The Historical Context of International Communication Essay

The Historical Context of International Communication - Essay Example The developments in film, advertisement and radio ushered a new era in communication and mass culture. Radio as a propaganda tool was first utilized by former USSR and then all the nations of the world followed the suit. Communist and capitalist propaganda used radio all over the world to promote their point of views. Third world countries used communication tools for promoting health care, education and culture. Third World countries genuinely felt the disparity in communication technologies between developed and developing countries and demanded for more just treatment. The MacBride Commission is the result of such efforts by Third World. The commission called for impartial, balanced and responsible reporting. USA opposed the commission as it deemed it more pro Soviet Union. The opponents called the proposals as instrument against freedom of press and information. This opposition came to an end with Soviet disintegration. Opinion The chapter is a detailed look at the role of differ ent communication devices through out history and world. The writer presents different facts and figures from ancient time to colonial era in order to press the point that communication is vital aspect of any empire. The writer then discusses in detail the impact and role of telegraph from 19th Century onwards on different social and political aspects of the world. The writer then relates the development of journalism and radio with telegraph in 20th Century. At the end the writer gives a detailed look at the impact of radio during the Cold War. The chapter is according to the title and it gives a very detailed look at the historical development of international communication. The data regarding length of cables of telegraph and the spread in different areas of the world may confuse the reader but the information is very helpful in understanding the development. The writer has used simple language and starts from ancient time in order to present the main argument. The writer is able to give a cursory look at the ancient history and then focuses on colonial era in order to make argument clear. Overall the reader may find the data presented in the chapter a bit taxing but for scholarly purpose the chapter is very well documented. The logical sequence and development enable the involvement of the reader. The writer overlooks television and internet but still the effort is very good. Summary : The Technology and Society Science has brought many changes in the society. In order to investigate the issue of social changes and scientific discoveries there are two schools of thought. One group attributes all the changes in the society to the scientific inventions. For them scientific discoveries produce change in the society. The other group takes a less radical view by stating that changes in the society are going on the new scientific inventions just contribute in these changes. Both of these views take technology and society in isolation. Military and commercial nee ds forced improvement in communication. These social factors were to great extent satisfied by the development in the field of telegraphy, telephony and early stages of radio. The need of addressing masses in new political world gave power to press but this political urge was satisfied by television. This complex situation set the stage for broadcasting. The use of different broadcasting tools for social communication and political manipulation greatly influenced the rapid technological advancement in the field of communication. Political stimulus and economic benefits made television a popular medium for bringing change.

Card Skimming Essay Example for Free

Card Skimming Essay Credit Card Fraud is one of the biggest threats to business establishments today. Originally, credit cards simply carried raised numbers that were transferred to a carbon copy with a card-swiping machine. The merchant simply accepted any card presented. Spending limits and printed lists of lost/stolen cards were ineffective in preventing fraud and other financial losses. Merchants were required to telephone a transaction authorization center to get pre-approval of the transaction. The volume of telephone traffic grew too great, and more automated authorization systems allowed faster, easier, and verified transactions. Magnetic stripes on the backs of these payment cards started to appear and that allowed computers to be used at both ends of the call. The raised letters and numbers on the plastic cards are now rarely used or even read. This then gave rise to â€Å"skimming† devices that could be used by some unscrupulous persons to electronically scan and save the information from many customers cards. Techniques such as skimming, in which criminals capture card information and personal-identification numbers, have existed for years, often on a small scale. A growing security concern with Skimming devices is the possible release of the user’s personal information or location to unauthorized parties. So, what is now needed is a way to increase the security of payment card use at merchant locations. Problem Statement Credit Card Fraud poses one of the greatest risks to businesses nowadays. As card business transactions increase, so too do frauds. According to the Jamaica Observer dated March 2010 â€Å"The National Commercial Bank (NCB) yesterday revealed that it lost more than J$100 million to credit card fraud last year, put merchants on guard against what it said was a rising problem†. Most cases of counterfeit fraud involve skimming. The fraudulent activity on a card affects everybody, i.e., the cardholder, the merchant, the acquirer as well as the issuer (bank). Several methods have been proposed in order to stop this. One such method adopted is a method of chips  built into the card adding a layer of protection. The good news is that technology for preventing credit card frauds is improving with the passage of time. Purpose Statement This paper will describe the development of a system to provide real time detection of fraud attempt so as to increase the security payment of credit cards use at merchant POS locations. Research Questions What is credit card fraud? What is skimming? How are cards skimmed and reproduced? What are the implications of credit card fraud? Can this type of fraud be prevented? If so, how can this type of fraud be prevented? Significance About J$245.1 million has been lost to credit card fraud in Jamaica for 2009 (Jamaica Observer). In 2010 Europe, which has faced a bigger problem than the U.S.A saw card-skimming attacks jump 24% in the first six months to 5,743, the largest six-month number since data gathering began in 2004, according to the European ATM Security Team, a non-profit group. Consumers face trouble trying to get fraudulent charges reversed, merchants lose the cost of the products sold have to pay chargeback fees and fear from the risk of having their merchant account closed and loss of reputation. The issuers and acquirers also have to make huge investments in preventing frauds by