Learning Basic Japanese Language Through Mobile Audio Learning Essay

Nowadays, education is not just all about writing in the blackboard and explaining afterwards, it needs to capture the enthusiasm of the students to be able to learn. Learning may be done in many ways, like seeing, hearing, and experiencing things first hand. Students are fun of reading books, watching and some are interested in grammar especially in learning foreign languages. ( http://homeworktips. about. com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyle. tm) Learning foreign languages such as Japanese has become a trend because people travel a lot and go abroad to earn money or simply want to visit another country and learn something about its geography and culture and even watching movies, animes, reading books. The researcher’s choose the Japanese language to be used in the development of this research because considering that Japan is one of the leading countries in terms of technology efficiency and learning, their culture may have a big impact to be able to understand more and cope up with them, Considering also the possibility of increasing high paying jobs in Japan by big companies. Firms nowadays are deciding to cooperate with partners from other countries. These firms need good translators who will help them to communicate with their partners. As you can see, you need to learn another language to get a good job. This knowledge can help you in your life. Learning multiple languages will always serve to enhance your quality of life, and even if you never use that language in practical circumstances, you almost certainly will enjoy the time spent educating yourself. Language learning is unique in that you rarely have to spend much money to find a passionate instructor or fellow learner, and the adventure of understanding a new tongue is one experience you will not soon forget. (http://learn-german-review. toptenreviews. com/the-importance-of-learning-foreign-languages. html) Audio recordings use native speakers, and one’s strength is helping learners improve their accent. Some recordings have pauses for the learner to speak. Others are continuous so the learner speaks along with the recorded voice, similar to learning a song. Audio recordings for self-study use many of the methods used in classroom teaching, and have been produced on records, tapes, CDs, DVDs and websites. Most audio recordings teach words in the target language by using explanations in the learner’s own language. An alternative is to use sound effects to show meaning of words in the target language. The only language in such recordings is the target language, and they are comprehensible regardless of the learner’s native language. ( http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Language_eduation) One of the biggest advantages to listening to lots of Japanese, user’s actually learn how to speak it is getting nice and familiar with how Japanese should sound. User get a much better handle for pronunciation, accent, and tone than if users just went into it without any prior listening experience. Whether users realize it or not, their brain is subconsciously paying attention to how Japanese sounds. This makes it much easier for you to reproduce these sounds correctly when the time comes. Well, usually at least. This really helps out, especially by keeping from getting into any bad pronunciation habits. If users already know how it should sound, they’ll be much less likely to get used to pronouncing things incorrectly or ingraining users personal Japanese with a bad accent. ( http://www. tofugu. com/2012/07/02/how-to-learn-japanese-without-really-doing-anything/) A twist in learning such as visual learning, audio learning, in this generation, contributes a big impact as a learning aid. Over the past few decades, the use of audio as a format has great breadth and depth learning tool has been very efficient. Audio as a means there is great potential for its use in education. The diversity of activity that takes advantage of audio hasn’t changed much in many years. However in recent years there has been new exploration into ‘digital’ uses for audio, which were anticipating taking advantage of the potential that is unique to digital audio. The widespread popularity of audio is due, in the main, to its ubiquity in our culture and ease of use both from a listener’s perspective and more recently in the creation of audio. The tools have gotten easier to use and better documentation has lowered the entry barrier. Furthermore, affordable recording devices are readily available, particularly with most mobile phones now are able to record audio to an acceptable standard, giving the majority of people the means to create and use audio. ( http://www. jiscdigitalmedia. ac. uk/guide/using-audio-in-teaching-and-learning/ ) Traditionally, academic libraries provide us an access to the different text based materials that serve as a reference for our research, or even for the learners. But even though it provides a lot of resources, it takes a lot of time spent to look and browse each prospective book. Because of this, Southern College University and its staff tried to develop a project which involves the use of mobile technology for audio format. They tried to convert these different text based materials into audio format and into different languages, in order to speed up research. In just a click, you could already have the necessary data. Even though it is beneficial, in some ways, they tried to ask for some opinion. Some said words are too small to read the way it was read is not clear. Some of the necessary data are missing. Others said they still prefer to read the textual per se rather than using the audio format. Because of these drawbacks, the staff tried to improve and innovate this kind of project in order to accommodate the different comments and will give more benefits to the users. Audio format using mobile technology is really an effective way for learners, to expand their knowledge especially in foreign language. This will also help those disabled person especially the blinds that really rely on their hearing senses in order to be nurtured and develop their own capabilities. Wallin, M, Kelly, K & McGinley, A 2012, ‘Using mobile technology to deliver information in audio format: learning by listening’) Technology may give us a lot of benefits but it has a lot of limitations. We should be able to weigh every circumstances, whatever is more important and be able to change these limitations into a more beneficial and effective aspects. This study seeks to develop a mobile based application that would help the user learning basic Japanese language through the use of auditory learning because learning Japanese language is not that easy. Reading and visual learning is not enough, user’s need to have an extra means of learning. Audio learning helps users to learn the right pronunciation and accent. This study aims to develop a mobile based application that would help the user learn basic Japanese language with auditory learning to increase learning experience not just the basic form of reading, visual learning and pronouncing it but also helping the user to have better understand and have the right way of pronunciation of words. The researchers come up with these specific objectives, 1. ) To be able to promote another means, in order to develop learning aspect. 2. ) To be able to develop the comprehension of individuals in Japanese language in a faster way. 3. ) To determine the feasibility of this kind of technology as teaching aid. 4. ) To enable technology specifically this audio format be contribute to the growth of individual through Japanese language. Procedure To achieve certain objectives, the researchers should have the right approach. First objective is to be able to promote another means, in order to develop learning aspect, basically the key concept of technology is innovation and so the researcher’s came up with the idea to use audio format in order to improve the way learning is conducted, through this, education will be easier. This could be accomplished through the mobile based application which will be the end result of this project. The application will be the primary tool in order to conduct learning by converting the users input which is English words to Japanese language. The second objective is to be able to develop the comprehension of individuals in Japanese language in a faster way. Comprehension development is brought about by the person’s interest to learn and enrich his or her vocabulary. This could be possibly done in faster way and that is through audio format. Like the gadgets that were attached onto, with just a matter of click, users could learn in an easier way. The third objective is to determine the feasibility of this kind of technology as teaching aid. The researchers are challenged to find out the viability of using this technology in conducting learning. This will also assist us to know the possible drawbacks through opinions, imperfections to correct, problems that may arise and make some adjustments in order to improve and innovate it further for it to be more beneficial to people. The last objective is to enable technology specifically this audio format is contribute to the growth of individual through Japanese language. Nowadays, individuals are looking forward in enriching themselves in order to be competitive and to attain a wholesome growth. Some also has the need to learn and be able to speak different anguages because it is required by their respective jobs, and through the use of audio format, this would be a great help in achieving these kind of situation. When users are now exposing themselves repeatedly with the audio format, little by little, they are familiarizing themselves with how Japanese should sound, resulting to a much better handle on the proper pronunciation, accent and tone. They’ll be likely to get used to it and in turn be able to build vocabulary, improve speech, communication skills and generally comprehension.

Cultural Relativism Essay

Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. Cultural relativism is widely accepted in modern anthropology. Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs, is not to be considered in terms of right and wrong or good and bad. Today’s anthropologist considers all cultures to be equally legitimate expressions of human existence, to be studied from a purely neutral perspective. Cultural relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What constitutes right and wrong is determined solely by the individual or by society. Since truth is not objective, there can be no objective standard which applies to all cultures. No one can say if someone else is right or wrong; it is a matter of personal opinion, and no society can pass judgment on another society. Cultural relativism sees nothing inherently wrong (and nothing inherently good) with any cultural expression. So, the ancient Mayan practices of self-mutilation and human sacrifice are neither good nor bad; they are simply cultural distinctives, akin to the American custom of shooting fireworks on the Fourth of July. Human sacrifice and fireworks—both are simply different products of separate socialization. In January 2002, when President Bush referred to terrorist nations as an â€Å"axis of evil,† the cultural relativists were mortified. That any society would call another society â€Å"evil† is anathema to the relativist. The current movement to â€Å"understand† radical Islam—rather than to fight it—is a sign that relativism is making gains. The cultural relativist believes Westerners should not impose their ideas on the Islamic world, including the idea that the suicide bombing of civilians is evil. Islamic belief in the necessity of jihad is just as valid as any belief in Western civilization, the relativists assert, and America is as much to blame for the attacks of 9/11 as are the terrorists. Cultural relativists are generally opposed to missionary work. When the Gospel penetrates hearts and changes lives, some cultural change always follows. For example, when Don and Carol Richardson evangelized the Sawi tribe of the Netherlands New Guinea in 1962, the Sawi changed: specifically, they gave up their long-held customs of cannibalism and immolating widows on their husbands’ funeral pyres. The cultural relativists may accuse the Richardsons of cultural imperialism, but most of the world would agree that ending cannibalism is a good thing. (For the complete story of the Sawis’ conversion as well as an exposition of cultural reform as it relates to missions, see Don Richardson’s book Peace Child.) Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic inanthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: â€Å"†¦civilization is not something absolute, but †¦ is relative, and †¦ our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes.†[1] but did not actually coin the term â€Å"cultural relativism.†

