NATO Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2695 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Politics Essay Type Review Did you like this example? ILP CW3 336083 The use of force has been a long-debated topic within the scope of collective security and can be said to be linked directly to the sovereignty of states. Along the passing of time, unauthorized use of force or threats has been abolished and now, it has become a rule of law making such acts to be war crimes. Generally impermissible, however there will be certain situations where use of force can be deemed lawful such as for the purposes of self-defence, humanitarian intervention and pre-emptive power inter alia. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "NATO Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order In the following part of this essay, the discussion will be based largely on UN and NATOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s previous humanitarian operations, assessing the details of intervention of the said organizations. The United Nations Charter in article 2(4)[1] restricts the use of force by member of states to the UN. The charter explicitly prohibits members in their international relations to act against territorial or political independence of any state by threat of force or other acts inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.[2] This has been made law upon the ratification of all member states and is protected by the United Nations Charter 1945. Academics translated this provision to be prohibiting the use of force as in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“territorial integrity or political independence of statesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ; and exception to this would be instances such as self-defence and those listed under Chapter VIII by the UN Security Council. The general principle is to restrict the u se of armed forces except in cases such as; there is collective action-pursued to maintain or to restore peace[3]; and Article 51 which provides that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right to individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a state.[4] Referring back to self-defence, On March 23rd, 1999, NATO began a three-month-long bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, allegedly to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians in the semi-autonomous region of Serbia by Slobodan MiloseviÃÆ'„à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s authoritarian regime. Mr Robertson, Secretary of State for Defence at that time, expressed the Governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s stand regarding the multinational NATO intervention in Kosovo as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"We are in no doubt that NATO is acting within international law. Our legal justification rests upon the accepted principle that force may be used in extrem e circumstances to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. Those circumstances clearly exist in Kosovoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[5] The use of force in such circumstances can be justified as a peculiar measure parallel to the purposes laid down by the UN Security Council, but without the Councils express authorisation, when that is the only means to avert an immediate and overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe. UN Security Council resolution 1199 clearly calls on the Yugoslav authorities to take immediate steps to cease their repression of the Kosovar Albanians and to seek solution to the issue. During the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999, NATOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decision to deploy armed forces did not acquire clear legal authorization as its governments might have desired. Despite these, a clear cut judgment could not be achieved as to its legality. The main legal arguments used to support the NATO action in Kosovo according to Adam Roberts (Roberts 1999) would concern the United Nations Resolutions. UN resolution 1199 of 23rd September 1998 demanded Yugoslavia to cease all action by the forces that are affecting the member of public. Upon this warning, it was explicitly stated that action would be taken should the demand not be followed. Resolution 1203 of 24th October 1998 required the Serbs to conform to a number of key provisions of the accords completed in Belgrade. These resolutions also allowed the NATO Alliance to have a direct standing and interest in the affair of Kosovo. Having said these, if the UN Security Council couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t follow these resolutions into Kosovo with a specific authority to use force, the legal ground for NATOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s military action could be found in the resolution. On 26th March 1999, two days after the bombing started, Russia supported a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate termination of the use of force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Russiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s stand was supported by two non-member states, India and Belarus. Only three member states (Russia, China and Namibia) voted in favour and twelve against this draft resolution. Sovereignty of state could not be said to be an absolute good. According to John Simmons, a legal definition of a right that is dependent on the safeguard of citizens within such a state (Simmons 1999). If these citizens are treated with oppression, then there is a legal basis for external force or powers, under the authorization of the United Nations, to step in to intervene for humanitarian purposes. Human interest should replace national interest as the driving force of human effort. State boundaries are merely social and political in nature that may vary according to beliefs, cultural or political agendas. Human interest is irreversible. Whatever moral good the entity of statehood is believed to have, it must prioritize the greater necessities of the rights of humanity. The United Nations Security-General (UNSG) introdu ced something they called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"vision of collective securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ which appealed to UN member states. The vision outlines a holistic notion of human security, including a common peace-building mission, along with several new organizations that works towards the purpose of the UN.[6] Along time as liberalization is expected to lead to democratization, humanitarian efforts are expected to lead to peacekeeping, and democratization to peacebuilding. In simple words, it is expected that peacekeeping will lead to self-sustainable peace between, within and across states. Joensson in his article states that unfortunately, in theory and practice, it is suggested that collective security discourse is overestimating the stabilizing effects of negotiated peace agreements and UN multidimensional peacekeeping under the current collective security arrangement.[7] Efforts to end and prevent conflict and implement processed of political and economic liberalization have called on forceful armed power intervention and intrusive protocols that are proven to be detrimental democratization and peace.[8] Joensson further commented that the UN on several occasions have been à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"forced to compromise its objectives to match the little success that has actually been achieved in practice.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ This suggests that instead of strengthening the post-conflict states from within, the multidimensional operations are conveying an international culture of dependency in which the internal stability of weak states become increasingly dependent on external assistance.[9] Having said this, there is a clash between short and long-term goals if multidimensional peacekeeping, and a gap between UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s power to act, as well as between the collective security discourse and global world order.[10] A generally accepted example of the success of collective security would be the Gulf War that taken place in 1990. The Security Council passed resol utions calling for unconditional withdrawal including Article 41 for economic sanctions and Chapter VII for a US-led alliance of armed forces. After 6 weeks, operation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Desert Stormà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ had totally broken the resistance of Iraqi troops. The key point to note here is the legitimating function of collective security by the UN. Although it happens that powerful state may override the protocol of bypassing the legitimization process, examples such the 2003 Iraq invasion subsequently led to serious unease. Claude also makes this point naming the UN as an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"agency of collective legitimizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. It is suggested that with the approval of the Security Council, use of force could be conceived as acceptable because of such endorsement. Despite the UN playing such a significant role in international relations, there is still doubt as to whether the UN is successful in achieving its purpose in collective security. The Cold War is one o f the failures of the UN in achieving the so-called collective security, reason being the veto given by Article 27 Chapter3. Consequently, the operation was paralyzed because any threat to the interests of the US or the Soviet Union resulted in a veto preventing the UN from taking action. Efforts of collective security by the UN are hampered when there is superpower present among the parties. Although collective security is said to be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"superiorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the sense that the preponderant physical powerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to defer or defect potential breaches of peace and security and because the overall diffusion power is more stabilizing than shifts in the distribution of power.[11] This operates in contrary when there is a single superpower that is stronger than the collective powers. An example of this case is when America took a unilateral use of force when armed forces were deployed in Iraq on 2003 without the approval of the Security Council. Claude emphasized the failing system of collective security and linking this to the Korean War. He stated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"it is neither feasible to carry out nor prudent to undertake collective security operations direct or indirectly opposing a major power.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Another case that was brought forward to the Security Council is the Vietnam War where Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury mentioned the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"selective securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in light of the flawed system of collective security.[12] Acts of aggression were obvious here in this situation but when Laos went against Hanoi in 1959, and Cambodia against USA and Vietnam in 1964, no actions were taken to restore peace. Up till this point, can collective security be said to be an effective system to fulfil the humanitarian purpose of the UN? Critics highlighted NATOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s lack of action in defence of Kurdish or East Timorese human rights from abuse by the Turkish and Indonesian s tates simultaneous to Operation Allied Force[13], and reinforced this as the evidence of selective moral conscience of the West. Questions were raised as to why NATO had acted only over Kosovo when there was no effort to restore peace and stop the Croatian governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Krajina in 1995[14] The success of collective security could be measure by the fact that a major conflict has not broken out since the previous second world war, despite the demoralizing acts of the Islamic State taking place currently. However, UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"multidimensional peacekeepingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ approach, whereby conflicts and humanitarian emergencies are regarded as threats to peace, arguably has represented a new dawn of interventionist collective security[15]. Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has looked into very much humanitarian issues and intra-state conflict, where former Secretary General Kofi Annan argued that states have a duty to protect its own citizens, but in the event of a failure, that responsibility must be borne by the broader international community[16]. Of course it can be argued that it would be possible to intervene in every case of human right abuses, Booth responds that this à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"merely says that on a particular occasion NATO acted in accordance with humanitarian objectives; not that as a matter of principle that NATO acts out of respect for themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[17] On the other hand, Coady argues that it is important to scrutinize responses to humanitarian crises, as from a classical utilitarianism perspective, total impartiality between targets of intervention is necessary to ensure the best is achieved[18]. Although the previously mentioned critics are in agreement that Kosovar Albanians suffered immensely under the Yugoslav regime, they bought up that the primary motive for an action will have influence on the methods used, and that for humanitarian interven tions, the absence of humanitarianism at the core of the made decision could cause the lives of civilians. Adding on, the basis when NATO has made moral judgments to intervene or not adds to the suspicion that humanitarianism may not be the primary motive for deployment of force in Kosovo. In conclusion, collective security may have served as a very important solution to restoring and sustaining world peace but as to its effectiveness, some setbacks are evident through the examples elaborated above. From selective security to superpower states, collective security could not be said with confidence that it exist for the sole purpose of world peace. The intervention in Kosovo may have been necessary, but the motivation behind external armed force intervention is clouded and was not solely for humanitarian purpose. The system of collective security is inconsistent, hence having said all these, the question of effectiveness in practice could not be answered in the positive- The flawe d part is not the system as a whole but rather the methods chosen by external forces were highly flawed since there was lack of priority for humanitarianism. Bibligraphy Primary Sources United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3930.html [accessed 20 March 2015] Secondary Sources Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, (1993), The UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Roles in International Society, United Nations, Divided World: The UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Roles in International Relations, 2nd Edition, United States, Oxford University Press, New York Booth, K. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Ten Flaws of Just Warsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the Kosovo Tragedy: The Human Rights Dimensions edited by Ken Booth (London, FrankKass, 2001) Barrie Watts,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ The Role of the United Nationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, Black Rabbit Books, 2004, New York Charles A. Kupchan, Clifford A. Kupchan, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Concerts, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“collective securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , and the Future of Europe, International Securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ , Vol. 16, No. 1 (2001) Charles A. Kupchan, Clifford A. Kupchan, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The promise of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“collective securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , International Security, The MIT press (1995) Coady, C.A.J. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"War for humanity: a critiqueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ â„ ¢ in Ethics and Foreign Intervention (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003 Florian Beiber, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: preparing for EU accession, Policy Brief, (European Policy Center Brussels, April 2010) Immanuel Kant, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Perpetual peace: a philosophical essay.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (G. Allen Unwin Ltd 1915) London Inis L Claude Jr., à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Swords into ploughshares the problems and progress of International Organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, 4th Edition, Random House (New York 1964) Joensson, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Understanding Collective Security in the 21st century: A critical Study of UN Peacekeeping in the former Yugoslaviaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (European University Institute, September 2010) Jackson and Sorensen, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Introduction to International Relations: Theories and approaches, (Oxford University Press, 2007) Natalia Ruiz, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Exploring the Limites of International Law relating to the Use of Force in Self-Defenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, EJIL 3 (2005) P. ThielbÃÆ' ¶rger, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Status and Future of International Law after the Libya Interventionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , 1 GJIL 4 (2012) UN, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 March 2005 (A/59/2005) pp. 74-86 Vaughan Lowe, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"International Legal Issues Arising in the Kosovo crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, (Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence, 11 May 2000) https://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmfaff/28/0020805.htm accessed 20 March 2015 336083 [1] United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, Article 2(4), 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3930.html [accessed 20 March 2015] [2] ibid [3] ibid [4] United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, Article 51, 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3930.html [accessed 20 March 2015] [5] Vaughan Lowe, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"International Legal Issues Arising in the Kosovo crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, (Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence, 11 May 2000) https://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmfaff/28/0020805.htm accessed 20 March 2015 [6] In Larger Freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 March 2005 (A/59/2005) pp. 74-86 [7] Joensson, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Understanding Collective Security in the 21st century: A critical Study of UN Peacekeeping in the former Yugoslaviaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (European University Institute, September 2010) https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/14711/2010_Joensson.pdf?sequence=2 assessed 19 November 2009 [8] Florian Beiber, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: preparing for EU accession, Policy Brief, (European Policy Center Brussels, April 2010) [9] Joensson, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Understanding Collective Security in the 21st century: A critical Study of UN Peacekeeping in the former Yugoslaviaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (European University Institute, September 2010) https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/14711/2010_Joensson.pdf?sequence=2 assessed 19 November 2009 [10] ibid [11] Fhorwich, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Collective Security: How is this principle articulated in the aims of the UN and has that organisation been successful in achieving those aims?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, (Scribd, 10 November 2009) https://www.scribd.com/doc/22370484/Collective-Security-Essay-Define-collective-security-How-is-th is-principle-articulated-in-the-aims-of-the-UN-and-has-that-organisation-been-succe#scribd Assessed 10 March 2015 [12] Adam Roberts,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ The UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Roles in International Society, united Nations, Divided World: The UNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Roles in International Relations, ( 2nd edition, United States, Oxford University Press 1993) [13] Chomsky, N. A New Generation Draws the Lone: Kosovo, East Timor and the Standards of the West (London verso,200) [14] Roberts, A. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"NATOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Humanitarian Warà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ over Kosovoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, (Survival, 41 1999) 3 pp102-23 [15] Taylor and Curtis, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The Kosovoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, London, OUP 2001) 412 [16] Ibid 415 [17] Booth, K. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Ten Flaws of Just Warsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the Kosovo Tragedy: The Human Rights Dimensions edited by Ken Booth (London, FrankKass, 2001) pp. 314-324 [18] Coady, C.A.J. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"War for hum anity: a critiqueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in Ethics and Foreign Intervention (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003 pp 274-295

