Sassoon vs Brooke

One, views on war were vastly different amongst the population. The soldiers on the front line saw the world through deferent eyes compared to the people at home. Some attitudes were based on experience and pain, whilst others on the Idea of patriotism and blind belief. ! They, by Serried Swanson, is a simple and direct poem decrying the righteous establishment sending men to die in a so-called noble cause. Caisson's bitterness against the war is made clear through his poetry, which is filled with his resentment against war, the futility of it and the high price that had to be paid.Swanson uses many different ways to convey his feelings, and particularly his bitterness and resentment towards the war and the officers, but his true meanings are clear and he writes In such a way that shows clearly what he thinks and feels about the war.! The Bishop represents the pompous flag waiving establishment without a clue to the horrors of the battlefield. â€Å"They† are â€Å"the boysâ €  at the front. The term â€Å"they will not be the same† Is Ironic and true. There Is the Inference that the boys will transcendInto some grace-Like state for having fought and sacrificed â€Å"In a Just cause. † Swanson knew the boys, those who survived, who would return home changed for far darker and haunting reasons. The elites running the war thought nothing of sending troops to their deaths back and forth. The sentiment sold to the populace back home was that it was the â€Å"Just cause† and it was a noble thing to â€Å"have challenged death† resulting in â€Å"new right to breed an honorable race. â€Å"! The second stanza however is Caisson's blunt and harsh retort of reality. It is a brief roll call of injury and disease.Syphilis ran rampant among the boys engaging random relationships and Swanson employs this as Illustration in mocking the Bishop as the disease Is hardly a righteous or noble means of death. The voices against the war cry out â€Å"You'll not find a chap who's served that hasn't found some change†, and not In a good way. The final line exposes the hypocrisy. â€Å"The ways of God are strange† is the blind ignorance of the excuses. ‘ Rupert Brooke also wrote about war but in a much different light. He has a very positive outlook on war and a very strong patriotic love of England.In fact in The Soldier he praises the wonderful land of England (gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's breathing English air'). In contrast with Swanson, Brooke adopts a natural positive attitude: â€Å"think only of me as this: That there's some corner of a foreign field. † as a man who accepts that his survival is not guaranteed and death In defending his country would make him complete. ! The language used reflects his feelings. He only ever uses one negative word, â€Å"evil†, and even this Is used in the context of being â€Å"shed away†.It is almo st an ode to England itself: â€Å"In that rich image-evoking language (â€Å"her flowers to love, her ways to roam. â€Å") ! The poem is a sonnet which is a style traditionally used by people writing love poetry. In this case Brooke is using the sonnet form to express his love for his country. The break of thought allows the reader to have time to think about the poet's words and absorb them in. The writer moves from one scene he is describing, England being a trial creation of beauty (â€Å"her flowers to love, her lands to roam†), on to England being alive, personifying England (â€Å"A pulse in the eternal mind†).Yet there is a continuing presence of the importance and power of England, and this is shown by the use of words such as â€Å"richer†, â€Å"blest by sun† and â€Å"English Heaven†. The form, structure and choice of language all work together. ! Brook's poems have been associated with the idealistic attitudes prevalent in the year s leading up to 1914 and the outbreak of war; in this sense, his poetry is actually re-war, unlike Caisson's verse, which is during the war, and speaks less of ideals and more of realism. However, war is a common thread for all writers to use. As Swanson pointed out, there will always be war, and as long as there is war there will be someone to write about it. Poets express their protest or support through their writing. War poetry can also be a form of propaganda. Caisson's was traditional propaganda opposing war; while Brook's was a positive form of propaganda. Each man had very strong opinions based on their own personal experience.!

Payment system

Types of payment system: They could use Commission: Workers are paid a percentage of the products' sales value this would be suitable as it would motivate staff to sell more as they rely on commission to earn money. They could use a bonus scheme: Workers must achieve pre-agreed sales targets to earn the bonus. This would encourage staff to sell more which would increase the company's turnover and profits.They could offer sales staff a salary: This would provide staff with financial security. However, it may not motivate Taft to sell more are the same amount Is pay each month regardless of performance. Performance related system: where pay Is linked to performance, with higher level of performance leading to Increased pay. Time or flat rate system: In which pay Is expected as an hourly, weekly or annual rate. How it motivate staff? People feel strongly about it.Pay helps to satisfy many needs (e. G. Security, esteem needs, resources to pursue self-actualization) Pay is the subject of much important business legislation It helps attract reliable employees with the skills the business deeds for success Pay also helps retain employees – rather than them leave and perhaps Join a competitor For most employees, the remuneration package is the most Important part of a job – and certainly the most visible part of any Job offer.Effectiveness Money can be used to motivate employees across a broad spectrum of Industries. In fact, according to the Personnel Systems website, a survey conducted by the American Compensation Association and the American Productivity Center showed that up to 89 percent of companies using financial incentives for staff were rated costive or very positive by more than 1,500 individuals taking the survey.Because everyone can use more money, this is by far one of the most common and effective ways to motivate staff. Broad Options Another advantage of using money to motivate employees is that a company has broad options in terms of the way to use it. From special bonuses to commission pay to gift certificates and cash rewards, money can be used In a variety of ways to get employees to strive for bigger and better goals.Moreover, companies have the option o change It up, depending on the specific goal In mind, so that cash Isn't always the best In which money can be used to motivate; sometimes, It can be Increased benefits that save the employee money without the company needing to write a Money appeals to all demographics and can motivate the lowest grade employee all the way to the CEO. This is another distinct advantage of using it to motivate staff because it appeals to all types of staff. The less an employee makes, however, the more he may be motivated by a few extra dollars in his check or incentive pay of some sort.

The Relationship Between Team Working and Motivation

In order to find out the relationship between â€Å"Team working† and â€Å"Motivation†, understanding each of them might be necessarily important. To begin with, â€Å"Team working† in business term means a groups of individual pulling together function as a team in order to archive goals or targets that them planed at the beginning. In a team-oriented environment, usually have different people & personality. which means there are opinion toward different direction, disputes will be appear most of the time, turning those different angle point of view into meaningful solution is a major part for a successful team. After that, move along to â€Å"Motivation†, it is the driving force by which we accomplish our aim, it doesn’t necessarily be a team and as each individual got different needs, related to â€Å"Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs†. â€Å"Motivation† is divide to be intrinsic and extrinsic, the basic concept is refers to â€Å"Motivation† that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself or comes from outside of the individual such as money. Nowadays, most of the firms in all kind of industrial workplace request to building the team, working as a team, â€Å"Team building skills† are critical for effectiveness as a manager or entrepreneur, and because it could lead to productivity, therefore, â€Å"Motivation† skills has to apply to those day to day teams, intrinsically by given positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth; extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as company policies, supervisory practices or wages. For example, In a clothing buying office, the manager would give those more important brands to the most productive team of merchandisers, not just to making sure the productivity, also making employee feel prod of their own jobs. This is called goal setting, In a company should always more than one team but only one product or project make the highest profit, therefore healthy competition will developed, base on theory y, subordinate will find it became more challenging, every team member aiming at the same achievement, less disputes and more recognition and responsibility should appear. Further more, rewards system in â€Å"Motivation† should be positive to apply into business in order to reinforce behavior, not just actual salary, it could be commission or holiday trip, by sharing the company’s profit to the employee can also boost their â€Å"Motivation†. If the company are dealing with theory x of people at work, reward system might not be very effective to them, in this case the threat of punishment must exist, because in a team-oriented environment, if one of the team member is avoiding work, it could pull down the entire team, which means decrease the productivity and cutting off profits. To conclude with, it can be seen that â€Å"Team working† and â€Å"Motivation† are likely to be in a complementary relationship; the â€Å"Team working†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s effectiveness rely on â€Å"Motivation†. It could also lead to psychological contracts, as its always between manger and subordinate, the concept of ego and expectation of other’s are both significant to both â€Å"Team working† and â€Å"Motivation†. Leader has to understand what are they capable with; Team members has to understand why the team create for, in an other word the expectation has to be clear and communicate its expectation might considerable as well.

John Lewis' Multi-Channel Marketing Communication Proposal (Summative) Essay

John Lewis' Multi-Channel Marketing Communication Proposal (Summative) - Essay Example The retail shop marketing team understands that only a few customer still prefer dealing with a single channel in purchasing their preferred goods. However, increasing numbers employ multiple channels in their respective buying processes particularly, the ones purchasing about 30% onwards. Moreover, the management understands that with the world increasingly becoming interconnected via the internet and mobile technology, multichannel communication have become inevitabilities in commerce rather than the exception (Blakeman 2014). Therefore, there is a need for John Lewis retail to effectively integrate its existing multichannel marketing communication as this increases the points of contact with the customers. The MMC techniques and strategies further help the retail shop reach marginal customer segments by permitting preferred customers access points. Therefore, for imperativeness of MMC, John Lewis retail shop must satisfactorily work to coordinate both message and data. Such channels as TV, direct mail and mail, radio, advertising print and internet must consistently offer consistent brand experience. Importantly, the John Lewis marketing team must understand the difficulty in developing consistent message when various agencies are contracted for each of the avenues marketing avenues mentioned (Ryan & Jones 2012). The consistent brand must be demonstrated with respect to the customers’ experience through call centers, retail environment, websites and direct sales. The underlying principle behind Jo hn Lewis increasing success is the firm’s integrative multichannel marketing where data and marketing messages that make the customers feel they are dealing with John Lewis and not a different Company at each point. Despite the success noted, John Lewis is still struggling with how to capture young customers through its AW collection. This paper will primarily focus on how the firm can apply the MMC to launch a new