An Analysis of Project Networks as Resource Planning Tools

An Analysis of Project Networks as Resource Planning Tools| Usage and availability of resources are essential considerations when establishing Project Networks in Resource Planning. This analysis has focused on some of the risks of certain actions used to offset resource constraints, advantages/disadvantages for reducing project scope, and options/advantages/disadvantages for reducing project duration. If implemented correctly, careful consideration of the outlined risks will make managing a project a little less painless. | Following is an analysis of project networks as resource planning tools.The analysis will be segmented into three topical areas to include: * Risks associated with leveling resources, compressing, or crashing projects, and imposed durations or â€Å"catch-up† as the project is being implemented; * Advantages and disadvantages for reducing project scope to accelerate a project and what can be done to reduce the disadvantages * Three options for reducing pro ject duration and advantages and disadvantages to these options Risks Associated with Leveling Resources, Compressing, or Crashing Projects, and Imposed Durations or â€Å"Catch-Up† The text (Gray and Larson, 2008) gives good definitions for the risks associated with certain actions used to offset resource constraints. The act or process of evening out â€Å"resource demand by delaying noncritical activities (using slack) to lower peak demand† (Gray and Larson, 2008) is considered leveling resources.This action ultimately increases the resource utilization, which is more than likely the desired result. Even though one may get the desired results resource-wise, leveling resources often results in pushing out the end-date of a project. In most cases, that is the extreme outcome. Another risk that bears its head when slack is reduced, is loss of flexibility which equates to an increase in critical activities. Without slack anywhere in a project network, ALL activities bec ome critical. This means that everything has to fall perfectly in place in order to stay on the prescribed timeline. Compressing a schedule means that you will be conducting project activities in parallel. Compressing is not applicable to all project activities.A good example can be seen if you have activities labeled â€Å"Hire Workers† and â€Å"Dig Foundation†. You can’t implement the â€Å"Hire Workers† and â€Å"Dig Foundation† activities in parallel because to dig a foundation you need to have someone to do the digging. (brighthub. com/office/project-management/articles/51684. aspx#ixzz0ongX7ECF, 20 May 2010). Risks of compressing include: * Increases risk of rework * Increases communications challenges, and may * Require more resources Crashing a schedule involves allocating more resources so that an activity can be completed on time or before time, assuming that by deploying more resources the activity can be completed earlier.One good aspe ct about crashing a schedule (just like compressing), you do not need to crash all activities. The activities that impact the schedule are those with no slack, thus being the only ones that are affected. Risks associated with this action are as follows: â€Å"Budget: Since you allocated more resources, you will not deliver the project on-budget. Demoralization: Existing resources may get demoralized by the increase in people to complete activities that were originally assigned to them. Coordination: More resources translates to an increase in communication challenges† (brighthub. com/office/project-management/articles/51684. aspx#ixzz0onfuKUmj, 20 May 2010).These risks combined or by themselves can ultimately pose the overall risk of reducing the effectiveness of the existing resources. Advantages and Disadvantages for Reducing Project Scope to Accelerate a Project and what can be Done to Reduce the Disadvantages Reducing the scope of the project can lead to big savings both in time and costs. It typically means the elimination of certain tasks. At the same time scaling down the scope may reduce the value of the project such that it is no longer worthwhile or fails to meet critical success factors. An advantage to reducing project scope is the project is more likely to stay on schedule and on budget. It also allows for more focus being applied to the remaining deliverables in the project scope.A disadvantage that may arise is loss of quality in work due to key quality deliverables selected to be cut in order to balance the timeline of the project. The key to offsetting the disadvantages is â€Å"reassessing the project requirements to determine which are essential and which are optional. This requires the active involvement of all key stakeholders. More intense re-examination of requirements may actually improve the value of the project by getting it done more quickly and for a lower cost. † (just answer. com 21 May 2010) Three Options for Reduci ng Project Duration and Advantages and Disadvantages to these Options Reducing the duration a project can be managed by reducing the duration of an activity/activities almost always results in higher direct cost.When the duration of a critical activity is reduced, the project’s critical path can be change with other activities and that new path will determine the new project completion date. Following are three options to reducing project duration. Adding Resources: This is a popular method to reduce project time by assigning additional staff and equipment to activities-if it is assessed appropriately. The activities at hand need to be researched accordingly and proper determinations of how much time will be saved prior to just throwing bodies at it. The first thing that comes to mind when you add resources is â€Å"double the resources, reduce the length of the project in half.The unforeseen disadvantage that arises is the increase in the amount of time that an existing tea m member must spend in explaining what has been done already and what is planned. This increases the overall communication time spent by the team which phenomenally ends up adding/losing valuable time. Outsourcing Project work: A common method for shortening the project time is to subcontract an activity. The subcontract may have access to superior technology or expertise that will accelerate the completion of the activity (Gray and Larson, 2008). Additionally, significant cost reduction, and flexibility can be gained when a company outsources (Gray and Larson, 2008).Disadvantages that may be experienced are conflict due to contrasting interpersonal interactions and internal morale issues if the work has normally been done in-house (Gray and Larson, 2008). Scheduling Overtime: The easiest way to add more labor to a project is not to add more people, but to schedule overtime. The www. businesslink. gov outlines potential advantages of using overtime working include: * a more flexible workforce * the ability to deal with bottlenecks, busy periods, cover of absences and  staff shortages without the need to recruit extra staff * increased earning for employees * avoidance of disruption to jobs where the workload is more difficult to share,  e. g. ransport and driving * the ability to carry out  repair and maintenance which has to be done outside normal working hours However, disadvantages may include: * the expense of premium overtime rates * inefficiency if employees slacken their pace of work in order to qualify for overtime * regular long working hours, which  can adversely affect employees' work, health and home lives * fatigue, which  may increase absence levels and lead to unsafe working practices * employee expectations of overtime, leading to resentment and inflexibility if you try to withdraw it. (businesslink. gov, 22 May 2010) Conclusion Usage and availability of resources are essential considerations when establishing Project Networks in Reso urce Planning.This analysis has focused on some of the risks of certain actions used to offset resource constraints, advantages/disadvantages for reducing project scope, and options/advantages/disadvantages for reducing project duration. If implemented correctly, careful consideration of the outlined risks will make managing a project a little less painless. References Brighthub. com. Difference Between Schedule Crashing and Compressing, Retrieved 20 May, 2010 http://www. brighthub. com/office/project-management/articles/51684. aspx#ixzz0onfuKUmj Brighthub. com. When to Crash or Compress a Schedule, Retrieved 20 May 2010 http://www. brighthub. com/office/project-management/articles/51684. aspx#ixzz0onfuKUmj Read also: Conveyor Belt Project

Crime analysis and investigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crime analysis and investigation - Essay Example Currently, Mr. X is working with ABC construction firm as the head of engineering and procurement department. Mr. X has taken a certain amount of loan from a bank. He has failed to return the money on the deadline settled with the bank. The bank has given the criminal an ultimatum of 48 hours to return the borrowed sum failing which he will have to face legal consequences. Due to a boom in the construction industry, many people have jumped into the construction industry and taken construction as their new profession. But setting their foot in this complex and multi-dimensional industry without any formal education or former experience in the same can ruin their capital in no time. A lot of businessmen can be found nowadays who have opened their own construction firm to take contracts and earn large profits. But this is not recommendable for those who are unaware of the hanky-pankies associated with this industry. The owner of a construction firm must be fully knowledgeable about all aspects of his business, and must have complete hold over the administrative, operative and financial dimensions of the firm. This can be achieved either through sufficient formal education in the required fields, or a sound engineering management experience based on years of hard work in the same. It is very usual for a new construction firm to incur losses in business wi th an inexperienced and unknowledgeable manager running the firm. The firm is owned by a big landowner who has been making money through selling crops grown in his lands for decades. The owner is now fifty years of age and has a nineteen years old son, who is not well-educated like his father. But the father wants his son to set his foot in the construction industry to expand his business. For this purpose, he opens up a construction firm and makes his son the managing director. They have made great money from their business of crop-cultivation and selling and now intend to invest the money in a

How does emotional design can stimulates people's attitudes on a web Research Paper