The Influence of Jazz in America - 1187 Words

Boom-ba-doom, boom-ba-doom-catz, the swinging back beat of the jazz percussionist, smooth but precise and within time. The pianists fingers flutter across the keys weightlessly, and so quickly you can only make out a blur. The trumpet and saxophone float across the top of the music hitting notes of all kinds, paying no attention to the idea of a key signature, and from no piece of paper no prewritten ideas. Instead, they play what they feel inside, because the very soul of jazz lives inside. Of all the musical instruments, the human voice expresses the most emotion. Anyone can play their own voice and that is exactly what the people of the 1920s did. Is there a connection between these instruments and life during the â€Å"Roaring Twenties?† Louis Armstrong said it best: â€Å"What we play is life† (Armstrong). Different instruments used in the jazz era are direct reflections of the feelings of the 1920s. Jazz is defined as a distinctive musical profile grounded in the swinging 4/4 time with the Blues as a touchstone. It is one of those things that is very hard to define because it includes so many different feelings. Louis Armstrong made this comment when asked what jazz is: â€Å"If you have to ask, you’ll never know† (Armstrong). There is up beat jazz and slow jazz, there is depressed jazz and energetic jazz, and there is everything in between. In a jazz band, the musical baton can be passed to any of its members and then he or she carries the bandShow MoreRelatedJazz Influence On America.3049 Words   |  13 PagesResearch Paper: Jazz influence on America Jazz is a genre of music that was first developed by African American within their communities around the late 19th to early 20th century in the United States. Since then, Jazz has gained a lot of respect and grown into a classic. 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Comparable Business Model Concepts †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Comparable Business Model Concepts. Answer: Introduction: Business models are the frameworks on which the companies stand and operate. They are made up of the various aspects related to the organisations like vision, mission, goals, organisational culture and strategies. The business models of the multinational companies even incorporate competitors, business partners and consumers as parts of their business models. The business models of the companies are formed by the apex management and reflect the organisational culture. It is this reason business models are often e-business archetype or personalities of the organisations. The business models also serve a platform for the organisational operations and a framework which is aligned with the financial goals of the companies. They provide guidance to the managers to make strategies to reduce costs and maximise profits and return on investments. Business model can be defined as the framework on which business organisations operate in the market. The business models consists of several aspects of the organisations like core values, missions, business visions, target customer segments, business strategies and stakeholders. The business models of the companies are the practical applications of the values, missions and visions(Bocken et al., 2014). The multinational companies define their business models according to the organisational culture and organisational policies. The macroeconomic changes compel the organisations to change reform their business models to sustain in the market. Thus, business models aim to provide the organisations to which they belong sustenance and continuous growth in the market. Business model archetypes involve the fundamental personalities of the business and their products. The business models of the organisations include the main activities of the business organisations, their main values, customer bases which they cater to and how they create value for the customers (Beck, Demirg-Kunt Merrouche, 2013). They are the framework on which strategies stand and involves modes of operations like open innovations with other firms. The companies often lose their knowledge and expertise when employees leave them. These loss of strategic human resources weaken companies and their business model. Carl Jung created a model called business model archtype which human being inherit and use to make their own personalities. The model was applied to business organisations because they are believed to be legal personalities. The model speaks about three primary personalities of all business organisations which are product, services and trade. The secondary personality trai ts in business organisations are brokerage, subscriptions, market place and ecosystem(Bohnsack, Pinkse Kolk, 2014). Business model as an activity systems involve the various activities of the business organisations which are required for their very sustenance. The model looks at business organisations as collections of various functions like acquisition of resources, employing of uman resources, acquiring of machinery, supply chain management, production lines. The business models as activity systems involve partners, suppliers and customers. They reflect the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of products and projects. Thus it can be opined that business model is an activities involving resources, processes and so on to earn profits(Schwarz, Terrenghi Legner, 2017). Business model as cost-revenue architecture involve the business models to make profits. This approach deals with the aim of the business models to maximise revenues and reduce the costs of the company. The concept involves use of modern technology to increase production and maximise sales to earn more profit from it. The business models of companies as revenue generation and cost reduction tool involve disruptive innovations, new market penetration, application of sustainable technology, aggressive promotions and inclusion of stakeholders while making business strategies(Aversa et al., 2015). This important role of business in todays has given rise to the concept of business model continuum which shows how business organisations modify and adopt their business models to operate on a great scale by adapting to market conditions. The continuum works on a scale showing commodity products on one end which are sold on high scale lower profit margin and luxury products on the other end wh ich sell at scale but at higher margins of products. The when business organisations shift along the scale from low priced to high priced products, their entire business model including sales and marketing components of the model change(Visnjic, Wiengarten Neely, 2016). The conceptualisation of the business models help the organisations deal with static and dynamic problems and involves redesigning of business model. The business organisations have to deal with several static and dynamic problems. The business organisations have to deal with static business problems which make the business operations extremely complex like political situations in the country, lack of local supply chain and lack of technological development in a within a country. The business organisations are required to frame and redesign their business models to deal with these complexities(Serdarasan, 2013). For example, if the local supply chain cannot provide certain raw materials, the business organisations have to import it. This show that the business organisations have redesign their business models to deal with the complexities presented by the dynamic and static complexities in the environment. Business context refers to a condition in the market involving a business organisation, a business community or an industry as a whole and keeps on changing. The business conditions are dependent on the static and dynamic environmental conditions and tend to change with them. For example, the automobile manufacturing companies are impacted by changes in the laws pertaining to areas pollution and road safety. These organisations have to maintain a vast reserve of information or big data which has made them adopt knowledge management system and integrating technology(Naldi et al., 2013). They are today required to maintain this huge data base to able to operate with a large number of suppliers and distributors all round the world. The automobile companies today have to reconfigure their supply chains to obtain sustainable and less polluting raw materials in response to the stringent environmental laws which have come into force in all the major economies in the world. Moreover the inte rnational automobile manufacturing and marketing companies have expanded their operations into all the major markets of the world which require them to adopt supply chain in these markets. This requires them to reconfigure and restructure the supply chain management policies which are important components of business models of these companies. They are also required to acquire, store and share a large body of business information to operate on regular basis. The top automobile companies today exchange and share these information with their geographically dispersed branches, supply chains and distributors spread throughout the world. It can also be pointed the companies integrate technology and sustainability to produce goods(Romn Juan Martn, 2014). They invest in technology to manage and recycle wastes and use them to generate energy which helps them to reduce their energy expenses. The automobile companies use modern technology like cloud computing and data sharing on cloud to com municate with their business partners. Thus, it can be inferred from the above discussion that companies today redesign their business models to incorporate changes like big data, supply chain reconfiguration, and technological integration (Brock et al., 2013). The business models of the organisations are impacted by changes in the macroeconomic environment which necessitates the business managers to make strategies to adapt the business model according to the changes. The macroeconomic environmental factors like politics economics, society, technology, law and environment are beyond the control of the business organisations yet have profound impact on the strategies and even the very sustenance of the organisations. For example, all commercial banking organisations are required to follow the financial policies made by the apex bank, governments and the international agreement between countries to operate. If there is any change in the financial policies made by any of these three institutions, the apex management bodies of the commercial banks have to redesign their business models(Fischer Heutel, 2013). The middle and the lower managers have to ensure that the redesigned models are followed by all the employees. The changes in the econom ic or market conditions also trigger the managers to redesign the business models. If a multinational companies introduces a new and innovative product at low price, the domestic companies have to redesign their business models to apply modes of operations to be able to introduce low priced new product of the same category as the MNCs product(Guerry et al., 2015). The change in the methods of operations may involve huge investment in technological up gradation and hiring of new highly paid skilled employees. It can be pointed out that domestic companies who fail to modify their business models to adapt to these changes often have to exit from the market or are acquired by the multinational companies. Thus, the upper, middle and the lower level managers have to redesign business models according to changes in the external environment. It can be concluded that business models play crucial role in ensuring the sustenance and growth of companies. They guide the employees to operate to add value and minimise expenditure of the company. Therefore the managers keep on restructuring the business models of the companies to adapt them to the market changes. It can also be pointed out that a successful business model and its application require strong support and participation of the employees of all levels and departments. It also requires the support from stakeholders like customers, shareholders and the government. References: Aversa, P., Haefliger, S., Rossi, A., Baden-Fuller, C. (2015). From business model to business modelling: Modularity and manipulation. InBusiness models and modelling(pp. 151-185). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Beck, T., Demirg-Kunt, A., Merrouche, O. (2013). Islamic vs. conventional banking: Business model, efficiency and stability.Journal of Banking Finance,37(2), 433-447. Bocken, N. M. P., Short, S. W., Rana, P., Evans, S. (2014). A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes.Journal of cleaner production,65, 42-56. Bohnsack, R., Pinkse, J., Kolk, A. (2014). Business models for sustainable technologies: Exploring business model evolution in the case of electric vehicles.Research Policy,43(2), 284-300. Brock, C., Blut, M., Evanschitzky, H., Kenning, P. (2013). Satisfaction with complaint handling: a replication study on its determinants in a business-to-business context.International journal of research in marketing,30(3), 319-322. Fischer, C., Heutel, G. (2013). Environmental macroeconomics: Environmental policy, business cycles, and directed technical change.Annu. Rev. Resour. Econ.,5(1), 197-210. Guerry, A. D., Polasky, S., Lubchenco, J., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Daily, G. C., Griffin, R., ... Feldman, M. W. (2015). Natural capital and ecosystem services informing decisions: From promise to practice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,112(24), 7348-7355. Naldi, L., Cennamo, C., Corbetta, G., Gomez?Mejia, L. (2013). Preserving socioemotional wealth in family firms: Asset or liability? The moderating role of business context.Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,37(6), 1341-1360. Romn, S., Juan Martn, P. (2014). Does the hierarchical position of the buyer make a difference? The influence of perceived adaptive selling on customer satisfaction and loyalty in a business-to-business context.Journal of Business Industrial Marketing,29(5), 364-373. Schwarz, J., Terrenghi, N., Legner, C. (2017). Towards comparable business model concepts: resource description framework (RDF) schemas for semantic business model representations. InDesigning the Digital Transformation: DESRIST 2017 Research in Progress Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology. Karlsruhe, Germany. 30 May-1 Jun.. Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie (KIT). Serdarasan, S. (2013). A review of supply chain complexity drivers.Computers Industrial Engineering,66(3), 533-540. Visnjic, I., Wiengarten, F., Neely, A. (2016). Only the brave: Product innovation, service business model innovation, and their impact on performance.Journal of Product Innovation Management,33(1), 36-52. Zott, C., Amit, R. and Massa, L., 2011. The business model: recent developments and future research.Journal of management,37(4), pp.1019-1042.

