The components of Corporation Financing in the Economy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2615 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The major issue arising in the present times, for both management academics and practitioners, relates to the principles which determine corporate successes and failures that is why some organization prosper and grow while other collapse. The often unexpected collapse of large companies during the early 1990s and more recently in 2002 has lead analysts to look for ways of predicting company failure. Corporate failures are common in competitive business environment where market discipline ensures the survival of fittest. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The components of Corporation Financing in the Economy" essay for you Create order Moreover, mismanagement also leads to corporate failure. Predicting corporate failure is based on the premise that there are identifiable patterns or symptoms consistent for all failed firms. Definition According to Altman (1993), there is no unique definition of corporate failure. Corporate failure refers to companies ceasing operations following its inability to make profit or bring in enough revenue to cover its expenses. This can occur as a result of poor management skills, inability to compete or even insufficient marketing. COPORATE FAILURE The models to predict Corporate Failure: Several techniques have been developed to help predict why companies fail. However, these are not accurate and doo not guarantee that the prediction will turn out to be true. These models are The Z-Score, Argenti Model, and the VK model amongst others. Beaver was one of the first researchers to study the prediction of bankruptcy using financial statement data. The established practice for failure prediction is therefore a model based on financial ratio analysis. Published financial reports contain a great deal of information about the company performance and prospects. Therefore, ratio analysis is not preferred for financial accounts interpretation however; it has also played a central role in the development of bankruptcy prediction models. The Altman Model: Z-Score The Z-Score model is a quantitative model developed by Edward Altman, a financial economist and professor at the Leonard N.Stern School of business at New York University in 1968 to predict bankruptcy or fi nancial distress of a business. The Z-score is a multi variate formula that measures the financial health of a company and predicts the probability of bankruptcy within 2 years. This model involves the use of a specified set of financial ratios and a statistical method known as a Multiple Discriminant Analysis. (MDA). The real world application of the Altman score successfully predicted 72% of bankruptcies two years prior to their failure. The model of Altman is based on a linear analysis in which five measures are objectively weighted and summed to arrive at an overall score that then becomes the basis for classification of companies into one of the two a priori groupings that is bankrupt or non- bankrupt. These five indicators were then used to derive a Z-Score. These ratios can be obtained from corporations financial statements. COPORATE FAILURE The five Z-score constituent ratios are: 1. Working Capital/Total Assets (WC/TA):- a firm with negative working capital i s likely to experience problems meeting its short-term obligations. 2. Retained Earnings/Total Assets: Companies with this ratio high probably have a history of profitability and the ability to stand up to a bad year of losses. 3. Earnings Before Interest Tax/ Total Assets: An effective way of assessing a firms ability to profit from its assets before things like interest and tax are deducted. 4. Market Value of Equity/ Total Liabilities: A ratio that shows, if a firm were to become insolvent, how much the companys market value would decline before liabilities exceed assets. 5. Sales/Total Assets: A measure of how management handles competition and how efficiently the firm uses assets to generate sales. Based on the Multiple Discriminant Analysis, the general model can be described in the following form: Z=1.2WC/TA + 1.4 RE/TE + 33 EBIT/TA + 0.6 MVE/TL + 1.0 SL/TA Altman (1968) found that companies having a Z-Score greater than 2.99 clearly f ell into the non- bankrupt category, while companies having a Z-Score below 1.81 were all bankrupt. The area between 1.81 and 2.99 was defined as the zone of ignorance because of the susceptibility to inaccurate classification. Z-Score Probability of Failure Less than 1.8 very High Greater that 1.81 but less than 2.99 Not Sure Greater than 3.0 Unlikely Calculation of the Z-Score for a fictitious company where the different values are given to calculate the Z-Score. Sales 25,678 Total Assets 49,579 Total liabilities 5,044 Retained earnings 177 Working Capital -1,777 Earnings before interest and tax 2,605 Market value of Equity 10,098 Book value of Total Liabilities A Type 1 failure characterises the failure of newly formed and therefore mainly small companies. Whereas, Type 2 is characterised by the presence of a very ambitious, charismatic and active manager with an outstanding personality. Due to his over ambition the company is brought down. These failure types can occur to young organisations, but they usually survive longer than Type1 companies. Type 3 failures only occur to mature companies that have been operating successful over a fair number of years and that often are of a major social and economic importance to the community. The largest characteristic of Type 3 companies is its insensitivity towards changes in the environment, whereas the world around it is changing with its environment. Symptoms of corporate failure There are three classic symptoms of corporate failure. These are namely: 1. Low profitability 2. High gearing 3. Low liquidity Each of these three symptoms may be indicated by trends in the companys accounts. Symptoms are interrelated. The classic path to corporate failure starts with the company experiencing low profitability. This may be indicated by trends in the ratios for: ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ Profit margin ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ Return on Capital Expenditure ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ Return on Net Assets A downward trend in profitability will raise the issue of whether and for how long the company can tolerate a return on capital that is below its cost of capital. If profitability problems become preoccupying, the failing of the company may seek additional funds and working capital by increasing its borrowings, whether in the form of short term or long-term debt. This increases the companys gearing, since the higher the proportion of borrowed funds, the higher the gearing within the capital structure. The increased debt burden may then aggravate the situation, particularly if the causes of the decreasing profitability have not been resolved. The worsening profit situation must be used to finance an increased burden of interest and capital repayments. In the case of a publicly quoted company, this means that fewer and fewer funds will be available to finance dividend payments. It may become impossible to obtain external credit or to raise further equity funds. Confidence in the company as an investment may wither away leaving the share price to collapse. If the company is sound, for instance, but ineptly managed, the best that can be hoped for is a takeover bid for what may be now a significantly undervalued investment. At this point, a company may not be really failing but unfortunately, more often rescue attempts are not mounted. This may be because the companys management does not recognize the seriousness of the situation, or is by now too heavily committed or too frightened to admit the truth to its stakeholders, when refinancing is attempted profits fail to cover payments leading to a cash flow crisis. CAUSES OF CORPORATE FAILURE AND THEIR EXAMPLES: Technological causes Traditional methods of doing work have been turned upside down by the development of new technology. If within an industry, there is failure to exploit information technology and new production technology, the firms can face serious problems and ultimately fail. By using new technology, cost of production can be reduced and if an organization continues to use the old technology and its competitors start using the new technology; this can be detrimental to that organization. Due to high cost of production, it will have to sell its products at higher prices