deploying sophisticated IT systems for detection of fraudulent transactions. They also face financial and product losses, fines, loss of reputation and possibly loss of license if not compliant to credit card standards. This research study could provide information on how to help maintain the cost of fraud and losses due to f raud and help to put this at a manageable level. It will help acquirers and issuers to equip themselves with a counterattack to possible threats and that can help protect the user and the merchant from fraud. Definition of Terms Credit Card Fraud is defined as when an individual uses another individuals’ credit card for personal reasons while the owner of the card and the card issuer are not aware of the fact that the card is being used. Card Skimming is a process where genuine data on a card’s magnetic stripe is electronically copied onto another. References List http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/NCB-puts-customers-on-credit-card-guard_7505969http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703688704575621122308129984http://quotes.wsj.com/IT

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the UK

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the UK ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION Corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves with differentiating right from wrong and doing right (Scott, 2007). CSR is the compulsion to make choice and take actions that will contribute toward the wellbeing, interest, and benefits of the society as well as the company. 1.1 Problem of CSR CRS does not act like law which require people to follow. In contrast, it covers wide range of issues and many of which are unclear with respect to right and wrong (Frankental, 2001). As CSR is a self-interest practice, thus it is difficult to control the use of CSR because different companies which have different beliefs about which actions improve the welfare and benefits of the society (Luck, 2006). Companies can find themselves in difficult situations where they do not know how to act or what to do. In recent years, CRS is the key issue in all business sectors, including retailing industry. It is rather controversial to discuss whether supermarkets like Waitrose and Tesco should focus on driving toward or go beyond the field of strategic management. In countries with a dynamic market economy like the UK and the US, it is widely agreed that firms should not only concentrate on pursuing strategies that make economic profitability, but they must also have certain social responsibilities that must be fulfilled as well (Enquist et al., 2006). However, the agreement for firms to pursue both profitability and social responsibility and this should be the end of the discussion. Opinion about the issue, however, differs more or less with regard to the importance of profitability and social responsibility (Downey, 2004). Some people in a society look at the view of profitability as the most important purpose for economic organisations and that only social responsibility of companies is to achieve and pursue profitability within the boundary of law. Tesco is the UK leading supermarket with largest market share in retailing industry. As a face of capitalism, Tesco has been accused, criticised and involved in many social responsibility issues. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, 2007), with substantial evidences, Tesco was revealed to make huge profits at the expense of farmers, communities and the environment. It is also abusing the power that results from its huge market share. In Tescos CSR report (BBC, 2007), Tesco was exposed to fail in supporting the UK farmers. In 2002, at the height of the UK apple season it was disclosed that less than half of apples on Tesco shelves were UK sourced. This practice is obviously contrasted with the Supermarket Code of Practice, which was meant to redress the balance between the biggest supermarkets and their suppliers. The big four supermarkets, including Tesco, were still using the same unfair trading practices that the Code was meant to stop. In response to such claim, Tesco states: We have a long-standing commitment to source as much UK produce as possible (Tesco, 2007). Tesco refers to its commitment to UK farming and claims that it has always provided support to British farmers in the past years. It said that as its business grows, so has that of its suppliers. It claimed that it has been developing long term working relationships with its suppliers and by working together, they can both meet customer needs and have both grown their market share together. In addition, according to the BBC (2006), Tesco has been blamed after one of its suppliers, Northern Foods which announced that it will close its Trafford Park Bakery in Manchester and this action lead to 690 jobs cut. The closure of Northern Foods is part of a shake-up announced in May after poor sales triggered two profit warnings. Critics claimed that as part of CSR practice, Tesco should be more supportive as promised in its CSR policy which stated that it has always been supportive to everyone involved in its business. In contrast, Tesco surprised and shocked the General Workers Union by doing nothing to support these 690 workers. Critics stated that this action of Tesco showed that it is throwing its buying power weight about by depressing prices and moving production at will to other plants (BBC, 2006). In response to the claim that it does not employ CSR practice and abuse power, a spokeswoman of Tesco said in respond that Tesco is regret to learn that Trafford Park is closing and that Northern Foods have taken the decision to resign Tescos pastry business at the site. Tesco spokesman said that they have been as supportive as they can be to improve the performance of the site. A spokesman of Tesco also added that when it was told by Northern Foods about the closure of Trafford Park, Tesco did ask if it could move this business to another site or sites. However, Northern Foods told that there is not enough capacity to do the business. Tescos spokesman also said that Tesco will continue to work closely with Northern Foods who will still supply it with a significant number of other products across other areas of its business. Tesco also emphasised that it will be working with its supply base to ensure the availability of sausage rolls, pies and quiches for its customers (BBC, 2006). However, from the eyes of critics, Tescos action does not fall into the scope of CSR practice. In the past years, many retailers have been taking part in Fare Trade products as they have become in the interest of customers. Thus, as the demand in for Fair Trade products, especially bananas has been increasing, Tesco has decided to support the scheme. However, a survey has revealed that Fair Trade bananas in Tesco are fall in the scope of Unfair Trade (Friend of the Earth, 2003). Banana Link, a small and dynamic not-for-profit co-operative founded in 1996 to campaign for a fair and sustainable banana trade, approximated the weekly profit from banana in Tesco for  £1 million and this is enough to employ 30,000 