will respond to society based on how the individual thinks society

Illinois Is A Full Of Corruption And Greed - 1128 Words

Campaign Paper Illinois is a full of corruption and greed. There are certain aspects that need to be changed in order to help voters get what they want and also to alter the political culture of the state. The Governor of Illinois has a lot of say as to what happens politically in Illinois. For one thing, the Governor is responsible for enacting laws. This can affect the lives of the citizens of Illinois. Voting for governor can help with voters self-awareness and the state’s happiness. Many Governors of Illinois have not done their job correctly or have bended the rules in order to get things done. This has resulted in many previous Governors to be either impeached or convicted for their crimes. Vote for Karen Yarbrough during the†¦show more content†¦Whereas over 20% of Illinoisans speak a language other than English at home. The Roman Catholics constituted the single largest religious denomination in Illinois. The state’s religions also include Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jewish, Mormon, and Baha’is. Illinois has many natural resources, including coal, timber, and petroleum. Illinois has three major geographical divisions; Northern, Central and Southern. Illinois was a political swing state with near-parity existing between the Republican and Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid blue state in presidential contests. Chicago and most of Cook County voters have long been strongly Democratic. College towns also lean Democrat. Republicans continue to prevail in the outlying Chicago exurban areas, as well as rural northern and central Illinois. Republican support is also strong in southern Illinois, outside of the East St. Louis metropolitan area. The state has normal voting requirements and early voting is available (Illinois State Board of Elections, 2015). Illinois has an interesting type of primary system. It has a mix between open and closed (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). It can be seen and seems really obvious to me that the nature of elections in Illinois is dirty (Scheele, Losco, Hall, 2012).

Manipulates Some On The Business Script †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Manipulates If It Had Some On The Business Script? Answer: Introducation The organization is an important part of any association. The knowledge of managing staff is also known as Taylorism. He was the solitary to bring in the diverse levels of the chain of command in the association and introduce the preparation of skill in a new employee to do employment (YouTube, 2017). Anybody who could not convene the superior standards of knowledge got fired up. Taylorism is a division of almost every manufacturing. However, the personnel today, with the liberty to raise the tone and query decisions, the organization nowadays need to be elastic with its labour force. The idea of Taylorism is abusive to the personnel based on the supposed low level of information of the staff by the organization. Script used in call centre is concerned with the selling of the monotonous kind of the scripts with responses to the conversation done with the clients. Yes, I notice Taylorism in the movement of given that the call centres staff with the script of all kinds of the response (Mulherin and Pruijt, 2003). It suggests that the employees are not competent of shaping the effective reaction to the query of the clients. Some part of the thoughts are also being utilised in a figure of organisations in the present society, like Audi, Ford and, Mercedes, which put into practice the idea of the meeting lines along with the technical management of the workers by declining the size of the human being tasks (Mulherin and Pruijt, 2003). Taylor uses his time-and-motion study to expand a creative division of labour scheme. Taylor argues that even the majority basic, tedious tasks could be designed in a manner that noticeably would add to output, and that technical management of the employment was more efficient than the "plan and motivation" method of inspiring workers (Patrina, 2014). Taylorism theory of organization focus on the beneath mentioned thoughts has power over the workers to permit the system of government to have improved productivity and effectiveness. Coaching the workers of the organisations concerning the various organization methods and style. The Taylorism hypothesis allows the organisations in the existing industry to have improved management of the workers and a variety of human possessions available to the system of government. This hypothesis of management still allows the human capital departments to the quantity of organisations to establish the various merits which should be obsessed by the candidate to become an administrator. This hypothesis of organization also allows the whole business model of a present organisation to be alienated into a numeral of task groups, such as monetary, professional, technological, commercial, and book-keeping and safety (Patrina, 2014). The blog integrated the example of different organisations implementing the theory that is named Fordism and Taylorism. We finished that the hypothesis of Taylorism gives a crumb more admiration to the workers in contrast to the hypothesis of Taylorism (Barrett, 2013). The time motion learning by Taylor affirmed some citizens do the job more professional than others. As per him, there is just one method to do a job, which is so wrong, a job can be completed in any way in accordance with an individuals own brain set. Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; 3 Eras of Globalisation; The World is flat The other activity is to discuss the Thomas Friedman on Globalisation; three eras of globalization. Globalization generates a free market economy. According to him defining the measurement is momentum. According to Friedman globalization is build around the three balances, which overlies and influence one another.Friedman believes that there are three eras of the globalization. The third era of the globalisation is not only limited to the countries for the business and market expansion but is within the individuals and has made them compete, collaborate and connect globally. According to Friedman, numerous flatteners resulted in the current globalization platform. He asserted that the power of the digital revolutions has become perceptible: an entity can generate digital content, can be uploaded on the internet, and individuals form the other countries can work together on it. Friedman believes that the Flat world in the globalization is that platform where there are no barriers and the individuals work, communicate and collaborates across the boundaries. Whereas there are some of the risks or the drawbacks of living in such a flat world of globalization; is that the business ethics reduces the organization freedom; for example, shifting of the multinational companies into the developing countries for the reduction in the companys cost (YouTube, 2017). The other drawback of living in the flat world of globalization is that the different individuals have the various different thoughts; and if no boundaries will be there then the individuals will not be bo unded and will work according to their wishes and with no rules and regulations that are creating their own rules for the trade and transactions (Egger and Kreickemeier, 2010). Yes, I do agree with the Friedman/s iron rule of the Flat world as per the rule the flat world is the platform where there is no barriers or the walls between the individuals and is completely open and can be unfettered. According to the rule when the world is flat anything which can be done will be done and will be done only by the individuals (Villaverde and Maza, 2011). The advancement in the technologies can help the individuals doing whatever they want to do. The increased tools of the connectivity encourage the individuals having the good ideas can pursue their ideas and apply in the today world of globalization (Villaverde and Maza, 2011). The most significant factor for the survival in the flat world is the ability of learning and how to learn. For example, if the airlines starts their own website where the individuals can go online and get the prints of their boarding passes themselves may help them to act as the ticket agent and with this will learn new things and can do wh at they like. According to me the level of the globalization is not uniform across the world as the cultural differences will persist among the different segments of the world which in turn affects the level of the globalization (Egger and Kreickemeier, 2010). The level of economic growth and the uneven growth pattern of the different countries are also the reasons of the not having the uniform level of globalization around the globe. Conclusion: Hence, it is believed that the flat world not only stands for the equal world, but in the one or the other way results into levelling the economic playing field for the ones involved in such process of globalization. References Barrett, E. (2013). Book reviews edited by Chris Taylor20131Henri de Waele. Book reviews edited by Chris Taylor Layered Global Player Legal Dynamics of EU External Relations. Springer, 2011. , ISBN: 9783642207518 62.99 1st ed.International Journal of Law and Management, 55(3), pp.247-248. Egger, H. and Kreickemeier, U. (2010). Worker-specific Effects of Globalisation.The World Economy, 33(8), pp.987-1005. Mulherin, J. and Pruijt, H. (2003). Job Design and Technology: Taylorism versus Anti-Taylorism.Contemporary Sociology, 32(5), p.588. Patrina, E. (2014). Managing the organizational development through global expansion: case study of Ford Motor Company.NEW UNIVERSITY: ECONOMICS LAW, (5-6), pp.52-56. Villaverde, J. and Maza, A. (2011). Globalisation, Growth and Convergence.The World Economy, 34(6), pp.952-971. YouTube. (2017).Ford and Taylor Scientific Management (Edited). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PdmNbqtDdI [Accessed 13 Aug. 2017]. YouTube. (2017).What Thomas Friedman means when he says "The World is Flat". [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM2BguxRSyY [Accessed 13 Aug. 2017].