How does emotional design can stimulates people's attitudes on a web site - Research Paper Example To understand the details of the effects of the website best, a research should be carried out on how interactive design, color effect, typography effect, images and layout affect the user emotionally. Methodology The research used the most appropriate tools that would give objective feedback whose findings would be used for future researches and remedies. The chosen tools were questionnaire method and a virtual survey. They are both positivist (quantitative) and interpretivist (qualitative) paradigms. This project was qualitative A qualitative research is a type of research that yields descriptive material based on observation, spoken or written word. It is basically based on the user feedback. The survey was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. It was exploratory because it sought to explore the perceptions and views of different website users of different ages. The research was a five-phase longitudinal study of primary data from previous researches and built upon t he consequential findings. It consisted of; 1. Design of a suitable checklist to before the starting of the project 2. The self-rating by each of the websites chosen against the checklist. 3. User rating of the websites chosen against the same checklist 4. ... However, there are more phenomenology elements. Similarly on the deductive-inductive front, there is a mix of the two. The research begins from a deductive stance. Based on the chosen websites case study, the research will demonstrated the quantifiable improvements three months after the project. The project assumed that all concerned found the evaluation well worthwhile hence gave trustworthy opinion that ere not biased at all. This lead to a recommendation of the wider use of this project to help the websites and the website designers make choices and changes to improve their designs and the emotional design. The objectives were completed through collating research using both primary and secondary methods. Primary data will be gathered using in-depth analysis of previous findings. The interviews were conducted through virtual interviewing of pop ups that linked the randomly chosen users to the interview questions page. This method was chosen because the structured interviews were f ormal, and can be used to explore in-depth a general area. There was a pre-determined list of question to work with. The research findings formed a discursive and evaluative nature using qualitative research to explore and support arguments, rather than presenting quantitative data as the main focus of the study. The method chosen tried to be as subjective as possible posing questions in a structured manner that avoided researcher bias. It was the customer’s discretion to give information based on merit against the checklist. The assumption as that their opinion as a representation of the majority in the target group that took the interview and the survey. Structured

Using The Body Shop as the company, examine the factors behind any Essay

Using The Body Shop as the company, examine the factors behind any changes that have taken place in the structure or geographical location of its Value Chain in - Essay Example Its stock appeared on London’s Unlisted Securities Market in April 1984, opening at 95 pence. The Body Shop was fully listed on London Stock Exchange in January 1986 and at that time, the company’s stock was selling at 820 pence. The market value of the company had reached at  £350 million ($591 million) by 1991. The journey was not smooth; ups and downs came when Littlehampton manufacturing plants were sold. In the year 2000, manufacturing was outsourced. Even then, the Body Shop commanded the same market value in the year 2004 ( £334 million as of September 2004). The Body Shop’s value chain has expanded vertically and horizontally, transgressing its physical boundaries from the UK and the Republic of Ireland into America, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. A business system in itself is the value chain of a firm. From business perspective, value is the amount customers are ready to pay for the goods of the firm. A firm’s produce is measured by its total revenue – means the number of units sold times the price. A firm remains in profit only until the total value is above the costs borne by all of the firm’s value activities. Michael Porter uses the term ‘value chain’ for this business system. In an industry, value chain of a company depends on its history, strategy and ways of applying that strategy. The set of activities required to collect inputs, design, manufacture, market, deliver and support the goods and services, creates a generic business value chain. A generic value chain is complete in all value activities with added margin, which comes after subtracting the cost of all activities from the total value. The supplier and channel value chains also carry margins, which are included in the total price paid by the ultimate end-user. (Reimann, The Planning Forum 1989) Michael Porter developed the value chain approach in his

Critical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Analysis - Essay Example Finally, it will highlight on the collective root causes, issues and problems that arose as a result of chattel slavery and then it will analyze approaches to abolishing chattel slavery. Origin of Chattel Slavery in North America Since slavery was incorporated in the world, slaves were viewed as property and could be moved as easy as when the owners wanted. This did not take long to be incorporated in the North America. This is so since from the time slaves were bought, or kidnapped in Africa, they were immediately treated as property to be exported into North America. There are various reasons why slaves were treated as property. First, the constitution at that time stipulated that as long as someone was white, they had the right to life and own property. This meant that black people were not considered as human beings by the law since they did not have the right to own property. This being the case, then they were treated as property which could be sold or bought as their masters w ished. Chattel slavery also started in north America as a way of ensuring that slaves respected their masters and did anything they were asked. This is so since being property meant that they could eat, sleep and wear clothes at their masters’ pleasure. This resulted in the black slaves loosing respect for themselves resulting in their at most obedience to their masters. Another reason why chattel slavery was introduced in North America was to ensure that slaves did not run away from their masters. Slaves were branded to ensure that everyone including the slaves new that they were someone’s property. By doing so, the Whites ensured that a slave could not run away since there would be nowhere else they would go. This was the case because if a fugitive slave was caught by white people he/she would have been returned to his master who had branded him/he and severely punished through whipping or sometimes execution. Chattel slaver was legal in North America since it was pr otected by the constitution. In fact, even after the declaration of independence changes to the section on slavery had been architected in such a way that it would not have been changed for the next two decades. Fugitive Narratives and abolition of Slavery Fugitive slave narratives were stories either written or oral about the life and accomplishments of a slave who had ran away from their masters or a free slave. These narratives became so influential North America that they are considered a tradition in the United States of America. These narratives were instrumental in the abolition of slavery in North America since they resulted in many slaves revolving against their masters asking for their rights as they too were also human beings. These stories talked of how a slave experienced freedom and how in other parts of North America and the world black people were respected and treated as fellow human beings. In fact most scholars consider slave fugitive narratives as the major facto r that led to the abolition of slave trade. This is so since it was through them that black people started to revolt against their masters and even fight for their freedom some even willing to die. As a result slavery got abolished since many slaves ran away from the southern states to join the war in favor of the union side of the American civil

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Project management - Essay Example According to Quinn a company should first of all define and map the various types of development projects. The management in Musimax will have to invest in the commercial and research development projects. So the management will have to put in place cost reduced versions of the existing products. The management will also have to set aside funds for research so as to create the know-how and know-why of new technologies and materials that will eventually lead into development of these products (Quinn, 1985). Q2) .If the management actually want to cut costs by 40% in the next two months it should focus on the following solutions which will be beneficial. According to Macgregor and Carlisle, the management should stop making all the operating decisions for themselves. Instead the management should hold weekly meetings with its subordinates and be informed of what they are doing and how they are dealing with arising issues. Using the above it will be easier to appraise their managerial and technical abilities. Actually this will make them know how to solve problems on their own and it will help save time and thus the company will generate more income probably in less than two months. The other project that the management should focus on in order to cut down costs is always train their employees and making the workplace a learning environment. According to Macgregor when employees are well equipped with knowledge then they will be able to solve problems quickly and thus avoid wastage of ti me. They will also be willing to assist other employees when there arises a problem since this will eventually be beneficial to them. It will help a lot especially when there are vacancies they will be the appropriate candidates to fill the gap instead of wasting money looking for new staff. If the management promotes it own existing staff to fill certain vacancies then it will save a lot on advertisement costs and all the costs required in employment of

How Critical is Planning and Modelling in Delivering a Potentially Essay

How Critical is Planning and Modelling in Delivering a Potentially Successful E-Business - Essay Example As the paper discusses in the 21st century, times have changed; now, even young people are getting in to businesses, and all is from the comfort of one’s home or office. Now, people dress up casually; gone are the days of shiny shoes and ties. Today, even dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, one can run a successful business online, and a 24-year-old today can very well be a chairman of their own company.THis essay stresses that one may ask how it is possible to explain this phenomenon.  Ã‚   It’s called e-business.   The letter â€Å"e† in the word stands for electronic, and it’s a business run on computers through the internet and has web pages attached to it. This phrase can be described as the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT).   This is like a support holder for all the activities which are related to the businesses.   The most important activity or a supporter of any business is purely dependent upon commerce, which is the taking and giving of any services or products which happen to lie between groups or individuals or, in our case, businesses.   Now, the function of the e-commerce is to use the ICT to allow the relationships of the businesses with groups or with other businesses to grow.  The process which is involved in e-business is comprised of the value chain, buying of electronics, and managing the supply chain.   The orders which get placed should be processed electronically, and customer services should be handled and a very good co-operation should exist between the business partners.   ... The process which is involved in e-business is comprised of the value chain, buying of electronics, and managing the supply chain. The orders which get placed should be processed electronically, and customer services should be handled and a very good co-operation should exist between the business partners. The way that this business is conducted is usually by the internet, web, extranets, intranets or maybe by the combination of both (Biondo Communications, n.d.). But getting to the new forms of e-businesses which are creating havoc in the net industry consists of web 2.0 applications in which one includes RSS , blogging, instant messaging, digital TV, pod casting and mobile marketing; today many new devices have also been introduced to keep up with the e-marketing (Chaffey, 2002). There are also certain terms which are included in using e-business namely (International Economic Development Council, 2009). These entities and terms work in four basic categories: business towards business, business towards consumer, government towards consumer, and government towards business. There are many advantages of opening this kind of business, as well as disadvantages. They allow to have easy communication amongst the buyer and the seller as well as providing the marketing skills to be more polished. But the downside is that it has to be operational 24/7 in order to cater to all, because due to this, more coverage is available on research. And, it also allows the chance to take in new business models. and better the customer support system if needed. Having talked about e-business, it is essential to know how important planning and