Nursing skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Nursing skills - Essay Example I chose to discuss this skill as I noted that I was assigned a patient who refused treatment, and I wanted to know what and how I could manage a depressed patient refusing further care. For this critical analysis, I will apply Driscoll’s reflection model. It is a model which asks three main questions: What? So what? and Now, what? (Driscoll, 2007). These questions would help me assess my actions and the justification for these nursing interventions and skills. In accordance with the mandates of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008), the names of the clients and other involved health personnel shall not be used, instead, assumed names would be assigned to these patients in this paper. Mildred was a 36 year old woman who was assigned to me during my clinical placement in the mental health unit. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and often manifested aggressive behaviour during the manic phase of her disease. Bipolar disorder is a mental health issue wherein individuals go back and forth between very good or highly energized moods and depression (Goodwin and Sachs, 2004). The mood swings may in some cases be quick, but for some, it may take up to days or weeks. As discussed by (Goodwin and Sachs, 2004), bipolar patients can sometimes be severely depressed at one time and later on be highly charged, have poor temper control, be reckless, have little need for sleep, and be easily distracted. Their short temper and reckless behaviour can sometimes lead to aggressiveness and anger especially when they do not get what they want (Goodwin and Sachs, 2004). During my placement, my mentor asked me to administer to Mildred her due medications. As soon as I approached Mi ldred with the medications, she was already glaring at me, showing signs of aggression, like she wanted to hit me. She was also shouting for me to get away from her. When approached by other health providers, she also refused to calm down and turned even more

Journal 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Journal 2 - Essay Example On my visit, I discovered that the local mosque serves as a community center of sorts for people of the Muslim faith and, indeed, Islamic culture. It is a place for them to gather and be reminded of who they are and where they come from. The person spending time with me at the Mosque told me that it is not at all uncommon for them to have numerous gatherings where members socialize, eat, and reminisce about their own culture. Americans who are Islamic in the area find the Mosque to be a great place to learn more about a faith that is not widely practiced in the United States. In addition, they learn much about the culture of Islam and can transform themselves into another place and time. It certainly seems to be a wonderful way to bridge two cultures together and to achieve a balance between varying perspectives. Visiting my local Islamic Center was truly a cultural immersion experience because little at the Mosque resembled my own culture. Indeed, visitors can really transform themselves into Islamic culture from the time they enter the building. This experience opened my eyes to a faith, culture, and people group that I admit I had little understanding about. It was not an experience in religious dogma. In fact, we talked very little about the religion of Islam. Rather, we focused on discussing issues of culture and how the West perceives those who are from a Middle Eastern, Arabic, or Islamic background. It was a healthy exchange of ideas, tempered with respect, and one that was both enlightening and educational. Part of learning to appreciate other cultures is being able to simulate their feelings, emotions, and way of life (Nieto & Bode, 2012). Spending this time at the Islamic Center one afternoon and observing the comings and goings of the members was truly like witnessing another culture in action. The knowledge I gained enables me now to

Apple brand marketing campaigns positively influences Apples corporate Research Paper

Apple brand marketing campaigns positively influences Apples corporate identity in the consumes mind - Research Paper Example To build that kind of brand image, organizations will come up with brand marketing campaigns before and after the launch of the new products or services, which will entice and impress upon the eyes, ears and thereby the minds of the intended consumers. Then, when the launched products or services live up to the expectations of the campaigns and becomes successful, it will create an optimal impact for the organization, bringing in more consumers. Aaker (2004) discussed that a strong brand is a helpful and useful tool to establish an image and status for the organization, which in will influence the client to go the organization’s products, thereby building a solid and loyal customer franchise. Apple Inc. is one organization, which has been able to achieve this perfectly with its effective marketing campaigns. Srivastavaa and Thomas (2010) validates this fact by stating that Apple’s brand marketing campaigns has been one of its key components to its success, as it helped it to develop an positive brand image, which in turn played an important role in how consumers viewed it as a company, and importantly influenced them to buy its wide range of products. Apple Inc. started building a strong brand in the 1980s and 1990s, with campaigns like the Super Bowl commercial titled â€Å"1984†, the â€Å"Think Different campaign† in 1990s, etc. According to Kahney (2002), John Sculley, the former CEO at Apple Inc., increased Apple advertising budget from $15 million to $100 million in early 90s, and the current CEO, Steve Jobs spent close to $100 million in the marketing campaigns of iMac alone. With these spending and effective marketing campaigns, Apple Inc. was able to create a positive corporate identity, which greatly appealed to the client base, and importantly made them to support Apple Inc. even during its worst times. That is, when Apple’s products did not do well and when the company faced tough financial crisis, its brand image and the resultant consumers’ affinity towards it, only helped it to survive. As stated by marketer Marc Globe, â€Å"Apple is about imagination, design and innovation. It goes beyond commerce. This business should have been dead 10 years ago, but people said we've got to support it.† (qtd. in HWM, 2004). Chernatony & McDonald (2003) further adds up by stating, when a product or a service has a strong brand image, â€Å"customers perceive them as having value over and above that of the ‘equivalent’ commodity, or in excess of the sum of the price of the product’s or service’s constituent parts†. After a resurge due to its strong brand image, Apple Inc. was able to further elevate its corporate identity in the consumers’ mind with the launch of its successful flagship product, iPod in 2001. Its worldwide success gave Apple a strong corporate identity of a technological major, who can come up with products, which are innovative, adv anced and multi-purpose. That is, Apple’s products came to be recognized by consumers as high-end information and communications technology hardware, manufactured by a strong organization (Potter, 2006). In 2006, Apple Computers' survival and success hinged on two new initiatives - incorporation of Intel Processors to its PC's and its plans to succeed in digital

Family Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Family Law - Research Paper Example According to a survey report, 43 to 46 percent of all marriages that have happened in the US in the year 2000 will eventually end in divorce (Smith et al., 1453). This paper explores the US law of divorce and dissolution of marriage on the grounds of husband’s chronic alcoholism and physical violence. It shows that divorce and dissolution of marriage are two separate ways of separation. As per Section 3105.01 of Ohio Divorce Law extreme cruel behavior of either spouse and chronic alcoholism of either spouse are considered as valid reasons for dissolution of marriage. Therefore, Jennifer was granted divorce. As for child custody, court considers the best interests of the child. In this case, it was granted that Martin is alcoholic and violent therefore Steve will not be safe if he stays with his father. Therefore, Jennifer was granted custody of her son. Moreover, Jennifer will find it difficult to do a full time job because she will have to look after a minor child; therefore she was spousal support. Martin and Jennifer have been married for 9 years and they have a son Steve who is 7 years old. The first year was happy and peaceful for the newly married couple. In the beginning of their second year Martin left his old company and joined a new multinational company as a software developer. After joining the new company, Martin often complained about cultural dissatisfaction and low salary. This job dissatisfaction was manifested in Martin’s personal life as he began to get engaged in long arguments with his wife and began to neglect his son’s studies. Martin gradually developed a habit of drinking alcohol along with some of his colleagues either at office parties or at their residence. Initially, Jennifer was not concerned since Martin was a light drinker and although he returned home in late evenings slightly

In major militay conflicts, matters of logistics are often crucial in Essay

In major militay conflicts, matters of logistics are often crucial in deciding the overall outcome of wars. Discuss with refere - Essay Example The joint delivery lines were not widened and pursued the marine docks with the Royal Navy taking over the Mediterranean. The major apprehension was submarines. Airplanes were not as dominant in World War I as they were in World War II â€Å"to sink a capital ship† (Brown, p. 72, 1998). Throughout World War I, unhampered submarine combat had a considerable force on the capability of Britain's partners to keep distribution paths open, at the same time as the huge volume of the German armed forces showed a lot more for its railways to sustain apart from the time when halted in trench conflict. Logistics, intermittently termed as ‘battle service sustenance’ (Brown, p. 76, 1998), should deal with extremely doubtful circumstances. Whereas ideal estimates are hardly ever achievable, estimates models can decrease vagueness regarding what materials or facilities will be considered necessary, at what place and at what time they will be wanted, or the most excellent method to supply them. Eventually, responsible representatives are required to make results on these issues, at times by means of instinct and logically evaluating substitutes as the circumstances call for and authorize (Shrader, p. 28, 1992). Their decisions should be supported not just by expert understanding of the several facets of logistics itself but as well on the perceptive of the interaction of directly linked armed forces concerns, for instance, line of attack, approaches, aptitude, guidance, recruits, and funding. On the other hand, case studies have revealed that quantitative numerical investigations are mostly an important enhancement on individual decision. One such example is the application of â€Å"Applied Information Economics by the Office of Naval Research and the Marine Corps for forecasting bulk fuel requirements for the battlefield† (Shrader, p. 48, 1992). In most important armed forces clashes, logistics issues are mostly decisive in choosing the general effe ct of conflicts. â€Å"For instance, tonnage war - the bulk sinking of cargo ships - was a crucial factor in World War II† (Shrader, p. 65, 1992). The triumphant united anti-submarine movement in addition to the collapse of the German Navy to drop an adequate amount of shipment within the conflict of the Atlantic permitted Britain to remain in the conflict and set up the subsequent front in opposition to the Nazis; by distinction, the unbeaten U.S. submarine movement in opposition to Japanese marine transport through Asian seas successfully crippled its financial system as well as its armed forces creation potential. More commonly, shielding one's personal delivery lines as well as assaulting those of an opponent is a basic armed forces policy; an illustration of this as an entirely logistical movement for the armed forces way of executing strategic course of action was the Berlin Airlift. Armed forces logistics has initiated a number of procedures that have subsequently turn ed out to be extensively positioned within the profitable world (Creveld, p. 102, 1979). Functions study grew further than World War I