Social influence and anti social behaviour

Introduction Experiments on social influence help to determine whether a person behaves in accordance to one’s social context or one’s personality. They emphasise the importance of the implied, real or envisaged existence of others. Individuals spend most of their time in social gatherings and they can exert an influence on group members or the reverse may occur.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social influence and anti social behaviour specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Indeed, most people’s attitudes reflect the belief systems of their respective groups. To effectively understand human behaviour, one must fully appreciate the role that social context plays in influencing it. Experiments on social context can demystify antisocial behaviour because they provide a theoretical basis for deviations from the norm. How research helps in the understanding of social behaviour One classic piece of soci al influence research is the Asch conformity as carried out by Solomon Asch. He was one of the most important contributors of the antisocial behavioural discipline because he demystified the concept of group conformance (Turner 1991). In his analysis, the experimenter used two types of cards for all the participants. One card had a standard line while the other card had three different lines. Subjects were supposed to match the lines on the second card with the standard line. This was a relatively simply test that had a clear answer. However, the subjects were placed in the company of others and answered after all the confederates (5, 6 or seven in number) had responded. It was found that twelve out of the eighteen subjects changed their minds when the perceived members of the team did the same. When these participants were asked to identify the correct line privately, they gave the right answer. This experiment illustrated that members of a group will be under pressure to conform t o other’s people’s opinions even when they know that the opinions they hold are wrong. Ash’s study was critical in illustrating the importance of normative social influence. His subjects deliberately gave a wrong answer because they wanted to adhere to group norms. At the time of the experiment, it was necessary to follow the instructions of members of the group. Their feelings and expectations were imperative in bringing out these outcomes. In fact, conformance was so important to the subjects that they were willing to support an answer that they knew was obviously wrong (Bond Smith 1996). Similarly, one may apply this information to groups that engage in antisocial behaviour. A young man may participate in a violent activity, group rape or robbery owing to the type of social influence found in Ash’s experiment.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He may kno w that the activity is immoral, but may choose to engage in it simply to conform to group expectations. Such subjects seek group rewards or want to evade social punishment. This public conformity may explain why certain people act appropriately in private and inappropriately in a group especially when the action they are doing is undoubtedly wrong/ immoral. Asch’s work also provides useful insights on self categorisation. This theory posits that sometimes people may justify their antisocial behaviour in groups by depersonalizing themselves from the situation (Koelen Van den Ban 2010). They may claim that their behaviour was in tandem with the group, and this was the right thing to do. Participants may hold the expectation that when in a group, one is expected to hold the same attitudes or beliefs as the group. They depend upon the choices of others to gauge whether their own actions are correct. The Milgram experiment was yet another classic piece of work on social influence and can also provide tremendous insights on antisocial behaviour. It was carried out amongst a group of volunteers who were made to believe that they were playing the role of a teacher. A confederate was placed in an adjacent room, and was expected to learn a series of words from the teacher. For every wrong response, the teacher was to administer an electric shock to the learner. However, confederates did not receive actual shocks. The experimenter simulated sounds and noises that sounded like electric shocks. The confederates also pretended to be in pain by screaming and banging on the wall after a certain voltage level. They were supposed to tell the teacher about a heart condition that they had. If the subjects wanted to stop at a certain time, the experimenter would urge them to continue using a succession of four sentences, which stressed the critical importance of continuing. If the ‘teacher’ felt that he still wanted to stop after the four sentences, then the e xperiment would end (Wu 2003). However, others who asked about the confederates were assured that the shocks would not cause permanent harm to the ‘learners’. The results revealed that 65% of the subjects were willing to reach the maximum voltage even though they appeared to be uncomfortable doing so. Some questioned the ethics of the experiment and even refused payment.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social influence and anti social behaviour specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Unlike Asch’s trials, which simply dwelt on group influence, this research was crucial in understanding the role that authority plays in affecting people’s behaviour. Asch’s work compared moral values with social beliefs or opinions. However, Milgram contrasted authority with one’s moral beliefs. His study was critical in illustrating how authority can undermine moral principles and thus lead to ant isocial behaviour. Therefore, the concept of obedience to authority was under analysis here. More than half of the participants in the study were willing to forfeit their personal principles in order to obey authority. These findings illustrate how antisocial behaviour can occur among seemingly normal or ordinary people. Participants of this study believed that they were not expected to question authority. Similarly subordinates in other settings may commit immoral or antisocial crimes simply because they respect authority. They may be aware of the destructiveness or immorality of their situations, but may willingly participate in those wrongs because of submission to authority. The Milgram experiment also shows that individuals sometimes do not reflect on their beliefs when acting on behalf of an authority. This is reflective of the agentic state theory. In this school of thought, Milgram asserted that when people subject themselves to the authority of others, they may regard thems elves as mere instruments’ of their superior’s wishes rather than individual entities (Milgram 1974). As such, most people will not feel responsible for any actions when they engage in antisocial behaviour. In addition, this experiment is also a continuation of the theory of conformism that was started by Asch. Engaging in antisocial behaviour may sometimes be a form of reference to a group. In this case, the group is the authority figure. Conformity often occurs when the concerned person feels that he or she is not capable enough to make a certain decision. In such cases, the person will depend upon the group as a reference for behaviour (Hayes 2000). This especially occurs when an individual is in a crisis situation like the one in the concerned experiment. Such an analysis is especially relevant in understanding how some people may be prompted to behave in a manner similar to the one viewed in the Nazi concentration camps. The persons carrying out those actions reve aled that social influence can be dominant enough to lead to sadistic or inhumane acts as seen in the genocide.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Milgram proved that more often than not, people agree to belong to a system. When in that system, they have the choice of either sticking to their moral judgements or submitting to the rules of the system, which are represented by figures of authority. Loyalty may be regarded as a moral standard that shapes people’s behaviour. Therefore, when one makes a choice between these divided allegiances then one may or may not act in a deviant manner. The subjects in the experiment were more loyal to the rules of the system, which was the experiment, than their own belief systems and this perpetuated aggressive or violent behaviour. This experiment is highly useful in illustrating that the agentic state of an individual can lead to antisocial behaviour. One may belong to a corporation, and may be persuaded to carry out criminal/ unethical behaviour after receiving instructions from one’s supervisor. This study is useful in identifying the situations that cause obedience to unet hical instructions, and can thus allow stakeholders to either minimise those conditions or eradicate them completely. Phillip Zimbardo also carried out another famous study known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. His major aim was to find out how situational factors lead to deviant behaviour. The researcher created a fake prison at the basement of Stanford University and took 24 students into the setup. The experiment was supposed to last for a period of 2 weeks. Unlike Milgram, Zimbardo did not use confederates or actors as prisoners. All the participants were assigned roles as guards or prisoners. No prisoner was allowed to leave the premises while the guards could do so after an eight-hour shift. The experiment never went up to the intended two weeks as the prisoners were immensely stressed while the guards became sadistic and abusive. Zimbardo found that regardless of having two choices; being hostile or civil towards the prisoners, the guards chose to be hostile. Most of the p risoners took on a position of submission and depression. Some of them seemed to be highly anxious and even began crying. The researcher himself participated in the study; played the role of a prison warden. However, he stopped being objective in the analysis when he allowed the guards to act so brutally. It was Zimbardo’s girlfriend who warned him about the dangers of the experiment, and urged him to stop. After the experiment, it was found that certain situations can prompt seemingly passive individuals to act in a deviant or antisocial manner. When people are given positions of power, they yield to its influence and forget about the importance of their own moral values. The subjects who played the role of guards started to behave in a manner that was not typical of them. Many of them transformed from being passive to aggressive and even violent. Conversely, the subjects who played the role of guards became silent and passive. This analysis was important in understanding th e importance of social conformity. Most people will behave in a certain way owing to their understanding or society’s definition of the position. Police officers, teachers, parents, waitresses, prisoners or prison guards all fulfil certain social roles. Persons in these roles are expected to exhibit certain kinds of behaviour. The guards in the mock prison embraced their social roles and disregarded the fact that they might hurt their fellow participants. This was particularly surprising when Zimbardo himself acted inappropriately. Furthermore, the participants had not shown any signs of psychological malfunctions prior to the survey. Besides, none of the participants volunteered for the role as this would have denoted that certain elements of their personality came into effect. All were randomly assigned those positions without prior consultations. He acknowledged that he had gotten so carried away by his social role, as a warden, that he lost all objectivity of the analysis . Unlike Milgram’s study; this experiment had no specific authority. However, it did prove some of the findings in Asch’s study; that group expectations can replace an individual’s moral imperatives. In this case, no one voiced their expectations about what the prison guards or prisoners should do or say. This behaviour was deduced from expectations on those social roles. No form of coercion or force was exerted upon the participants, yet they found it within themselves to act so sadistically. This study shows that social influence can occur in non immediate settings. The persons concerned in the Zimbardo experiment did not seek immediate social rewards or refrain from immediate punishment. They were allured by the temptations of the powerful positions they were in (Zimbardo 2007). All the experiments discussed above on social influence also prove that conformity can be manipulated. Once a dissenting opinion is voiced by even one member, then that is sufficient enough to cause doubt about a certain act. Variations of the Asch and Milgram experiments have shown that people will be willing to abide by their own moral standards if they realise that other persons in their own position would be willing to do the same. Additionally, if a person heard about certain opinions from an in-group member, then he or she would be more likely to adhere to those same opinions than if the view came from a perceived outsider. Social influence can be moderated and this may minimise antisocial behaviour in subjects. Zimbardo, Asch and Milgram also demonstrate that social forces play a vital role in one’s deeds. Antisocial behaviour may arise out of the need to conform to societal expectations, direct group expectations or even a member of authority. These researches point out that sometimes, one’s personality or value systems can be overridden by certain social forces. Therefore, psychologists or other stakeholders may prevent or treat antisocial behaviour by minimising the occurrence of these group influences. It is particularly interesting to note that most of the deviant behaviour took place regardless of the anonymity of the participants. The subjects had no particular relationship with the researchers in all three social influence studies yet they still engaged in antisocial behaviour. One might conclude that peer influence among known associates and friends may exert an even heavier social influence on the deviant person. Social influence is a concept that can affect people in various capacities. It is so powerful because it has a two-way function. It offers rewards to the person engaging in the antisocial behaviour because it facilitates acceptance. It also offers rewards to the group because it elicits fewer negative sentiments from them. Social influence can thus impede or heighten antisocial behaviour based on these understandings (Guetzkow 2000) Conclusion The studies carried out on social influence illustrate th at it highly affects individual behaviour. These researches show that a person’s behaviour is firmly rooted in one’s social context. Sometimes this may come in the form of one’s peers, group, roles or authority figures. References Bond, R Smith, P 1996, ‘Culture and conformity: a meta analysis of studies using Asch’s line judgment task’ Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 119, pp. 11-137 Guetzkow, H 2000, Groups, leadership and men, Carnegie press, Pittsburgh Hayes, N 2000, Foundations of psychology, Thomson, London Koelen, M Van den Ban, A 2010, Health education and health promotion, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Melbourne Milgram, 1974, Obedience to authority: an experimental view, HarperCollins, London Turner, J 1991, Social influence, Open University Press, NY Wu, W 2003, ‘Compliance: the Milgram Experiment’ Practical psychology, June, pp. 23 Zimbardo, P 2007, ‘When good people do evil’ Yale Alumni magazine, Februar y, pp. 8 This essay on Social influence and anti social behaviour was written and submitted by user Anya Kirby 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. 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AIDS in Africa essays