Examine Conan Doyles presentation of Dr Watson Essay Example for Free

Examine Conan Doyles presentation of Dr Watson Essay In the Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle creates a character called Dr Watson whom we learn about as we read through the stories. Dr Watson is in the Sherlock Holmess stories as Holmess companion. He is always there with Holmes and helps him when he is in trouble. He sometimes helps Holmes solve cases and is good at working things out. He is always there for Holmes and he makes the stories more interesting. Watson is a person who has a romantic, less practical imagination than Holmes. Watson has a poetic imagination and is good at describing things as Watson describes Holmes as very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers (Pg 28 MWTL). The description is made before Watson realizes that it is Holmes and not a stranger. The description shows how Watson goes into great detail to describe something and how far his imagination takes him. He is in many stories a soldier of the old school and has deep and genuine feelings for Holmes as quotes your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me(pg1 RHL) . This shows that Watson cares for Holmes and is interested in the same things as Holmes and they both have a deep understanding as they both know about the case and how interesting Watson thinks Holmess cases have been. Holmes always thinks he can rely on Watson in case he fails to understand something or is in a tight spot as Watson goes to investigate the Opium den by himself and happens to bump into Holmes who is in trouble and Watson says (MWTL pg28) I have a cab outside (Holmes) Then pray, send me home in it. This shows how useful Watson is to Holmes and How he sorts out Holmess problems. We also learn from the stories that Watson sometimes goes into missions himself. Watson is described by Holmes as reliable as Holmes says in The Last Bow. Good old Watson! You are the one fixed point in a changing age. Holmes knows that he can rely on Watson to sort out some problems. Watson also shows his feelings for Holmes and how well he knows Holmes (TLB pg122 )as he quotes There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmess nature to take an aimless holiday. Watson clearly know that it Holmes wouldnt take an aimless holiday as he knows him very well and looks out for Holmes as well. Conan Doyle has created Watson to make the stories more interesting he has created a character with a good imagination. Also in most of the Sherlock Holmes stories we believe that Watson is telling the story so it is presumed that they are his points of view and so the stories would be different if Watson isnt there. To get the functions of Watson I have to study some facts. I am going to examine Watson and his history. I have to find out what sort of character Watson is and his background. Also I have to see how Watson and Holmes are a kind of double-act as they both rely on each other. Watson in many stories always sets the scene or atmosphere. It says in the introduction of Sherlock Holmes Stories that Conan Doyle loved all exotic things. We can get the idea of what sort of exotic things as we see Watsons ways of describing things. Watson is described as a sympathetic character although Holmes feels he is always exasperated by him in some stories (MWTL Pg29) Holmes quotes I suppose Watson, said he, that you imagine that I have added opium-smoking to cucaine injections and all other little weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical views This quote shows that Holmess doesnt want Watson interfering in his Private life of what he does and doesnt want to hear What improvements Watson as for him in improving his life. Although Watson isnt a very bright character he has a more romantic, less practical imagination than Holmes and is useful in stories as he provides the reader with impressive descriptions. For instance in MWTL Watson says (talking about his wife) Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds to a lighthouse. Watson also has a poetic imagination when he describes certain events. We expect him to be a character like Holmes as they both are alike as they have the same taste in some things like Watson likes being involved in Holmess cases as Watson quotes your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me(pg1 RHL) but Watson is not as good as Holmes in solving cases as Homes is more Intellectual and has a good imagination. Watson is always there with Holmes and helps him out. He is a believable character as when he describes something its like he was actually there and it makes you believe him. Watson and Holmes are a kind of double-act as they both rely in each other as (MWTL) Watson is first to investigate the Opium den and is surprised to see Holmes there in disguise. And then when Holmes needs to get away, Watson has a cab which is useful to Holmes for his getaway as Watson quotes I have a cab outside (Holmes) Then pray, send me home in it. You must safely trust him, fir he appears to be top limp to get into any mischief if you will wait outside I will be with you in five minutes . This shows how Watson is there for Holmes and Watson is a good man ass he listens to Holmes as he says (pg29 MWTL) it was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmess requests . Also when Watson doesnt understand something or is mixed-up up Holmes is always there to help him out. (MWTL pg29) (Watson) I came to find a friend. (Holmes) and I to find an enemy (Watson) an enemy? . Watson is clearly lost as he thinks he knows all about Holmes and then finds that Holmes came to look for an enemy and he doesnt know about it. Watson is a character who speaks for the reader as when Holmes is explaining something it is sometimes difficult to understand so Watson gets Holmes to repeat the explanation for the benefit of the reader. As in The Red Headed League Watson says to Holmes how, in the name of good fortune did you know all that? . This is how Watson gets Holmes to explain his reasoning. Also when he gets Holmes to explain Holmes always goes a little further and explains the case from the beginning so the reader doesnt have to think back Holmes explains(RHL pg 3) Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left then Holmes goes on explaining and that shows how Holmes always goes a little further. Another thing that Watson does for us is that he sets the scene or the mood of the situation. As when he starts in the beginnings of stories he always describes what he did and how he did something. As in the story The man with the twisted lip Watson describes the way he went and he starts I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug they could only come from the side, and yet he sat as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age and a opium pipe dangling . These are some of the descriptions Watson makes. And by these descriptions we can learn that it was cramped and smelly in Victorian London and there were a lot of people sleeping rough. Watson uses a lot of descriptive words in stories to describe things and is very good at describing things. As the quote above is his description of Holmes, which at first he doesnt realise that it is Holmes as Holmes is in disguise. Also by looking at some of the stories we can tell that Watson admired Holmes a lot. As in TFP after Holmes supposedly has died Watson says whom I shall regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known this shows us what Watson thought of Holmes. Also Holmes admires Watson a lot as he writes him the letter about him going to be killed. This shows that Holmes cared for Watson enough to leave a letter for him. Watson has a knightly attitude to life he gets on well with most people . unlike Holmes who sometimes takes things into his own hands as he thinks he knows best and therefore isnt like by many people like the police. He is always doing good things and therefore people go to him for help as (MWTL pg25) the lady quotes I didnt know what to do, so I came to you. This shows that he can also help people like Holmes. In the Sherlock Holmes stories there is a lot of historical language used and sometimes they are hard to understand as nowadays people dont use Victorian words. Some of the words are used in Watsons and Holmess descriptions . In RHL story words like ejaculated which is another word for exclaimed are used which are historical words, also jobs were called berths in Victorian times. And also there were things called a ledger which were like a record-book. The language was used because the story was set in Victorian times and it was set in Victorian London. In conclusion Conan Doyle has been successful in the creation of Watson as if Watson wasnt in the Holmes stories than the stories would have been different as different characters have different minds. The stories are always more interesting when there are good guys in them and Watson is a good guy also without Watson the Holmes stories would be immensely different. If Watson wasnt in the stories than they would have been less entertaining and unexciting as there wouldnt be the high-quality descriptions form Watson and the stories would have been dull. And if Watson wasnt in the stories than Conan Doyle could have made another character like Watson but named the character different. I think that Watson is an interesting character and if he wasnt there than the stories will not be the same as Holmes would not have an associate and wouldnt have help with him when he goes to unravel mysteries. The stories also would be less exciting.