full-time banana plantation workers at a living wage. And this would be twice of what they are earning now. This means that workers in banana plantation are paid just a penny for every pounds worth of bananas sold in Tesco and this without a doubt is not enough to feed their families. While Tesco takes  £0.40p, importers hardly hit break even point just to stay as Tes co suppliers. If Tesco finds that suppliers make a mistake in packaging requirements, they have to pay Tesco  £25,000 as emergency product withdrawals (Friend of the Earth, 2003). Tesco requests suppliers to make the payments to cover the costs of its compliance with the Ethical Trading Initiative. This means that this demanded payment would be tough for smaller businesses. Supermarkets, including Tesco use bananas as a key item in their price wars. However, Tesco is not the one that suffers the cut in price. Since 2003, Tesco banana contract put its suppliers in the position where they cannot pay legal minimum prices in most banana exporting countries and are forced to supply fruit from the most environmentally and abusive socially sources. To rid such claim, Tesco insisted: Tesco supports the work of the Fair Trade Foundation. This year we launched our own brand Fair Trade bananas sourced from the Windward Islands (Tesco, 2008). However, many critics still find that this statement is unjustified and that the public did not get the whole truth, suggesting that Tesco needs to fully employ CSR practice. In term of sustaining communities, Tesco failed to meet the code of CSR practice. According to the BBC (2004) Tesco is facing a challenge to its purchase of the London-based Europa, Harts and Cullens stores. Trade body the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) made an appeal with the Competition Appeals Tribunal with an aim to block the deal. Tesco had received a clearance from the Office of Fair Trading to buy the convenience stores from their parent company Adminstore. However, the FWD said the deal would be both bad for consumers, competition and communities. This is because the FWD found that every time a large supermarket like Tesco opens, there would an average 276 jobs lost (BBC, 2007). The FWD said that Tesco may use convincing evidences to perverse that it boosts the local economy every time it opens new stores. However, what Tesco does is the opposite when it opens new supermarkets. It has been approximated that a supermarket opening will cause the closure of all village shops within a seven mile radius (BBC, 2007). And Tesco tends to import food into the area, making local sourcing to be just a niche market. To deal with such criticism, Tesco states in its official website and CSR policy: Tesco invests in all types of communities throughout the UK, providing jobs and careers for local people. Making jobs and economic activities stay in, or close to, local neighbourhoods starts to boost the local economy (Tesco, 2008). With regards to environment, the BBC (2007) disclosed that Tesco recycling campaign and its claim in the CSR report do not relate to the products on Tesco shelves. It was revealed Tesco stated its success rate of recycling in its CSR report as nearly 80% of its packaging waste relates to waste from its own operations, mainly from a long distance transit of produce which requires additional packaging. Thus, critics suggested that the best way for Tesco is to reduce packaging waste is to lessen the use of packaging materials in the first place rather than to recycle the materials after use. In response to this critic, Tesco say in its CSR report: Tesco is committed to protecting the environment by doing what we can to reduce our waste. We are looking for ways to minimise product packaging recycling wherever possible (Tesco, 2008). CHAPTER 2 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) According to Kotler. P and Lee.n (2005, p.2) doing the most good for your company and your cause. By comparing good it has too many sights to give attention. A quick browse of different web sites for the fortune 500 reveals that good goes by many names, including corporate social responsibility, corporate community involvement, community relations, community affairs, community development, corporate responsibility, global citizenship, and corporate societal marketing. In order to do the best practice of CSR the authors prefer to use following definition: Corporate social responsibility is a commitment to improve community well being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate resources. A key element of this definition is the word discretionary, it referring to business activities, which are managed by law or moral ethics. Like as voluntary commitment to its serving community. If this sort of practices is managed by the company than it will be describe as socially responsible. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers (2005-2008) the greatest asset of any retail and consumer product company is its reputation and its perceived value among consumers. Today, consumers around the world, particularly in Europe, are concerned how a company manufacturers its product and whether it is managing for continued sustainability through attention to economic, environmental, and social performance. If not, a brands reputation can decline, and with it, an attendant decreases in future sales and profits. It is especially important for retail and consumer product companies to maintain the reputation integrity of their brand and to be socially responsible throughout their business operations since their products and services are usually marketed directly to product purchasers. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defines CSR as the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families and the local communities (WBCSD, 2001). Hence the fundamental idea of CSR is that business corporations have an obligation to work towards meeting the needs of a wider area of stakeholders (Clarkson, 1995; Wad dock et al., 2002). More generally, CSR is a set of management practices that ensures the company maximizes the positive impacts of its operations on society or operating in a manner that meets and even exceeds the legal, ethical, commercial and public expectations that society has of business(BSR, 2001). 