AIDS in Africa essays Seventy-four percent of the AIDS population is found in Africa. One in ten adults living in Africa is now infected with HIV, and in certain places in southern Africa, at least one in four adults are infected. Not only does AIDS affect the immediate victims, but in Africa, it frequently is passed on to the children. An estimated 1,700 new infections occur each day. The infection rates among newborns are high. Furthermore, AIDS orphans many children. Rape victims have a high risk of testing positive for HIV, which is especially sad for a country where such a crime is widespread. Even in mutual relationships, the females often would like to use a sort of protection; well males do not wish to do so. When a female condom was available in a few parts of Africa, they disappeared in frenzy. Many problems contribute to poor conditions, and subsequently, AIDS is a problem for every one of Africas citizens. (MSNBC) For a while, part of the problem was lack of education, but programs such as the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (a charity dedicated to raising money for AIDS vaccine research, patenting the rights and distributing the vaccine at low cost) are currently working on improving that. IAVI is dedicated to trying to implement programs that will be able to distribute the AIDS vaccine as soon as one is found. The worry that access to treatment may not be available quickly where it is most needed is founded in past experiences. For instance, the Hepatitis B vaccine, which was first patented in the early 1980s, is still not available in many poor countries. Therefore, many believe that an AIDS vaccine will sooner protect people in rich countries than those where the epidemic is becoming totally out of control. With current vaccine research employing expensive new technologies, initial prices of new vaccines against AIDS may be significantly higher than those for Hepatitis B. If those lower cost drugs are not...

Working with Addicts Essays

Working with Addicts Essays Working with Addicts Essay Working with Addicts Essay Addiction social worker The Canadian government has realized the effect drug abuse has on the young population and has taken an initiative to employ social workers who assist in the rehabilitation process of the people struggling with substance abuse. The process has cost the taxpayers over $22.8 billion annually (Pearson, Janz Ali, 2013). Social workers need to be informed about the broad and varying context that surrounds the lives of people and forms the social work practice. Their work has five contexts which include that their work should be done within set boundaries in a nation, region or state. Also, the political system of the area governs how they carry out their activities, the beliefs, and culture of the individuals as well the socio-economic which involves education, health facilities and the livelihood of the people. The spiritual context is based on the human or social work practice that focuses on the ethics, philosophies, and ideals of the people the workers work with (Wilson Kolander, 2011). A structural perspective on social work refers to social workers making efforts to connect the duality of the social and personal, community and the individual and enable the social workers to have an understanding of the wide range of populations on social processes and reproduce or support social problems (Payne, 2014). Structural social work, therefore, acknowledges the function of social structures in maintaining and producing personal hardship and inequality. Structural social work externally affects the micro and macro issues, and it argues that structural forces in society such as criminal justice systems, government, and education systems are to blame for peoples problems. However, it is not correct in relation to alcohol and drug usage because most drug abusers engage in the act without influenc e from structural forces and their recovery is majorly a personal choice. Social workers deal with different groups of people as named above. One cannot, therefore, expect them to be experts in handling all groups and the task is left to the workers depending on who feel best to deal with the situation at hand best. Their major roles include motivating people to divert their problematic substance use behavior by supporting them, their carers and families and directing their behavior (Romach, Schoedel Sellers, 2014). They engage in discussions of substance abuse as part of their role in supporting the users of their services, their dependents, and families. Additionally, they support people in their attempts to maintain and make changes in the use of drugs. Role of social workers in substance abuse Discussions of the topic of substance abuse are important in social work practice. No person starts taking drugs with the intention of developing the habit that leads to addiction and affects their health. The substance users have however faced exclusion and discrimination from people in society. Working against the negativity and social injustice these people face is the role of the social workers as it is among their ethical and commitment requirements (Wilson Kolander, 2011). Social workers are skilled at building relationships and being willing to listen and not judging the individuals struggling with substance abuse. They draw on their strengths and offer them care. A social worker needs to focus on asking questions about substance use routinely to monitor the drug users progress during the treatment period. One also prepares to engage children, carers and family members to discuss how the family will offer support to the drug users (Vaughn Perron, 2014). One identifies the ra nge of effects the drugs may have on the substance abusers or people around him such as the dependents and children and find ways to explain to the drug user the problem the use of drugs is bringing to the family. The social worker on the other hand learns and fills the gaps in knowledge of substance use and the skills using continuing professional development. The social worker needs to take advanced training in particular frameworks of working with substance use to know how to handle the matters that he or she may encounter during work. They also take the initiative of working collaboratively with substance use services which include exchanging mutual knowledge on confidentiality, boundaries of care, and service models. They recognize stigma in the drug users and offer a non-judgemental practice that includes inclusionary approach and positive language (Goodman, 2013). They advanced social workers encourage the staff to reflect on the ethics of acre, risks, and attitudes relating to substance abuse and the individuals with the addiction. The experienced and advanced workers support and encourage less experienced colleagues in the engagement of handling drug abuse as part of their role. They have also shown commitment to the discussion of drug abuse and raising the issue in management and supervision roles to ensure each person taking part in social work plays his or her role to make everyones efforts successful. There are various problems that social workers encounter related to drug abuse. They encounter occasional issues linked with substance use. A drug user may not be taking alcohol or drugs every day but they occasionally indulge them, and it leads to issues in their lives. Their regular indulgent may seem normal to the users, but it eventually causes harm to them. The users have daily or frequent problems linked with substance use. It occurs when one is undergoing a range of issues linked to drug abuse and it negatively affects ones mental of physical health, their parenting ability, employment or financial status and relationship problems (Kuhar, 2012). The drug user may have also been involved in criminal acts. The other kinds of problems they may have encountered are previous issues but are not occurring currently. The person may have had an account of past issues but due to abstinence no longer encounters them. Social workers motivate the drug users to change the problematic drug a buse they face. The change model is a five-step process on how people think about an issue and later change their behavior. The first stage is pre-contemplation where no one thinks about behavior change. In the contemplation stage, the person struggling with substance abuse thinks about the issues but takes no action on the problem (Nasr Phillips, 2014). In the preparation stage, one begins to plan how he or she can make changes. In the action phase, the drug user does something to make changes. For instance, one can decide to talk to someone on the drug and alcohol use. Finally, there is the maintenance stage where the person maintains the non-problematic level of use. The social workers enable the people struggling with substance abuse identify the motivation for social change and look for strategies to sustain it (Leyton, 2016). The support and motivation involve the discussion of the people struggling with substance abuse about their addiction and continuation of post-intervention support which involves being supportive to the families affected by their loved ones addiction to substance use. The social worker assesses and identifies the use of substance including the risk to others and oneself, giving advice, onward referral and brief intervention to specialists and receiving and providing informed leadership and supervision.