Economics essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics - Essay Example Fortunately, Economists are getting their due importance in policy making. It's economists who shout both in praise and against all policy decisions of different countries. And at least in a few cases, they themselves get divided in ideas and concepts. Regarding certain policies a group of economists come up with words and swords against another group of economists. Each group depends upon different theories at different times. Basically they keep in mind their own basic view and proceed. For giving stress to their views, depend on theories according to their convenience, that's all. Economics is supposed to act in such a way to wipe out tear from all the human eyes in the world. It should address the issues of poverty, famine and basic needs. All the theories may be different in ways of action but aim the same target: bring prosperity to human race. From theories to application - here starts the real game. Economists have made so many jargons familiar to the common man. But what's the end result Did it take us anywhere they planned or predicted This question stands as a very big unanswered question before mankind, especially these days. In the initial years of the new millennium what the Economic World has been experiencing was boom, boom and boom. The IT boom, banking boom, insurance boom, etc. could be cited as shining examples. Predictions also were aplenty. It was pointed out that the IT boom will stand for many more years. According to economists, banking and insurance were also going to record a trajectory of growth. Many reasons were given numbered one by one to substantiate their point of view. Banking habit is not developed among a large number of people. And an attempt was started by governments of various countries to bring more citizens of theirs to banks. Different packages were announced including zero balance accounts and any time money withdrawal facility. Similarly, it was observed that major chunk of the population remain outside insurance net. Studies were conducted which revealed that there are countries which have only upto a mere 10% of their population keeping insurance policies. Based on the se sorts of observations and statistics, so many new economic concepts were introduced by economists. Since the economists were having crucial role in policy making, their views and beliefs turned out to be policies. Political leaderships were depending much on economists in planning future. Since they themselves were ignorant of economic concepts, believed blindly what was advised. There are cases where enough studies were not conducted or even common sense was applied before reaching in far reaching policy decisions. And such policies affected the concerned economy very badly also. Offshoring of jobs is a typical example. Kathy Sanborn writes: In an article by Paul Craig Roberts ("How the Economy Was Lost"), he explains how the offshoring of jobs helped to create a lower tax base for American communities. Because US workers could no longer keep their IT and software engineering jobs due to 1) offshoring and 2) foreign workers coming in on H-1b work visas, our highly trained technical workers' salaries plunged. In addition, corporations began a mass exodus of manufacturing jobs

Lap report Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Lap - Lab Report Example Apart from playing an important role in the maintenance of homeostasis in a constantly regenerating population of cells, such as the colonic epithelium, apoptosis also functions to destroy cells with DNA damage and prevent neoplasia. Inhibitor of apoptosis or IAP proteins are a class of anti-apoptotic regulator proteins which are characterized by the presence of baculoviral IAP repeat (BIR) domains. IAPs inhibit the activation caspases which are the key effector proteases of apoptosis, by directly binding to them through the BIR domains. Extensive evidence exists to show the involvement of the IAP family of proteins in oncogenesis, via their efficient suppression of apoptosis (Hunter et al., 2007). Survivin is a novel member of the IAP family of proteins with a potential dual role in apoptosis inhibition and regulation of mitosis. Survivin inhibits apoptosis by interfering with the function of caspase-3, caspase-7 and caspase-9 (Shin et al., 2001; Dohi et al., 2004). In addition to a poptosis inhibition, survivin is implicated in the regulation of the mitotic spindle checkpoint and the promotion of angiogenesis, and chemoresistance (Altieri, 2003; Mita et al., 2008). Several mitotic kinases, including the three Aurora kinases, Aurora-A, -B and –C kinases regulate the progression of the cell through mitosis. Lens et al. (2006) have provided evidence to show that survivin acts as a mitotic regulator. It functions as a subunit of the chromosomal passenger complex, which is essential for proper chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. In this complex, Aurora B acts as the enzymatic core, while survivin dictates chromosomal passenger complex localization. Survivin is uniquely placed at the border of both the cell-death machinery and mechanisms of cell cycle progression and microtubule stability (Dan et al., 2004). Survivin is a highly conserved 16.5Â  kDa protein with 142 amino acids. X-ray crystallography has revealed the protein to be an unusual bow tie-shap ed dimer with two ?-helical extensions (Chantalat et al., 2000). It interacts with the microtubules through the ?-helical extension at the carboxyl terminal. Expressed in the G2/M phase (Li et al., 1998), survivin is up-regulated in almost all cancers, including colon cancer, but has low or no expression in most normal, differentiated adult tissues (Duffy et al., 2007). Expression of survivin in cancer cells has been shown to promote tumorigenesis (Li, 2005), cancer progression, poor prognosis, shortened patient survival and resistance to chemo- and radiation therapies (Li and Ling, 2006). A number of signaling molecules, transcription factors and other ligands modulate survivin expression and/or function in cancer cells through transcriptional and/or posttranscriptional mechanisms (Zhang et al., 2006). Of these, regulation of its gene transcription is an important mechanism for the modulation of survivin expression. Sp1, a transcription factor is reported to be involved in the tran scriptional activation of survivin (Li and Altieri, 1999). According to Kim et al. (2003), an aberrant TCF/? catenin might cause the stimulation of survivin expression leading to enhanced cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis, thereby promoting the molecular pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Zhang et al. (2000) demonstrated that APC mutation causes

Books and e-books Essay Example for Free

Books and e-books Essay Some people believe that printed books are no longer necessary in this digital era, as all writings can be stored electronically. Others think print books till play important role. Discuss both views and give your opinion.  In the past few years, e-books have been sold or downloaded for free in large numbers on the internet. These books and e-readers are challenging convention reading habits making the sales of traditional books decreased. But it still needs much consideration before eliminating altogether the need for printed books. There is no doubt that e-books are able to offer huge amount of information with feather like weight. Readers do not have to face the difficult choice of which book should be taken with on vacation, as one single e-reader like kindle or Nook would hold all the books you might want to read on the trip with no extra space in suitcase being wasted. E-books are also strong contenders when it comes to pricing. Because they are delivered in digital format, a part of the overhead including printing, storing and distribution can be avoided. And many classic books are free online, which is a boon to readers who only need a partly review or reference from those books. However, we cannot ignore a fact that the popularity of digital books can be a bit daunting for many readers who are used to going to the local book store, browsing the aisles and perhaps reading any chapter before purchasing. Or, there still are some senior readers who are reluctant to buy and learn to use an e-reader instead of holding a real book and making note wherever they want. Then when we talk about personal book collections, electronic ones can hardly be involved. Privately owned printed books can typically be displayed neatly as part of the household collection. These books may build up a reader’s spirit world and be good company as having friends being around. The bottom line is that both printed books and e-books have something to offer. We cannot simply eliminate the use of any single format because they are needed in different situation by various kinds of readers. They are all  making life better.

Computer Hardware and Networking Course

Computer Hardware and Networking Course Computers nowadays have become the integral part of our lives; it has made things really fast. Its increasing use has provided opportunity for the youngsters to start of an exciting and highly payable career in this world of IT. As if in past computer hardware and networking was not considered as a good career opportunity but now the situation has changed, among various courses related to IT, Computer hardware and networking courses are gaining much popularity. Sales of computer desktops, laptops, printers, UPS and so on, are rapidly increasing leading to the need of hardware and networking professional in the field. Computer hardware and networking courses serves these needs. These courses not only provides high paying career in various units as hardware or networking engineer but it also increases your experience and provides a much needed exposure. Eligibility Criteria High school or 10+2 pass out Basic knowledge of computers Course Module You can choose from various courses offered by the institutes, which also provides certification from reputed IT companies. The course duration varies from 15 to 18 months according the chosen course. The basic objective of this course is to provide vast and useful knowledge about this field and give you the upper edge among the untrained professionals in this field. Benefits of Joining Computer Hardware and Networking Course You will know all the minute technicalities about this field You get rich experience during the industrial training You will have better placement in the field due to certification You gain better communication skills with confidence Course Contents You are introduced to the computer hardware and networking in depth and the fundamentals of the course content, which primarily contains: Computer fundamentals Introduction to computer hardware and networking Basic components of PC Hardware configuration Assembling a PC Installing operating system Trouble shooting of PC Network fundamentals and network configuration Introduction to various types of cables and connectors used in networking Introduction to networking and networking concepts Repeaters, Hubs, Switches, Bridges, Routers Installing the NIC Card, MAC Address LAN Standards Ethernet, Token Ring LAN Practicals IP Addressing and IP Classes TCP/IP Concepts and configuration of IP Address Basic network troubleshooting Basics of network security After the completion of the course, most of the institutes provide industrial training in the reputed industries in the field. Placement Opportunities On successful completion of course most of the institutes help in direct placements and you can easily start of career as an IT Support Engineer/Technician, Network Support Engineer/Technician, System Engineer, System Administrator, Server Support Specialist, and Field Support Technician. After completing one type of certification you can go on for another one or higher level according to the need of the current technology and industry, which helps you to be a pro in this field. This field requires updated knowledge along with experience due to rapidly changing technology which doesnt make your work monotonous and hence always provide scope for expansion and handsome earnings.