than its competitors and this will consequently reduced its sales and the organization can serious problems This situation was seen in the case of Mittal Steel Company taking over Arcelor Steel Company. Arcelor Steel Company was using its old technology to make steel while Mittal Steel Company was using the new technology and as a result, Mittal Steel Company was able to sell steel at lower price than Arcelor Steel Company d ue to its low cost of production. Arcelor Steel Company was approaching corporate failure and luckily, Mittal Steel Company merged with Arcelor Steel Company and became ArcelorMittal Steel Company, thus preventing Arcelor from failure. Working capital problems Organizations also face liquidity problems when they are in financial distress. Poor liquidity becomes apparent through the changes in the working capital of the organization as they have insufficient funds to manage their daily expenses. Businesses, which rely only on one large customer or a few major customers, can face severe problems and this can be detrimental to the businesses. Losing such a customer can cause big problems and have negative impact on the cash flows of the businesses Economic distress 7 COPORATE FAILURE A turndown in an economy can lead to corporate failures across a number of businesses. The level of activity will be reduced, thus affecting negatively the performance of firms in several industries. This cannot be avoided by businesses. The recent economic crisis in the USA led to many cases of corporate failures. One of them is the insurance AIG insurance company. It is facing serious problems and it might close its door in the near future. COPORATE FAILURE MISMANAGEMENT Inadequate internal management control or lack of managerial skills and experience is the cause of the majority of company failures. Some managers may lack strategic capability i.e. to recognize strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a given business environment. These managers tend to take poor decisions, which may have bad consequences afterwards. Furthermore, managers of different department may not have the ability to work closely together. There are dispersed department objectives, each department will work for their own benefits not towards the goal of the company. This will bring failure in the company. One example can be WorldCom, where the finance and legal functions were scattered over several states and communication between these departments were poor. OVER-EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION Research has shown that dominant CEO is driven by the ultimate need to succeed for their own personal benefits. They neglect the objective set for the company and work for their self- interest. They want to achieve rapid growth of the company to increase their status and pay level. They may do so by acquisition and expansion. The situation of over expansion may arise to the point that little focus is given to the core business and this can be harmful as the business may become fragment and unfocused. In addition, the companies may not understand the new business field. Enron and WorldCom can be an example for this situation where the managers did not understand how growing overcapacity would influence its investment and therefore did not comprehend the risks associated with it. FRAUD BY MANAGEMENT Management fraud is another factor responsible for corporate collapse. Ambitious managers may be influenced by personal greed. They manipulate financial statements and accounting reports. Managers are only interested in their pay checks and would make large increase in executive pay despite the fact that the company is facing poor financial situation. Dishonest managers will attempt to tamper and falsify business records in order to fool shareholders about the true financial situation of the company. These fraudulent acts or misconduct could indicate a serious lack of control. These frauds can lead to serious consequences: loss of revenue, damage to credibility of the company, increased in operating expenses and decrease in operational efficiency. POORLY STRUCTURED BOARD Board of Directors is handpicked by CEO to be docile and they are encouraged by executive pay and generous benefits. These directors often lack the necessary competence and may not control business matters properly. These directors are often intimated by dominant CEO and do not have any say in decision making. Example Enron and WorldCom where poorly structured board was a contributor towards their failure Financial distress Firms that become financially distressed are found to be under- performing relative to the other companies in their industry. Corporate failure is a process rooted in the management defects, resulting in poor decisions, leading to financial deterioration and finally corporate collapse. Financial distresses include the following reasons also low and declining profitability, investment Appraisal, Research and Development and technical insolvency amongst others. A firm may fail, as its returns are negative or low. A firm that consistently reports operating losses probably experiences a decline in market value. If the firm fails to earn a return greater than its cost of capital, it can be viewed as having failed. Falling profits have an obvious link with both financial and bankruptcy as the firm finds it is not generating enough money to meet its obligations as they fall due. Political and legal causes also can affect organisations. New legislation for example on product safety s tandards or pollution controls, can affect a companys main products. The imposition of a complete ban on an organisations product might be damaging and lead the firm to loses. The Tobacco industries are at present faced with the prospect of a ban on advertising for their product. Another cause that will lead the company to fail is the investment appraisal. Many organizations run into difficulties as they fail to appraise investment projects carefully. The long- term nature of many projects means that outcomes are difficult to forecast and probabilities are usually subjective. Big project gone wrong is a common cause of decline. For example the acquisition of a loser company. This has happen in the case for the failure of Parmalat Co Ltd of Italy, which made the acquisition of several losses making company. Inappropriate evaluation of the acquired company, its strengths and weaknesses. COPORATE FAILURE Preventing corporate failures It is a fact that some companies perform well and that some underperform and some fails. In many, if not most cases, these companies are led by executives that are quite experienced. Below are some recommendations that can help to reduce the risk of failures of organisations: Appointment of non-executive directors The non-executive directors will bring their special expertise and knowledge on strategies, innovative ideas and business planning of the organization. They will monitor the work of the executive management and will help to resolve situations where conflict of interest arises. Overall, the non-executive directors will act as a Cross Check. Audit committees Very often, there is occurrence of fraud in management and financial reporting. The presence of the audit committees will help to resolve this problem. Audit committees have the potential to reduce the occurrence of fraud by creating an environment where there is both discipline and control. Code of ethics Corporate governance is based on enterprise and integrity. Directors of companies need to do their jobs with good faith and in the interest of the company. There must be a relationship of honesty, openness and fairness between the stakeholders. Development of environment learning mechanism Some organizations fail because they lose touch with their environment. Therefore, to counter this problem, there is a need to develop the environmental learning mechanism. Through it, new information can be brought on continuous basis. This is mainly done by carrying customer- feedback surveys. In this way, the organisation can realign itself with the new needs and challenges. Focus on research and development Organizations can generate new knowledge by investing and focusing more on research and development. Thus, there will be more ideas how to make the products much better than that of their competitors. Conclusion It can be deducted that a director has a big responsibility that he has to assume The recommendations mentioned above can help directors to reduce corporate failure, provided that the directors abide. Proper planning also is critical to the success of a business.

