Final Project Essay

To turnaround an unprofitable company, Joan imposed new management ideas despite her father’s business practices and culture. With her leadership, Joan will lead and motivate Invitations Inc. employees, and the company will become more profitable. This leadership void threatens Invitation’s Inc â€Å"sustainable pattern of customer focus and profitable growth† (Millikin 9). Invitations Inc. needs to continue the momentum and motivation to accomplish growth. Replacing Joan with as the new CEO by use of a search committee represents the obvious solution to the problem. However, this assumes a replacement could and would be Joan’s equal, including leadership and management style, vision, and knowledge. Garrett could allow Joan to transition the leadership role to a replacement of her choice, with approval of Invitations Board of Directors, after a mentoring and trial period. On the other hand, Invitations Inc. could negotiate with Garrett to extend Joanâ€⠄¢s stay as CEO to ensure the status quo. This would allow Joan to continue her successful leadership and strategies, or run the company as CEO of Invitations Inc, while decreasing redundancies and increasing operating efficiencies. Analysis of the Alternatives Search committees often replace the traditional hiring of upper management and leadership. The committee must define present conditions and develop a consensus of criteria used in evaluating candidates, including the leadership qualities needed at this stage in the company’s revival plan. Next, the committee can identify, screen, and interview candidates. Afterwards, the committee can recommend candidates to the board for consideration and their eventual decision (Poston 1). Alternatively, if one exists, Invitations Inc. should implement their succession management plan. Evaluation criteria are critical to the search committee. To build consensus, the committee should examine the past and the present to understand the future. With her recent success and credibility, Joan might become a benchmark for the search committee. An  examination of Joan would reveal her background and multicultural experiences, which have enabled her to embrace the cultur al differences between her dad and her. She fervently believes that â€Å"cultural conflict, if paced and channeled correctly, could provide opportunity for rapid innovation† . In hindsight, as the case suggests, Joan recognized the primary need to focus on corporate culture without passing judgment, recognizing its pros and cons. As an example, Joan confronted her dads method of performance evaluations and employee advancement. In US, factors like age, education level, and years of service to an organization determine career advancement. Except for those whose actions reflect poorly on the group and its members, seniority is the key factor for recognition and promotion. This paradigm often resulted in delays to the decision making process in an effort to achieve consensus,† thereby impeding the company’s decision-making (Millikin 3). To address these corporate cultural issues, Joan successfully balanced eastern collectivism and teamwork with western individualism. First, to develop a trust with employees, Joan displayed her strong interpersonal skills; she was the first manager to walk around the entire company and meet every employee in perso n (Millikin 5). Next, she developed systems for employee opinions and recommendations instead of hiring outside consultants. She also exposed managers to unfamiliar cultures, different areas of the business outside their boundaries, and more information through transparency and cross-functional teams. Nevertheless, she demanded personal commitment within the team environment by demanding accurate work, playing off the strength uncertainty avoidance (Millikin 8) Joan felt could use adjustment is the extent to which the people focus on the past, present, or future. Joan recognized that Invitations Inc. employees did not have a sense of urgency about the future, a potential bankruptcy. It makes sense for employees not to worry about such financial matters when the government bails out large employers. Thus, after careful detailed analysis, Joan recognized management did not have a vision for employees to follow. Therefore, he developed a long-term plan focusing on profit and listening to the customer. By mixing the cultural norms, Joan capitalized on the strength of the Invitations Inc. employee. As a leader, she understood cultural behaviors while appreciating their differences. Her cultural sensitivity coupled with her people skills helped turnaround the company. These skills  and decision-making ability are not mutually exclusive to Joan’s normative decision model, which assumes decision-making styles are learnable. Therefore and a possible near-identical substitute could exist. One major problem with search committees are the significant amount of time and effort necessary by the members, who are often upper management, might produce less than ideal candidates (Poston 1). Although best practices exist for search committee, Joan’s replacement might not harmonize with the company. The replacement might undue the corporate cultural changes under Joan, reverting to old habits, or tip the balance of cultures too far in the other direction. According to the case’s timeline, Joan would continue as CEO of Invitations Inc. for as long as