2.2 Definition of CSR The Institute of Directors, a UK-based trade group, has also presented another Good definition of CSR: CSR is about businesses and other organizations going beyond the legal obligations to manage the impact they have on the environment and society. In Particular, this could include how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and the communities in which they operate, as well as the extent they attempt to protect the environment (Lea, 2002). I think the above definition captures most of what CSR is all about. According to Tom Cannon (1994, p, 32, 33, 38, 44, 45,) corporate responsibility, the role of business in society is depending on business types and as well time of change. Business corporations exist primarily to produce goods and service that society wants and needs. Achieving this objective is their first and foremost responsibility; if they are unsuccessful in this mission, they cannot reasonably be expected to assume others. Simultaneously, business depends for its survival and long-term prosperity on society providing the resources such as people, raw materials, services, infrastructure which it needs to convert inputs into profitable goods or services. Business relies on society supplying a means of exchange typically money to allow it to convert the goods it produces into assets. Society is expected to provide an environment in which business can develop and prosper, allowing investors to earn returns while ensuring that the stakeholders and their dependents can enjoy the benefits of their involvement without fear of arbitrary or unjust action. An organization must support the established or prestigious programme; develop those activities, which endorse or sustain its position; and concentrate its investment in certain areas. Society expects many things of its corporate sectors, from the corporate its stakeholders expects lots of outcomes and they are classified by the relationship to the business. For the owners point of view the primary expectation will be financial returns, if the corporate is able to return good financial returns to its owners then the corporate will added values to the company. Same like the employees pay and additionally the working environment and training facilities. For customer it needs to supply of goods and services and secondly the quality of goods. Creditors need to have the assurance and secondly the security of money backs on time. The supplier wants firstly their payment and secondly long-term relationships. The community wants safety and security and secondly wants contribution to community. And the government wants from the business the compliance and secondly wants the improved competitiveness. According to Ramanathan (1976) argued that there is a social contract between organization and society. Jaggi and Zhao (1996) also agreed with the social contract view when they argued that organizations do not exit in a vacuum, but are part of a society, which creates and supports them. Society will not take too kindly to corporations, which fail to recognize and support important social values. Organizations are aware that society will not hesitate to use different sanctions to punish or bring to book any irresponsible act or omission by an organization as and when deemed necessary. In work done by (Gray et al, 1995, 1996; Guthrie and Parker, 1990; Patten, 1992; Roberts, 1992). Holland and Foo (2003) noted that the unregulated nature of the disclosure in CSR reports could only allow the development the relationship of reporter, which provides a degree of accountability. Corporate stakeholders have the right to know what contributions corporate entities are making to society. The provision of information, which satisfies this need, is known as accountability; hence Gray et al. (1996) defined accountability as the duty to provide an account of action or reckoning of those actions for Which one is held responsible. Hackston and Milne (1996) also supported the view that corporate entities should be held responsible for their actions that affect society. In the light of this, a recent survey (DTI, 2001) of 45 global and large companies operating in the EU showed that over 90 per cent reported on their mission, vision and values, workplace climate, community involvement, local economic development, market place and environmental impact. 2.3 History of CSR The nature and scope of corporate social responsibility has changed over time. The concept of CSR is a relatively new one—the phrase has only been in wide use since the 1960s.In the eighteenth century the great economist and philosopher Adam Smith expressed the traditional or classical economic model of business. In essence, this model suggested that the needs and desires of society could best be met by the unfettered interaction of individuals and organizations in the marketplace. By acting in a self-interested manner, individuals would produce and deliver the goods and services that would earn them a profit, but also meet the needs of others. The viewpoint expressed by Adam Smith over 200 years ago still forms the basis for free-market economies in the twenty-first century. In the century after Adam Smith, the Industrial Revolution contributed to radical change, especially in Europe and the United States. Millions of people obtained jobs that paid more than they had ever made before and the standard of living greatly improved. Large organizations developed and acquired great power, and their founders and owners became some of the richest and most powerful men in the world. In the late nineteenth century many of these individuals believed in and practiced a philosophy that came to be called Social Darwinism, which, in simple form, is the idea that the principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest are applicable to business and social policy. This type of philosophy justified cutthroat, even brutal, competitive strategies and did not allow for much concern about the impact of the successful corporation on employees, the community, or the larger society. In the 1960s and 1970s the civil rights movement, consumerism, and environmentalism affected societys expectations of business. Based on the general idea that those with great power have great responsibility, many called for the business world to be more proactive in (1) ceasing to cause societal problems and (2) starting to participate in solving societal problems. Many legal mandates were placed on business related to equal employment opportunity, product safety, worker safety, and the environment. Furthermore, society began to expect business to voluntarily participate in solving societal problems whether they had caused the problems or not. This view of corporate social responsibility is the prevailing view in much of the world today. 2.4 Benefits of CSR Disclosure Implementing the CSR concept in an organization, there are lots of benefits an organization can get examples are: increased customer loyalty, more supportive communities, the recruitment and retention of more talented employees, improved quality and productivity and the avoidance of potential reputational risks which may arise from environmental incidents. However, Cooper (2003) noted that the practical experience of early adopters of CSR reports was mixed. Some companies noticed that instead of the provision of the reports enhancing companies reputation, it actually attracted adverse comments by drawing attention to divergences between the values espoused by the company and its actual behavior. One can only view this as an inevitable teething problem, which would over time disappear from the corporate scene. Coopers survey of FTSE 250 companies found that less than 33 per cent of companies considered that their CSR activities resulted in improved customer loyalty while only 20 per c ent believed that it enhanced staff recruitment and retention. Cooper concluded that the benefits may be more subtle and realized over a longer timescale than is sometimes suggested, but there is no doubt that the resulting benefit will be enormous in the long run. Despite these perceived benefits, Schaltegger et al. (1996) have argued that one of the driving forces in the popularity of CSR reports was the need to appease some user groups, e.g. environmental activists. 