Fitting And Installing External Bifolding Doors - 1448 Words

Fitting and Installing External Bifolding Doors External bifolding doors are perhaps the best and most affordable solutions when you are looking to bring a little extra light and warmth into your home. More often than not, the space in which you ll be installing these doors will also already be an existing aperture, so it s not like you ll need to get the sledgehammer out and take down the kitchen or living room wall! If you re reading this then that s something you probably already understand, as you re presumably considering installing a set of bifolding doors yourself. These doors will most likely either be installed leading out into your garden or patio from a kitchen, lounge or dining room area, so please take into account that, whilst you re working, this area will be exposed to the elements. As such, this is a job you re going to want to get done in as expeditious a manner as humanely possible, so whilst you obviously feel you have the DIY skills to do the job, you might want to ask for some help from a friend or family me mber to get the job done in a single day or, at the very least, weekend. Please note that the following guide relates specifically to exterior bi-fold doors. Whilst many of the steps involved with installing interior bi-fold doors will be similar, or even identical in some cases, there are also some serious differences, some of which will be less obvious than others. How To Fit External Bifold Doors Before you begin, check that you don t

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall Free Essays

Summer School I can blame no one but myself for my need to attend summer school for this year. However: I would like to blame it on my Spanish teacher, my mother, my siblings, my dog ate the homework, anyone but Christopher L. Martin. We will write a custom essay sample on Plunkitt of Tammany Hall or any similar topic only for you Order Now Summer school was not in my game plan the first day of school last year. I entered my school, Lake Catholic HAS, with the calm surety and purpose of a bona-fide tenth grader, Vie been here before. My anxiety level was low but my expectations for the future year were high. There are times when I think that I remain overwhelmed in some way by the enormity of the campus; the numerous classrooms, by the tough rules that are actually enforced. Transitioning from a small Catholic parish school boasting an 8th grade graduating class of 34 students to a large campus of hundreds of students present a challenge to â€Å"fit-in† that I had never experienced. I began the August, 2011 school year anticipating the spectacular athletic and academically successful year ahead of me. I ever thought that such a hopeful day would end in humiliation a years end. You might ask what caused this major shift in my universe. I failed both semesters of Spanish II and had to retake the entire year during summer school at SST. Robert Williams in Euclid, OH. I will be honest and admit that prior to formulating thoughts to Jot down in preparation of writing this personal essay; I thought the most devastating result of having to attend summer school was that I was automatically ineligible to participate in football. I was not allowed to attend practice or to Join the am for the annual trip to the Edinburgh campus where players honed their skills and bonded as men. I now realize and accept the fact that my behavior placed a heavy financial burden on my families finances. Summer school is not cheap! . The cost of attending summer school hit our budget so hard that my 2011-2012 grades were not paid for until it was too late to pick up the summer reading assignments. I am therefore very grateful to have the option of writing this personal essay. Paying for summer school had our family without food and water. Not only did my having to attend summer school overwhelm our family budget, the time factor ruined any chances I might have had for summer employment. I had to wake up every morning to go to school and remain in that hot stuffy building for four hours a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. It may be difficult to believe, but there were times when our instructor would keep us in class for an extra hour or two. The requirements were so intense that I spent most of the long hot summer nights and week-ends stuck in the house completing homework assignments. Unfortunate as it was, I feel this experience has opened my eyes to my need to take personal responsibility for myself in all areas of my live including school. Writing this essay also makes me realize the unconditional love and faith my mother has in me in spite of what I did or didn’t do. Hardship it placed on her as a divorced single parent and her ability to provide for me and my siblings. My athletic scholarship has been revoked because of this and still she works hard to keep me here so that I can get the best education available. She didn’t even include caring for herself into the equation because she was focused on supporting me and my siblings. Yea, she stayed on me to the point of angry outbursts; however, I realize the reason for her persistence at keeping me focused is based on her love for me and her hopes for me to enjoy a bright future. It is also noted in my mind, that accurate, timely completion of class assignments is a precursor to life as a college student and as a functioning, contributing member of society. I am considering this summer school experience from beginning to end as a â€Å"lesson learned. â€Å" How to cite Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Papers