Civil Enforcement Against Senior Bankers

Civil Enforcement Against Senior Bankers Civil enforcement against senior bankers for the financial failure of the institutions that employ them has been quiet in the United Kingdom before the global financial crisis in 2007. However, this unpleasant event that happened in the period between 2007 and 2009 directly displayed the weaknesses of senior management in the financial sector. Risk-taking management decisions, market misconduct and mis-selling practices are the common malpractices in the financial sector. Gradually, this problem which is caused by weak governance and misbehaviour has become more and more serious. There is a quote from an article stating this kind of problem as nothing so concentrates the mind as an urgent and complex problem.[1] However, generally, senior managers at financial institutions are typically incentivised in ways that lead them to underestimate risk-taking from the perspective of the firms other constituencies because they put the institutions profit in the first place. This can result in a failure to identify or fully appreciate in particular the correlation between low-probability risk and firm integrity.[2] Hence, it may not be best dealt with by enforcement against senior bankers.[3] As we know, a decision to be made equally for the best interest of the financial institution and the public is difficult. However, since weak governance appeared to be a problem for the fairness and transparency of the financial sector, it has to be addressed as soon as possible. Before determining whether the law is taking sufficient measures in addressing this senior management problem, we should first proceed to look at previous cases of the banks in the UK which failed in the global financial crisis. First and foremost, Northern Rock, which was a mortgage lender with a large market share, operated on a risky originate-to-distribute business model which relied on short-term money market funding to finance its extensive mortgage writing business. However, it went into trouble when the money markets dried up owing to subprime mortgage defaults in the United States. Then the Financial Services Authority (FSA) produced a report reflecting upon what went wrong at Northern Rock.[4] Certain doubts were voiced regarding the chairman of the board and the chief executive in terms of their competence and decisions made. However, neither individual has been subject to any individual liability under the law. Thus, this reflects that the law was not having a consolidate d structure to deal with individual liability in decision making. Next, the Royal Bank of Scotland teetered on the brink of failure in early 2009. It had been growing aggressively through large-scale acquisitions, such as of National Westminster Bank in the UK in 2000.[5] In May 2007, Fred Goodwin, who was the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group between 2001 and 2009, led the bank to acquire the Dutch bank ABN-AMRO, over-bidding for it in order to edge its rival Barclays out of the race.[6] The deal was completed deal quickly without adequate due diligence carried out on ABN-AMROs assets. This action was severely questioned by the media at that time.[7] By early 2009, the bank faced significant losses due to the absorption of losses from ABN-AMROs extensive securitised assets portfolio. This acquisition was proved not a good move. However, although the Financial Services Authority criticised the senior management for poor risk decisions and governance culture in its report on the Bank, no individual has been subject to any i ndividual liability under the law again.[8] In addition, Halifax Bank of Scotland, in fact, was a casualty of the global financial crisis because the crisis crystallised the failure of an already dangerous business model.[9] The bank had been underwriting corporate loans with poor due diligence and standards in order to pursue rapid growth and expansion. The Parliamentary Commission looked into the banking standards and criticised the chairman, the chief executive and a number of board members. However, only one individual, Peter Cummings, the director of the corporate finance division who led the business into writing enormous sums of bad corporate loans, was fined and disqualified by the Financial Services Authority.[10] No other individual has been subject to any individual liability. Hence, these previous cases show that the legal structure in this area was not competent to act as a deterrence and raise awareness of the senior bankers in making careful decisions in the best interest of the public. After the global financial crisis, several conduct scandals were revealed in the financial sector. Significant banks in the UK such as Barclays were fined in significant amounts for rigging the London Inter-bank Offered Rate.[11] The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), together with other international regulators, also subjected a number of banks, including Barclays and RBS, to record fines over foreign exchange market-rigging.[12] The Salz Review[13], which revealed unhealthy sub-cultures in the large and complex structures at Barclays, also raised interesting questions. Question arises as to what extent senior management and the board should be responsible for the polluted banking culture as organisational pyramid shows the decisions are often made at the top.[14] The harms caused by malpractices in the banking sector are not only individual losses, but also damaging market confidence and integrity. Good corporate governance matters. It persuades, prompts and encourages institutions to preserve the honesty and integrity of key promises made to investors and the public.[15] In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, we can notice that many affected banks underwent senior management changes. In fact, the general consensus of all key reports is that the economy would have had stronger chances of survival had there been more professionalism among executives, better corporate governance structures and more ethical behaviour within the banking sector.[16] However, new management is unlikely to have significant effect on the current posed problem if the law is still lacking sufficient supervision in this area. In relation to this, Singapore, one of the world leading financial centres, recognises that a regulatory framework that is sound, strong and in line with the practices of leading jurisdictions is fundamental to achieving a thriving and liquid market.[17] We should now proceed to look at the development of the law in this area. In fact, the regulation of banking in the UK began with informal controls by the Bank of England and was eventually placed on a statutory basis by the Banking Act 1979. The following decades saw the passing of the Banking Act 1987 which increased the Bank of Englands regulatory and supervisory powers. As the UK did not have any special regime for dealing with banks in financial difficulties, a temporary Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 was passed to enable the resolution of problems. That Act was then replaced by the Banking Act 2009. After that, Financial Services Act 2010 was passed which amended Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by strengthening the powers of the FSA and giving it a financial stability objective.[18] In July 2012, following a series of banking scandals culminating in the LIBOR findings, the UK instituted a Parliamentary Commission comprising both Houses to inquire into how banking culture could be changed for good.[19] The Parliamentary Commission was of the view that individual standards are key to enhancing banking culture and hence enhanced regulation of individuals must be introduced to change banking for good.[20] The Parliamentary Commission proposed enhanced regulatory liability for senior persons and employees performing any function that could harm the bank, as well as a special criminal liability regime for senior persons who have recklessly mismanaged a bank.[21] In relation to the above, the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 has adopted many of the Parliamentary Commission recommendations. This Act has been lauded by the Treasury as the biggest reform to the UK banking sector in a generation, which will help to increase conduct standards among bankers.[22] This Act can be seen at the heart of system-focussed reforms designed to increase overall resilience of the UK financial system to future shocks and instability, as much as it can be seen in initiatives designed to strengthen the liability of individual actors operating within the overall financial system.[23] However, the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 is also said to be a missed opportunity to increase the accountability of senior bankers for the financial failure of the institutions that employ them. In fact, individual liability is governed under Section 36 of the Act.[24] We can examine this issue by viewing it from two perspectives. We should first look at the express meaning and purpose which the Act wishes to carry out by its wordings. From the Act, we can see that Section 36 provides a jurisdiction to prosecute misconduct in the financial services sector. However, this jurisdiction is quite broad. This can be seen in Section 36(1)(a)(i) and (ii). It states that the senior manager either needs to have taken a decision or have agreed to the taking of a decision. Besides that, the senior manager has the duty to take steps he or she can in order to prevent such a decision being taken. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) in its June 2013 final report concluded that mismanagement and failure of control lie at the heart of standards and culture in banking.[25] However, it seems that Section 36 is only intended to deal with the process of making reckless decision while managing the financial institution. Furthermore, the Act has a number of limitations. First, S stated in the Act must be a senior manager or an authorised person who is carrying out a senior management function, which is stated in S.19(2) of the Act.[26] In fact, many organisations have delegated authority now and so, this will narrow down the ambit of the offence. There is one problem in accessing this jurisdiction identified by the Commission is that managers of varying levels can communicate preferences that give rise to a risk without directing subordinate employees explicitly. For example, this was displayed in the London Interbank Offered Rate rigging scandal.[27] In relation to this, the law provides the provision where the senior bankers have the duty to take measures in order to prevent reckless decisions. Nevertheless, this 2013 Act still has its limitation to prosecute senior managers who are experienced and have become adept at encouraging reckless misconduct. Besides that, the Act states that S needs to be aware of a risk that the decision in question may cause the failure of the financial institution. This may be unfair to criminalise the actions of a decision-maker who did not appreciate or actually foresee a risk. The decision must actually bring the financial institution to the risk of failure, not only risk causing losses to the bank. In addition, there is no single definition of conduct risk available. There are different definitions in use, depending on the emphasis, the causes and the impact.[28] This will make the Act seem vague in this sense. The scope of the offence is limited further by the causation clause in Section 36 (1) (d) which states that the implementation of the decision causes the failure of the group institution. Failure in this context means is interpreted in three ways. First, the institution becomes insolvent. Second, any of the stabilisation options in Part 1 of the Banking Act 2009 is satisfied by the financial institution in question. Third, the financial institution is taken for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to be unable or likely unable to satisfy claims made against it. Practically speaking, it is very difficult to prove or to bring actions under the law. In the article titled Criminalising Bank Managers, Professors Julia Black and David Kershaw from the London School of Economics identified the difficulties faced by the drafters of the new legislation.