2.5 Framework of CSR CSR framework provides a standard for social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting. It includes mandatory external verification and stakeholder engagement. Tescos CSR report published in annually and it has KPI, where the CSR people have to work hard to develop in next financial year. Work has done by the Institute of Business Ethics covers the fairness to employees, suppliers, customers, equity and loan creditors, contribution to community and protection of the environment. The framework provides that an independent verifier should assess the company performance annually. According to Social Accountability (SA) there are lots of fields to look at which are trade union, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the basis of International Labors Organization (ILO) conventions the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. This standard focuses on child labors, forced labors, health and safety, working hours, discrimination, discipline, free association and collective bargaining. Any organization recognizes that it has a duty to act as a responsible corporate citizen, by meeting its obligations to all its stakeholders shareholders, customers, employees and the local, national and global communities in which it operates. In this work done by Peter Jones, David Hillier, Daphne Comfort, Ian Eastwood in Management Research News, at Patrington: 2005. Vol. 28, Iss. 1; pg. 34, 11 pgs describes the awareness of consumerism and sustainable development. It provides the basic outline of sustainable development and how it relates to the business as a successful retailer. Here the retailers are increasingly recommending on social issues, for example, social inclusion, ethnical trading, healthy living, training, health and safety, community support initiatives under a broadly sustainable agenda. However, on this report there is no model used for measuring the standard of CSR. Here the author looking in different companys report and letting the reader, sustainable development is important and it gives the stakeholders enough confidences to invest or employees to work for the company. If the author add the model of Key performance Indicator (KPI) then it will be good enough to measure the level of CSR. In this wor k done by Peter Jones, David Hillier, Daphne Comfort, Ian Eastwood in International Journal and Retail and distribution Management, Bradford: 2005. Vol. 33, Iss. 2/3; pg. 207, 8 pgs suggests that the majority of the major retailers are addressing sustainability agendas, that they recognize, albeit in varying measure, the impacts their businesses have on the environment, the economy and society and several of them are looking to measure and benchmark their performance. But on this report the author did not mentions about fair trade and how it will impact on the supply chain on the organization. If any organization can build up a good relation between supplier and consumer providing good money to the supplier and best product and service to their customer then it will increase the market loyalty, which will increase the goodwill to its whole stakeholders. 2.6 CSR in UK Practice Within the last few decades corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been fast momentum across the business community and it is seen to be gradually higher on boardroom agendas. Many of the UKs top retailers are major employers, they continue to be very much at the leading edging of innovation and growth and many of them recognized the impacts they have on the environment, on society and on the economy. They are increasingly keen to communicate their commitment to CSR to their shareholders, their customers, their employees, to government and to the public at large. Mixtures of factors are cited as being essential in building the current momentum behind CSR. Ernst Young (2002) recommend that there are five key drivers, which have influenced the increasing business, focus on CSR namely greater stakeholder awareness of corporate ethical, social and environmental behavior; direct stakeholder pressures; investor pressure; peer pressure and a heightened sense of social responsibility. Th e Governments approach is to encourage and incentive the adoption and reporting of CSR through best practice guidance, and, where appropriate, intelligent regulation and fiscal incentives. The government also looks at Pensions Act Amendment, Transparency. The Government encourages companies to report on their CSR performance in a number of ways such as Issued guidance on environmental reporting, Supported initiatives promoting company reporting, Provide the guidance for the financial services sector and the ACCA sustainability reporting awards, Supported the Global reporting Initiative and The enhanced business review requirements of the Companies Act. The UK government focusing their attention in four key areas, namely promoting good practice, supporting work to demonstrate the business case, promoting international action on CSR and joining up action across government (DTI, 2001). The recommendations in the European Unions Fifth Action Programme on the Environment embedded in the report Towards Sustainability (1992) has contributed to the current interests in this area. The report calls on organizations to provide information on a number of areas, namely: details of their environmental policy and activities and the effects thereof in their annual reports, their expenses on environmental programmers, and make provisions in their accounts for environmental risks and future environmental expenses. A number of the top ten retailers report on the improvement and/or use of CSR Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Tesco, for example, employs some 18 CSR KPIs covering economic, environmental and economic issues and containing 24 specific targets. In choosing these KPIs the company uses one or more of four criteria, namely customer priorities; staff priorities; business priorities; and compliance with legislation or public policy. The companys CSR report provides a brief description of the annual target for each KPI, outlines the actual performance against each target and sets a target for the following year. During 2003/2004 the company exceeded expectations on 18 of its targets, met 13 and was below target on three. Where possible verification of the data used for the KPIs is carried out using external sources including market share data, independent surveys, services bills and audits for the Emissions Trading Scheme and Climate Change Levy Agreement. 