Intellectual property problems between Apple and Samsung Research Paper

Intellectual property problems between Apple and Samsung - Research Paper Example For Samsung, it has been through thepatentinfringementsuits. Theapplecompanyis situated in the United States whereas Samsung is from South Korea. AppleCompany hadseveralways and differenttheories of Infringement andthejuryhadnoanyotheroptionother than presentingall of them. Patentlitigation is between Apple and Samsung andthese has gottenmuchattention from themedia, investors andmany industrialexecutives. Apple has all through claimedthat Samsung hadcopied their iPhone. Thecaseallbegan January 2007 whenthe iPhone wasbeenintroduced in theworldmarket. Theapple companyfiledthesuite four days before therelease of the iPhone. Among themany Apples graphical user interfaces, Apple gotinterested in one of theintellectualproperties that were to be used against the Samsung Company. 15th April 2011 a complaintwasfiled in the District Court forthenorthern District of California in the United States. Applestillmaintainedthat there wasinfringement on their intellectualproperty. Applesubmittedallthe data thattheyhad towards Samsung using their sameproducts as part of their data. Theywent through theprocess by comparingthesimilarities of their products with that of the Samsung(New York: Cengage Learning, Copyright, 2012) On 22nd April 2011 Samsung wentaheadanddidthesamethingthat Apple haddoneandfileda complaint in courts in Seoul which is its capitalcity andtheyalsofiledanothercomplaint in Mannheim, Germany.Theymadeallegationsthat Apple hadinfringed its patents. Samsung filed five patentinfringements. August 2012 thejudgeswhowere to presidethecase that hadbeenfiled by Samsung and after reviewing thecaseallthejudgescame up with severaldecisions(New Jersey : MIT Press. Copyright,2011) pg. 134.The overall decisionwasthat Apple hadinfringed two Samsungs technology patents. Theyalsoconcludedthat Samsung hadonlyviolated one Apples patent. Thecourtalsodeniedtheallegationsthat Samsung hadcopiedthedesigns of the iPad and the iPhone.

Business Environments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Environments - Assignment Example Whether for-profit or non-profit, organisations embody a very diverse and rich assortment of strategic goals that are designed around a collective objective. Organisations must meet the needs of very diverse and dynamic stakeholders whilst also taking into consideration the economic policies in the region where the organisation operates, consider existing market forces that influence decision-making, and also take into account the potential cultural aspects of important stakeholders if the organisation is to have successful outputs and outcomes. The report explores a broader definition of organisations, their role in satisfying diverse stakeholders, and the market environment that influences organisational decision-making whether for-profit or non-profit. Identifying the purpose of organisations There are many different varieties of organisations, including corporations, non-profits, cooperatives, partnerships and governments. Organisations embody a very rich assortment of goals and visions, either set-up to service the needs of diverse international stakeholders, provide a valuable product or service that enhances the welfare of consumers, elicit some form of political or social change, or improve the social welfare of stakeholders linked to the mission of the organisation. Organisations require leadership and oversight in order to ensure compliance to regulatory frameworks both domestic and international and â€Å"have the ability to call upon a common heritage of committee structures or formal meetings† (Smith 2010, p.2) to ensure the organisation is meeting its long-term goals and purpose (mission). One example of this can be found with the UK-based non-profit, the Centre for Better Health, which provides well-being to consumers through counselling services and assists individuals in the London region to better develop their employability skills. This organisation is considered a social enterprise, whereby its purpose is to provide enhanced lifestyle and health promotion to stakeholders in the region. Consisting of 20 different staff members and 50 volunteers, the Centre for Better Health elicits change in social welfare for stakeholders as aligned with its mission and vision. Yet another example of how organisations meet their purpose and satisfy social welfare improvements is the UK company Marks & Spencer, a retail organisation providing valuable products that enhance lifestyle for consumer segments. The company’s mission statement drives the majority of their business practices, aligning corporate ideology with consumer social welfare improvements. The mission statement is to provide aspirational quality that can be accessible for all consumer segments, whilst maintaining a vision of being the standard by which all other retailers are judged. Marks and Spencer maintains a very dedicated focus toward providing corporate social responsibility which again serves their purpose of enhancing social welfare. Marks and Spenc er is an ideal example of how an organisation develops systems, best practices, and labour relationships to provide a social good to society. Meeting the objectives of stakeholders The external market environment, with most organisations, dictates internal policies and the necessary organisational structure required to be adaptable to these changing conditions. Contingency theory informs organisational leadership that in order to remain relevant and

Seasonal Workers Essay Example for Free

Seasonal Workers Essay Seasonal work, the ideal job for young people, college students, and those in need of working urgently. We will show how some companies benefit from seasonal jobs and how individuals make these jobs an opportunity to reach their goals using this chance as a stepping stone. Different ways to reach out those in need of a job, and the trouble these seasonal jobs cause companies when not fill completely or in time for the summer demands. Review/Analysis of the Case Being able to fill positions during demanding times is crucial for all businesses regardless of their affiliations. For companies like High Sierra pools that need lifeguards and pool staff, but can’t obtain them throughout promoting the positions locally, using outside agencies is the best choice. With the policies Congress has impose over the H-2B visas that will prevent previous employees under the visa program apply again, will generate a significant problem while trying to hire employees for the season. Businesses must result to other strategies in order to accommodate their needs. Requesting volunteers from within the company to work extra hours, or add more days to their schedules could help them resolve the current issue. Other ways to fill up the empty positions would be to promote a program that will secure individuals looking for a possible permanent position; having the flexibility to hire for the season with high probabilities of keeping the job would attract more people for those positions locally. Also promising your business directly to one agency may give them the motivation to work the extra mile and bring the best seasonal workers out there. I would recommend them to create a hiring program that would brings students looking for a chance within a business, that will allow them to start at a certain position with the opportunity to apply for others within the company. This would allow them to bring in those looking for interships in business environment. Adapt the program to allow those with a business major to be selected as trainees in different positions within the company, allowing the the chance to stay as a permanent employee or even come back next year during the same time frame. This could serve as a experience stepping stone for those about to graduate and looking for a background experience for other promising jobs. Other strategies that could be use to gain more employees, would be to seek students directly. Going to campuses and providing briefings about the company, their vision, employment programs, and benefits for those young future employees facing the business world. Could promote a higher rate of employment for the company, not only throughout the seasonal time but chances of permanent and best experienced workers in a near future. By providing a good advertisement, the company can be found easier in the many search engines used now days. Making it easier for students to come across them while in the internet. High Sierra Pools, should take this strategies to consideration and give them a try, it could help them find workers faster, easier, and expend less money searching for employees instead of using an outside agency to do the work for them like the previous years. Summary and Conclusions If High Sierra Pools maintains the current employment issue without searching for other alternatives. They will eventually face a major downfall when the summer season comes around. This could hurt their business greatly, not only by not having enough employees, but the current customers may notice a change in the services provided and change their location comes next year season. Being able to adapt to the demanding load of customers and service will be a key tool for the success of their business. Make themselves reliable and flexible to future employees and candidates will maintain the flow of seasonal employees they need to succeed every year. Whether is a company or corporation being able to supply the required number of employees and provide an attractive work environment with good opportunities, will provide the business with a steady growth every season.