Decision Focus Of Mis Information Technology Essay

Decision Focus Of Mis Information Technology Essay The report was intended to comprehend the theoretical and speculative aspects about the management information system, and its practical applications as well. The next thing to be done is providing recommendations to Amazon.com for a profitable information system to coordinate the operations and workforce activities, and incorporating novel processes while expanding business in the times of economic crisis. Management Information System Information system is comprised of integrated components used to gather, store, analyze and transfer the information. The technology used to manage and coordinate the information in a way that it can be retrieved when required is known as information technology. (Clarke, 2007) The information system is the one which collects the data both internally and externally, process it into information, pass this information to people working at varied levels of organizations, assist them in decision making in a timely and effective manner (Lucey, 2004). The management information system is the system which gives needed timely information to management for decision making, planning, and controlling of business operations effectively and efficiently. In this highly competitive world of technology, the management information systems are combination of man and hardware, which aids and provide support to the management to perform business operation with excellence. It is the man and computer based technology which collects the raw form of data, converts it into useful information, store it, and retrieve it when needed. This information is conducive for all managerial levels or hierarchies. The well built and structured information system is helpful to both business and its employees in acquiring their objectives and formulates decision making process easier at all organizational levels. (Laudon, 2006) Decision Focus of MIS Figure1 (Sourced: Lucey,7th Edi) Roles of MIS The organizations of the modern world have comprehended it well that information systems are essential for the growth of their businesses. They play a critical role in managing operations; perform routine tasks and future decision making. As a result, organizations will enhance their processes, improves customer service, and earn more market share and profits eventually. Thus it will be appropriate to say that a well structured and utilized management information system can act as a source of giving competitive advantage to organization, which is demand of the corporate sector globally (Clarke, 2007). Some critical roles played by the management information system are discussed here: Firstly, it supports business processes; the best illustration is inventory tracking or management, order delivery management, supply chain management. These systems are helpful in performing daily routine tasks or business operations in a more efficient manner, thus empowering employees to perform well and satisfy their customers (Luftman and Kempaiah, 2008). The next is that it supports in making decisions for normal day to day operations. This is the most important role played by the system helping employees at various levels in organization. The middle level used this information for making decisions regarding the service and product, while senior management used this information to make strategic decisions for future of business. Thus, it is the well structured and well designed management information system that assists in decision making at every management level because they are providing appropriate information to the management. (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2008). Another important role played by the information system is giving a competitive advantage. In industry settings, it acts as source of competitive edge in two ways. One way is to record and then present the information of customers, their behaviours, preferences, demographic influences and also in enhancing product quality, exposing the right product to right customers, and focussing on customer relationships. In another way, management can utilize this information to make changes and take decisions regarding businesses and product development to gain competitive edge (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2008). Types of Management Information system There exist four major types of the management information system. The Executive Support System resides at the top level management. It has a role in providing the corporate strategic information to senior management. Then is the Decision Support System, which serves to the middle management by providing information they require and helps them in decision making. Another system on same level is Management Information System, which provides internal and external information of customers and employees to the management. The most basic is the Transaction Support System, which provides information about daily business operations and helps employees to provide enhance services to their customers. These Transaction Support Systems are used to track inventory, record daily sales etc (Luftman and Kempaiah, 2008). Figure 2 (Sourced: Laudon Laudon 9th Edi) Strategic Weapon In past, the presence of management information system was not as vital as it is today, because it was employed for the purpose of assistance in transactions and daily operations only. But recently, these systems have gained importance due to the new picture of corporate landscape and culture. Now the time factor is present, the right information must be delivered in time to its respondents to take decisions on this basis. To take strategic decisions, it is essential to have accurate and timely information with the management. That is why the graph of importance of MIS is rapidly increasing. This makes it clear that information systems if implemented correctly and used efficiently can act as a strategic weapon of the company (Clarke, 2007). These information systems can be utilized in multiple ways. From the customersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ perspective, these systems facilitate their interaction with the company, motivating them to do further transactions, and it can be used effectively on B2B business model. With the implementation of intelligent business information system, company can get the feedback from customers, perform analysis on it and use this for improvements in business operations and procedures. Thus it helps in building a strong business relationship with customers, and consequently organization can achieve competitive advantage (Preston and Karahanna, 2009). Some other advantage which organization can get from this MIS are enhanced efficiency of organization, improved inventories, just in time delivery of raw material and learning process from the data collected by this information system. This helps in increasing the business processes of the company and reduces cost of processes. This is how information systems can strategically used as business weapon (Preston and Karahanna, 2009). Information System Technology: Information communication system technologies are involved in almost every aspect of life. The whole process of acquiring, processing, storing and distributing verbal, theoretical and numerical information via computation is collectively known as Information communication technologies .(Lucey,2004). ICT is not only comprised of the hardware and software, but also structure of network and communication, structure of data and information with its access to different levels, user friendly, and also deals in operations and organizational strategies. To make long story short, these information communication systems are socio-technical as they integrates information, equipment, organization and people altogether .(Lucey,2004) Some main uses of information communication technologies are discussed in the figure below. Figure 3( Sourced Lucey, 7th Edi) It has been found that, information communication technologies (ICT) are not essential in every management information system, yet it is noted that if these ICTs are deployed in MIS then they can provide support to multiple managerial posts in organization. The figure below depicts the likelihood of applying this application at various levels in organization. Computer Application Feasible Area Figure 4(Sourced Lucey, 7th Edi) The information communication technologies can be deployed in organizational settings for varied reasons, some of which are: Corporate Data Information To communicate Creating Networks Internet Electronic Data Interchange World Wide Web Hardware and Software Management The information systems are complex systems, created from multiple components. These include people, resources, software, hardware, data and networks, each one having its own importance and management style. Some considerations need to be taken for managing any information system in organizations (Clarke, 2007). While talking about the hardware portion, it has to be kept in mind that hardware component of information system must be designed and created by forecasting the future requirements of the information. Same is done in case of software parts, yet in this case mostly current needs of the company are considered, which is problematic when business expands and information requirements are changed. Similar types of regulations are applicable on data and network of the information system. In case of the networks, future needs are kept in mind while designing and creating networks, while in data case, the needs of all management levels are considered before making data management system as every tier has its own particular specific need that is to be satisfied. This is why it is required to develop a highly flexible data management system in order to cater all types of information related needs (Luftman and Kempaiah, 2008). Example of MIS Here is a case study of management information system of Amazon.com is a US-based electronic commerce company. Amazon is one of the largest online business retailers in the United States with its Headquarter in Seattle, Washington. The case discussed below is a an example of using a profitable MIS setup in an organization, which helps in sustaining the business (Web1,2010) Management Information System at Amazon.com Users at Amazon The people using MIS at Amazon.com includes sales staff, collection team, marketing personnel, accountants, finance officers, inventories and procuring managers and teams. The usage rights varied from person to person in an organization on the basis of difference in designations they have. The ones who are executives and leaders of the team possess rights regarding business processes, managers are entitled to right for checking the information collectively and individually. This right is also given to the senior executives and head of departments, who can view all information, and get reports in different formats to check the performance of individual employee and whole organization as well. This is how the management of Amazon measures the performance of its employees (Web1, 2010) . Hardware Components The hardware components that are deployed in management information systems of Amazon are: Fax Machines Inbox Intel Core2Due Processing Systems Keyboard Modems Mouse Printers Dedicated servers Ups Software Components The software components incorporated in the MIS of the Amazon.com are of various kinds. one the kind is which are used as machine running software these include Microsoft Windows Office, Antivirus system and other are application that are designed for needs of different departments depending upon the nature of business they are handling. These applications include Tracer system, Econnect system, CRM system, Infinity Analysis portal and Octopus. One primary kind is used for running machines and known as system software such as Microsoft Windows Office, Antivirus, other software applications designed to cater the needs of the different departments which is dependent on the type of business they are dealing in. Some examples of these applications include: Tracer system Econnect system CRM system Infinity Analysis portal Octopus Sales Order Processing System Figure 5 Networks for Remote Locations Amazon.com acquires it network system and utilizes LAN (use Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), and VPN (Virtual Private Network), to perform operations in remote areas without presence in the office. Example of WAN Figure 6(Source Web2) Data Component The data component of Amazonà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s MIS is comprised of the database management system, which gathers, stores, analyze, and retrieves data through servers and software applications. Recommendations Here, we have to provide some major recommendations to the Amazon who is expanding their business and focus is on optimizing the performance of their workforce by managing and controlling them. As we know Amazon is a US based organization who is intended to expand its business in South Asian region of the World such as Pakistan and India. That is why we have to recommend main points about the management information system for Amazon which will help it strategically. Some main aspects of MIS regarding management strategy and decision making are as under. Strategic Management through MIS In most cases, strategy making is not a well organized and structured process, and the role of new management information system is limited in information processing. Though MIS is required to collect information according to the environment and perform scanning and processing methods to identify the possible threats and opportunities. Some main characteristics of the strategic information utilized in decision making are as under: Outside Information: It is known that internal information is required continuously for business, yet a real fact is that organizations are working in any environment and not alone, so in this case they need extensive outside information for making decisions on strategic issues. This information can be the performance report of competitor in a market, financial patterns, technological advancements, political situations, market scenarios and trends etc. Long term Concerns: The strategic plans are made for the medium and long terms. That is why strategic information systems must be designed to cater the information like trends, forecasts, appraisals, previous performance records. Quality and Quantity: The element of the quality and quantity is required in the information gathered for the information system. The qualitative information is needed to formulate strategic plans and take decisions. The quantitative information is needed for daily operations like sales. Informal Processes: Formal procedures are important in strategic planning, but it is the fact that informal procedures to analyse the information is highly effective way. Studies indicate that an extra formal system in strategic levels makes the organization less adaptive and responding. Boundary less: The information at lower management level is boundary less in the organizations, but it has been noted that it is limited to a specific action. In case of strategic information, it should be broad and not restricted by any boundaries. Multi-Proportion Management: While building strategy or taking decisions, management must consider all the solutions to issue and look problem with all aspects. For instance, taking decision on one issue, management has to consider all factors such as financial, customers, marketing. Environmental Influences on Scanning The primary difference between, management information system made for strategic level and other MISs is that in case of strategic MIS, impact of environment is considered. In creating strategies or making decisions, it is essential to comprehend the involvement of environment and forecast potential changes that will occur in future, and also predict the future trends and influence factors of business. This whole process of collecting information whether formal or informal is known as scanning. The four main types of scanning includes: Undirected scanning: The scanning in which the information is searched out by the manager generally and not for any specific purpose. Conditioned scanning: In this type managerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s influence is involved. The influence come through any previous event or experience, and several portions of information are collected by it, instead of exploring specifically for the problem. Informal Directed Scanning: Here the information is searched particularly for any purpose or topic but in an informal or non structured format, rather manager following a formal setup. Formal Scanning: In this type, the information is collected for the specific purpose through formal and structured process Enterprise wide information systems An appropriate ERP system is recommended to the Amazon.com for optimizing its business. The advancements in networking and information technology have enabled the usage of shared data bases or ware houses by many information systems. This is done to provide support to the business operations and processes, linking them together to form enterprise wide information systems. One known or famous example of enterprise wide information system is Enterprise Resource Planning system. The retailers of known ERP systems include SAP, Baan, Oracle, and People-soft. The main task of ERP system is that it performs the integration, warehousing, application, and creates user friendly interfaces of the data and facilitate with data analyzing tools. It is a collection of multiple software modules which helps in bringing major business processes together. Each module performs its own task in analyzing the data. Some main modules of ERP system are: Inventory Management Logistics Bill of materials Sales and Marketing Human resource Management Accounts payable/receivable Role of ICT Applications in Managing Remote Workforce Trying to manage the operations and performance of its workforce in remote locations, (ICT) information communication technologies are used at all management levels so that information can be accessible whenever required, which enables the multinationals (MNCs) to operate globally even in remote areas. Thus, a well coordinated and designed MIS is vital for the business success and sustainability in this world of competition. Some examples of ICT applications which can be utilized for a useful management information system are discussed here. Automated Offices In order to carry out the information processing tasks in the company, technology of automating the offices is employed and in fashion these days. With help of such technologies, it is easier for the information to travel among different departments. For instance writing a memo, or report and email it to all departments. Office automation involves collection of software such as MS Office, Accounting software, Adobe etc. E Commerce E commerce is a specifically electronic or digital process, which includes activities both internally and externally businesses by information communication technology network such as internet, intranet and extranet. The whole business activities including sale, purchasing of services and goods, funds transfer all done electronically. E commerce involves e-marketing, B2B, B2C, C2B and etc. Another novel concept of this age is m-business, which has been evolved from the e-business. WAP (wireless application protocol) has made it possible to get connected on mobile phones. Some other latest applications includes tele- business, video conferencing, enabling the managers to connect with their team or subordinates from anywhere in the world. Location of Database It has been discussed in the case that major database of Amazon.com is located at its headquarters in Seattle, but with expansion of its business in South Asian countries and rest world, there might be some hurdles in having single database for all. The effect of having database in the headquarters is that, the operational efficiency in remote areas will decrease, due to failure of application to respond. Secondly, the holiday and time zone format in USA is different from that of country in South Asia. And this will be problematic for the staff of the remote operational area to handle queries when database employees will on leave. So having a single database is not recommended when Amazon is expanding business. In order to get in time support of operations, it is preferred to have a database in operational area. Same is required in the case of application development and support system. As these two tools are designed in the head office and used there, so the operations will be delayed because of this. This will results decline in the customer satisfaction and commitment. To cope up with such problems, databases and corresponding applications should be designed and developed in the operational country. Security of MIS It is highly important to consider the security of the information system. While dealing with ICT system which is networked via internet and intranet, its security be designed. The security procedures must ensure that only authorised people have access to the strategic information. The secrecy of the MIS should be on the top priority as this will make the business successful and if mishandled then cause losses. Conclusions The author has done the detailed study of the theoretical concepts of management information system in this assignment. Additionally, the sources of information, its storage, and processing are also discussed in the assignment. The importance of MIS in strategic decision making is the key issue discussed here, and keeping in view this, suggestions are provided by author for Amazon.com to expand its business with appropriate MIS to improve its effectiveness of business.