2.7 Criteria of CSR practices and Effectiveness In order to practices effectively it needs accuracy of commitment, facing the challenge and work with coordination in between corporate bodies in the entire business. In this case the effective can be measured by (KPI) at annually while doing the financial report. It also monitored and justified their work by different independent person for whole year and makes a comment for improvement if needed. By doing survey, how the business can improve such as expectation from stakeholders, community, and government and for its own employees then it can find some direction, which they can follow. By following those steps the company can reach its most effective practices at CSR level. 2.8 Conclusion This chapter has reviewed the literature regarding the CSR, measuring the performance within organizations. The literature review has examined some common themes emerging from the implementation of the CSR in real practices. After reviewing the past works, it is very clear that CSR is vast growing concern and its important in business is essential. So in real business CSR is seen quite common and practices by the corporate bodies effectively. In order to measurement the performances of CSR, they have to maintain the model, which called (KPI). Around the business many related groups looking for improvement of CSR performances because of their profit interest. CHAPTER 3 3. METHODOLOGY 3.1 Data collection After some deliberation, we decided on asking for perceptual data from the middle management individual responsible for CSR activity at the firm. Previous studies have principally relied on aggregate measures of financial performance that have provided inconclusive evidence for a CSR-financial performance linkage. Accordingly, we have focused on the firm project level in order to discover how value is created by strategic CSR. We began this paper by stating that Corporate social Responsibility in Tesco . As we argued earlier, there is no consensus that CSR can, or even should, be managed for profit, just as other business processes are managed for profit. As a result, well-intentioned CSR researchers have sought to find a way to demonstrate CSR profitability without having to claim that management takes strategic action to create value. This research agenda did not succeed because it could not specify how competitive advantage and value are created. In order to do so, we have chosen to focus on middle management, precisely because they are in the best position to explain the strategic intent of their portfolio of social action projects, Working from managerial intent requires accepting certain trade-offs. By shifting to a more micro focus, we also leave behind more objective indicators of value creation. On the project level, one would almost have to engage in a cost-benefit analysis of each project in order to determine the value created. Firms do not yet engage in such fine-grained evaluation of their CSR projects. Given the current state of the art of CSR management and reporting, we decided that we needed to rely on the perceptions of the managers responsible for CSR regarding the strategic goals of CSR projects. Such perceptions of firm benefits and of the quality of stakeholder relations may be biased. In response to this issue, we have applied the necessary methods to control for possible bias. Support for using perceptual managerial data rather than external stakeholders and other secondary databases come from the theoretical literature and from practical research issues. There is considerable theoretical support for using perceptual data if, in fact, managerial decision making is driven by the beliefs of top management, it makes sense to ask how management perceive the environment and the extent to which they believe they are responding to CSR challenges in a strategic fashion. It is crucial to test the extent to which top management seeks competitive advantage and value creation via CSR in an uncertain environment. On a practical level, external databases of CSR and reputation surveys in UK principally ask top management which firms they most admire. The resultant reputation and CSR rankings overweight firm size and profitability. External stakeholder groups, in particular NGOs, rarely deal with a large cross-section of firms and either speak favourably of partners with whom they collaborate or negatively of large firms that have conflicts with specific stakeholders. However, the managers we questioned are well aware of their firms PR and marketing programs for CSR and corporate reputation. These managers from the kinds of large companies we surveyed are well aware of their rankings in the CSR and reputation surveys. Our use of perceptual measures

Jealousy in Three Dramatic Monologues by Browning Essay -- Robert Brow

Jealousy in Three Dramatic Monologues by Browning The poems 'My Last Duchess', 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'The Laboratory' are three dramatic monologues, theatrical tales of bitter jealousy told by anonymous, murderous lovers. 'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover' use the simple idea of cruel male domination to portray the narrator's jealousy, as these two men do not know any other way of controlling their seemingly flirtatious lovers' behaviour. They try to completely possess their women as objects, and such a need for power seems to be a pure statement of irrational jealousy. The following quotations show this idea clearly and, although the later is not direct to the murder of his lover, it is plain that the narrator is cruel, objective possessiveness. "I propped her head up as before." This quotation clearly shows that Porphyria's lover did not seem to understand the full consequence of murdering this woman, an idea which is also quite apparent in my last duchess, as the Duke certainly appears to brag about his wife's flirtatious behaviour, and it stopping. Returning to the idea of cruel male domination, though, this is obviously apparent in 'My Last Duchess' when the Duke suddenly proclaims the following; "Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse." I would argue that Neptune is representative of the Duke, 'taming' though I would suggest imprisoning, brutally dominating a beauty of nature, which is representative of the Duchess, whom the Duke violently 'tamed' also. This idea is not so apparent in 'The Laboratory' because the narrator is female. We do, however, see her plotting the murder of her adulterous husband, so in a way is trying to 'tame' him too. Cruel, male domination... ...ithee?" The woman has bought a poison to kill her husband's lover with, which is a typical murder weapon of women, and also the most vicious of the three murders, as it would be the most painful for the victim. Murder, therefore, is the main presentation of jealousy in the three poems, and gives us considerable insight to the point of the narrator, because the poems are dramatic monologues. The narrators cannot see that their jealousy has overridden natural behaviour because they simply couldn't control and dominate their lover's behaviour. In conclusion, therefore, jealousy is presented throughout the poems as an ultimate need for control and brutal domination, leading to the irrational behaviour of the narrators, and unprecedented murder through inability to control their own behaviour, let alone anyone else's, and of course, their own jealousy.