Obama and Romney Campaign Video Analysis

Obama and Romney Campaign Video Analysis Analysis of Obama and Romney campaign Advertisements Igbinosa Ojehomon According to McNair Brian â€Å"Political communication simply is purposeful communication about politics†[1] From his definition of political communication, the main word that strikes a chord is â€Å"purposeful† which according to Merriam Webster dictionary, defines purposeful as â€Å"having a clear aim or purpose†[2] So his explanation could be summarized as communication related to politics having a clear aim. Political communication always has an intent and intended target. More so, it usually has an objective and the objective most of the time it is to influence and persuade an intended group or populace. Besides political communication is always issue specific. Part time the information disseminated is well-defined to reflect a particular message. This is done in other to ensure that the recipients of the targeted information get the intended message in other to have maximum impact. Besides political communication has gone beyond just spoken words and com posed text but it has metamorphosed into to the realm of using filmic and photographic cues[3]. These include deliberate concerted efforts at manipulate audio-visual and pictorial materials, structured in such a way that it portrays a particular identity. In this fashion this could be referred to as Political Image. It further includes advertising related attributes such as emblem design for political party, facial cosmetics, and hairdo making of whoever is going to be a flag bearer of the political party. All this are deliberately done to ensure positive image of the political part and the party leader in other to create a positive impression on the mind of the intended target in order to achieve an intended objective desired by the political party and the political leader. This processes goes down to include what type of slogan to use, what color should be used to represent the party to even include voice training of the political leader, gesture training, walking steps to dressin g style are all carefully manage by a specialist to portray and image consistent with what is intended by the party. Funny enough all this transformation in political communication has influence by advancement in communication technology. From paper to newspapers, magazine to radio, television to the social media. However the advent of the television most especially the colored television has open a fora for highly colorful political advertising programs, speeches, jingles all utilize highly creative multimedia tools to produce the most colorful and eye appeal video footage. Besides all entities have components, this divisions that make up the entity. Against the backdrop the parts that make up political communication are as follows the media, the citizens and the political organization[4] COMPONENT OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION The citizen, media and political organization are all core parts of political communication. They are highly dependent on each other and they could be referred to as mutually interdependent. Each constituent depend on the other constituent depend on the other constituent for relevance. This process is also vice versa. Firms 2012 (Barack Obama’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud3mMj0AZZk This 32 seconds Ad was carefully structured to support the motion that Romney was the problem and not the solution to American’s economic woes, by exposing the trading pattern of Romney’s firms and money laundering schemes. In the period when these Ads were aired, America has been experiencing a steady increase in unemployment and the economy was in a bad shape. This economic situation badly affected the middle class of the American society who were losing their jobs to offshore- outsourcing of labor to countries of cheap labor such as Mexico, India and china. Besides, further investment in Tax havens such as Cayman Island and Bermuda. Tax havens â€Å"are locations with very low tax rates and other tax attributes designed to appeal to foreign investors†[5] Some tax haven do not apply taxes for foreign investors. This is an attraction for rich folks and investors, for it is more profitable for them to invest in this place because of low or zero tax. This must hav e been an attraction for Romney’s firm, for his is a business man and wants to make profits. However, investing funds in another country has a tendency of improving the economy of that country. So what this Obama TV Ad is trying to drive at with relation to the economic situation in the United States, is that Romney by investing in the Cayman Island and Bermuda instead of the United States, is contributing to the economic challenges of the United States at that time and not helping the situation. For every amount of money that was invested outside the United States would have contributed to the improvement of the American economy. Besides, the money laundering acts by Romney highlighted in this TV Ad to Swiss account helped to further reinforce the key message of this TV Ad the â€Å"Romney is the problem and not the solution† for when large chunk of money is moved from a country, it short circuit the natural flow of money in the economy and this disruptions have signi ficant impact on the general functioning of the economy. Likewise, those funds saved in the Swiss account by Romney if saved in banks in banks in United States, it would have help improved the American economy by making available funds which banks could borrow to American citizens for business related activities and the such activities would create jobs for American people etc. Personally the arrangement of ideas in this Ad was very was very effective and the arrangement of evidences to support the main idea was splendid. This was an attempt to demonize Romney and blame him for economic situation at that time. However looking at things objectively Romney is a business man, and the goal of every businessman is to make profits so every sane business man will act in like-manner like Romney, such as outsourcing of jobs, investing in Tax haven if he or she feels it is profitable. The Cheaters 2012 (Barack Obama’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MI4YOICmuA This 30 seconds audio-visual Obama Ad is titled The Cheaters, this title is arrived at by taking out excerpt from Romney’s speech which is as follows â€Å"It’s time to stand up to the cheaters and make sure we protect jobs for the American people† Funny enough this excerpt was taken from Romney’s TV Ad against Obama accusing Obama of not standing up to China Hence being a cheater. So we could argue that this Obama Tv Ad is a response to Romney’s Tv Ad. The architect of this Ad are very smart, in that they used Romney’s words which he accused Obama of cheating and not standing up to china against him. This they did by picking up key phrases in Romney’s Ad such as â€Å"Stand up to† â€Å"the cheaters† and â€Å"protect jobs† which he accused Obama of, then using those key phrases against Romney. This they did by providing evidences to prove that what he accused Obama of, he (Romney) is guilty of it; that is,  "not standing up to china†. This evidences are presented as follows Firstly, transferring employment to china. Romney’s investment company called Bain capital has overtime systematically invested in companies that focus on shifting jobs from United States to china.[6]This is a direct link to the fact that Romney has not stood up to china. For how can you claim you are standing up to a country and then still indirectly provide jobs for that country at the expense of your own country. That is highly hypocritical and dishonest; this was what Romney’s action implied. This was what Obama TV Ad was trying to capitalize on. That Romney is a hypocrite and dishonest hence â€Å"The Cheater.† This evidence is aimed at making the American public view Romney as unpatriotic. For his investment patterns was taking jobs from the American people and transferring them to China. Americans are very patriotic people, so they would not vote for a presidential candidate that reflect unpatriotic sentiments. Personally I feel this was a very convincing message, that Romney was not standing up to china for the way the Obama TV portrayed it Secondly, heavily investing in china. The surveillance industry in china is a booming industry due to the rising threat of insecurity as a result of large and growing population. This Obama TV Ad help to highlight the fact that significant portion of Romney’s wealthy is invested in the surveillance industry in china.