An Ecofeminist Perspective of Ridley Scotts Blade Runner Essay

An Ecofeminist Perspective of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner The science fiction film, Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, first released in 1982 and loosely based on Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,1 has continued to fascinate film viewers, theorists and critics for more than fifteen years. Writings include Judith B. Kerman's Retrofitting Blade Runner, a collection of academic essays;2 Paul M. Sammon's book on the making of the various versions of the film;3 and an extensive network of publications are available via the World-Wide Web.4 A student colleague has just seen the film for the eighteenth time. The "Director's Cut", released in 1992, is a more satisfying version of the film than earlier releases, mainly because narration is excluded, more mythological ambiguity is introduced (with the inclusion of a scene of a unicorn running through a forest), and the finalà © of an escape into nature is removed. In the context of Blade Runner's dystopia such an ending is incredible; for science fiction to succeed there needs to be plausibility within speculation. Since the Director's Cut, Blade Runner seems to have had a phoenix-like resurgence. Just as the simulated humans, or replicants, become more than the sum of their parts as they develop "humanity", so the film has become more than the sum of its parts as interaction - among critics and fans as well as scriptwriters, actors and film crew - contributes to ways of seeing. Scott describes depth in film as like a seven hundred-layer cake.5 Ideas presented in these layers can expand and deepen in the viewer's mind. The viewer's eye becomes as important for the ongoing life of the film as the eyes on which the camera focuses in Blade Runner.6 ... ...uiry into the Origins of Cultural Change, Blackwell, Cambridge MA, 1989, p.312. 15 The White Goddess: a historical grammar of poetic myth, Farrer, Straus & Giroux, New York,1984, p. 255. 16 Carson, op. cit., p.21. 17 Carson, op. cit., p.22. 18 Steve Carper, "Subverting the Disaffected City", Kerman, Retrofitting Blade-Runner op. cit., p.193. 19 Sammon. op. cit., p.6. 20 Guardian Weekly, July 20, 1997, p.24. 21 The New Internationalist, op. cit., p.17. 22 "The Soul of Science", Resurgence, September/October, 1997. No.184, p.9. 23 The Mercury, Hobart, Tasmania, Sept. 1. 1997. Co author Stephen Steigrad, Department of Reproductive Medicine at Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women, found that 276 families through four fertility units did not plan to tell their children that they were the product of artificial insemination with sperm from donors.

Comparing the Movies Wall Street and Boiler Room Essay -- Film Compare

Comparing the Movies 'Wall Street' and 'Boiler Room' Profit, profit and more profit - the golden pillars of capitalism. In the movies 'Wall Street' and 'Boiler Room' this is the ideology that the characters uphold. While, there are many variances in the two movies, the basic aim of both lead characters i.e. Gordan Gekko (Wall Street) and Seth Davis (Boiler Room) is to make money. Both men are stockbrokers who deal in high finance in the exclusive world of Wall Street. However, with both movies are set in different decades the way they go about doing so differs. 'Wall Street' is set in the 'roaring eighties' - a decade that has become synonymous with greed, the so-called era of plenty. With an economy just recovering from recession, as well as oil crises (which incidentally led to higher gas prices, that in turn led to the introduction of a nationwide speed limit in America). The eighties was the time that Regan took office and instituted his economic policies that were to pull America out of the recession and resuscitate its economy. His approach, known as 'Reganomics' - did in...

Lisa Sherman Case Analysis

Lisa Sherman worked for Verizon for many years. While there she never revealed her sexual orientation . Then one fated day, there was a diversification workshop with her fellow managers. The outcome of this was that her coworkers were bigoted towards homosexuality. Lisa Sherman had a tough decision to make, whether to stay or to leave. The following analysis shows a suggested solution. Lisa Sherman Case Analysis: Lisa Sherman spent many years not being true to who she was. She never told her coworkers that she was gay during her 15 years at Verizon Communications. Then, the company decided they wanted to hold diversity training. This is what led Lisa Sherman to the tough decision of whether to stay working at Verizon or put in her notice. The diversity training displayed general statements about different types of people, with statements such as â€Å"gay people are†¦Ã¢â‚¬  written on poster boards. The corporate leaders then formed groups and wrote on the poster boards what their first concept of a particular group of people was. Their statements of groups such as Blacks and Jews involved only positive messages. However when they got to the board regarding homosexual people, it was nothing at all positive, with comments such as â€Å"immoral, pathetic, perverse, and spreading disease. † (Audenaert and George, 2008). How could Lisa now open up and tell these people that she herself was Gay, when they thought such horrid things? Not only were negative derogatory statements bad for Lisa Sherman they were also bad for the company. The CEO Ray Smith wanted to enact a policy of diversification, to take Verizon into a more flexible and creative company. He planned to establish policies that barred not hiring someone because of their ethnic background, religion, race, sex, and sexual orientation. However if his highest level managers felt this way about Gay people what did the rest of the company feel? Lisa Sherman was with Verizon for 15 years, working her way up the chain. She had always hid her sexuality and the existence of her partner Sophie, using pronouns such as â€Å"him† and â€Å"we† for â€Å"her† and â€Å"she† (Alboher, 2008). She felt that if she were to tell anyone it would affect her career, which allegedly proved to be a correct assumption, from the comments that her co-workers made. One of the most homophobic individuals turned out to be one of Lisa’s mentors. In essence, the people Lisa had been closest to turned out to be bigoted individuals. When deciding what to do, Lisa needs to be sure it is in the best interest of her needs. Since she has been with the same company for 15 years, and quickly worked her way up, she probably has a myriad of opportunities waiting for her. She can inform the CEO Ray Smith of her sexual orientation, as he wants the company to become more progressive and would (allegedly) not be bothered by her sexuality. However, the rest of her coworkers still feel that Gay people are immoral, disgusting people. Even if the CEO did not mind her sexuality, her coworkers would still see her in a different light. I feel the best decision that Lisa can make is to look for different work, with a more open, progressive company, then resign from Verizon. This decision would allow her time to get her finances in order. However, if she had a large savings, then the best decision would be to resign immediately, because being around such bigoted individuals would cause her undue stress, and her performance may be affected. If Lisa Sherman chooses to resign, since the CEO Ray Smith is so open to becoming a more diversified workforce, perhaps he can use her and her experience, when she informs him of her sexuality, as a consultant for future policies. Lisa could be a great asset to the company, as she has experienced the bigotry and discrimination about her sexuality her whole adult life, since she first came out. She understands what it means to not admit to others your true self, for fear of losing a job, or not gaining a job. Policies can be changed but unfortunately it takes much more work to change people’s opinions. People are afraid of the unknown, they fear change (Pratt, 2005). To help change people’s opinions training would need to be done, to show that Gay individuals are no different than anyone else. They do not choose their sexuality anymore than someone chooses their skin color. Someone should not be judged by something that they cannot choose. If Lisa Sherman chooses to resign, Verizon Communications and the CEO need to reeducate their employees on what a diversified workplace should be like. There are currently no federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation (Smith, 2010). However many states and companies have laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The company should respond by offering condolences to Lisa Sherman, then start by making policies to make all workers comfortable. Lisa Sherman was a good employee and a hard worker for many years, yet she had to hide who she really was. No employee should have to hide their family life; it affects their stress levels and their mood. Lisa stated that while others had pictures of their wives and kids on their desks, she had a picture of her dog. Lisa should have been comfortable with having her partner’s photo on her desk, as she was her family. Unfortunately, as the office was not a comfortable place for a lesbian woman to state that she was a lesbian, she was unable to. Whatever the actual outcome was in this case, Lisa Sherman should leave the company for her own peace of mind, and sense of self worth. Verizon Communications and Ray Smith need to take the company to a modern, progressive state, by hiring openly gay people, and enacting policies to prevent discrimination in hiring, and the harassment of workers. Such a progressive policy is not only good for the workforce but for the company. As a company that is so open to diversification, they are bound to increase their customer base. Works Cited http://www.life-with-confidence.com/life-change.html http://www.hrhero.com/topics/sexual_orientation_discrimination.html