Ethical Business Practice- Walmart

Question: Discuss about the Report for Ethical Business Practice for Walmart. Answer: Introduction The assignment will focus on addressing ethical issues of Walmart. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the sustainable practices of the company. It also discusses the ethical issues faced by the company. Carrolls four-part Corporate Social Responsibility has been used to assess Walmarts commitment to entire society. The paper has identified key stakeholders of the company according to their power; legitimacy and urgency. It is also important of Walmart to be ethical in communication and business practice. In this paper, some questions will be answered based on the case study of ethical business practice of Walmart. Analysis Walmart is one of the most powerful companies in the international market. The business practice of this company is often inspected carefully. By evaluating the sustainability activities regarding employees; society and environment, it can be said that whether Walmart is doing enough to become more sustainable is future. Walmart has been criticized over the years for the way it treats its employees. The company failed to offer health insurance to the most of its employees and to avoid health coverage it encouraged part-time workers. This has significant ripple effect on the economy, as a company like Walmart engages significant number of work-force. After the bad publicity of the company, Walmart improved the health benefits package and offered low deductibles. It also implemented generic prescription plan to save millions of dollars of the employees (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). Moreover, its low price strategy has reduced the wage of the workers and this has been highly criticised. This has led to high dissatisfaction of the workers. Hence, it can be said that Walmart is not practising enough to attain sustainability. Existence of Walmart has put other companies out of business. This is a social issue. The reduction is wage of Walmart has reduced the wage at other retail firms as well. However, Walmart works together with suppliers to reduce the cost of packaging and shipping to maintain low costs of products to the customers (Ji, Gunasekaran and Yang 2014). It has developed Sustainability Index in order to maintain the quality of the product and to have a sustainable supply chain. However, the critics argue that the sustainability goal of Walmart is actually shifting burden on the suppliers. Walmart is one the major violators of environment activities. In 2005, US Attorneys office of California has announced violation of safe environment practice by the company, in terms of recycling; treatment and hazardous material storage and transportation. In 2013, the company pled guilty due to dumping hazardous waste materials. Opening up of Walmart has caused urban extension, which means the acres of green space in the city consumed by Walmart store construction. Apart from these negative impacts on environment, this company has aims to offer renewable energy. It has installed 115 rooftops solar electricity in several countries. It also taken up many projects for its own renewable projects. By reducing the energy consumption and purchasing green power have facilitated the country to conserve energy. Walmart has replaced their old freezers and reduces emission of greenhouse gas by 20 million metric ton by 2015. It has also attempted to reduce the use of fossils fuel (Slattery 2015 ). By transporting many products in each time has resulted into fall in carbon emission. Walmart has been successful in converting million pounds of used cooking oil into biodiesel; soap etc. The recycling method of this company has reduced global plastic waste since 2007 and it has been able to keep waste out of landfills by a significant amount. Hence, it can be said that, Walmart is becoming environmentally sustainable over the years by practicing environment friendly business. 2. The worlds leading retail company Walmart has been criticized for low benefits and wages to its workers. Even if they promote hiring healthy and productive employees, it actually encourages part time workers in order to avoid health benefit package. When employees earn very little, the Federal government offers health benefits to those people. Therefore, burden of health care coverage has been shifted to federal government. Moreover, even if the company is expanding its stores a but has decreased workforce it used to engage. As a result of this, unemployment in the society has been taken place. Due to lack of workers, it is also hard to handle huge customers at the stores. This has led to customer dissatisfaction. Later the company has offered low deductibles to improve the health benefits. Moreover, it has always opposed formation of labour union (Boudway 2012). Whenever, any situation arises to form union, Walmart manages to by-pass it diplomatically. For example, when butchers of the company voted to join union, Walmart announced they would sell pre-cut meat to get rid of workers of the meat-cutting department. Moreover, the company prevented the workers to join union technically in China, where the working condition was very poor along with a very low wage. This is one of the unethical behaviours of the company. However, mounting pressure the company allowed union in its store (Li and Liu 2016). Some major unethical practices of the company have been alleged by the workers themselves. It has been complained by the employees that Walmart denied meal breaks or rest breaks. In fact, the managers of the company deliberately changed time cards to prevent the overtime. The company denied the allegation but pay $640 million for settle down 63 lawsuits. Walmart has been accused on ethical grounds for discriminating its employees. The company paid less to the female store managers than the males in the same job position. It is claimed that Walmart not only practices sex-discrimination in terms of wage, but also in terms of promotion; training and job assignment. Walmart claimed that promotion is made on individual basis and it took the case to the Supreme Court firms right is violated by local suit. Walmart has also faced various scandals. During 2005, the Vice Chairman Thomas Coughlin resigned as he was caught stealing $500000 from the company for irrelevant expenses and reimbursement. He also used gift cards that were unauthorised. In spite of getting millions of dollars of compensation from the company, he has misused Walmarts fund for paying his personal expenses. Again in 2012, bribery scandal was discovered in Mexico. In this scandal, the top executives of Walmart paid millions of dollars as bribe to the Mexican officials (Barstow 2012). It was paid in order to get approval of zoning permits and license to open stores in this country. The executives covered their tracks with the help of fraudulent methods of reporting. Around $24 million has been paid as bribes to get the required permits. While investigating, it has been found that when the Walmart was informed about the bribery evidence, the CEO Lee Scott and higher authority were reluctant to report this issue as, revel ation of bribery would create negative impact on the reputation of the company. Hence, Walmart has suffered from ethical leadership issues. Even if the stakeholders voted against reselection of Mike Duke; Lee Scott and Robert Walton, these members were reselected, which signalled lack of confidence in the ability of leadership to prevent misconduct of the stores (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). Therefore, it is required to ensure that Walmart is adheres to ethics and compliance. 3. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to behaving as a socially responsible apart from just earning high profit. It addresses the social problem of all levels and focuses on ethical behaviour of the company. There must be some motivation within the business apart from making profit. Business does not exist because of making high profit, rather it has to meet some need that the society values for. CSR is both corporate and stakeholder responsibility. According to Carrolls four-part model of CSR, it involves four layers of business. This defines that the business should be profitable; law abiding; ethical and socially supportive (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). This is also called pyramid of responsibilities. The pyramids must be seen as a whole and the four parts of it should not be separated. Making high profit by minimizing costs or maximizing sales and strategic choice are at the base of the pyramid, i.e. the economic responsibility. Better economic performance is required by t he society. The business or the company must obey the law as law reflects what is socially accepted and what is not. Hence, the second layer is the legal responsibility. Ethical responsibility is not required but it is expected by the society. The firm must avoid questionable business practices. By operating above minimum standard of law indicates ethical responsibilities. At the top of the pyramid, the philanthropic responsibilities stand. When a company improve the quality of life for the society then they aim for this responsibility. The companys contribution to the community and its engagement in volunteerism program is example of philanthropic responsibilities. The stakeholders are affected by the different responsibilities. The economics responsibility affects the employees and owners; legal responsibility affects the owners mainly, but also related to the workers and consumers. The ethical layer of responsibility has impact on all stakeholders but it mostly engages employees and consumers. The philanthropic responsibilities affect the community. It also influences the morale of employees by performing what is socially desirable and expected. The Walmart has put the small merchants out of the business. Due to the ability of charging low price for reasonable quality, it becomes harder for the local stores to compete with this international giant. The small firms are unable to reduce their cost of production, thus unable to earn profit by charging low price. Walmart is socially responsible for downward pressure of the wage in the towns where it opens store. This is because; to compete with low pricing of Walmart, the other firms reduce their cost of labours (Lichtenstein 2014). The predatory pricing of the company left no place for the competitors in the market. However, in the other way around, it can be said that low price of the products has helped to save millions of dollars of the consumers, who are unable to afford high priced goods. Walmart requires huge space for construction of its stores, as the superstores occupy 20 to 30 acres of land. It selects a busy and prime location to attract more customers of the city. This results into stressing the roads parking and the congestion on the road affecting the traffic flow. However, the Walmart started