Sunk Cost free essay sample

In economics and business decision-making, sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are sometimes contrasted with prospective costs, which are future costs that may be incurred or changed if an action is taken. Both retrospective and prospective costs may be either fixed (continuous for as long as the business is in operation and unaffected by output volume) or variable (dependent on volume) costs. Note, however, that many economists consider it a mistake to classify sunk costs as fixed or variable. For example, if a firm sinks $1 million on an enterprise software installation, that cost is sunk because it was a one-time thing and cannot be recovered once expended. A fixed cost would be monthly payments made as part of a service contract or licensing deal with the company that set up the software. The upfront irretrievable payment for the installation should not be deemed a fixed cost, with its cost spread out over time. We will write a custom essay sample on Sunk Cost or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Sunk costs should be kept separate. The variable costs for this project might include data centre power usage, etc. In traditional microeconomic theory, only prospective (future) costs are relevant to an investment decision. Traditional economics proposes that economic actors should not let sunk costs influence their decisions. Doing so would not be rationally assessing a decision exclusively on its own merits. Alternatively, a decision-maker might make rational decisions according to their own incentives, outside of efficiency or profitability. This is considered to be an incentive problem and is distinct from a sunk cost problem. Evidence from behavioral economics suggests this theory fails to predict real-world behavior. Sunk costs do, in fact, influence actors decisions because humans are prone to loss aversion and framing effects. In light of such cognitive quirks, it is unsurprising that people frequently fail to behave in ways that economists deem rational. Sunk costs should not affect the rational decision-makers best choice. However, until a decision-maker irreversibly commits resources, the prospective cost is an avoidable future cost and is properly included in any decision-making processes. For example, if one is considering preordering movie tickets, but has not actually purchased them yet, the cost remains avoidable.

Mount Sandel - Mesolithic Settlement in Ireland

Mount Sandel - Mesolithic Settlement in Ireland Mount Sandel lies on a high bluff overlooking the River Bann and it is the remains of a small collection of huts provide evidence of the first people who lived in what is now Ireland. The County Derry site of Mount Sandel is named for its Iron Age fort site, believed by some to be Kill Santain or Kilsandel, famous in Irish history as the residence of the marauding Norman king John de Courcy in the 12th century AD. But the small archaeological site east of the remains of the fort is of far greater importance to the prehistory of western Europe. The Mesolithic site at Mount Sandel was excavated during the 1970s by Peter Woodman of University College Cork. Woodman found evidence of up to seven structures, at least four of which may represent rebuildings. Six of the structures are circular huts of six meters (about 19 feet) across, with a central interior hearth. The seventh structure is smaller, only three meters in diameter (about six feet), with an exterior hearth. The huts were made of bent sapling, inserted into the ground in a circle, and then covered over, probably with deer hide. Dates and Site Assemblage Radiocarbon dates at the site indicate that Mount Sandel is among the earliest human occupations in Ireland, first occupied around 7000 BC. Stone tools recovered from the site include a huge variety of microliths, which as you can tell from the word, are tiny stone flakes and tools. Tools found at the site include flint axes, needles, scalene triangle-shaped microliths, pick-like tools, backed blades, and a few hide scrapers. Although preservation at the site was not very good, one hearth included some bone fragments and hazelnuts. A series of marks on the ground are interpreted as a fish-drying rack, and other diet items may have been eel, mackerel, red deer, game birds, wild pig, shellfish, and an occasional seal. The site may have been occupied year-round, but if so, the settlement was tiny, including no more than fifteen people at a time, which is quite small for a group subsisting on hunting and gathering. By 6000 BC, Mount Sandel was abandoned to the later generations. Red Deer and the Mesolithic in Ireland Irish Mesolithic specialist Michael Kimball (University of Maine at Machias) writes: Recent research (1997) suggests that red deer may not have been present in Ireland until the Neolithic (earliest solid evidence dates to around 4000 bp). This is significant because it implies that the largest terrestrial mammal available for exploitation during Irelands Mesolithic may have been the wild pig. This is a very different resource pattern than that which characterizes most of Mesolithic Europe, including Irelands next door neighbor, Britain (which was chock full of deer, e.g., Star Carr, etc.). One other point unlike Britain and the Continent, Ireland has NO Paleolithic (at least none has yet been discovered). This means that the Early Mesolithic as seen via Mt. Sandel likely represents Irelands first human inhabitants. If the pre-Clovis folks are right, North America was discovered before Ireland! Sources Cunliffe, Barry. 1998. Prehistoric Europe: An Illustrated History. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Flanagan, Laurence. 1998. Ancient Ireland: Life before the Celts. St. Martins Press, New York.Woodman, Peter. 1986. Why not an Irish Upper Paleolithic? Studies in the Upper Paleolithic of Britain and Northwest Europe. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 296:43-54.