[29] In fact, the law has to be broad enough to provide a solid deterrent to individual liability and also to satisfy public demand for accountability. However, it cannot be legislated too widely which would possibly allow senior bankers to benefit from the loopholes of the law. In fact, it can be said that the criminal sanction provided by the Act delivers an important message and acts as an alarming notice for the banking sector. Apart from that, question arises here as to whether the law achieves its purpose practically. The exact purpose of the law in this area is said to be difficult to be achieved practically. The practical problem of the Act is that Section 36 is seemed to be a legal framework on how the law and sanction will operate because the possibility of successful prosecution is quite remote. Indeed, the Commission stated in its final report that it would not be easy to secure convictions for the offence. However, the Commission felt that the provision should be created to give pause for thought to the senior officers of UK banks. There are two main reasons affecting the practicality of the law in this area. First, there is the matter of causation. In order to establish liability, the senior manager must cause or his decision results in the institutional failure. In other words, it has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the senior banker causes the failure of the financial institution. As we know, most of the business failures are often caused by a combination of factors. In any prosecution, as stated above, establishing that the decision of a senior manager cause the failure of a bank will be difficult. Financial institutions such as banks are often large organisations, and failure of the bank is not usually caused by only an individual, but a combination of different factors. Hence, it is quite difficult to prove that the bank failure was due to a specific decision by an individual, if not impossible.[30] In fact, the government argued that causing the banks failure should be interpreted as having significantly contributed to the failure during the Parliamentary debates on the b ill. However, this interpretation is unsupported by a plain reading of the Act. Hence, establishing causation in fact and in law successfully might be very difficult practically. Secondly, it also appears to be difficult that the senior manager is aware of the risk that the implementation of a decision may lead to bank failure as it is full of uncertainties in the financial sector. Besides that, the Act states that his or her conduct fell far below what could reasonably be expected of a person in their position. In fact, the doctrine of reasonableness can have different outcomes owing to different circumstances. For example, if there is an imminent bank failure, a senior manager is reasonably expected to take responsive but difficult decisions under pressure. This will cause proving the necessary mental element of the offence become very complicated. Besides that, misconduct or risk-taking decisions at one bank spreads across the sector, as the behaviour comes to be seen as the market norm and no bank wants to miss the extra earnings from the practices. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the reasonableness test on senior bankers since a lay person may not kn ow the actual reason behind certain decisions made in that position. The idea of how these situations will be decided can only become clear when it comes to the court. Apart from that, in determining a potential prosecution under this Act, investigations on the issues are likely to require a high degree of access to the financial institution records. This may appear to be a heavy burden for the financial institution in question. In the absence of sufficient evidence or information on what actually causes the banks failure, this will be a waste of time for the authorities and the financial institution. In addition, if the investigating authority wishes to investigate on every person involved in the senior management decision, this action requires a certain amount of time which might take months or even years. It would be even worse for a financial institution which does not have proper records of its major decisions. Besides that, it should be noted that not every decision is made at the general meeting. Therefore, an investigation may use up management time.[31] By looking at the nature of the Act, the new provision criminalises individuals actions by holding them responsible for having caused the banks failure. However, the process of decision-making in large financial institutions is usually a collaborative process with several inputs from various senior managers or people sitting at the top level of the institutional pyramid. As stated above, an investigation on this issue would possibly consume few months or years and this may disrupt the continuing management. In relation to the above, it shows that the laws must be clear and simple for people to follow. Laws that are overly vague or complex and technical do not encourage compliance as they are too difficult to interpret and comply with.[32] Practically, this new offence has its limitations in finding senior bankers liable for making risky decisions because risk-taking is the spirit of the financial sector. For example, in many capitalist societies, risk-taking is seen as a necessary part of business and it is hard to prove wrongdoing.[33] Therefore, this illustrates that Section 36 may seem to be a paper tiger which is enacted more for symbolic than actual punitive effect.[34] Apart from that, the law has another way of addressing senior bankers liability besides merely applying the 2013 Act. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have published the final approach to improve individual accountability in the banking sector. The Senior Managers Regime will ensure that senior managers can be held accountable for any misconduct that falls within their areas of responsibilities, while the new Certification Regime and Conduct Rules aim to hold individuals working at all levels in banking to appropriate standards of conduct.[35] This has come into force on 7 March 2016. In fact, the new UK Senior Managers Regime (SMR) has the potential to rebalance these incentives. It is the product of a two year process led by a parliamentary commission tasked with addressing widespread misconduct at banks. The commission identified the lack of personal consequences for individuals as a root cause of repeated bad behaviour by institution s.[36] Under the SMR, an individual is guilty of misconduct if the regulators are able to show that there was a failure by a relevant authorized person in an area for which that individual senior manager was responsible.[37] Clearly, all centrepiece reforms of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 can be related to culture as it is currently understood by regulators: as a set of attitudes, values, goals and practices which together determine how a firm behaves à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[38]; and also by academic scholars: as the subsistence and transmission of behaviours and beliefs which characterise particular social or economic groupings within and beyond these groupings.[39] From the above, we can see that the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 can be seemed to act as a reminder or notification for the senior bankers not to make extremely risky decisions. And by having this legislation, senior bankers and those who are responsible for making decisions would be more cautious in future decision making. However, practically speaking, it is difficult to be accessed as the financial or banking sector are full of uncertainties. No one can foresee the potential risk hidden in every decision made a nd no one should be blamed if the decision is made in the best interest of the institution. In short, a powerful mechanism to promote desired behaviour is to ensure that senior managers of the banks and their counterparties are aware of the possibility of the systemic implications of their actions such as aware of the possibility of their failure, and therefore the need to be concerned about that risk.[40] Banks safety and soundness are key to financial stability, and the manner in which they conduct their business is central to economic health. Governance weaknesses at banks, especially but not exclusively, those which play a significant role in the financial system, can result in the transmission of problems across the banking sector and into economies in outlying jurisdictions. Thus, effective and sensible corporate governance is critical to the proper functioning of the banking sector and the global economy.[41] In conclusion, the presence of this new offence may be seemed as a political tool to comfort the public after the global financial crisis which has no real and practical impact on individual liability. However, this Act will anyhow act as a general framework for senior bankers in their financial institutions to re-examine their decision making processes and to ensure that they comply with the highest standards of transparency. Someone may argue that strict rules or legislation might stop attracting talents into the financial sector. However, if they are not prepared to be bound by the legislation, they are clearly not the people who can bring huge impact to the financial sector and consequently the national economy. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Ellinger E. P., Lomnicka E and Hare C. V. M, Ellingers Modern Banking Law (5th edn, OUP, Oxford 2011) Articles A Minto, Misconduct in banks: approaching the issue from a systemic perspective (2016). A Salz, The Salz Review: An Independent Review of Barclays Business Practices (2013). D Arsalidou and M Kambria-Kapardis, Weak corporate governance can lead to a countrys financial catastrophe: the case of Cyprus (2015). F. Hilmer, Strictly Boardroom: Improving Governance to Enhance Company Performance (1993). FCA, FCA publishes final rules to make those in the banking sector more accountable (2015). Financial Stability Board, Peer Review Report on Risk Governance (2013). FSA, Final Notice against Peter Cummings (2012). FSA, The Failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland: Financial Services Authority Board Report (2011). FSA Board, The Failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (2011), para.581. FSA Internal Audit Division, The Supervision of Northern Rock: A Lessons Learned Review (2008). G Wilson and S Wilson, Banking and regulation post-crisis: the significance of culture in the UK and experiences from Australia (2016). Hall and du Gay (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity (1996); and Williams, Culture and Society: 1780-1950 (2013). House of Lords and House of Commons, Changing Banking for Good (12 June2013), Vol.I, para.116 House of Lords and House of Commons, Changing Banking for Good (12 June 2013), Vol.II, paras 632-634 House of Lords and House of Commons Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, An Accident Waiting to Happen: The Failure of HBOS (2013). Iris H.-Y. Chiu, Regulatory duties for directors in the financial services sector and directors duties in company law: bifurcation and interfaces (2016). J Black and D Kershaw, Criminalising Bank Managers (2013). J. Gapper, Trading Floor Culture no longer Acceptable (2012). J Stainsby and K Anderson, Making individuals accountable: new regulatory frameworks for banking and for insurers (2015). L.A. Bebchuk, A Cohen and H Spamann, The Wages of Failure: Executive Compensation at Bear Stearns and Lehman 2000-2008 (2010). M S. Kenney, A D. Moglia and A Stein, Fraudsters at the gate: how corporate leaders confront and defeat institutional fraud: Part 1 (2016). Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Changing Banking for Good (2013). Singapore Parliamentary Debates, Securities and Futures Bill (5 October 2001) Vol.73, cols 2127-2128. T Hallett, Symbolic Power and Organizational Culture (2003). V. K. Rajah SC, Prosecution of financial crimes and its relationship to a culture of compliance (2016). Official Published Sources J. Macey, Corporate Governance: Promises Kept, Promises Broken (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 2008). Electronic Sources BBC News, NatWest Takeover Battle accessed 26 March 2017. BBC News, RBS Secures Takeover of ABN Amro accessed 26 March 2017. The Independent, Was ABN the worst takeover deal ever? accessed 26 March 2017 C Coltart, Banking act is a paper tiger, The Law Society Gazette accessed 26 March 2017. D Gilroy, Banking Reform Act 2013, a good idea with poor implementation accessed 27 March 2017. L Hodges, Jail bankers for failure? The new criminal offence is an unworkable paper tiger accessed 27 March 2017. Norton Rose Fulbright, Criminal liability for senior bankers accessed 27 March 2017. R Burger and M Bonnell, Individual Accountability in Banking and Finance