to open its smaller stores of 1500 square feet as in the places like New York city, it is hard to get such huge vacant land for its stores. The expansion of stores has caused stretching of urban area that implies less greenery in the region. Many cities were not eager to welcome Walmart, because of loss of green space and urban sprawl. Hence, the ethical responsibility of Walmart is questionable. In terms of environment, Walmart has fulfilled philanthropic responsibilities by reducing its energy consumption. Daylighting feature dim or switch off the lights when daylight increases and enters through skylights. This reduces the demand for electricity during the peak hours. In addition to this, Walmart controls heating and cooling to manage the energy consumption. Using LED lights; secondary loop refrigeration system in the stores helped the company to meet its goal of reduction in the greenhouse gas emission (Plambeck 2012). This indicated that Walmart is following its philanthropic responsibilities that are socially desirable and expected. Stores in Mexico and Northern Ireland are powered by wind energy. Walmart has also contributed to disaster management program; women empowerment. It has donated over 1.5 million dollars for aiding the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Moreover, it also granted $2 million for the associates damaged home and for creating toll-free number for the associates who needs help. It has also addressed obesity problem in America and lowered its price for fruits and vegetables to encourage healthy buying and reduced fats; sugar and salts in the foods. Therefore, it is reflected from the practice of Walmart that it meets responsibilities of all tyres that are expected and socially desirable. 4. According to Mitchell et al. the stakeholders are identified based on three variables; power; legitimacy and urgency. Power is the extent to which the party has the access of physical; material and social esteem to impose the will on the company (Ravi 2015). Legitimacy is the perception that the actions of a party are proper or appropriate within some social norms. Urgency is defined as degree to which a party claims for immediate action. It defines how important the claim of the stakeholders to the company. Based on these typologies the managers give priority to the stakeholders. Greatest priority will be given to the stakeholders with urgency; power and legitimacy. These variables are interrelated with each other and hence represented in the Venn Diagram. Source: Ravi 2015 The stakeholders of Walmart are the top managers; employees; customers and environment stakeholders etc. Customers are the only demanding stakeholders as it does not have any power or legitimacy. In the initial years of Walmart, the companys only focus was on providing high quality service to its customers (Lukic 2013). However, at present, the customer loyalty; interest of the customers has diminished that has affected the brand value. The major reason for this was its increasing bad reputation. Hence, even if they do to have any power, the customers are the major stakeholders of the company. this is because; without fulfilling the demand of these stakeholders the business cannot sustain for long. The lower price of the products is one of the major way to keep these group of stakeholders happy. The employers are considered to be definitive stakeholders. They have the power to influence the decision of the company. Employers also have legal support and their claim is also urgent. Many lawsuits have been filed against Walmart by the employees. Walmart has mistreated its employees of California by giving no proper break for meal and deliberately hide the record of overtime done by the workers. Hence, Walmart had to pay $640 million to settle 63 lawsuits (Hirsh and Cha 2015). In the class -action lawsuits of workers of San Francisco, it has been claimed that Walmart practices sex-discrimination. With many appeal and re-appeal in the court, it has been determined that there is nothing common in the women to classify for class-action status. The grievances against Walmart focused on the condition of working in the company. This has led to protests and picketing. Hence, employees are major stakeholders of Walmart whose interests have to be addressed by the firm. The environmental stakeholders are also dominant stakeholders. Such as government; policy makers or other social activists. The environment related activity of Walmart affects the society as a whole. Due to disposal of hazardous waste component, the had to pay charges in 2013. The company faces problem while expanding their stores as it has been destroying the greenery (Tate, Ellram and Glgeci 2013). Moreover, Walmart has faced many ethical issues, thus the shareholders demand that the leaders of the company should improve the transparency. Moreover, the top managers played vital role as stakeholders. In spite of shareholders vote against re-election of some former members, they were elected that indicates power of the higher authority. This has led to lack of confidence shown by the investors into this company, who are the major stakeholders with urgency to change the firms decision. 5. Ethical communication is one of the socially responsible practise of a company. Employees along with other stakeholders get to understand ethical practice of the firm if the communication is transparent and made clear to them. Walmart has lacked communication process with the employees that has caused loss of money to the company (Collins 2011). Walmart did not trained workers properly about disposing the harmful waste. Hence, incurred million dollars as compensation. Moreover, prior to the scandal in Mexico, research claimed that the CEO was informed about the bribery evidence, however, no report or files lodged against this incident (Barstow 2012). This lack transparency in communication. The bribery scandal and scam of 2005 sends negative signal to the customers as well as the stakeholders. By filing lawsuits against the workers and terminating relationship with the suppliers who are engaged in misconduct, Walmart communicate with the shareholders to get back their support and con fidence on the firm. Moreover, Walmart demanded that suppliers must not subcontract to any other firms, as this would make the supply chain more complex. Walmart auditing and approval mechanism is done by the third party. Suppliers pay for inspection process and this caused limitation in reaching information to the parent company, i.e. Walmart. The company hired staffs of warehouses by employing agencies or contractors. Many complaints raised against the company but it argued that the third party agencies are responsible for poor working condition. Walmart must ensure that the third party obeys proper labour law. Hence, it required proper communication. The factory audit has to be made public to be accountable truly. Walmart has released promotional campaign to control its damage. This way of communication would lead to improve the brand image of the company. the company emphasizes on providing healthier food alternatives and uses different advertisement to communicate with the people and shareholders. By developing relationships with influential people the company has practised ethical communication. Its sustainable environmental business practices conveyed the message of social responsibilities. It is recommended that company should develop good relationship with its stakeholders. By initiating goodwill with the customers and looking after the well-being of the workers would help the company to improve its ethical business practices. The internal control mechanism of Walmart must be improved in order to overcome the bad reputation from bribery scandals. It is important that the company should become more responsible to the community as a whole (Barnett 2016). Conclusion The main purpose of the assignment is to evaluate the ethical business practice of Walmart that also takes into account the corporate social responsibility. The research has used data and information from the given case study and assess the impact of Walmart on society. It has been found that the major issue of Walmart is being unethical to the employees. In addition to this, some unlawful practices like bribery and scam of top executives led to bad reputation. However, the company is achieving environmental sustainability over the years. The major limitation of this study is that, Walmart has its stores over many countries. Business practice is different in different region. This aspect is not addressed in this assignment. References Barnett, M.L., 2016. The Business Case for CSR: A Critique and an Indirect Path Forward. Business Society (forthcoming). Barstow, D. (2012). At Wal-Mart in Mexico, a Bribe Inquiry Silenced. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?pagewanted=all_r=0 [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016]. Boudway, I. (2012). Labor Disputes, the Walmart Way - Bloomberg. [online] Bloomberg.com. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-13/labor-disputes-the-walmart-way [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016]. Carroll, A.B. and Buchholtz, A.K., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education. Collins, D., 2011. Business ethics: How to design and manage ethical organizations. John Wiley Sons. Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015. Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Hirsh, C.E. and Cha, Y., 2015. Employment Discrimination Lawsuits and Corporate Stock Prices. Social Currents, 2(1), pp.40-57. Ji, G., Gunasekaran, A. and Yang, G., 2014. Constructing sustainable supply chain under double environmental medium regulations. International Journal of Production Economics, 147, pp.211-219. Li, C. and Liu, M., 2016. A pathway to a vital labour movement in China?: a case study of a union-led protest against Walmart. Lichtenstein, N., 2014. Two cheers for vertical integration: corporate governance in a world of global supply chains. Unpublished manuscript. University of California-Santa Barbara. Lukic, R., 2013. Sustainable cost management in retail. Revista de Management Comparat International, 14(2), p.268. Plambeck, E.L., 2012. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through operations and supply chain management. Energy Economics, 34, pp.S64-S74. Ravi, S.P., 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholder Perception, and Firm Performance: Walmart. Technological Solutions for Sustainable Business Practice in Asia, p.105. Slattery, M., 2015. Energy Security in the United States Department of Defense: How and why the US Army and Navy are reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and the electrical grid, and what it could mean for the rest of us. Senior Capstone Projects. Tate, W.L., Ellram, L.M. and Glgeci, I., 2013. Diffusion of environmental business practices: A network approach. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 19(4), pp.264-275.