Computer Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Computer Security - Essay Example In this research a proposal of an offensive defense comprising of a corporate partnership with successful cyber defense software companies to provide a united front against malware is of the highest preference. The initial capital investment of free anti-virus software to users would be offset in time by added security and stability. The key to which is integration of the social subsystem in order to execute such a strategy. Computer users’ basic lack of knowledge on the dangers that lie within the network system, such as the use of weak passwords or just trusting any e-mails sent to their mailboxes actually makes it easier for hackers to gain access to the vulnerable computers over the networked systems. Presently, the web is a host of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, making unsecured computer devices or computers that their protective software are not up-to-date easier to pull down through introduction of malwares into the systems. Solutions there in are to ensure safe and sec ured system administration. Situation Analysis This project rolls out several ambitious although critical objectives that are directed towards: laying out the central concepts for the current situations in regards to computer security of the stand alone or interconnected devices; to come up with the best definitions that covers the logic encompassed by insecurity consequences over the unprotected computer systems; and the subsequent establishment of a set of foundations that the thereafter work can be build upon. Organizations and individuals whose operations extensively dependent on the use of computers and their services do describe their needs for information security under major concepts of integrity, secrecy, availability and accountability of their required information. Therefore, every computer user has to make prompt decisions on what security as a measure means to him/ her. It is from this description of the user’s needs for security with his/ her personal computer o f organizations’ computers that security policies are established; and hence, a system that effectively meets those needs is termed as a secure system (Venkatesh, V. et al., 2003, pp. 425-478.). In computer security, it is important take note that technology in never enough for a trusted system. Any business organization must ensure that its secure program takes into account other managerial controls, means of recovery from security breaches, and also full awareness and acceptance of people who are entrusted with the use of such devices (Weirich, D., and Sasse, M. A., 2001, pp. 137-143.). This idea of recognizing a person is brought about by the fact that security cannot be attained in an environment where people are not of full commitment in achieving a secure computer operation as a goal. Security continues to sap vital resources and manpower from the Information Technology (IT) departments. Rather than focusing on the efficiency of knowledge management, IT professionals ar e increasingly swamped with cyber security tasks. Profits from cyber-crime are shifting the threat from board teenagers to well financed professionals. A security survey analysis concluded that as break-ins morph from prank to business, profit-driven attackers

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Literature review - Essay Example adership has led to some difficulties in implementation, the potential benefits for the organization as well as the stakeholders, meaning owners, board members, managers, employees and consumers cannot be ignored. The following literature review illustrates this progression. In â€Å"Meta-Analytic Reviews of Board Composition, Leadership Structure and Financial Performance† (Dalton et al, 1998), the authors establish that there is no direct connection between the composition of traditional organizational boards or board leadership structures and financial performance of the organization despite widespread belief that such a relationship exists. After exposing this basic belief, the authors examine a number of different forms of board compositions and leadership structures and illustrate the means used to evaluate any relationship between these and the firm’s financial performance. Although these relationships have been studied in a variety of ways in the past, this study focuses on bringing the research together to determine whether the findings have yielded any meaningful results. Because this study takes into account numerous other studies, it is able to provide a more broadly-based view upon the findings of each study conducted and conc ludes that, despite individual reports of inconclusive results, is able to demonstrate that while there does not seem to be any direct relationship evident between the board and the firm’s financial performance, further study into the various ways board subcommittees might affect the firm is recommended, giving rise to many new theories regarding organizational leadership. In a study entitled â€Å"The Illusion of Leadership† (Weber et al, 2001), the problem of the large group in bringing about effective, efficient leadership in the organization is examined as the authors study how groups tend to work together through the use of coordination games. The authors suggest that the traditional means by which individuals are