[7] This directly boosts the Chinese economy, provide jobs for Chinese people. This action of Romney’s firms highly illustrates the fact that Romney is not standing up to china instead he is supporting china. These furthermore reinforces the fact that he is supporting china at the expense of the American people. This has negative connotation on the voting populace. For the American people have been wary of china for it is a direct threat to the American economy. For it is a hub for cheap labor and a distribution point for cheap product to the United States. Due to this economic characteristics of china, American has been losing funds and jobs to china. So Ob ama TV Ad on the second point helps to illustrate that Romney has chosen to align himself with china which is a threat to American economy. Thus, it indicates that Romney is supporting china. This message the Obama TV Ad tries to pass across to the American people that Romney is supporting china which depriving them jobs while he claims he is not supporting china. To sum up, the two TV Ad of Obama titled Firms 2012 and the cheaters 2012 were designed to were designed portray Mitt Romney in a negative fashion. The Tv Ad Title Firms 2012 was designed so that the American public could perceive Mitt Romney as the cause of America’s economic challenges due to foreign outsourcing of jobs and investment in tax havens which indirectly causes unemployment and reduction in funds available in the American economy. More so the campaign advertisement title â€Å"The cheaters 2012† was to show mitt Romney as not a dishonest person, for he claimed he would stand up to china, however his financial company was heavily investing in china directly and indirectly Source: http://www.inc.com/gene-marks/mitt-romney-small-business-admit-when-youre-wrong.html Mitt Romney, has had successful career both academically, politically and businesswise until the presidential election in 2012 which he lost to Barack Obama. He studied in Ivy League schools such as Stanford and Harvard[8]. Politically he was one time governor of Massachusetts. Businesswise he owns a very profitable financial company called Bain capital.[9]This company has been very profitable to Romney and has help to manage his financial assets and channel funds to profitable investments. Conservative Agenda 2012 (Mitt Romney’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6vMqnP3TM4 The first few words of this campaign Tv advertisement summarizes everything in this video. That is Mitt Romney claiming that he would make the American government simpler smaller and smarter, this he further explains he would do through nationalization of programs eliminating non-essential programs and Obamacare. This his rhetoric is highly conservative and a reflection of Republican Party doctrine. Republican Party are not in favor of welfare programs, that may explain why he said he will get rid of programs(Obamacare).He also talks about introducing spending cut and balancing of budget. By this he is trying to show that Obama’s government are not literate enough to handle the American economy. More so his approach here to what is causing job loss for the American people is government deficit as a result of excessive spending .In this campaign add he is outlining the problems of the American economy and offering solutions to it. He is not directing his criticism at Obamas per sonality but at the institution that represent Obamas government. Besides his words in this video is portraying care and concern for the American people and the future. He is portraying himself as a responsible father by talking about the negative impact the Obama government is having on the future of the American kid. Give Me a Break 2012 (Mitt Romney’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9gKQlYtDU8 â€Å"Give me a break† means literally excuse me or give me breathing space. This could literally mean mitt Romney telling Obama to give the American people a break, for even former president Clinton said the same word in 2008 presidential campaign about Obama, highlighting the fact that he could not see any meaningful solution Obama would bring. For since Obama took office the American economy has regressed, the middle class are falling backward and large chunk of the American population are looking for job. Failing American Workers 2012 (Mitt Romney’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58pq658byzI The title of campaign advertisement summarizes everything in this video. Before Obama took office for the first time he promised to create jobs and revive the economy. However the video illustrates that Obama has failed to meet up to his promises, thereby failing the American workers, who are affected most by his failure. Romney shows using figures that illustrate that Americas manufacturing jobs was more than china but when Obama took office, it drop till the extent that china overtook America in manufacturing jobs. An excess of half a million manufacturing jobs were lost under Obamas first administration. This is a concrete prove that Obama has failed the American worker. This is the message Romney is trying to pass across. Failing American Families 2012 (Mitt Romney’s campaign) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erT_1axOAHo Family is a very important factor in among the conservative in the American society. Romney is using the family as a weapon to show that under Obamas administration family income has on a regular interval been reducing by 4000 dollars and furthermore he also illustrates that national debt have increased steadily. By this happen he has failed to meet up to the expectation he promised the American people when he initially took office hence failed the American families. PERSONAL ANALYSIS In this section would attempt to analyze Obama campaign and Romney campaign separately then show the differences and similarities between the two The differences between Obama campaign and Romney campaign in this Video clips is that the two Obama video clips are is more of a personality attack on Romney, designed to create negative sentiment about Romney. Secondly it is mainly focused on Romney as the cause of the problems. Thirdly it it is attacking Romney’s business life. Taking his past business activity and associating it to be the cause of American economic problems and increase unemployment. While alternatively Romney’s campaign advertisement is has substance. Substance in the sense that it is using statistics, numerical facts to prove that Obamas first time in office has done America more harm than good. He does that by comparing America’s economy (house hold income, employment rate and debt burden), before Obama took office and after Obama’s first term in office. He used it to prove that America has not made progress domestically and internationally when compared to china. Personally this is highly convincing, concrete and professional. The challenge to Romney’s approach is that it appeal to the intellectuals and highly educated. In short it appeal to the brain because it the argument are logical and factual. But, it is not the whole American population that would view his campaign from that standpoint. More so Romney’s campaign advertisement was more nationalistic and futuristic. He was trying to make the America public understand the negative impact of Obamas government in the first four years on the future of the American people. More so, Romney’s campaign Advertisement was making use of authority’s facts, such as information from national bureau of statistics, while Obama was utilizing information from newspapers etc. But when view both campaign, Obama campaign seemed to have more effects because it appealed to the emotion. It provoked negative feelings towards Romney by the American people, no wonder Obama won the presidential election the second time. In conclusion, Obama negative campaigning again Romney won again Romney’s logical and systematic and factual representation of campaign advertisement can personally learn from this that people may response more effectively to emotionally charged campaign advertisement than to logical and factual campaign advertisement. More so independent research also suggest that Obama was more genuine that Romney, only God knows. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. McNair, Brian. An introduction to political communication. Taylor Francis, 2011. 2. Webster, M. (n.d.). . . Retrieved, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purposeful. 3. McNair, Brian. An introduction to political communication. Taylor Francis, 2011 p6 5. Dharmapala, D., Hines Jr, J. R. (2007, April). Which countries become tax havens?. InAmerican Law Economics Association Annual Meetings(p. 48). bepress. 6. Hamburger, T. (n.d.). Romney’s Bain Capital invested in companies that moved jobs overseas.. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romneys-bain-capital-invested-in-companies-thatmoved-jobs-overseas/2012/06/21/gJQAsD9ptV_story.html 7. JACOBS, A., BULLOCK, P. (2012, March 15). Firm Romney Founded Is Tied to Chinese Surveillance.. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/world/asia/bain-capital-tied-to-surveillance-push-in-china.html?pagewanted=all_r=0 8. The American Presidency. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 14, 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9439058 [1] McNair, Brian. An introduction to political communication. Taylor Francis, 2011. [2] Webster, M. (n.d.). . . Retrieved, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purposeful. [3] ibid [4] McNair, Brian. An introduction to political communication. Taylor Francis, 2011 p6 [5] Dharmapala, D., Hines Jr, J. R. (2007, April). Which countries become tax havens?. InAmerican Law Economics Association Annual Meetings(p. 48). bepress. [6] Hamburger, T. (n.d.). Romney’s Bain Capital invested in companies that moved jobs overseas.. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romneys-bain-capital-invested-in-companies-thatmoved-jobs-overseas/2012/06/21/gJQAsD9ptV_story.html [7] JACOBS, A., BULLOCK, P. (2012, March 15). Firm Romney Founded Is Tied to Chinese Surveillance.. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/world/asia/bain-capital-tied-to-surveillance-push-in-china.html?pagewanted=all_r=0 [8] The American Presidency. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 14, 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9439058 [9] ibid