Wild Strawberries

Diverse people/cultures constitute this world and such diversity is reflected via the cinematic experience. Film emanates the entire infrastructure of a people’s culture (gender, age, creed, race, personal impressions, ideas, emotions, prejudices and religious/political/ economic/educational institutions, etc.).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Wild Strawberries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the height of the 20th century, many countries witnessed a rise in cinematic prominence and Sweden was no exception. Gustaf Molander, Alf Sjà ¶berg, Victor Sjà ¶strà ¶m, Mauritz Stiller and most recently Lasse Hallstrà ¶m  as well as Lukas Moodysson brought prominence and popularity to Swedish film. Among this distinguished cadre of Swedish filmmakers is the accomplished and prolific Ingmar Bergman. A repertoire comprised of over sixty documentaries and films (television and cinema) as well as one hundred an d seventy theatrical plays, Bergman’s work featured a typical element of Swedish film – slow pacing and austere landscapes. His distinctive style/attribute and contribution, however, was exploration of human emotions and its vast landscape with death, illness, betrayal, and insanity as the focus. Bergman’s 1957 film, Wild Strawberries, is superbly characteristic his style. Wild Strawberries was written and directed by Bergman and has an acclaimed cast of Swedish actors, among them Max von Sydow. Deemed a classic and one of Bergman’s best films, thought-provoking themes such self acceptance and discovery as well as human existence constitute the thematic core of the film. Bergman wrote the screenplay while hospitalized and such experience served as an impetus. Wild Strawberries is character and plot driven in that the two intertwined bring the fundamental themes to the surface and explain them. The film chronicles the emotional voyage of an elderly physici an named Eberhard Isak Borg (Victor Sjà ¶strà ¶m). This emotional journey filled with self introspection/re-evaluation is introduced at the onset of the film with Borg’s opening statement – â€Å"In our relations with other people, we mainly discuss and evaluate their character and behaviour. That is why I have withdrawn from nearly all so-called relations (Wild Strawberries). At seventy years old, Borg appears to have come to a point in which evaluation of his behaviour and character is of primary concern rather than others. The journey unfolds as he travels to receive an honorary degree/award at Lund University. Such accolade, however, has no value and does not bring him happiness for he comments prior to his trip â€Å"Honorary Doctor! They might as well appoint me Honorary Idiot (Wild Strawberries).†Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More During the 400 mile sojourn from Stockholm to Lund, in which he is accompanied by his daughter-in law – Mariaane (Ingrid Thulin), Borg seventy eight years old, undergoes a life assessment or revaluation process. The various people he meets along the way force him to confront various personas about himself (aloofness, loneliness, etc.), his past and relationships (mother, son, etc.) that contributed to his behaviour. Self examination also comes in the form of nightmares and daydreams throughout the film. At the conclusion, Borg comes to terms with himself (past, present, self acceptance) and immanent death which in the beginning he greatly feared. Smultronstà ¤llet is the original Swedish title for the film and translated literally means wild strawberry patch. Idiomatically the title refers to something underrated or devalued yet possesses sentimental or personal value. Self awareness, value, acceptance, and even love appear to be the sentimental and personal emotions at the core of Bergman†™s focus/message and for this reason Ingmar Bergman Wild Strawberries’ impact will remain indelible. Work Cited Wild Strawberries (1957). Web. This essay on Wild Strawberries was written and submitted by user Jacey Jensen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

John Ross essays

John Ross essays John Rosss Response to Jacksons Message to Congress In my nearly forty years as a Cherokee and an American, my eyes have seen much. I witnessed much brutality in the early years of the American frontier, as constant raids raged between the American Armies and Cherokees. I have had the benefit of an education comparable to that of my white counterparts in Washington, yet I have still kept a firm grasp on my native roots and heritage. In the long memory of my tribe, there has been pestilence, famine, oppression, loss of land, and war all due to the emergence of settlers and colonies. While these men and their ways have again and again mistreated our people, we have maintained a diplomatic stance and made many compromises with the peoples who brought such strife. President Jackson has typified us as savages and uncivilized, it is unfortunate that such a misjudgment of our society has occurred. As I have lived and experienced both worlds, that of the tribes and that of cities and towns, I am a witness that we are not savages. It is a si mple difficulty of perspective. As a culture based heavily on tradition and tribal life, Americans view us as a people without culture or civilization. This assumption is easy to make for outsiders, but it is the way we talk, hunt, dress, act, and socialize that makes our very society. The formation of our Cherokee Nation within the United States of Alabama and Georgia, was made necessary by the increasing erosion and oppression of our culture and land. It is not in defiance that we form such a sovereignty, but in defense of our culture and way of life. While it may appear to be a misjudgment to form such a state, it is in even poorer judgment to emigrate the entire Native population of the Southeastern United States west of the Mississippi. There is little justification given by the President for the removal of the tribes, and that which he offers as reason is in it self-faulty, contradic...

Social network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social network - Essay Example LinkedIn, which is one of the social network sites, offers job seekers as well as managers of organizations the opportunity to identify potential employees (Patridge 86). This is achievable when the managers go through the online resumes as well as the career histories of those within their network. The social network sites offer individuals the opportunity to communicate openly. In as much as there are several conventions that agitate for the freedom of expression, people have eon certain occasions failed to let all their thought out for reasons that are unknown. The social network sites offer platforms on which individuals can air the ideologies they harbor without any fears. The fact that individuals discuss various ideologies and post news of events that take place within different parts of the world similarly contributes to open communication. In like manner, open communication comes out in the form of individuals asking questions and share various links. Social network sites provide individuals with the opportunity to widen the business contacts that we have. As mentioned above, LinkedIn has come in handy in supplementing the careers of the over two hundred million users it has, other social network sites like twitter and Facebook can help an individual to widen business contacts by getting to know professionals in their respective areas of expertise. Stakeholders in the field of human resource management have often advised that social network sites can act as the ideal tool for recruitment. This is majorly because the sites provide a wide audience and this makes it easy for organizations to reach several potential employees within a short duration (Peacock 79). Experts in the field of marketing similarly hold the belief that social networking sites often act as ideal marketing equipment. Business owners can advertise their ventures online. Though some people have normally held the opinion that negative feedback can amount to

When Starbucks was launched who was the target market, how was Case Study

When Starbucks was launched who was the target market, how was Starbucks positioned and what decisions about product, price, distribution, service and promotion supported this positioning - Case Study Example With his sound business strategies, the company has achieved market leadership in the specialty coffee industry. This paper enumerates the different marketing strategies utilized by Starbucks in order to achieve the position that it has held today. It evaluates the different marketing mixes that contributed to the success of the company. The paper focuses on the product & services positioning strategies, pricing strategy, distribution channels and promotion strategies. In order for a business to grow and achieve market leadership, it must create a strong market orientation. The company must seek to understand the customer needs and develop its marketing strategies in response to those needs. The strategies should aim at attracting, satisfying and retaining target customers. (Best, 1997) When Starbucks initially started, their product portfolio includes dark-roast, whole bean coffee and manual coffee pots and equipments. The company is in the retail business of offering their products to customers who like to brew at home. Their target market is the people from Seattle who are educated on fine coffees. These are type of people who love quality brewed coffees. When Schultz joined Starbucks, he envisioned the company as becoming the Third Place. The Third Place is considered as the place between home and work. The company was now engaged in serving coffee to customers similar to Italian espresso bars. It is in this stage of the company’s life cycle that their target customer also includes people who are educated with college degrees and high annual income. The market segment responded positively to the Starbuck’s marketing strategy such that the company grew rapidly. Schultz and his management team strategically positioned Starbucks as a strong brand that not only spells quality coffee beverages but also a unique experience in which the customer longs for and