Issues faced in BHP billiton and infosys

Issues faced in BHP billiton and infosys BHP Billiton and Infosys, though both successful in their own right, have emerged from different industrial sectors, and hugely contrasting geopolitical environments. BHP Billiton is the worlds largest mining organisation, and was formed in 2001 by the merging of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company, and Billiton of the UK. The companys primary interests are in Iron ore, Manganese, Petroleum, Aluminium, Base Metals, Metallurgical Coal, Thermal Coal, Stainless Steel resources, and Diamonds/Speciality materials. BHP Billitons scale and diversity appear to have cushioned it from the worst ravages of the contemporary economic downturn, although, as will be discussed, this has not necessarily helped all of its employees and stakeholders. Unconcerned by such vagaries, Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers has recently judged that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Commercial market mechanism will ensure that developing nations raw material demand is met, that suppliers obtain sufficient investment to meet demand and that new deposits of raw materials are discovered. (Smith BHP chief 2009) However, as other reports concede, BHP expects the majority of this demand to come from developed, rather than developing economies. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Despite the low metals inventories in developed economies, there is little evidence yet of sustainable demand for metals emerging post the northern [hemisphere] summer. (MacNamara 2009) 2009 has seen mining profits depressed by the fall in commodities prices: however, BHP has confoun ded this trend by paying a final dividend which matched its interim payment, i.e. 41 cents. As MacNamara points out, BHP has been à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦one of the more successful players in the sector, bigger and better able to handle difficult market conditions than rivals such as Anglo American and Xstrata, which have suspended their dividends until further notice. (2009) Uniquely amongst British mining concerns, BHP has the advantage of a petroleum division, which is now its third most profitable business. (MacNamara glass 2009) During 2009, BHP also abandoned plans to create a joint marketing company with Rio Tinto, which was to sell up to 15 per cent of Western Australian iron ore production. (Smith BHP Rio 2009) Infosys is another company which has made comparatively good progress during the economic downturn, and claims to have emerged from it already. Infosys is Indias second largest software services exporter, reporting a 17 per cent rise in first-quarter profits during 2009. Its UK clients include the UKs Waitrose supermarket chain and many leading international banks. Its business has now developed to the point where it is a viable competitor to long established IT providers, such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Accenture (Fontonella-Khan 2009). Along with other Indian-based outsourcers, such as Wipro, Genpact, and Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys has a macro-economic significance far beyond its own industrial sector, having helped power the Indian economy to 9 per cent growth prior to the 2008-9 financial crisis. (Lamont 2009) London School of Economics analysts attribute this partly to the status of English as an official language in India, making the industrys services highly scaleabl e in western markets, and constituting a competitive advantage over new entrants such as China. As Ilan Oshri of the LSE Outsourcing Unit observes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦India is not a powerhouse because it is cheap but because it is smart. Thats not the same with Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We dont see Chinese vendors emerging to be powerhousesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦China is much cheaper than India. But the game is not about cost, its about accessing talentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.(Lamont 2009). Section 1: Similarities and Differences. Mitchell et al. identify three possible themes within stakeholder saliency: power, legitimacy, and urgency. (1997: p.853) Both of the companies in question have extended stakeholder chains, but they are rather different in character. It is this contrast which has determined the behaviour of each: altered in one case, unaltered in the other. Of the two, the company which has moved most swiftly to change and signal that change is Infosys, a series of events which may be interpreted according Mitchell et al.s saliency model. Infosys power is intrinsically linked to its legitimacy, and this in turn rests squarely on its relationship with important stakeholders. In the first instance, the companys fortunes are interdependent with the Indian government in its role as an economic facilitator and arbiter of structured growth: significant investor cooperation is contingent upon this relationship. If the emerging Indian economy wavers, the latter will worry about the skills base, infrastruct ure, and political stability which is necessary to grow Infosys shareholder value. Moreover, in a globalised economy, influence of investors upon customer attitudes cannot be underestimated. Infosys is an exemplar business to business operator, so its corporate responsibility profile impacts directly on that of its corporate customers. For example, Waitrose of the UK, which markets itself as a profit-sharing, employee friendly, ethical retailer, could not maintain its own CSR status whilst in cooperation with a pariah multinational. Infosys, therefore, must avoid such status at all costs. Things are different for BHP Billiton, whose corporate responsibility effort, as will be discussed, rests on engagement rather than action. The most striking recent fact pertaining to BHP Billitons social responsibility profile is its dismissal of six thousand employees and contractors in 2009 alone. (Smith axe 2009). However, for complex reasons, its stakeholder profile can accommodate such crises relatively comfortably. Section 2: Responsible business approach, has it increased/decreased, and why? As it is the worlds principal extractive company, it is not surprising that the areas of contention surrounding BHP Billitons operations span the environment, ecosystem, climate change, human resources, community disruption, land rights, political lobbying, and financial malpractice, to name but a few. It is far beyond the scope of this discussion to engage meaningfully with the empirical circumstances of all of these issues and concerns. It may be argued however, that its strategy is one of maximum engagement, and minimum change, a dynamic whose provenance lays in the nature of its stakeholder networks. The important point here is that BHP Billitons is not a unique position. As Brewster reports, an ever higher proportion of blue-chip organisations are joining the ranks of those who publish regular CSR reports. (2007). However, the only thing which this signals in absolute positivist terms is the willingness to open a dialogue with concerned stakeholder groups. At the same time, it can usefully reassure less concerned stakeholders i.e., conventional or unethical investors that the corporate responsibility issue is being fielded in an acceptable way. This is not to say that such reports merely convey a facile dialogue of inaction: however, as will be discussed, they do define and confine responsibility within certain manageable parameters. It may be argued that Infosys has adopted the same kind of logic in its corporate social responsibility effort: its 2008-9 report states that We understand the implications our business has on the economy, environment and society. We also recognise that there is much to learn and engage with our stakeholders to improve our performance in all areas. (Infosys 2009) It goes on to remind the reader that its board members participate in advisory councils, governments and not-for profit organisations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to formulateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦policies on topics such as corporate governance, healthcare, education, climate change, and other key sustainability areas. (Infosys 2009: p.9) The over-arching message is clearly that Infosys is representing itself as a learning organisation, in the defined sense of that term. As Lane et al. point out, each organisation, whether formally constituted or otherwise possesses its own learning culture, subsumed within compatible norms and values, operatio nal priorities, or dominant logics. (2001: p.1143). Of the two organisations however, Infosys has exhibited by far the greatest degree of change in its behaviour. Along with Tata Consulting Services and Wipro, are at the centre of a controversy concerning the importing of non-EU IT workers into the UK: Infosys has itself brought in 3,030 of these employees. The transfer route is, as a consequence, being tightened by the UK Home Office, with the result that temporary workers will no longer have any rights of settlement: in addition, employees will have to have been with a company for a minimum of one year, before transferring to the UK branch (Boxell 2009). However, as both companies as the government are aware, such transfers are sometimes the only means by which specific human resources shortages may be addressed: as Phil Woolas, the immigration minister, concedes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Intra-company transfers are an important part of making the UK an attractive place in which to do business, and therefore keep industry and the economy mov ing. (Boxell 2009). The point here is that Infosys extended stakeholder chain implies pressures which must be balanced out through this, and other, important structural issues. It cannot afford to be less competitive than its rivals in terms of corporate responsibility, or it will simply lose business. Conversely, BHP Billiton will not. Its stakeholder chain is wider, more diffuse, and far less responsibility-dependent: in short, the world knows what kind of organization it is, and it grows no poorer. Section 3: Contrasting Viewpoints. There are various theoretical frameworks which might be employed to assess the relative corporate responsibility efforts of BHP Billiton and Infosys, despite their intrinsic differences. These range from the extreme Kantian ethical position, which argues that a corporation can have no duty other than to shareholder, or the virtue or Confucian ethical position, which argues that innately good practice will eventually ensure