Ethical Issues in India Essay

For Subject Business Ethics & Corporate Governance 2G Spectrum Scam We have had a number of scams in India; but none bigger than the scam involving the process of allocating unified access service licenses. †¢It is Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth of scam. The amount is approximately 2% of national GDP or 1/3 of current tax revenue of India. It is also equals to annual income of telecom service sector. †¢The former Telecom minister A Raja who according to the CAG, has evaded norms at every level as he carried out the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001 prices. Beneficiaries: Reliance Communication allegedly had stake 10.7% of in swan telecom.But according to rule a telecom operator cannot own more than 10% stake in another telecom operator company operating  in  same  area. Unitech had no experience in telecom sector but according to rule the license should be given to those who have experience in telecom sector. They got license for throw away price of Rs. 1661 crore. It sold its 60% stake to Telenor at Rs. 6200 crore. Swan Telecom got license for Rs. 1500 Crore.it sold 45% stake to UAE based Etisalat at Rs. 9800  crore. Swan  Telecom  had  no  experience  in  telecom  sector. Other beneficiaries include Datcom solution, Loop Telecom, Tata teleservice, STel ltd, Idea cellular & spice communication. Ethical issues: With outbreak of 2G scam following ethical issues on the part of Government, Regulatory bodies, Media & industry came into forefront. Governance: Spirit of collective responsibility not conserved.  Seemed like throwback to the license raj era. Regulation: Toothless with only advisory powers. Insufficient manpower worsens the situation  Appointment process aid conflict of interests  Proper decentralization of powers & implementation of existing rules may have prevented this scam. Media should understand its responsibility towards people of India. Adequate power & resources should make available to regulatory bodies. Common Wealth Games Fraud The Delhi Common Wealth Games (CWG) investigations by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) revealed irregularities and fraudulent practices adopted by the organization committee members.  The estimated figure for misappropriation of funds is Rs 8000 crore (Rs 80,000 million). The investigations have recently commenced and the problems reported are as follows. †¢ Purchase contracts signed with varying rates for the same product †¢Prices over-inflated in some contracts †¢Contracts given to relatives and friends †¢Sub-standard products purchased †¢Vendor payments made without confirming quality and delivery †¢Payments made to non-existent vendors The organization committee members ignored the Prevention of Corruption Act and government procedures for contracts and tenders. Ethical issues: From the perspective of purchasing process, the following ethical issues are apparent: †¢ Improper and inadequate vendor selection and evaluation procedures were followed. †¢Conflict of interest was not disclosed while signing contracts with related parties. †¢Tenders were not given to bidders quoting lowest price of the product. †¢Vendors did not deliver the contracted quality and quantity as per the delivery schedule. †¢Vendors were not penalized for sub-standard quality or late delivery. †¢Vendor payments were not linked to delivery of products or completion of deliverables. †¢There was no segregation of duties. The same officials authorized the contract and approved payments. An independent evaluation of contracts by risk managers may have prevented misappropriation of funds. A periodic audit by government agencies could have highlighted these issues at an earlier stage. As Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) group is required to conduct periodic audits of all government expenses, it is surprising that these issues were not discovered earlier. This clearly indicates miss-utilization of public funds. Adarsh Scam A tall building is built in Colaba area of mumbai just adjacent to lands of Indian navy, now as per navy this building is security threat for its assets and as per law it is illegal to build such structures near defence land. Now another issue is that the land on which the Adarasha society ( building) has been built is allocated for relocation of families of Kargil war Martyrs. but thing happened is that the society was granted permission under name of Kargil war heroes and most of the flats were allocated to relatives of maharashtra ministers Now from looking to a facts it gives impression that biggest culprits in this scam are ministers of maharashtra who sanctioned the permission, bureaucrats who had sufficient money to purchase flats in the society on the name of their relatives, So overall looking scam is result of joint Venture of bureaucracy and politicians of Maharashtra. Ethical issues: †¢Why objection is taken after completion of building and not during the building was being built? †¢Power to give land at discounted rate should be more transparent. Government should bring more transparency in process of giving land at discounted rate. They should monitor whether housing societies or organizations are following rule applicable to them. ‘Adarsh scam’ in Pune Details of another land scam have surfaced from Pune in which high ranking army, police, civil, transport and urban land department officials had joined to grab houses in what was meant to be a defense society. Documents in possession of TIMES NOW prove that Defense Personnel Housing Society (DPCHS), which was supposed to house Kargil war widows, has illegally been sold off to bureaucrats. The list of allottees in this society also includes the personal secretaries of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Narayan Rane. The DPCHS, which was formed by defense personnel, had applied to the district collector for allotment of land for a housing society in 2003. In response, the government had allotted 1.86 hectares in Lohegaon. In 2003 the society was alloted the land which was meant for Kargil war widows. However, in 2010 the society filed a fresh list of allottees 100 of which included bureaucrats. The Pune collector has cracked down on the society and ordered an inquiry into the irregularities. Ethical issues: †¢The DPCHS was fromed for defense personnel. At present it has 200 members. Nearly 50 per cent of the members are employees at various government departments. †¢Power to give land at discounted rate should be more transparent. Government should bring more transparency in process of giving land at discounted rate. They should monitor whether housing societies or organizations are following rule applicable to them. The loan scam The economic offences wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation on unearthed a major fake housing loan racket and arrested eight officials from various banks on graft charges. CBI arrested CEO of LIC Housing Finance Ramachandran Nair and seven others senior bankers in connection with a housing finance racket. Apart from Nair, those arrested are Naresh K Chopra, Secretary (Investment), LIC, R N Tayal, General Manager of Bank of India (Delhi), Maninder Singh Johar, Director (Chartered Accountant) of Central Bank of India, Venkoba Gujjal and Dy General Manager of Punjab National Bank (Delhi). Rajesh Sharma, CMD of Mumbai based firm Money Matters Ltd and two of its employees Suresh Gattani and Sanjay Sharma were among those arrested. The bank officials allegedly colluded with the firm to sanction large scale corporate loans, overriding mandatory conditions for such approvals along with other irregularities. The Finance Ministry said it would explore the possibility of instituting a departmental inquiry into the housing finance racket that led to arrest of senior officials of the LIC Housing Finance and public sector banks. The CBI has alleged that Naresh Chopra, secretary (investment) LIC, had assured Rajesh Sharma of Money Matters that he would â€Å"disfavour the proposal of DB Realty, which had approached it for a loan through some other agent.† Subsequently , DB Realty approached Money Matters and got a loan worth Rs 200 crore sanctioned and disbursed within four months. Ethical issues: †¢Role of intermediaries such as money matters is suspicious in entire scam. †¢Too much power in the hands of a very few. There should be greater transparency in giving loan by financial institutes. there is need to destroy such rackets in financial institutes & banks. Air India charged double fare to rescue Indians in Egypt. The 320 Indians who were evacuated on the special Air India (AI) flight had to pay more than double the cost of a single ticket from Cairo to Mumbai. A one-way ticket in this sector averages at Rs 17,000-20,000, but stranded travelers said they had to pay Rs 45,000 before they were assured of a seat on the AI 160 flight to Mumbai. For a few people, the fare was as high as Rs 55,000. Tourists and honeymooners, many of whom were on a budget and did not have access to immediate funds, were the worst hit. Many fliers complained that they had to pay cash on the spot to be able to procure a flight ticket. AI flight was a boon because our earlier flight had been cancelled. But they had to pay double money on the spot to get on the plane. At the end of a holiday, most people do not have so much cash in hand. Ethical issues: †¢AI took undue advantage of Emergency situation. †¢Air India should understand the responsibility towards Indians. There should be transparency in fare of airlines especially during time of emergency. Rs.300 Crore Citibank Fraud Mr. Shivraj Puri, an employee of Gurgoan branch had siphoned of money from 40 high networth investors (HNI) amounting to Rs 400 crore. Mr. Shivraj Puri is a Senior Relationship Manager in Citibank Gurgoan branch. He used a forged notification of Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) stating that few select clients would earn higher returns (18% to 20%) if they invested in his suggested schemes. He invested the money obtained from HNI in the stock market in his personal capacity over a period of few months. He invested money in share market through brokage firms Religare and Bonanza the main client affected by the fraud is Hero Honda group and the amount diverted is to the tune of Rs 200 crore (USD 44.67 million).  Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Assistant Vice President in the accounts office of Hero Corporate Services have formed two finance companies BG Finance and G2S Consultancy and diverted Hero group promoter funds in these two companies. These funds were then fraudulently invested by Mr. Shivraj Puri of Citibank. Mr. Sanjay Gupta has allegedly taken Rs 20 crore (USD 4.46 million) as commission from Mr. Shivraj Puri for diverting these funds. It is suspected that Mr. Sanjay Gupta was aware of the forged SEBI letter but recommended the investment to a number of people. Ethical issues: †¢Lack of control and supervision on the activities of the Relationship Manager. †¢Religare and Bonanza should have questioned the source of funds of Mr. Puri as he is a salaried employee. †¢The fraud department was alerted by the customer complaints. This raises questions on fraud detection and monitoring procedures implemented at the bank. Banks & financial institutes should monitor suspicious transactions with special emphasis on HNI accounts. There should be adequate control over relationship managers activities. India’s latest rice scam involves Rs 200,000 crore The latest of the scam series in India, the UP rice scam could be the biggest of them all, even outdistancing the so called 2G Spectrum scam. According to reports, a huge stock of food grain meant for distribution under the Antyodaya, Annapurna and Mid-Day Meal schemes was smuggled outside the state and even the country to Bangladesh, Nepal and other nations. It is believed that top officials of the state as well as the central government colluded to divert the food grain between 2001 and 2007. The scam involves goofing up of rice worth Rs 200,000 crore. It was a scam that stretched to almost 7 years and 300 FIRs. The scam was reported in Uttar Pradesh in the period when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadev was the chief minister of the UP. This food grain was for poor people either free or at highly subsidies rate. Ethical issues: Food grains meant for poor had been smuggled into the open market and also into the neighboring countries and none of that could have happened without the involvement of higher authorities. Transportation by goods trains to far off corners of the country indicated that smuggling happened in collusion with different authorities. No action was taken in last 10 years. Distribution system of food grain for poor people should be more transparent. it should be more accountable. It is necessary to break such rackets in public distribution system to avoid national loss. Proper use of technology such as GPS tracker, RFID tag can make distribution more efficient. There is need for frequent checks.