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) The Corporate plays a vital role in economic development of the country and these corporate involves in various activities for their sustainability in the business environment. In this globalization era business organizations finds the greatest challenge in managing the stakeholders demands, which results in complex in the competitive market. So, here the corporate takes up social responsibility as a commitment and engage themselves in the society development. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a commitment by the business organizations in improving the society through their business activities and its contribution in community development. CSR is an effective tool which needs to be implemented in the organizations for their sustainable growth and development of societal objectives. This report addresses the socially responsible business of two multinational organizations high income and emerging economies group. Here, Royal Dutch Shell is chosen in high-income and Tata Steel in emerging economies group of multinational organizations. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in Dutch, which involves in production of oil and Shell Transport and Trading Company in British, which involves in transportation of oil, merged their operations in 1907 and later it is named as Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is a multinational petroleum company and its headquarters locates in The Hague, Netherlands. Their business involves in production and marketing of petroleum and natural gas. They operate in more than one hundred countries with 45,000 service stations worldwide. They produce 2% of worlds oil and 3% of worlds gas. Shell is worlds largest corporation and its ranks one by Fortune 500 in 2009 (Shell, 2009). TATA Group, the largest multinational group founded in 1868 and based in Mumbai, I ndia. Initially the trading company was established by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata involving in Opium business. Later, the group expanded by JRD Tata by establishment of Tata Steel, Tata chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Industries etc. According to 2009 annual survey by Reputation Institute, Tata Group is ranked has 11th most reputable group in the global (Tata, 2009). Tata Steel pervious known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) founded in 1907. Tata steel one among top ten steel producers in the world. With their recent acquisition of Corus, Millennium steel and NatSteel, Tata steel has established its business network across the global like South East Asia, Europe and Pacific-Rim. Tata Steel has net sales revenue of USD 33 billion with employee strength of 82700 by year 2008 (Tata Steel, 2009). This report firstly briefs on companies commitments on society from stakeholders viewpoint with a stakeholder saliency model to identify them. Secondly on companys approach and initia tives towards social responsibilities and finally those approaches and initiatives by companies are analyzed and compared on different viewpoints. Stakeholder Identification Stakeholders are a person, group, or organization who is directly or indirectly involves in an organizations actions, policies, and behavior. Shareholders, customers, creditors, government, suppliers, employees, directors, owners, and society are the key stakeholders in a business organization. All stakeholders are not equally same; each stakeholder is entitled to different concerns. In order to analyze an organizations social engagement from stakeholders perspective, it is necessary to identity the applicable stakeholder group. Several approaches and attempts are made to identify different stakeholders relevant for a company. Later Mitchell, Agle, and Wood made up with definition in identifying the stakeholder group by developing Stakeholder Salience Model, which propose the vital of stakeholder group based on its salience. They argued that the stakeholder who has high degree of salience will play the vital role in controlling the corporate behavior. They argued stakeholder salience model identifies the stakeholder group by three attributes, namely Power, Legitimacy and Urgency (1997). This concept of three attributes is used to categories seven stakeholders and one non-stakeholder. 1. Dormant 2. Discretionary 3. Demanding 4. Dominant 5. Dangerous 6. Dependent 7. Definitive 8. Non-Stakeholder With this Stakeholder Salience Model the different types of stakeholders are identified and measure their corporate social responsibility activities of two multinational organizations (Royal Dutch Shell and Tata Group). Here, we briefly consider what organizations activities in social responsibility and the changes made to accommodate these CSR initiatives. The following fig1.2 describes on different stakeholder of shell according to stakeholder salience model. Shell associate with general business principle, as business principle shell contributes to sustainable development. Their business principle is to protect the shareholders investment and give them the long-term returns compared with others leading firms in the industry. So, shareholders are identified as definitive stakeholder of shell. Here, dormant stakeholders are the host government, as shell establishment in a country with support of government. For example Shell in Nigeria worked closely with government to help realize the Nigerias energy potential and support for society development. With help of Nigerian government shell expanded their business and energy sector in Nigeria. Non-Government organizations are found to be dangerous stakeholder, who has the power and urgency. Shell had a negative impact in 1995 after its announced to sink the Brent Spar in the Atlantic Ocean, NGOs like Greenpeace and media started campaign against shell with support of local people and government for environmental disputes. These initiatives by Greenpeace made many people in Europe countries to boycott shell products and they were successful in influence. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholder of the organization by encourages them in social performance. Institutions are dependent stakeholder, shell as a leading corporation in the global involves in decision making policies of institution which impacts on society. Local communities are found to be demanding stakeholder, where they need urgency in the environmental issues. For example shell operates in Schoonebeek has stopped their operation in 1996, where it not made any economic sense in extraction of oil, the plant was closed consulting with local community and framework with new project in 2003 after the approval of local communities. Tata Steels Stakeholder Saliency Model The above Fig1.3 shows the stakeholder salience model of Tata steel, which is used to identify the different stakeholders of Tata Steel. Shareholders are the distinctive stakeholders who actively take part in all important meeting on social investments and business ethics. They have the power in decision making on corporate governance which will benefit both the company and society. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholders; where the employee are encourage to take part in community initiatives through employee involvement planning and volunteering programme like disaster relief. Government is found has dominant stakeholder, who has power and legitimate. Tata steel had joined hands with government by taking part in collaborative initiatives on public policy development. They work together on environmental impacts. Local community are identified has demanding stakeholders, where Tata steel had taken number measures on social responsibility. They are mainly focused on sust ainable livelihood, health, education, empowering youth and environment. Even feedback on business performance and impacts are taken from local communities. So, the company can come with new initiatives and development for community. Stakeholder differences between Shell and Tata Steel According to Stakeholder Salience Model, the stakeholder groups are classified into three categories namely Latent Stakeholders or Low salient classes (dormant, discretionary demanding), Expectant Stakeholder or Moderately salient classes (dominant, dangerous, dependant) and Highly Salient Stakeholder (definitive) (Friedman, 2006, p94). It is observed from stakeholder salience model of Shell and Tata steel, Shell is forced by expectant stakeholders like Greenpeace in social responsibility. Most of the social responsibilities of Shell are found in places where they bad experience and negative impacts by the society. This show their business motto and against their business principle. Whereas Tata steel are more focused on social responsible of local communities. The company helps the community in their day to day activities and joined collaboration with government in new initiatives and society development. Here, the latent stakeholder (Financial Community) reviews their business performance and ethical behavior on society. Tata steel is more focused on Latent stakeholder compared with other stakeholders. Shell Societal Approach and Initiatives: Shells mission is to achieve its social responsibility to stakeholders and provide them with high quality product and service. Shell stands with General Business Principle, which contributes to their sustainable development. The company finds the major responsibilities has to protect the shareholders investment, provide a quality product and safety environment to customer, provide a safe and good working condition to their employee, valuable relationship with suppliers and partners, and finally secure environment to the society (Shell, 2009). The following are the systematic approach of Shell in social responsibility: Impact assessments Social performance plans and reviews Social performance professionals Local employment Social investment Impact Assessment Impact assessments are done at initial stage of new project; the assessment done on environment, social and health impact and consult with local communities. Where the environmental and social impacts are identified and measures are taken according to reduce the negative impact to the local community. Social Performance Plans and Review The chemical facilities and refineries of shell have major impacts on community, so they have social performance plans and review. These plans have information on impact assessment, surveys of local community and communication of local stakeholders. On working with local stakeholder, the plan will be executed to reduce the disputes on society and improve the benefits. These plans are reviewed every four years by shell and information is shared on key social impacts across their operations. Social Performance Professionals Social performance management unit is support the people in risk, where shell had the concept of buying and hiring locally. The company used local supplier and contractors, and hired local employee to create benefits and trust. This made more employment in the local communities and provides more opportunities to local people and businesses. Even government gets benefited by these responsibilities. Social Investment Society and local communities are benefited by Shells social investment programmes. They support the community by number of social responsible initiatives like education, health, community development, environmental issues and infrastructure development. They also join with NGO like Living Earth Foundation for community development. Shells CSR initiatives are achieved through Social Investment Programmes across the global. They have Shell Livewire, which helps and encourage the young crowd to start their own business. This programme is conducted in 24 countries across the global and in this programme the young entrepreneurs are awarded for the best business approach. Shell centenary scholarship programmes helps the students in providing scholarship to postgraduate studies and those students are send to UK for their studies. Along with government and NGOs, shell helps society in road safety measures by their Global Road Safety Partnership programme. Shell has HIV/AIDS programme to prevent their employee and their dependents from the diseases. They participate with other organization and government to fight against HIV/AIDS. Shell Foundation is a self-governing charitable trust started in 2000 with contribution of $250 million from the company. Shell Foundation is mainly focused on community welfare and environmen t impacts. To save the livelihood of the local community in oil and gas field, shell had Resettlement Action Plan in china. Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria has spent $4.5 million for community development (Shell, 2009). Tata Steel Societal Approach and Initiatives: Tata Steel approach towards sustainability is considering the triple bottom line economic, environmental and social performance in business activities. They believe the sustainable development is depends on improving the quality of life of its employees and communities it serves (Tata Steel, 2009). The following are social responsible activities of Tata Steel Stimulating of Economic growth Environment Healthcare Initiatives Education Culture Empowering of women Stimulating of Economic Growth Society had indirect economic impact on community infrastructure development. The company announced Rs.1 billion for implement social responsibility programmes in tribal communities of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The involves in infrastructure development projects like municipal service to one million people in Jamshedpur Township by providing basic necessity like electricity, water, road and transport facilities. They engage in infrastructure development in building schools and colleges, sports facilities like international stadium. By these initiatives by company will increase the economic growth of the society. Environment Tata Steel targeting towards reduction of Co2 emission and provide safety environment to the society. The company committed with healthy and safety working environment by implement Environment Management System. Tata Steel Rural Development Society encourages the local community in planting saplings and safeguards the forest. Nearly 250 hectares of wasteland had been reclaimed by planting saplings in 2008. Several measures are taken to control the water pollution and provide safe drinking water after proper treatment. Number of wells and tube wells are constructed for local community. They have separate environment cell to monitor the environmental and pollution control activities. Healthcare Tata steel implemented number of healthcare initiatives to its employees and the society. The company employees are benefited by free medical facilities even after their retirement. The company operates more than 46 free mobile clinics in Jamshedpur and runs Life Line Express medical clinic to the remote places in Jharkhand and Orissa. They organise free blood donate camp, eye camp and provide free medical equipments and beds to hospitals. They conduct a HIV/AIDS awareness programmes to the employees, suppliers and local community. Education Culture The company runs six schools and one college in Jamshedpur. In Thailand through Grow Smart with Tata Steel programme underprivileged children in remote places are provided with learning facilities. In Singapore the company offers scholarship to poor and disabled children. Tata steel constructed a Tribal Culture Centre to enrich culture heritage among the local community. What is the level of engagement does companies maintained in these initiatives? Whether these approaches and initiatives by companies benefited society? Shell has invested nearly $148 million in society development during the year 2008 (Shell, 2009). Shell in Nigeria has made great difference in people live and work by contributing to social responsibility initiatives like health, safety, and education (Idowu and Filho, 2009, p402). But shell image got damaged in Ogoni, where shell has failed to deliver the benefits and rights, like employment, education and clean environment to the Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Ogonis voice, we would be better off today if Shell had never come and taken one drop of oil (Boele, 2001). Shell pointed that it is the Nigerian government who has failed to deliver the right to Ogoni people (Boele, 2001). Shell has been charged for its human rights abuses in Nigeria and they agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle the lawsuits against the executions of protesters, polluting air and water in Nigeria (BCC News, 2009). Though shell spends million dollars in community development resurrecting their public image is a big challenge. For Tata Steel, CSR is not new they are involved in society activities from the established of the company. Tata Steel Ltd was awarded with Golden Peacock Global Award for CSR, in improving the quality of life of their employees, local communities and the society (Business Standard, 2009). According to survey conducted by The Nielsen, global consultancy firm, Tata steel is identified has most admired company by stakeholders for their society development initiatives (The Economic Times, 2009). They participate in international partnership like UN Global compact, where they encourage other organization to learn their initiatives and to create positive impacts for local communities (Tata Steel, 2008). The company continuously engaged in various CSR activities for society welfare and community development, this shows their significant growth in those initiatives. Classification and Analysis of CSR Activities In this section CSR activities of Shell and Tata Steel are classified and analyzed using Ponte et al typology. Here, CSR activity matrix by location and type are viewed from business perspective. Shell CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile The Emirates Businesswomen Award Disengaged Encourage Businesswomen in strategic development of UAE Distant Social Reporting Awards Engaged Corporate communications campaign Distant Health Safety Environment Contractor Award Engaged Encourage supplier and contractor for safety operation Proximate Worldaware Award for Sustainable Development Disengaged Socially, economically and environmentally development in a community. Proximate Lawrie Group Award for Social Progress Disengaged Free Education facilities Proximate Awards from Malaysia Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) Engaged Occupational Safety for their employee. Proximate Engaged Practice of Code of Business Conduct for their employee, suppliers and contractors. Proximate Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Shell Foundation. Distant The above table shows shell CSR initiatives in a form of engaged proximate, an indication of strategic initiatives which meets the company benefits. Disengaged distant indicates the philanthropic initiatives by the company. The following shows Tata Steel CSR initiatives, Tata Steel CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile National Energy Conservation Award Engaged Reduced Energy Consumption Proximate Global Business Coalition Award Disengaged HIV/AIDS education and awareness programme. Proximate Greentech Safety Award Engaged Safety Management in Metal and Mining Operation Proximate Singapore Health Award Engaged Helping Employee to lead healthy and vibrant lives. Proximate 5th Asia Water Management Excellence Award Disengaged Helping the water management industry Distant Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industrys (FICCI) Award Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Tata Steel Rural Development Society Proximate Golden Peacock Award for CSR and Excellence in Corporate Governance Disengaged For improving quality life of employee and their families Proximate Excellence in Manufacture Award for Tata Steel, Thailand Engaged Environment and safety management in their operation Proximate Engaged Supplier Guiding Principles Distant Dr Jamshed J Irani Award for Excellence in Education Disengaged Providing quality education in schools of Jamshedpur. Proximate Compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for social welfare and development. Impacts on Business Approach Lantos argues that CSR has three components ethical, altruistic and strategic which every organization must practice (Crowther, 2005). When a government fails, the managers have to be prepared to take up the slack to do good for society and business. Shell follows their business commitment in General Business Principle and code of conduct. Though Shell fails in Ogoni, it has taken significant measures to re-orientate their business principle to encourage more accountable and dynamic set of relationships with stakeholder and by doing this, it can recapture the position in Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Shell engaged in several philanthropic activities in Nigeria through Shell Foundation. From Ponte et al typology analysis it shows majority of shell CSR investments are Engaged-Proximate initiatives. Most of the Shell CSR initiatives are found in Nigeria and Ogoni, where they reputation was damaged. This clearly indicates shells business motto. Shell spends only tiny amount from their profit towa rds community development, whereas they earns around $ 400 billion from oil production in Nigeria (BBC News, 2004). Even Tata steel has undergone some social challenge; for example Tata Steel was protested by people in sathankulam, Tamil Nadu. They decided to acquire 1000 acres of land in sathankulam for their ilmenite mining operation, which will may result in relocate thousands of local farmers and cause huge damage to environment. In spite of these many threats, Tata Steel had signed the MOU with Tamil Nadu government in 2007, which is still in dispute (Sanhati, 2007). However, compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for community development. Tata Steel partnership with UN Global Compact has increased their publicity and reputation. Tata Steel encourages other organization to learn their activities in society development. All these CSR initiatives by the company have increased their business and brand image. Conclusion The report has focused on stakeholder identification of Shell and Tata Steel and their CSR approaches and initiatives. From the analysis is found both Shell and Tata steel are contributed more to the society welfare. However, shells role in the environmental and social impacts in Ogoni cannot easily carry away. Shell spoiled its brand image in issues like Brent Spar, environment pollution, oil spilling, discharge of production waste, and gas flare in Africa. All these activities made the world to look at shells business behavior towards society. Though shells CSR approach and initiatives sounds best across the global, but they have failed to fulfill real thirst of Ogoni community. This reveals that shell is more focused on business rather than society. All those CSR initiatives by shell are assumed as their business promotion and profit motive. When we look at Tata Steel, the company has fulfilled all the stakeholders through their corporate governance and sustainability development. They are more focused on community welfare and development. Even though Tata Steel is emerging company compare to shell, shell has learn a lot from them to fulfill all its stakeholders.