rewards. Two modified positions which might allow a more measured assessment are Tinged Shareholder theory, as posited by Moore and others, and utilitarian ethics. As Moore has argued if tinged shareholder theory were to become a normative model , there would be a greater concentration on the ideal type virtues required of a good manager, and a good organisation. Consequently, a focus on the area of virtue ethics might prove central to the visualising of a corporate responsibility ideal (Moore 1999: p.126). Meanwhile utilitarian ethics arguably provides a useful pe rspective because of its outcome-focused, bottom-line orientated assessment of events. As Fisher and Lovell point out, utilitarianism, combined with cost-benefit analysis, tends to focus on a good rather than the general good, and is therefore very valuable to organisations who wish to manage corporate responsibility, rather than be managed by it. Infosys has indicated a heightened awareness of its stakeholder responsibilities and potential vulnerability by hastily re-constructing its corporate governance image in the aftermath of recent problems. Principal amongst these has been the financial scandal at Satyam Computer Services, its main rival in the software outsourcing sector. As the Financial Times reports, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦B. Ramalinga Raju, the former chairman of Satyam who is now in police custody, undermined confidence in the sector when he confessed to manipulating the companys accounts last week, including by inventing a cash pile worth more than $1bnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦'(Leahy reassures 13.1.2009). Acutely sensitized to the negative fall-out from this, Infosys CEO S. Gopalakrishnan has reportedly judged that the entire IT outsourcing sector needs heightened transparency, adding that he himself had been receiving increasing requests for fiduciary details from clients and investors. As he put it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The reason we need to take some confidence measures at this point is that some queries have come in from customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If you look at our disclosures, we have listed every single bank account and the amount of money we have in the bank so if investors are interested they can check and call the banksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. (Leahy reassures 2009). The important point here is that Infosys is attempting to avoid a utilitarian, outcome-orientated model of stakeholder analysis, by adopting a position informed by virtue ethics. It has not been accused of any wrong-doing yet and is attempting to avoid that contingency by exhibiting transparently good behaviour. It has sound business reasons for doing so: as western companies reconstruct themselves following the recent economic downturn, they are downsizing by outsourcing, and Infosys is well placed to capture such business, if it is untainted by corporate responsibility problems. As Chief Executive Officer, S. Gopalakrishnan explains, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦You want to be cautious because its not completely out of the woods but we clearly see some growthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Leahy 2009) Like that of many similar Indian companies, the stability and expansion of Infosys is contingent upon the expansion of outsourcing from client companies in the developed world. Infosys itself added a further 35 companies to its client portfolio in the second quarter of 2009. These combined factors have resulted in the addition of 1,548 new employees in the same period, bringing the total on its books to 105,500. As well as reassuring its direct stakeholders, Infosys has also proved itself attentive to the needs of the wider social and political constituency. One example of this lays in the denouement of the Tata Nano car plant dispute, in which protesters alleged that the rights of farmers had been usurped in order to facilitate the development in West Bengal. Orchestrated by Indias principal opposition party the Trinamool Congress, the movement physically besieged the Singur site, drawing down foreign media attention and threatening to dampen foreign investment. CEO S Gopalakrishnan was initially à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦impressed with the efforts of the state government in attracting such investments: however, he now concedes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Singur has created fear in the minds of India Inc and like all other companies we are watching the developments very closely We will rethink and re-examine our proposed investment if need be.. The bottom line is that Infosys may not proceed with its own Wes t Bengal development plans if the situation is not resolved (Leahy nervous 2009). BHP Billitons needs in terms of communication and responsibility are quite different, and it has arguably opted for a utilitarian, relativist interpretation of good. This approach allows it relative freedom to pursue its vast portfolio of extractive activities in way which might be more difficult if it took a more obstructive stance. In its detailed deposition on BHP Billiton, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility reported that it felt, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in general, with a few exceptions outlined below, the company has developed a relatively advanced set of policies, which give consideration to many of the issues that our partners have raised in the Bench Marks document. (ECCR 2004: p.7) Moreover, an important part of its dialogue with ethical regulators such as the ECCR lays not in the discussion of specific or practical acts of corporate responsibility, but the demonstration of stakeholder awareness in the abstract. As it explains, The company provides regular reports to all stakeholders that are independently verified on a plan detailing how the company and the suppliers have shared responsibility for complianceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦adopts a transparent policy and reports publicly to all stakeholders on its compliance programme, the findings, and what changes have been made at the factory level. (ECCR 2004: p.63). This is central to BHPs entire CSR strategy: monitoring bodies are left facing a multi-headed hydra of good, bad, or indifferent practice across the companys vast array of activities and geographical reach. As one area of neglect arises, another is dealt with, a process through which the dialogue of engagement and improvement is maintained. The other constant is shareholder value: as the regulators succeed in limiting less equitable practices in one area, less ethical investors may take comfort from the fact that more profitable centres elsewhere retain their potential for dividends. As Moore points out, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is a common feature of theories of the firm that they regard the firm as a nexus of contracts. Theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦theories differ as to the extent of these relationships, with shareholder theory restricting this to legal and implied contracts, while stakeholder theory takes a broader definition to include social/moral as well as legal and implied contracts. (Moore 1999: p.122) The point here is that the utilitarian approach adopted by BHP Billiton has, for the time being, balanced these two forces. Conclusion A common theme in the fortunes of these two different companies lays in their successful emergence from a difficult economic period. BHP has recently asserted that there are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦signs of stabilization in the developed economies, with positive signs of improvement in industrial production. (MacNamara 2009) Moreover, BHP will soon be free to refresh its takeover bid for Rio Tinto, under the terms of the UK takeover code. (Smith BHP and Rio 2009) BHP also told shareholders that market conditions had improved since it held its annual meeting in London. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The velocity of the recoveryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has indeed been surprisingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ CEO Kloppers said, whilst cautioning that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦BHP was expected to emerge from the downturn less strongly than in previous cycles. (Smith 2009). This may be interpreted as a restraining hand upon corporate responsibility: things are OK, but dont interfere. Meanwhile, Infosys has also benefited from its more public, virtu e-driven responsibility stance. Research by the London School of Economics indicates that western executives in western companies opted for outsourcing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦on quality of service more than price. It also pointed out that Egypt, Hungary and Romania were most likely to join the shared service centre sector as key players in the near future (Lamont 2009). Infosys has of course already laid the foundations for such diversification, stating that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦As we grow further, we have to make sure our workforce reflects the regions from where we derive revenue to whatever extent possibleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Leahy 2006). In conclusion, it seems reasonable to argue that corporate responsibility and stakeholder concerns are at their most harmonious -for better or worse when the hegemony of liberal economics prevails. As Collier points out, In the modern world of globalisation there are some fabulous ladders: most societies are using them. But there are also some chutesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2007: p.5) If classical economics is afforded hegemony, then any expectation which does not implicitly recognise that snakes can swiftly become ladders -and vice versa  ­- is inherently flawed. The collection of papers on globalisation edited by Timmons Roberts and Bellone incorporates commentary by some rather older commentators, who observed that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the bourgeosie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. (Timmons Roberts and Bellone, 2007: p.27) As unfashionable as they may be, Mar x and Engels may have distilled an essential truth here, regardless of the fact that they did so through observation of an earlier period of structural economic change. The unavoidable function of companies, including Infosys and BHP Billiton, is to serve shareholder value. When they cease to do so, they will also cede their position to other who will.