Does the globalisation of culture effectively mean the westernisation Essay

Does the globalisation of culture effectively mean the westernisation of culture - Essay Example It is a process of transformation that is affected by several changing factors at the global level. The main factors that promote globalisation are technology, economy and culture. Politics has been widely influenced by globalisation; and the political institutions, such as the nation – state have been significantly transformed, on account of globalisation (Shaw 1999: iii). There are a number of concepts involved in the globalisation process, which vary according to the circumstances. It has been argued that globalisation is a symbol of capitalism that is controlled by the market forces. Globalisation legalises transnational capitalism, and establishes international governmental institutions to supervise the world. As such, it brings about global domination, thereby depriving sovereign nations of their power of self – determination (Kellner). Culture can be defined as a combination of diverse features, such as spirituality, materialism, intellectual pursuits and emotions in a society. It incorporates art, literature, lifestyles, social forms of living, value systems, traditions, and belief in a social group or society. Culture can also be construed as communication. Civilisation developed on the basis of the cultural features of society. In the past, the development of dominant societies in a specific region established unique cultural identities for that region. The development of culture resulted in civilisation (Effects on Globalization in Culture Differentiation 2009). In the aftermath of globalisation, cultural identity, in some societies that depict cultural diversity, will emerge stronger. The determining factors, in relation to cultural identity will change, after globalisation. Consequently, diversities in culture will coexist with globalisation. However, the criteria that underlie culture differentiation will undergo transformation, due to globalisation (Effects on Globalization in Culture Differentiation 2009). Western

Understanding The Political Party System Of Nigeria Politics Essay

Understanding The Political Party System Of Nigeria Politics Essay Political parties are important in any representative democracy. They gather people with similar interests, set policy-making agendas, allow for choosing new candidates for offices, and provide for coordinated electoral and legislative activity. Democratic development requires efficient and functioning parties. Since the start of the third wave of democratization in 1974, various multiparty systems have been introduced in new, restored and emerging democracies around the world (Political Parties in Conflict-Prone Societies: Encouraging Inclusive Politics and Democratic Development). The multiparty system has positive and negative aspects. The positive aspects includes: redistributing of wealth to the poor, increasing communications between groups, solving problems between parties, and giving power to weaker groups. However its negative aspects damage the processes of democracy by: preventing minorities from getting power and empowering dominant parties. The multiparty system is evide nt in Nigeria. Nigeria is a nation on the west coast of Africa. It is one of the most populous countries in the world. Its terrain varies from hot tropical forests to dry deserts. There are many ethnic groups living in different regions in Nigeria (Nigeria). The United Kingdom gained control of Nigeria in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Nigeria was a British colony until 1960, when it gained independence. Once after independence, Nigerias political party system was chaotic (Nigeria: Place). Nigerias ethnic groups, Nigerias regions, and Nigerias religious groups affected the political party system, creating a weak and ineffective system. Nigerias Ethnic Groups The different ethnic groups in Nigeria were associated with different political parties which promoted political fragmentation. Arthur Nwankwo refers to Okwudiba Nnoli, an author who writes about the conflicts in Nigeria, about the impact of Nigerians different ethnic groups on Nigerian political party system: There is no nation in the world today, which does not strive for the attainment of full democracy, the material and spiritual empowerment of her people. However, as striving differs in the conscious realization of these ideals, many nations are still caught in the tragic dance of hypocrisy and deceit. Such nations, Nigeria being a ready example, risk the danger of total violence and the pains of collective immolation. We cannot allow this country to suffer that kind of fate of which many states are unworthy examples, which litter the pages of human civilization. To many well-meaning observers and commentators, the democratization process in Nigeria has at best been haphazard and at worst non-existent. The contradictions of our colonial past and our inability to evolve a workable political system stem from the opportunism and lack of vision of most of the post-colonial elite. Okwudiba Nnoli opines that ethnicity, more than any other factor is at the root cause of this. According to hi m, politics, during the era of the nationalist struggle for independence from colonialism, was dominated by the conflict arising from the assertion of interests other than national interest. In their inter-class struggles, the hegemonic regional factions of these privileged classes paid lip services to the desirability of national unity, and condemned ethnic particularism. For all intents and purposes these declarations were not taken seriously and were never intended to be. The same people who inveighed against ethnicity and ethnic identify simultaneously institutionalized them by making them a basis for economic participation within their regional enclaves and to a lesser extent for political participation at both the regional and national level (Okwudiba Nnoli 978: 153-154). (Political parties in Nigeria). In short, Nwankwo argues that ethnicity is the main reason why Nigerias democratization process or Nigerias political party is in chaos. It is because the Nigerian people fail to realize the larger picture. To show that the Nigerian people fail to see the whole picture, Nwankwo also mentions: The conflict arising from the assertion of interests other than national interest is the uncomfortable fact but reality all the same, that the concept of the nation as a Nigeria geographical entity and identity is a novel concept yet to take firm root in the consciousness and psyche of the average Nigerian person and institutions. Put differently, it is my view that the notion of the Nigerian nation and therefore National Interest as a concrete reality of the same meaning and importance in our country is yet to be fully realized (Political parties in Nigeria). Ethnic loyalty dominated political parties in Nigeria. Unlike many African nations, Nigeria never was under the control of a single political party system. According to dictionary.com, a single political party system is a dominant-party system where only one political party can realistically become the government. Governments have tried to force Nigerians to express their will through cross-ethnic parties or diverse parties with multiple groups in one coalition (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph 261-268). However, because ethnicity drives much of the political organizing in the country, political leaders have succeeded in undermining the goal of truly national parties through their appeals to ethnic identity. A cross-ethnic party is in that situation nothing more than a coalition of ethnic interests. The NPC (Nigerian peoples Congress) represented conservative, Muslim, largely Hausa interests. The NCNC (National Convention of Nigerian Citizens) was the Igbos party, and the AG (Action Gr oup) was a party that was controlled by the Yoruba (Comparative: Comparing Political Parties). According to Nwankwo, Nigerians political parties are made up of connections whose political persuasions are opposed and this also explains the high level of party indiscipline and collapse of the parties. Because of their artificiality, all the parties are experiencing cracks or fragmentation. The political class has always remained bereft of viable political ideology on which the nations political future could be anchored. This bankruptcy in ideology and vision has rescued party politics in Nigeria to a bread and butter game where monetization of the political process is the bedrock of loyalty and support. In conclusion, ethnicity creates disunity in Nigerians political party system. Nigerias Regions The different regions in Nigeria affect the political party system by creating political instability. Before Nigerias independence, there were three political parties. Each was divided based on the regions: the Northern Region, Eastern Region, and Western Region. After many years of British rule, several positive aspects were found in Nigeria. There was increased urbanization, improved communications, and trade. These aspects made the Nigerians feel United as a nation. As a result, Nigerian leaders agreed to keep the name Nigeria. They also agreed to create a democratic government based on British parliamentary government which shared national and local government power (Nigerian Independence). After independence, the three regional parties had trouble sharing power and unifying Nigeria. They tried to establish national institutions such as education to try to unify the country. Education stressed the importance of national identity and unity. They still had problems (Comparative: Comparing Political Parties). According to the authors of Introduction to Comparative Poltics, the Northern Region had the majority of Nigerian people in its territory. They wanted the most delegates. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the most powerful Fulani leader in the north, handpicked his assistant, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, to be the first prime minister of Nigeria (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph 260-265). Following independence Nigerian unity began to disappear. First, a section of the Western Region decided to secede. In 1964, the population in the Northern Regions was larger than the two other regions. Because of this, the Northern Region had many delegates in the national legislature. The north accepted this because it was in their favor. However, the Western and Eastern Regions opposed it. Corruption among the Nigerian government leaders caused problems for regional groups (Nigerian Independence). More problems came up when Prime Minister Balewa and government leaders in the Northern and Western Regions were murdered in a coup staged by several army officers. General Aguyi-lronsi, an Igbo from the Eastern Region, declared himself the head of state (Comparative: Comparing Political Parties). Ironsis government was short, but many Nigerians blamed the Igbo people for the coup that brought Ironsi to power. In July, Northern Region officers assassinated General Ironsi (Nigerian Independence). Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a northerner, became the head of state. Colonel Ojukwu, an eastern military official, was disappointed in the instability of Nigeria. He governed the Eastern Region as a separate nation, expelling all non-easterners. In response to Colonel Ojukwus decision, Gowon infuriated eastern leaders by dividing Nigeria into twelve states without consulting them (nigeria). On May 30, 1967, Ojukwu seceded from Nigeria and declared the Eastern Region the separate country of Biafra, marking the start of the Nigerian Civil War (Nigerian Independence). After three years of fighting, Biafra finally announced the end of its secession on January 12, 1970. The war had a lasting effect on Nigerian life (Nigerian Independence). First, the blockade of Biafra had kept food from entering the war zone. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Biafran civilians died, mostly from starvation and disease. Second, Nigeria remained divided into twelve states, leaving the Igbo isolated politically (nigeria). Finally, the civil war increased the power and prestige of the military. Nigeria increased the size of its military from 10,000 in 1967 before the war, to 250,000 at its height. After the civil war, Nigeria tried to reconstruct the nation, yet political instability continued. For example, Nigerian leaders restructured the political map several times. In 1976 Nigerian military leader General Murtala Ramat Mohammed divided the country into nineteen states. Mohammed also moved the capital of Nigeria from the former colonial capital of Lagos to a new location, called Abuja, in his northern region. In 1991, the political map was again divided, this time into thirty-one states (Nigerian Independence). In conclusion, the different regions created political instability for about thirty following independence that affected the different regional party leaders. Nigerias Religious Groups The different religious groups affect the political party system by allowing for destructive behavior. Religion has been a persistent conflict in Nigeria for a long time. The two dominant religions are Islam and Christianity. Islam came from northeast Nigeria somewhere between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It spread to the Hausa territory by the fifteenth century and greatly expanded in the early nineteenth century. In the north Islam started with coexisting with the different indigenous religions. However, it gradually converted most of them into Islam. Christianity arrived in the early nineteenth century, but expanded rapidly through missionary work in southern Nigeria. The amalgamation of northern and southern Nigeria in 1914 brought together the two religions and their belief systems. These religious cultures have consistently clashed over political issues such as the secular character of the state. The application of the sharia criminal code in the northern states has been a focal point for these tensions. For many Muslims, the sharia code represents a tradition or a way of life and supreme personal law that transcends secular and state law; for many Christians, the expansion of sharia law threatens the secular nature of the Nigerian state and their position within it. The pull of religious versus national identity becomes even stronger during economic crisis. For example, during the Babangida period, there was a rise in both Islamic fundamentalist movements and evangelical Christian fundamentalism that has continued through the present. Where significant numbers of southern Christians are living in predominantly Muslim states (for example Kaduna State), many clashes have erupted, with great loss of life and the extensive destruction of churches, mosques, and small businesses (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph 300-301). The Ineffective Party System and Conclusion Nigerias political system consists of many parties. The different ethnicities contribute to the disunity in Nigeria. The different regions contribute to the political instability. The different religious groups contribute to destructive behavior. The Nigerian multiparty system is ineffective because, unlike most democracy which promotes peace and freedom to its people, it creates disunity, instability, and destruction among political parties. The weaknesses of this system includes: a divided country whose people work against each other; a corrupted system where regional parties fight to dominate government; and a nation who can not think together. There are no significant strengths. Although a multiparty system is good for redistribution of wealth and power; stronger communications; and solving problems together, the multiparty system present in Nigeria would best serve no one. Instead of promoting peace like most democracies, Nigeria, consumed in violent opposition between different groups of people, opt to stay in political turmoil.