Declaratory Theory

â€Å"Declaratory theory is propounded on the belief that judges' decisions never make law, rather they only constitute evidence of what the law is. However, this view is no longer accepted. There are three reasons for the persistence of the declaratory theory. In the first place, it appealed in the separation of powers. Secondly, it concealed the fact that judge-made law is retrospective in its effect and finally, when the judges confronted with a new, unusual, or different point, they tend to present as if the answer is provided by the common law.One of the most widely-accepted principles of the English legal system is what is known as the ‘declaratory theory' of judicial decision-making. This principle states that when judges are required to make decisions, they do not create or change the law, they merely ‘declare' it. That is, a judge says what he or she finds the law to be; no ‘new' law is ever created by judges. New law comes from Parliament. For example, th e Criminal Justice Bill that is currently going through Parliament will make fairly radical changes to the criminal law.It will take away the blanket immunity that currently exists from being prosecuted twice for the same offence. No-one is suggesting that this Bill declares the law: the ancient ‘double-jeopardy' principle has existed for centuries. When the Bill is enacted, the law will simply change. This article attempts to show, first, that the declaratory theory itself is based on indefensible assumptions of fact. Second, it shows that the theory sometimes leads to bizarre conclusions, which can only be avoided by the most strained reasoning.Finally, it examines why the theory commands so much reverence, when most academics and many judges believe it to be fatally flawed. Why the declaratory theory is factually indefensible The classical exposition of the declaratory theory is that of Lord Esher in Willis v Baddeley (1892): There is, in fact, no such thing as judge-made l aw, for the judges do not make the law, though they frequently have to apply existing law to circumstances as to which it has not previously been authoritatively laid down that such law is applicable.That judges appear to create and change law is undeniable; cases like Donaghue v Stevenson, Hedley Byrne v Heller, and Wednesbury represent significant developments in the law. In Lord Esher's view, the judges in these cases would simply be applying existing principles to new fact situations. But where do these existing principles come from? Some of them, no doubt, come from previous case law. When a judge is called on to decide a case, most often a decision can be made by looking at previous cases whose facts are similar to those at issue, and reasoning from them.Very often there will be previous cases that are binding on a particular court, and these will dictate the outcome. But unless we are to accept an infinite regress of case law, back to the very dawn of time, there must be some point in the past at which an issue was first decided. The romantic view is that the earliest judicial decisions were made by the ‘wandering justices' of the 13th century, who travelled the land at the King's behest, applying and unifying the existing law of the land.The pragmatic view is that the English common law results from an attempt by the Norman French nobility to apply its standards of law in a conquered country, while giving an illusion of continuity. Whether the legal developments of the medieval period followed from a process of approving established legal custom, or from the imposition of a foreign jurisprudence, neither represent an answer to the question where the foundational principles come from. There are really only two possibilities: either they were, at some point, created by the judges, or they were based on existing ‘universal truths' that were self-evident to the judges.The declaratory theory repudiates the notion that the judges ‘made thin gs up', so the only alternative is that they were based on universal truths. The notion that law is based on fundamental, self-evident principles of ethics is often called ‘natural law' jurisprudence. To be fair, the idea of ‘natural law' has had a bit of a revival in the last fifty years or so, after being out of favour since the 18th century. The idea that the declaratory theory can be traced back to natural law therefore does not attract the same scepticism today as it would have in the 19th century.The problem with natural law is that even if one is prepared to accept its basic tenet, that there indeed are self-evident principles of ethics, it is by no means obvious that every situation that requires a judicial decision is one in which such fundamentals are at issue. Consider, for example, the well-known case of Entores v Miles Far East Corp (1955). This concerned the formation of a contract by telex machine, in the very early days of this technology.Previously most formal business transactions would have been carried out by post; the ‘postal rule' was – and still is – that if person A offers to contract with person B, then the contract is formed when B's letter of acceptance is posted to A. This is the case even if B's acceptance never even reaches A. When considering the use of telex, the court had to decide whether the same principle could be applied to telex as to post, that is, whether a telexed acceptance was effective on sending, or on receipt. The leading judgement in Entores was given by Denning LJ.In his judgement he does not refer to any existing case law, or any legal principle. Instead, he says that it is simply reasonable and obvious that a telex must be received to be effective. If the declarative theory is correct, then Denning's judgement cannot be creating law: it must be declaring what the law is. But since he does not refer to any existing law, it must, presumably, be derived from universal principles. No w, a proponent of natural law may believe it is self-evident that, for example, murder and rape are wrong.But it takes a real leap of faith to believe that there are principles of natural law at stake in deciding when a telexed contract is formed. The reality, of course, is that when Entores was heard, no-one really wanted to see the ‘postal rule' extended to a new technology. Denning's judgement is an entirely pragmatic one. It does not require any higher principles to be considered. In summary, the declaratory theory is predicated absolutely on acceptance of a natural law view of jurisprudence, not just for fundamental principles of ethics, but for everything.This, I suggest, is just too much to swallow. Why the declaratory theory produces bizarre results Law students generally know about the ‘retrospectivity of the declaratory theory'; but it doesn't seem to be well understood that this is not a doctrinal matter, or something that can be argued either way, it is an in evitable conclusion of the declaratory theory. If a judicial decision cannot create new law, then when the judge declares the law, as a matter of plain logic he is declaring what the law always was. In the Entores example discussed above, this does not create a problem.It established that the use of telex had certain legal consequences, but since telex was only just coming into use when this decision was made, the fact that Denning was declaring what the law was is of no consequence. It is purely a matter of academic discussion whether the ‘postal rule' would have applied to telex in, say, the 15th century. It is, surely, of not practical consequence. Perhaps the first occasion on which the full implications of the declaratory theory had to be confronted squarely by a court was in the case of Kleinwort Benson v Leicester CC.Here, the House of lords had to rule on what should have been, for a court of this standing, a routine matter. The question at issue was whether money was recoverable in a restitution action, if it was paid from one party to another in a mistaken understanding of law. It had always been the case that money paid under of a misunderstanding of fact was recoverable. It was widely believed that the inability to reclaim money paid under a mistake of law was unjust, and incompatible with other legal principles and other jurisdictions.Both parties to the case, and all five of the law lords, were in agreement on this point: it should be possible to recover money paid under a mistake of law. The disagreement was on whether the decision that it was recoverable should apply only to new cases, or to past cases. Kleinwort Benson, a bank, had already paid its money to the defendant local authority. It therefore argued that the decision should operate retrospectively, so it could reclaim its money. The Local Authority, on the other hand, argued that the decision should not have retrospective effect.The problem was that if the issue were decided in f avour of the claimant bank, it must have retrospective effect. This is a direct consequence of the declarative theory. After all, if the law at time T1 was X, and it is later changed at time T2 by judicial ‘declaration' to Y, then the effect of that declaration is to deem that the law at T1 was Y as well. Of course, no-one at time T1 knew this, and so a decision made on the basis that the law was X, not Y, was necessarily mistaken. You may be wondering why this would have such dramatic consequences.Well, a potentially large number of businesses could suddenly find that the they had grounds for litigation arising from things that happened in the distant past, and which they had no way of knowing at the time would be actionable. No-one would wish to see a barrage of ancient, poorly-remembered cases dragged up before the courts in the hope of gain. For technical reasons which I don't have space to explain here, the Limitations Act would not prevent this. So the Law Lords were fac ed with a problem.They could decide justly, in favour of the claimant bank, by ruling that it could recover its money, and accept the inevitable problems that the retrospectivity of its decision would bring. Or it could decide against the claimant, and avoid the problems, but at the expense of leaving in place an unjust and criticised rule of law. It was simply not open to the judges to change the unjust law, without the change being retrospective, unless they were prepared to openly attack the declarative theory. It is interesting to see how the various judges attempted to deal with this problem.It should be noted from the outset that all the Law Lords in Kleinwort Benson agreed that, in practice, judicial decisions do change the law, rather than simply declaring it. No-one suggested for a moment that the declaratory theory was actually true. For example, Lord Goff says: It is universally recognised that judicial development of the common law is inevitable. If it had never taken pl ace, the common law would be the same now as it was in the reign of King Henry II†¦ However, there was very little enthusiasm for making an official pronouncement to that effect.We will discuss possible reasons for this later. Lord Browne-Wilkinson proposed a judicial damage-limitation exercise. He suggested that although the declaratory theory should be upheld, it could be prevented from giving rise to actions arising out of past conduct. †¦ retrospection cannot falsify history: if at the date of each payment it was settled law†¦ [the claimants] were not labouring under any mistake of law at that date. The subsequent decision †¦ could not create a mistake where no mistake existed at the time.In other words, what he seems to be saying is that although the claimants did in fact err in law, they had not made a mistake of law, so they could not reclaim their payments. This is quite a neat trick, because it upholds the revered declaratory theory, while preventing it giving rise to an undesirable situation. However, it does rely on accepting that there are two different metas of ‘mistake of law'. One meta occurs when a person misunderstands the law that actually subsists at the time he applies it, and which continues to subsist.The other meta occurs when a person correctly understands the law at the time he made the decision, but his understanding was later made wrong by a judicial decision. Even if one accepts this arbitrary and unfounded distinction, it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that it is unjust. If a person makes a mistake of law, and the law remains the same, then the mistaken person can reclaim any money paid as a result of that mistake. On the other hand, a person who later finds that he was mistaken as a result of judicial decision cannot reclaim anything.Yet the latter person is blameless: his decision has been ‘wronged' by later events beyond his control. The former person could at least (in theory) have disc overed what the law was. The effect of the Browne-Wilkinson solution is to leave the declaratory theory intact, at the expense of justice and common sense. Lord Goff showed, perhaps, the greatest reverence for the declaratory theory: I can see no good reason why your Lordships' House should take a step which, as I see it, is inconsistent with the declaratory theory of judicial decision as applied in our legal system†¦As a result, he was prepared to allow a person to recover money paid under a decision in law which was correct at the time, and