The Importance of Giving It Your All Essay -- Personal Narrative

The Importance of Giving It Your All It was a crisp autumn afternoon; the sun was shining and the parched leaves rustled as a cool breeze waltzed through. Today was the day I had anticipated, the day I would go and take the Elementary School Gifted Program test. This was my goal, to succeed the gifted program and be known at the top of my class. I was a little nervous, but I ignored my sweaty palms and scratchy throat as I followed slowly behind my mother, because I knew I had to do this. An elderly woman opened the door. She was slender and fragile-looking. She had thick gray hair that was pulled tightly back into a sleek professional bun. She wore a beige woven sweater with the sleeves rolled just above the elbow and black, freshly pressed slacks. The woman introduced herself as Sandra Schmidt and invited us in. After settling my mother in the family room, she immediately took me to the back of the house where a small card table and two fold-out metal chairs were set up. We sat down and promptly began. She asked me myriad verbal questions of varying degrees of difficulty,...

Big Fat Globalization Essay

ABSTRACT: It has often been observed that obesity follows a socioeconomic gradient which adversely affects the poor. This paper proposes the outline of a sociological theory of obesity as a consequence of ‘globalisation factors, such as labour market deregulation. Forced to work longer hours – and with lower levels of job-security – workers in low paid jobs have fewer opportunities to burn calories, and are more likely to consume fast-food. This combination has led to higher levels of obesity among the poor in countries that have adopted neo-liberal labour market reforms. There are some human phenomena, which seem to be the result of individual actions and personal decisions. Yet, these phenomena are often – on closer inspection – as much a result of social factors as of psychological ones. In 1897, Emile Durkheim (1997) showed that the suicide – perhaps the most personal of all decisions – could be analysed through the conceptual lenses of sociology. Obesity, much like suicide, is often regarded as a personal problem; result of an inability to control ones desires in front of the fridge. Obesity does have a psychological, and, indeed, a medical, dimension, yet like the suicide, this growing phenomenon also has a social dimension. This paper is an attempt to do the same for obesity as Emile Durkheim did to the study of suicide; to analyse it in the light of the theories of sociology. Obesity and Social Science Interest in the social aspects of obesity is nothing new. Jeffrey Sobal has written extensively about the social and psychological consequences of obesity , including the stigmatisation and discrimination of obese and even overweight individuals (Sobal 2004). Scholars with a more anthropological twist have written about the different social perceptions of obesity, e.g. the positive view of fatness among some indigenous peoples (Swinburne et al. 1996). In an article entitled, â€Å"An anthropological Perspective on Obesity â€Å" (Brown and Konner 1987), the authors found that â€Å"cross cultural data about body preferences for women reveal that over 80% of cultures for which shape preference data are available, people prefer a plump shape† (cited in Sobal 2004, 383). That these ideals are embedded in their respective cultures is perhaps best evidenced by the small statuette Venus of Willendorf, by common archaeological consent the oldest known work of art. Stone age man evidently preferred a big girl complete with multiple love-handles, someone who could both carry and nurture his offspring under the harsh conditions of the Palaeolithic world. Other examples of the cultural acceptance of large people obese Buddha statues in the Far East and rituals of prenuptial fattening in many cultures, where fatness is seen as sexually attractive (Brink 1989). That fat has often been a symbol of status is not merely an anthropological observation. In the 19th Century, in Britain, according to Williams and Germov, â€Å"a large, curved, body†¦connoted fertility, wealth and high status. While poor women were occupied with physical work, the voluptuous women of the middle classes were often viewed as objects of art, luxury, status, virtue and beauty† (Williams and Germov 2004, 342). â€Å"Fatness†, they go on, â€Å"was linked to emotional stability, strength (stored energy), good health, and refinement to leisure† (Ibid). These observations are worth bearing in mind when we discuss obesity. Obesity is – to a certain extend – a social construct. But obesity is also more than this. As an increasing medical problem, obesity is not merely a condition that can be – or should be – analysed in the light of perception and aesthetics. Obesity is also a product of biological, psychological, and social conditions. While not ignoring the importance of the former two factors, this paper presents an account of the latter. While correlations between obesity and  social and economic background variables have been reported (Flegal et al. 2000), sociological analyses have thus far not addressed the question of the social aetiology of obesity. This paper seeks to present a first step towards remedying this. The Obesity Debate ‘Why are we so fat?’ asked American magazine The National Geographic in a feature article in the summer of 2004 (National Geographic 2004). The use of the collective noun ‘we’ seemed particularly warranted as recent statistics show that more than 65 percent of us (the British) are overweight. (defined as having a Body-Mass Index of 25 or above). Still more alarming; 20 percent of us are clinically obese (defined as having a Body-Mass Index of 30 or above).(House of Commons Select Committee on Health 2004). Britain is not alone in this. In America the figure is even higher; 30 per cent of the Americans are obese (US Department of Health and Social Services 2000). According to a recent study of obesity in the USA, diet related illnesses are responsible for four out of the ten leading causes of death. (Bush and Williams 1999, 135). These figures matter for more than psychological and aesthetic reasons. It is estimated that more than 30.000 deaths per year in the UK are attributed to obesity or obesity related illnesses (House of Commons Select Committee on Health 2004, 6). In the colourful words of one medical expert: â€Å"this is an epidemic†¦the likes of which we have not had before in chronic disease†¦[obesity is] making HIV look, economically, like a bad case of the flu† (William Dietz quoted in Greitser 2000, 42). Add to this that close to ten percent of the total NHS budget is allocated to obesity and related illnesses, and it is difficult to dispute that obesity is a major health concern as well as a major socio-political problem. Facts1 such as these more than justify the Chief Medical Officer’s conclusion that obesity is â€Å"a health time bomb† that needs diffusion (Chief Medical Officer quoted in HC Select Committee on Health 2004, 8). But public health is not just about diagnosing and treating conditions, it is also about understanding causes, the identification of which will enable us to take the appropriate prophylactic measures to combat the epidemic. Yet, there is far from agreement on what these causes are. The explanations for the obesity epidemic cited in the popular press, e.g. in The National Geographic and in Newsweek (2004) were all biological in origin and medical in consequence. Quoting the work of medical geneticist Rudolph Leibel, The National Geographic concluded that obesity was down to genetics. â€Å"Our overeating†, the magazine quoted Leibel as saying, â€Å"is not the wilful result of deranged upbringing. It is genes talking† (National Geographic 2004, 62). This biochemical reductionism is not new – though the underlying science has changed. As far back as 1924, the editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association editorialised that ‘obesity’ was purely the result of ‘malfunctions in normal metabolic processes’ (Editorial: The Journal of