drugs report :: essays research papers

My partner and I both currently attend courses on the sociology of drugs and youth and it was from these classes where we derived our question for this project. As these subjects were a shared interest we decided to focus our question on the drug habits of Stirling University students as we would have no access problems to a sample. Once our topic was decided apon the specific question ‘Have the drug habits of Stirling University third year students changed since coming to university’. Even though the report had to be done in pairs this did not necessarily make the task any easier. I thought there would be a major benefit in the fact that we could negotiate reading duties between the pair of us but it emerged that for a really successful project we would have to have as wide a knowledge of the subject as possible. Communication was paramount at all times as we wanted the report to flow as apiece and not appear to be obviously written by two separate people. I believe our communication with each other was a significant contributing factor to the success of our project. The fact that my partner and I share the same timetable at university was highly advantageous as we had ample opportunities to meet up and discuss any developments or problems that arose. The only significant conflict that arose between my partner and I concerned the questions in which to ask our respondents during our interview. We had contradicting views as to what questions should and should not be asked and also about the wording of the questions. After some deliberation and by conducting ‘mock’ interviews with each other equilibrium was reached. My personal progress throughout the report was aided considerably by the use of a research diary. This was used to chart any progress, queries, ideas or problems that occurred during the semester. The research diary assisted me by keeping a personal record to share with my partner whom also had a research diary filled with her own thoughts therefore ensuring we never forgot any information. Furthermore, the research diary was also used to record advice given to us by our tutor at class time and at personal meetings. The true benefit of the diary, though, emerged when we finally came round to writing up our report as we had a physical reminder of problems and self-criticisms that would otherwise have been forgotten.

Dying with Religion :: essays research papers

A Riv Dying With Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wars occur for many reasons. There may be one main reason or a few specific reasons as to why war was declared in the first place. One thing that never changes in war is the fact that there will always be two sides fighting against each other for what they believe in. Death is also acquainted with war and soldiers in war tend to think about life and death every moment they are able to. During the time in which a soldier thinks he is going to die he may pray to God or any other that he prays to and he will ask for forgiveness and to be saved. Atheists do not believe in God or in having any religion whatsoever. So how would an atheist react if he did not believe in a religious figure that might possibly give him the chance to survive. â€Å"There are no atheists in the foxholes† does make sense yet not every war being fought is a religious war, so even though religion does play a big part there must be atheists in the foxholes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death. Death is what many fear most and at times when a person is near death they involuntarily pray in order to try to save themselves at the last possible moment. After the moment passes the soldier doesn’t even think twice about it. Even though it does seem that they weren’t sincere the soldiers really are. In what seems the last moments of a soldiers life when he does pray he must be sincere. He must show his belief in God or another to save him from hell or death in order to create some sort of hope. If the prayer wasn’t sincere then the soldier wouldn’t expect God to reach down and pluck him from danger.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Atheists fight wars but not over religion. At some point in war religion comes up but does that mean since atheists don’t believe in heaven or hell do they still fight or do they just hide. Not having a religion could even be more of an incentive to fight and give it everything, because they have no reason to be afraid of hell or worry about the judgment of God. Atheists seem to be most of the people in the foxholes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now if a highly religious person went to war they would have a problem killing people. Dying with Religion :: essays research papers A Riv Dying With Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wars occur for many reasons. There may be one main reason or a few specific reasons as to why war was declared in the first place. One thing that never changes in war is the fact that there will always be two sides fighting against each other for what they believe in. Death is also acquainted with war and soldiers in war tend to think about life and death every moment they are able to. During the time in which a soldier thinks he is going to die he may pray to God or any other that he prays to and he will ask for forgiveness and to be saved. Atheists do not believe in God or in having any religion whatsoever. So how would an atheist react if he did not believe in a religious figure that might possibly give him the chance to survive. â€Å"There are no atheists in the foxholes† does make sense yet not every war being fought is a religious war, so even though religion does play a big part there must be atheists in the foxholes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death. Death is what many fear most and at times when a person is near death they involuntarily pray in order to try to save themselves at the last possible moment. After the moment passes the soldier doesn’t even think twice about it. Even though it does seem that they weren’t sincere the soldiers really are. In what seems the last moments of a soldiers life when he does pray he must be sincere. He must show his belief in God or another to save him from hell or death in order to create some sort of hope. If the prayer wasn’t sincere then the soldier wouldn’t expect God to reach down and pluck him from danger.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Atheists fight wars but not over religion. At some point in war religion comes up but does that mean since atheists don’t believe in heaven or hell do they still fight or do they just hide. Not having a religion could even be more of an incentive to fight and give it everything, because they have no reason to be afraid of hell or worry about the judgment of God. Atheists seem to be most of the people in the foxholes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now if a highly religious person went to war they would have a problem killing people.