Artist: Turner: Outline :: essays research papers

Outline: Chose an artist such as Turner, David or Hunt and explain how that artists work fulfilled that eras definition of the moral purpose of art. Trent Trombley   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The purpose of Turners work was to establish a link between sublimity and understanding. Art reflects on the expanding nature of our society and world in general, it was with his paintings that he evoked such change. Even the very style in which he painted differed throughout his career. It is very apparent that he was a man not set by limits but by the limitless reaches of his mind and the changing world around him. 1. Understand the era that Turner lived. a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turners’ life span was a period of tremendous change and development. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He is the only British painter of the time whose work truly reflected the spirit of progress of these years. c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In art the normal tendency was to look back to the past rather than to create a style in keeping with the advances of other fields. 2. Events that took place throughout Turners life. a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turner supported abolition and painted “The Slave Ship'; between 1833 and 1840 the emancipation of the slaves in the British colonies began. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turner wanted to have a marriage between art and industry and painted “Rain, Steam and Speed, The Great Western Railway, “yet artists disliked the industrial revolution saying it was repulsive. 3. The changing style of Turner. a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turners’ works have changed greatly throughout his career and now his late works have been regarded as highly as his earlier works. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many of his later exhibition canvases eluded interpretation in anything other than abstract visual terms. 4. Understanding Turner. a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the painting “The Sun of Venice Going Out to Sea'; Venice had come to hold an emotional significance for Turner comparable to that of “Carthage'; in earlier years.

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men Essay:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, shows the struggles and hardships that two migrant farm workers experienced during the Great Depression. The dream of owning their own farm keeps them going and lightens the load of their work while it also strengthens their friendship. The dream that Lennie and George had, although unlikely to be achieved, causes a friendship to grow and thus gives a meaning to life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lennie and George have a mutual dependency on each other, but Lennie needs George more because he has a mental handicap and George needs to watch over him. For Example, when Lennie and George met their new boss, George told Lennie not to talk so the boss wouldn’t know how that Lennie is mentally disabled. Without George telling Lennie not to talk to their new boss Lennie might have showed how unintelligent he was and he might not have gotten the job. George is like a parent to Lennie and he shows his love not through the words he speaks to Lennie but through the way he cares for him. In addition, Lennie causes trouble wherever he goes without knowing it. They had to leave their old job because Lennie grabbed a girls dress. George likes having George around even though he says he would have it easy without him, George finds Lennie funny in some situations and George probably appreciates having a little responsibility in his life. Lennie and George have a spe cial bond between each other that most grown men don’t have, because of this bond they believe they will achieve their dream.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Lennie has to kill George he becomes the loneliest character in the book, this is because he knows how it feels to have a friend but now that he doesn’t he is even more depressed because he knows how it feels to not be lonely. For example, the other ranch hands have never felt anything else but loneliness so they are used to the feeling. Since Lennie used to have George he knows what it feels like to not be lonely. Not only has he lost his best friend but also his dream of owning their own farm. In addition, the loneliness that George faces might not have been causes if he would have watched over Lennie and not let him roam around free. George didn’t want to kill Lennie but he did it for his own good so Lennie wouldn’t be brutally murdered by Curley and the other ranch hands.