the American Medical Association 1924, 1003). Contrary to the impression left by features such as those in Newsweek, the National Geographic and the octogenarian editorial, the picture is a good deal more complex than that. This is increasingly recognised within medicine. A report from the American Institute of Medicine is an example of a critique of the geneticist view: â€Å"there has been no real change in the gene pool during this period of increasing obesity. The root problem, therefore must lie in the powerful social and cultural forces that promote an energy-rich diet and a sedentary lifestyle† (Institute of Medicine 1995, 152). There is evidence to support the veracity of the hypothesis that social and cultural forces play a role (Flegal et al. 2000, 6). What is striking about the obesity epidemic is the extent to which it reflects social class conditions. To cite but one example; the Health Survey  for England has shown that in 2001, 14 percent of women in professional groups were obese, while 28 percent of women from unskilled manual occupations were categorised as such (House of Commons Select Committee on Health 2004, 16). Similar examples are legion. As a study concluded; â€Å"the largest rates of obesity occur among population groups with the highest poverty rates and the least education† (Drewnowski and Specter 2004, 6). This correlation between poverty and obesity is likely to be the result of underlying social factors. It is not that there is an automatic relationship between poverty and obesity. This relationship is a new phenomenon, which, consequently, needs to be analysed in the light of recent social, political and economic developments. As Ulrich Beck has observed; ‘the struggle for one’s ‘daily bread’ has lost its urgency as the cardinal problem overshadowing everything else†¦for many people the problems of ‘overweight’ take the place of hunger’ (Bech 1997, 21). The interesting question from a sociological point of view – as well as from a medical one – is why. Globalisation and Obesity: Towards a Pattern It is difficult to dispute that obesity is a social condition, which adversely affects those in low paid/short term jobs. Needless to say, obesity does have a significant biomedical component; what happens inside the body after you have munched your Big Mac obviously requires a physiological/biochemical explanation. However, it is (from a sociological and public health point of view) equally important to determine the factors which lead you to eat the Big Mac in the first place. What we endeavour to answer is the social aetiology of obesity; the social causes, which lead to weight gain. The aforementioned research findings strongly indicate that weight problems and poverty are highly statistically correlated. As a oft-cited study said:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"diet affects the health of socially disadvantaged people from cradle to grave† (James, Nelson, Ralph, and Leather 1999, 1545). Of course a quote does not establish a fact, nor does a statistical association. The question is what lies behind these correlations? Some could – with some justification – argue that these class differences merely reflect and reconfirm the existence of serious inequalities in health – as reported in the Black Report in the early 1980s (Working Group on Inequalities in Health 1982). What has hitherto been missing from the literature on obesity – as well as that on health in general – has been more ambitious theoretical explanations linking medical conditions – in this case obesity – to more general sociological discourses and theoretical trends (such as modernisation and globalisation). One obvious – yet overlooked – hypothesis is that societal changes from a traditional industrial society to a globalised (deregulated) economy has created new patterns of life and work, which have had adverse effects on food consumption, exercise, and hence has contributed to the increase in the growth of the obesity epidemic. According to this hypothesis, the advent of a neo-liberal economic regime has had – and continues to have – profound consequences for working patterns – especially for those in low paid/insecure jobs. This hypothesis is, in fact, consistent with observations made by sociologists such as Anthony Giddens who have observed that â€Å"one of the ways globalisation has affected family life in Britain is by increasing the amount of time that people spend each week at work† (Giddens 2004, 62). In addition to working longer hours, individuals are increasingly working in service sector jobs (such as call centres) with provide little opportunity for physical exercise. With ‘flexible’ working hours, individuals are likely to eat later and more likely to consume fast-food (Dalton 2004, 95). The  medical consequence of this is that they are unlikely to burn the extra calories they consume. While no evidence of this has been published using UK figures, data from America confirm this trend; â€Å"Americans now spend almost half of their food dollars on food away from home – 47 percent, or $354.4 billion in 1998† (Dalton 2004, 94) .That the hurried life-style brought about by changes in labour market is – in part – responsible for this, is underlined by figures from the fast food chains reporting that ‘drive-thru’ sales now account for more than half of their total sales (Dalton 2004, 95)2. That this has contributed to the obesity epidemic is underlined by the fact that â€Å"away from home† foods contain more total fat and saturated fat on a per-calorie basis than â€Å"at home food† (Dalton 2004, 94). As a further consequence of the changes in working patterns – and the less free time available – individuals are less likely to engage in sport and social leisure activities – factors which have been shown to be negatively correlated with weight gain (Dalton 2004, 95). Again American figures illustrate the trend. In 1991, 46 percent of high school students and 57 percent of middle school students were enrolled in sport activities (Sallis 1993, 403). By 1999, those figures had dropped to 29 percent of high-school students and 35 percent of middle school students. On average there is a 3 percent decrease in the number of kids who take part in sporting activities on a daily basis (CDC 2000). Viewed in this light is perhaps not surprising that the countries in the forefront of ‘globalisation’ (especially labour market deregulation) are also the countries with the highest incidence of obesity (See table One). Conversely, countries with less globalised economies, have had lower – sometimes much lower – levels of obesity. A few examples will suffice. In Sweden – a country that has not followed the neo-liberal reform agenda – the number of overweight people is 39 per cent  (the same figure as France – another country that has resisted neo-liberal reforms). The figure for Norway another affluent society in the same category is even lower; 25 percent (www.iotf.org). That labour market dergeulation goes hand in hand with obesity, seems to be confirmed when we contrast the obesity figures from ‘globalised’ countries with similar figures from less globalised economies (as measured by the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom). The Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient between this measure of globalisation (admittedly a gross proxy!) and obesity rate is a Pearson’s R of -.71. In other words, the less globalised the economy, the lower the number of obese people. While this correlation is not all conclusive – and only significant at 0.37 (two-tailed), it does suggest the existence of a causal link between obesity and globalisation. Table One: Index of Economic Freedom and Obesity Rates CountryIndex of Economic Freedom %Obese Australia1.8820 France2.63 8 Finland1.9513 Netherlands2.04 8 Norway2.25 7 United Kingdom1.7917 USA1.8525 Sources: The Heritage Foundation and www.iuns.com (accessed 14 August 2004) While governments of the most globalised economies – such as Australia, the UK and the USA – have gone to great lengths in their efforts to deregulate the economies and give ‘the market’ a stronger role, other