later shown to be false. In his analysis, the claimant was labouring under a mistake of law, but simply did not know it. Lord Goff correctly analysed the effect of the retrospectivity of the declaratory theory, and allowed it to stand despite the odd results it engenders. Lord Hoffman recognised the problems that would follow from finding for the claimant, but decided that they were a price worth paying for doing justice in the particular case: This may suggest that your Lordships should leave the whole question†¦ o the legislature†¦ There is obviously a strong argument for doing so, but I do not think that it should prevail over the desirability of giving in this case what your Lordships consider to be a just and principled decision. Lord Hope decided along much the same lines as Lord Goff. Of the five Law Lords, Lord Lloyd was the only one to criticise the declarative theory: It follows that†¦ the House of lords is doing more than develop the law. It is changing the law, as common sense suggests†¦ If this view of what happens is inconsistent with the declaratory theory of the court's function, then it is time we said so.It always was a fairy tale. And: For myself, I would want to allow the appeal, if I could, [avoiding the effect of retrospectivity]. But as that is not to be, I consider the second best course is to leave the abolition of the mistake of law rule to Parliament. He seems to be sayi ng that a decision for the claimant, coupled with the effect of the declaratory theory, will produce results so bizarre and unpredictable that it ought not to be allowed. In other words, the price of doing justice in this case is too high.Legal retrospectivity is bad enough in the civil law, but in the criminal law it becomes a human rights issue. Article 7(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights specifically forbids criminal sanctions for an act that did not constitute a crime at the time it was committed. In other words, however heinous we might think an act is, it can't be punished unless the offender had a way to know it was illegal. Of course, ‘ignorance of the law is no defence', but the offender has to be able to know the law to be bound by it. Consider the famous House of lords case of R v R (1994).This concerned a man who raped his wife, and based his defence on the fact that for a man to rape his wife was not, in fact, illegal. It may be condemned, it may even be wicked, but it was not – at that time – illegal. If a man had approach a solicitor in 1990 and said ‘Look, I'm thinking of raping my wife, is that illegal? ‘ a competent solicitor may well have said: ‘Well, of course I wouldn't condone it, but the balance of authority is that it isn't actually illegal'. He could have cited authorities going back to the 16th century to back this up.At this time, there was increasing pressure on Parliament and the courts to overturn this unedifying principle of law, but when R was heard, no action had been taken. To cut a long story short, the House of lords decided that marital rape was illegal, reversing a 400-year tradition. Everyone, with the exception of the defendant, heaved a sigh of relief. Later that year, the decision was put on a statutory basis, which appeared to settle the matter once and for all. The fly in the ointment is our old friend retrospectivity. The decision in R was not that marital rape was i llegal, but that it had always been illegal.Again, the court had no power to decide otherwise. And this means that an octogenarian who raped his wife in the 1940's could now be prosecuted. You may feel that this is a just conclusion; you may feel that rapists should get their just deserts. However, the fact remains that we would be punishing a person for something which was not illegal at the time, and which he would have no way of knowing was ever going to be illegal. The social conditions of the time may not even have led our hypothetical defendant to think he was doing anything wrong.But he could still be prosecuted. This may sound far-fetched, but in fact within a year of the decision in R, cases were being heard in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). SW v United Kingdom (1995) concerned a man who was prosecuted in 1994 for a rape he had allegedly committed in 1990. If was far from obvious that marital rape was illegal in 1990. The ECHR upheld the criminal conviction, on the basis that when the rapes occurred, the defendants could have reasonably foreseen that the criminalisation of martial rape was likely.The problem with the decision in SW v UK is that it suggests that a person must govern his behaviour, not by what the law is, but by what he predicts it will be when any consequent prosecution is bought. So, not only is ignorance of the law no defence, but ignorance of the future development of the law is also no defence! None of the forgoing is intended to condone the practice of marital rape. Judicial retrospectivity presents the same kind of problem for any criminal offence, of any severity. Lord Diplock has suggested that the retrospectivity of judicial decisions discourages judges from correcting defects in the law.Judges have to be very conservative if they must predict not only the effect of their decisions on new cases, but the effect they would have had if made in the past. To get around this problem, the Supreme Court of the USA has adop ted the device of ‘prospective overruling'; this device allows the court to state that a decision that changes the law is not to have retrospective effect. The problem is that prospective overruling is simply incompatible with the declaratory theory. If the former comes in, the latter must go. However, as Prof.Zander says, the courts can accept that the declaratory, retrospective effect of its decisions is doctrinally ‘correct', while at the same time letting it be known that they will decide cases on the basis of the law as would have been understood when the events occurred, not when the case is heard. This is a fudge, but probably a workable fudge. Why is the declaratory theory so revered? In Albion's Fatal Tree (1975), Douglas Hay argues that the decline in formal religious observance in the 18th century left a power vacuum to be filled by the law.For law to command the respect of society in the way that the church had done, it was necessary that it be seen as someth ing above and beyond its practitioners: The punctilious attention to forms, the dispassionate and legalistic exchanges between counsel and the judge, argued that those administering the laws submitted to its rules†¦ In short, it's very inefficiency, its absurd formalism, was part of its strength as ideology. Such an ideology would be undermined, of course, if it were seen that law were nothing more than the creation of ordinary people.It was the job of the legal profession to form an elite, and thereby shield the ugly reality of lawmaking from public scrutiny. While this argument may have had validity in the 18th century, it is not at all easy to see that it stands up in the 21st century. To respect the law, we don't necessarily need to view it as having supernatural origins. Moreover, since the 18th century the development of the law has increasingly been effected by statute. No-one expects Parliament's legislative programme to be to be guided by anything more than the views o f society as expressed through the ballot box.Nevertheless, while most judges tacitly accept that their activities have the effect of lawmaking, relatively few have been prepared to criticise the declaratory theory in public. Lord Reid is usually credited with first describing the declaratory theory as a ‘fairy tale'; in a 1972 article ‘The judge as law-maker' in JSPTL he described the ‘Aladdin's cave' in which ‘those with a taste for fairy tales' expect the common law to be found. However, he was not the first influential judge to cast doubt on the declaratory theory. For example, Lord Radcliffe wrote in the Law Society Gazette in 1964 †¦ here was never a more sterile controversy than that upon the question whether a judge makes law. Of course he does. How can he help it? Such comments are, to say the least, unusual. Prof. Atiyah is probably the most outspoken critic of the modern judicial attitude to the declaratory theory. In Judges and Policy ([1980] ILR 346) he identified five reasons for its continued existence. First, it is to the advantage of the judge if he can, in a difficult case, deflect any criticism of his own decision onto ‘the law' as a higher principle.As Atiyah says, of course, this can be seen as a ‘shabby attempt to evade responsibility'. Nonetheless, the job of a judge is difficult enough, without having to deal with personal attacks on his decisions. Lord Devlin has suggested that judges will occasionally hint to claimants that they wish they could find otherwise, but are bound by ‘the law'. Second, it is generally accepted as a constitutional principle that it is the role of the legislature to make law, and the role of the judiciary to interpret it in specific cases. Where judges do make law, they should do so within narrow constraints.There is undoubtedly some virtue in this principle. The most famous exponent of judicial creativity in modern times is almost certainly Lord Denning. His view was very much that it was the job of the judge to ‘do justice'; if that meant that principles of law had to be bent to fit, that was a price worth paying. The problem is that his decisions do not generalise. It is often difficult for later judges, reading his reasoning, to determine whether the decisions he made are based on law that ought to be applicable in other cases, or to fact situations particular to the case under consideration.This is evidenced by the fact that many of the principles that he established by doing the right thing in a particular case have come to be misapplied in later cases, and have had to be circumscribed by later judges. For example, his decision in Solle v Butcher (1949) that a contract could be set aside on ‘equitable grounds' when entered under a mutual mistake, did justice in the case itself. This decision was followed in a large number of cases, but it was never entirely clear what would amount to ‘equitable grounds'.Finally, in 20 03 the case of The Great Peace more or less demolished the entire concept of ‘mistake in equity' and put this branch of law back where it was 50 years ago. Even if judicial creativity can do justice in the present case without compromising later decisions, there are other reasons why judicial creativity should be constrained. Judges are only able to deal with cases they hear; it is difficult for them to take a wider view of any issue. Judges are not well-placed to make decisions that involve elements of social policy.In addition, arguably judges are drawn from a much narrower section of society than MPs, and therefore less representative. Third, Atiyah argues that judicial lawmaking is tolerated only because it is not exercised openly. Lord Devlin has argued (Judges and lawmakers [1976] 39 MLR 11) that if the courts are given, or arrogate to themselves, the power to make decisions without retrospective effect (and thereby demolish the declarative theory) this will amount to an approval to engage in judicial law-making in the large.While we accept that development of the law requires an occasional exercise of judicial creativity, the fact that it has to be done on the sly means that it won't be done all that often: Paddling across the Rubicon by individuals in disguise†¦ is better than the bridging of the river by an army in uniform with bands playing. Atiyah's fourth argument is that many judges themselves have a naive and simplistic view of their own lawmaking role.They frequently speak or write as though the only alternative to a slavish devotion to the declaratory theory is the wholesale abandonment of the doctrine of precedent and the separation of powers. Judges frequently invoke Seldon's old chestnut about the law varying with the length of the Lord Chancellor's foot as a reason for their own conservatism. However, there is no reason to assume that a disavowal of the declaratory theory need signal the end of the doctrine of precedent (it has n ot done so in the USA), or the dissolution of the separation of powers.The fifth argument is that public respect for the judiciary depends on their strict and evident impartiality. If the judge was seen to create or change law, the implication is that the judge prefers one view of law to another. But, as Atiyah says, there is no reason to believe that the public will respect a judge that is impartial but unjust, more than one that is partial but fair. Judicial adherence, at least in public, to the declaratory theory may be for the very best of motives.However, in a well-educated, democratic society, it is doubtful whether it is ever appropriate for the governing classes to espouse one point of view in public, and a different one in private. Not only is it intellectually dishonest, it is doubtful whether it is necessary. Moreover, it is a strategy that is unlikely to work for much longer. It seems unlikely that the public will be moved to increased confidence in the judiciary, when i t becomes obvious that the judiciary have practised a paternalistic and patronising form of misinformation for all these years. â€Å"