Femininity

Images in the media today illustrate an unrealistic and even dangerous standard of ideal female beauty hat can have a powerful influence on the way women perceive themselves. The popular culture influences our ides of femininity to the extent that we hold high expectations of a women's appearance. Society is driven to judge or neglect a woman if they don't kick a certain way because they compare them to the unrealistic models seen on magazines, television, music videos, and so on. The media impacts the ideas of femininity to the extent that women are portrayed as sex objects who exist primarily to service men, or as weak individuals.To initiate, mass media is a powerful tool that is used to impact TTS audience in various ways. For instance, when I'm surfing the internet shopping for clothing in websites such as (Forever 21, Hollister, or H & M,) the models I perceive are usually extremely thin. When I look at the model info the height of the model tends to be about 5'8†³ or tall er and the waist is typically between 23 and 25. The models shown are always wearing a size extra-small or small, and they always appear very young and beautiful.They have perfect facial features and many times have colored eyes. They never display a model wearing anything bigger than a size small almost as if earring a size medium or anything bigger is unacceptable. The ideal expected body is also perceived in beauty pageants such as the Latin show â€Å"Muenster Bella Latin. † Beauty pageants like these push women to exercise a great deal and follow strict diets in order to meet the ideal weight. In one of the episodes that I watched a girl was eliminated simply because she was about two or three pounds over the expected weight.Common women are compared to these ideal models and society believes that in order for a woman to be sexy or attractive they must resemble these models. As a result, any women are disappointed with their bodies and are forced to exercise excessively, suffer anorexia or other eating disorders because they are obsessed with the idea of thinness. Not only are women disappointed with their bodies, but also fear aging and they are driven to various methods such as surgery or anti-aging creams in order to maintain a young appearance.In addition, advertising adds to the ideal image that is expected of woman. Advertising is a powerful force that surrounds us and influences us subconsciously on a daily basis. Advertisements use Photos and create artificial images of women, and women in real life attempt to measure themselves against those images. It gives women the idea that there's only one way to look good and receive the attention they want or deserve. For example, bikini or lingerie advertisements always have extremely thin woman hinting that a thicker girl would not look good wearing that.Not only does advertising promote the ideal image of a woman, but it also influences the idea that women are just sex objects, and that they are the weaker sex. In many occasions advertisements utilize sex appeal by illustrating naked omen or men who are in control over a woman. In â€Å"Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt,† Jean Kilojoules asserts that â€Å"Male violence is subtly encouraged by ads that encourage men to be forceful and dominant, and to value sexual intimacy more than emotional intimacy' (422).What Kilojoules states is that men believe sex is more significant and they forget the sentimental value. It is easier for men to identify women as an object because they justify their violent behavior, and if they perceive a woman as an object they overlook the fact that they have feelings and emotions. Moreover, music is another factor that influences ideas of femininity particularly in a negative way. The lyrics used by rappers constantly degrade women by referring to them as â€Å"pitches† and â€Å"host†.Women using their bodies and sexuality to get what they want are what make these words accepta ble. In the passage â€Å"From Fly-Girls to Pitches and Host†, Joan Morgan writes â€Å"but many of the ways in which men exploit our images and sexuality in hip-hop is done with our permission and cooperation† (459). What Morgan states, is that females will be willing to expose their dies in a music video or allow rappers to degrade them simply to make money or get attention. There are countless songs that degrade women such as the song â€Å"Pitches anti chit but hoes and tricks. The name of the song is a phrase that is repeated multiple times throughout the song as if once were not enough. Tag, the artist of this song sings, â€Å"Got this bitchy named Tar, she let me buck her in the car, / Like Kim Sardinian she wane be star. † These lyrics suggest that women are good for sex, and deserve no respect. The worse part of the particular songs is that women listen to them or dance to hem at clubs because they enjoy the beat of the songs, but they are not conscio us of the demeaning lyrics.If women themselves listen to these songs it gives society the idea that they can refer to women in such a way. Due to the fact, because women are degraded in this manner, men believe that women are only good for sex and they fail to love them. Yet some readers may challenge my view by saying that popular culture has a minor influence on society's ideas of femininity. It's not so much the media but typical gender stereotypes that impact our ideas of femininity. Gender stereotyping begins t a young age, and little girls believe only girls should wear pink or only girls should play with Barbie's.Many hold stereotypes that women should look a certain way in order to be identified as a woman. People hold stereotypes that women must be classy, and not trashy. Indeed, stereotyping plays a significant role, but as we grow older it's not so much about the gender stereotypes but rather about what surrounds us on a daily basis that influences our ideas. Once you get older individuals can decide to ignore or put their gender stereotypes aside, but popular culture is something that Anton be ignored by any means.Popular culture is everywhere go, and without a doubt it's the primary factor that impacts our ideas. Furthermore, there are various steps that the popular culture can take in order to improve the perceptions of women. For instance, beauty pageants should have models that are more like the average woman who are not extremely thin. Beau' pageants should choose contestants based on their talents rather than their appearance. Advertisements should be appropriate, and not objectify women because they are human beings. They should eliminate advertisements where women are practically naked.In addition, they should not Photos the image of women in advertisements, but rather display the true image of the model. Women need to speak out about how degrading it is to be insulted in music by rappers, and the songs should be banned from the radio. Wome n should not agree to be degraded simply because they want to be in the music video of some popular rapper. Females must stand up for themselves in order to be treated with respect. In conclusion, even if We tried to ignore it the popular culture constantly influences our ideas of femininity.If the media was not so powerful society would have more realistic perceptions of femininity. Women should be valued for who they truly are because there's so much more to femininity then just a physical appearance or sex objectification. Females are sensitive individuals who have feelings and emotions, and deserve to be respected. A woman should not be judged if she does not look a certain way because nobody is perfect, and we all have flaws. Females are not Barbie dolls with a perfect little waist or the ideal face, they are real life individuals.