countries – especially those with strong corporatist traditions (See Lijphart 1999) –have adopted a different approach to globalisation. In the Netherlands the government, trade unions, and employers associations have negotiated responses to globalisation, which have prevented the growing inequalities and levels of job-insecurity associated with globalisation in  Australia (Bessant and Watts 2002, 306)., Britain and the USA (Giddens 2001, 69). Consequently, the Dutch workers are not under the same pressures as their British and American counterparts in having to seek low paid/short term employment, with all the consequent negative implications on food consumption and lack of time for physical exercise (Freedman 2000). The difference between these two ‘pure types’ of welfare capitalism is not merely of importance for the reasons identified above (food intake with little opportunity to burn calories). There is also evidence to suggest that the ‘Dutch model’ is more conducive to the formation of ‘social capital’, which in turn is negatively correlated with levels of obesity (Putnam 2000, 264). Further globalisation is more than just labour market deregulation. Global liberalisation of trade under the WTO and liberalisation of the market for broadcasting are other factors to be taken into account. Globalisation is a mix of contingent factors which – when combined – create social developments. One of the consequences of globalisation is a society, in which consumers both ‘enjoy’ the benefits of cheap food from around the globe, while at the same time, are being subjected to advertisements from multinational food and beverage producers, such as McDonalds, Pepsi, Burger King, Coca Cola, and others. The level of this influence can hardly be exaggerated; in one year McDonald spent in excess of 1 billion US-dollars on advertising for kids (Brownell and Horgen 2003, 60). Globalisation has profoundly affected capitalist democracies, yet not all countries have responded by deregulating labour markets and unleashing market forces. In some cases, countries have (successfully) attempted to regulate the forces of globalisation, e.g. through restrictions on media advertising (especially on TV). In the Netherlands the public broadcasters  are not allowed to interrupt programmes aimed at the Under-12 year olds with advertisements. Similar restrictions have been introduced in Sweden and Norway (www.childrensprogrammes.org). That such restrictions have been introduced in small countries with relatively open economies is an indication – perhaps even a proof – that the effects of globalisation are not inevitable; that political intervention has not been rendered impossible by globalisation Conclusion â€Å"There is no question that the rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes †¦follow a socioeconomic gradient, such that the burden of disease falls disproportionally on people with limited resources, racial-ethnic minorities, and the poor†. Thus wrote two dieticians recently (Drewnowski and Specter 2004, 6). Previously, scholarly studies in the social aetiology of obesity have stopped short of developing these statistically based conclusions into a more general theoretical sociological framework. In this paper a case has been made for the view that obesity is – at least in part – a consequence of the recent political and economic developments commonly known as ‘globalisation’. Globalisation has led some governments (e.g. in the USA, Britain and Australia) to enact and implement labour market reforms (flexible job-markets with less job-security). One of the consequences of this development has been pressures on families and individuals in low paid/temporary jobs. Through this ‘globalisation’ has created conditions, which are conducive to over-consumption of high-energy foods. Forced to work longer hours, individuals have less time to prepare meals opting instead for pre-prepared fast food with a high fat content. In addition to this development, the availability of cheap food from around the globe coupled with advertising from multinationals – has resulted in new pressures which have led to a growth in the consumption of energy-rich food  among the poor. Thus a combination of social factors have contributed to the fast growing epidemic of obesity which is eroding our health budgets, lowering self-esteem and creating premature deaths. References: American Medical Association (1924), ‘What Causes Obesity’, Editorial, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 1924, 83, 1003. Ulrich Beck, Risk Society. Towards a New Modernity, London, Sage, 1997, p. 21. Bessant, Judith and Watts, Rob (2002) Sociology Australia. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen&Unwin P.J. Brink (1989) â€Å"The Fattening Room Among the Annang of Nigeria: Anthropological Approaches to Nursing Research†, in Medical Anthropology, Vol. 12, pp. 131-43). Brown, P.J. and Konner, M. (1987) â€Å"An anthropological Perspective on Obesity â€Å", in Annals of the New York Academy of the Sciences, Vol. 499, pp.29-49 Brownell K.D. and Horgen, K.B (2004) Food Fight : The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America’s Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It., McGrew-Hill. Bush, L. and Williams, R. â€Å"Diet and Health: New Problems/New Solutions†, in Food Policy, Vol. 24, pp.135) Campos, Paul (2004)The Obesity Myth. Why our Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Our Health. London: Penguin. CDC. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, â€Å"Healthy People 2010†, 2000, www.health.gov/healthypeople/document/HTML (Accessed 13 September 2004). Childrens Programmes (n.d) www.childrensprogrammes.org/regulate.html. Critser, G. (2000), â€Å"Let them Eat Fat†, in Harper’s March 2000. Drewnowski, A and Specter, S.E, ‘Poverty and Obesity: the role of energy density and energy costs’, in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004, 79, 6-16. Durkheim, Emile (1997) Le Suicide. Étude de Sociologie. Paris: PUF Flegal, K.M, et al. ‘Prevalance and Trends in Obesity among US Adults 1999-2000, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2000, 288, 1723-27 Freedman, Richard (2000), ‘Single Peaked versus Diversified Capitalism: The Relationship Between Economic Institutions and Outcomes’ Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 7526, Washington, NBER. Giddens, Anthony (2004) Sociology, 4th Edition, Cambridge, Polity Press. Institute of Medicine (1995); Weighing the Options: Criteria for Evaluating Weight Management Problems, Washington DC, American Academic Press. International Obesity Task Force, www.iotf.org James, W.P.T, Nelson, M., Ralph, A. and Leather A. (1999), â€Å"Socioeconomic Determinants of Health: The Contribution of Nutrition to Inequalities in Health†, in British Medical Journal, Vol.314, No.7093, pp.1545-49. Lijphart, Arend (1999). Patterns of Democracies, New Haven, Yale University Press. National Geographic, ‘Why Are We So Fat?’, August 2004-09-16 Newsweek, (2004) â€Å"What do You Know About Fat†, in Newsweek Magazine September 20 Putnam, Robert (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Social Capital, Simon and Schuster, New York. J.F. Sallis (1993) â€Å"Epidemiology of Physical Activity and Fitness in Adolescents†, in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Vol.33. no.4-5, 403-408. Sobal, Jeffery (2004), ‘Sociological Analysis of the Stigmatisation of Obesity†, in John Germov and Lauren Williams (Editors), A Sociology of Food and Nutrition. The Social Appetite, Oxford, Oxford University Press Swinburn, Boyd. et al. ‘Do Polynesians Still Believe that Big is Beautiful?, in New Zealand Medical Journal,1996, 109. 100-103 US Department of Health and Social Services, Healthy People 2010, 2nd Ed., US Gov. Printing Office, 2000. Lauren Williams and John Germov (2004)†The Thin Ideal: Women, Food, and Dieting†, in Lauren Williams and John Germov (Editors) A Sociology of Food and Nutrition. The Social Appetite, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 342 Working Group on Inequalities in Health (1982) Inequalities in Health (The Black Report), London, HMSO, 1982.