linear technology Essay

Three main issues arise when it comes to dividend policy in firms. The first issue is whether dividend is needed or not and the second issue is regarding which one would be the best option among various payout methods. Lastly, the third issue is about dividend rate. Whether these issues will affect corporate values has been debated over the years. This paper will talk about such issues through the case study of Linear Technology. 1. Why dividend is needed. Linear Technology’s payout policy, unlike many competitors in the Semiconductor Industry, has a relatively large portion in dividends. Linear has provided steady dividends since 1992 in a gradually increasing rate in small amounts. Why do firms pay dividends? Can dividends raise the value of firms? To answer these questions, let’s assume that Linear pays out its entire cash balance as a special dividend. For the detailed reference and information, the appendix attached at the end can be reviewed. There would be two different kinds of approaches to this example. The first approach would be adopting the assumptions of M&M1 and adjusting Linear’s situations to it. In conclusion with M&M, the value of the firm will remain steady regardless of the dividend policy. We can simulate two symmetric firms that only vary in the dividend payout ratio. If there is a difference in firm values or share prices between these firms, investors would not let it be and just do their households. Investors in the market would reveal the opportunity of arbitrage. Therefore, the value of two symmetric firms should be the exactly the same. To sum up, there would be no change in value, earnings or EPS. The stock price would just decline just as the amount of dividend payout.  However, if w e peel the onion of assumptions, things get different. On the other hand, by taking the second approach and sticking to the fact that dividend policies can affect the value of the firm, we can compare new result with the prior result. As the cost of capital is lower than Linear’s Return on Equity, Linear’s stock is a growth stock. Being a growth stock means the company earns more than what its shareholders request for their investment. On this condition, paying out entire cash balance will possibly lower Linear’s future earnings, EPS, stock price and its company value, as the company has lesser amount of cash in its hands for future investment after paying dividend. But Linear has paid out constant dividends in spite of the results above. The reasons are as follows. Linear believes that offering dividends appeals to potential investors who not only focus on the growth of the firm but also have interests in definite incomes. Some shareholders may prefer dividends now rather than uncertain income of the future. They also thought that providing dividends can give a signal which represents stability of business as supported by dividend signaling hypothesis. It can also make it easier to get more money by getting into debts. And other numerous studies assert the fact that firms with more favorable inside information optimally pay higher dividends and receive appropriately higher prices for their stock 2. 2. What’s the best option between dividends and repurchase? Linear is powering through stock repurchase in the recent fiscal years. There are two major reasons explaining this increasing amount of stock repurchase. Linear’s employee co mpensation is mostly based on stock options and profit sharing. In order to counterbalance the exercise of stock options, Linear is buying back stock. Another reason is the lack of profitable investment opportunities. But the practical reasons exist. Stock repurchases are discretionary compared to dividends. Additionally, stock repurchase doesn’t affect the  value of the shareholders3. Go back to the example mentioned above. If the company pays out by repurchasing shares, the two approaches do not show a difference. Since the firm’s stocks are growth stocks, the cash used to repurchase stocks lacks the opportunity of generating high cash flows. Accordingly, the market price would result in decreased future earnings, EPS, and the firm value of Linear. The number of outstanding shares, instead of the price, will decrease. While the price of stock would increase just as the amount of cash paid out to repurchase the outstanding stocks. It is important that in both cases, earnings and earnings per share before the payment are not affected. 3. About the dividend rate Firms judge the rate of dividend initiations by earnings. However, simply put, if dividend rate changes depending on the change of earnings, the fluctuation of dividend will increase. This would not be good. Because cutting dividends means uncertain future cash flows. If a company cuts dividend rate, shareholders will need higher opportunity costs of capital, as a result stock prices will go down. Thus, Linear has retained constantly increasing dividend rates in small amounts. Under the theoretical assumptions such as M&M, there is no difference whether firms pay out dividends or not. And if the cost of capital is lower than a firm’s ROE, no dividend can raise a firm’s value. However, considering the real-life factors, firms should keep on steady level of dividend rate or repurchasing shares. Repurchasing shares seems to be a better solution. As a conclusion, Linear’s CFO Paul Coghlan should recommend to the board that Linear should maintain the dividend rate and repurchase its stocks, so that the stock repurchase amount of 2003 exceeds that of 2002.