Lewis Latimer :: essays research papers

Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848. He was the son of George and Rebecca Latimer, escaped slaves from Virginia. When Lewis Latimer was a boy his father George was arrested and tried as a slave fugitive. The judge ordered his return to Virginia and slavery, but the local community to pay for George Latimer’s freedom raised money. George Latimer later went underground fearing his re-enslavement, a great hardship for Lewis' family. Lewis Latimer enlisted in the Union Navy at the age of 15 by forging the age on his birth certificate. Upon the completion of his military service, Lewis Latimer returned to Boston, Massachusetts where he was employed by the patent solicitors Crosby & Gould. While working in the office Lewis began the study of drafting and eventually became their head draftsmen. During his employment with Crosby & Gould, Latimer drafted the patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for the telephone, spending long nights with the inventor. Bell rushed his patent application to the patent office mere hours ahead of the competition and won the patent rights to the telephone with the help of Latimer. Hiram Maxim, founder of the U.S. Electric Light Co., at Bridgeport, CN, and the inventor of the Maxim machine gun, hired Lewis Latimer as an assistant manager and draftsman. Latimer's talent for drafting and his creative genius led him to invent a method of making carbon filaments for the Maxim electric incandescent lamp. In 1881, he supervised the installation of the electric lights in New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London. Lewis Latimer was the original draftsman for Thomas Edison (who he started working for in 1884) and as such was the star witness in Edison’s infringement suits. Lewis Latimer was the only African American member of the twenty-four "Edison Pioneers", Thomas Edison's engineering division of the Edison Company. Latimer also co-authored a book on electricity published in 1890 called, "Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System." Lewis Latimer had many interests. He was an inventor, draftsman, engineer, author, poet, musician, and, at the same time, a devoted family man and philanthropist.