needed. This could be time spent by Joan to mentor a successor of her choice. Joan should follow the succession management system, if one exists, to find the future leader for the company. If such a system does not exist, Joan will need to follow a similar process to that of a selection committee: identify, screen, and interview candidates, and make the recommendation of a candidate to the Board of Directors. There must be full confidence and trust in Joan’s decision by the board and the company, and in return, Joan needs to be fair and as objective as possible, using the same criteria and documenting all steps during the selection process. During her time with the company, Joan stablished relationships with other managers and leaders, some of high-quality, some of low-quality. According to the Leader-Member Exchange model, â€Å"those followers with high-quality relationships are in the in-group (Nahavandi 87). Applying this model would assume Joan’s in-group enjoyed her attention, support, confidence, respect, and more favorable job performance ratings, often leading to promotions. Remember, Joan moved away from the cultural norm of the seniority promo tional system to a pay for performance system. Moreover, Joan might know those in the in-group intimately from non-work related social networks. Since she developed employee-based programs to eliminate the hiring of consultants, using the in-group as a pool of replacement candidates seems the most logical. However, should Joan feel her option, the entire company, are not suitable, she could use this time to search outside of the company, maybe her personal in-group. As part of Joan’s selection criteria will be support for her change management principles, including establishing cross-functional teams to address silos; focusing on key basic  metrics of quality, cost, and customer satisfaction; ensuring transparency and communications that connect all levels of employees across the company. Additionally, Joan believes the CEO should align employees with company goals and strategies through the leader’s vision, which initially would be the revitalization plan established by Joan. Once Joan chooses her successor, she can personally groom and mold this individual. However, as Fiedler and his Contingency Model suggest, leadership effectiveness is a function of the match between a leader’s style and the leadership situation (Nahavandi 70). Essentially, Fielder proposes the leader cannot change his style but can change the situation. As such, unless Joan wants significant change within the company, she should not tolerate candidates lacking the core values necessary to meet leadership needs, like respect for employee buy-in. LEADERSHIP VERSUS MANAGEMENT From these definitions, it should be clear that leadership and management are related, but they are not the same. A person can be a manager, a leader, both, or neither. In the company, there are many different activities, the manager and leader would have different function in the activities. On create an agenda, the manager needs to planning and budgeting. The manager establishes detailed steps and timetables for achieving needed results. The manager needs to allocate the resources necessary to make those needed result happen. The leader needs to establish the direction. The leader develops a vision of the future, often the distant future, and strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision. On develop a human network for achieving the agenda, the manager needs to organizing and staffing. The manager establishes some structure for accomplishing plan requirements, staffing that structure with individuals, delegating responsibility and authority for carrying out the plan, providing policies and procedures to help guide people, and creating methods or systems to monitor implementation. The leader needs to align the people. The leader communicates the direction by words and deeds to all those whose cooperation may be needed to influence the creation of teams and coalitions that understand the vision and strategies and accept their validity. On executing plans, the manger needs to control and solve the problem. The manager needs to monitor the results vs. plan in some detail, identifying  deviations, and then planning and organizing to solve these problems. The leader needs to motivating and inspiring. The leader needs to energize people to overcome major political, bureaucratic, and resource barriers to change by satisfying very basic, but often unfulfilled, human needs. On outcomes, the manager needs to produces a degree of predictability and order and has the potential to consistently produce major results expected by various stakeholders. The leader needs to produces change, often to a dramatic degree, and has the potential to produce extremely useful change. Joan and her father will need to establish a knowledge of the above to strengthen their relationship. Works Cited â€Å"Face Value: The $10 Billion Man.† The Economist – World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. The Economist Newspaper Ltd, 24 Feb. 2005. Fonda, Daren. â€Å"CARLOS GHOSN, RENAULT: He Did So Well, Lets Give Him Two CEO Jobs – TIME.† Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews. Time, 1 Dec. 2003. Moffett, Sebastian, and Mike Ramsey. â€Å"Renault CEO’s Image Takes Hit.† MarketWatch. Wall Street Journal, 12 Apr. 2011. Millikin, John P. The Global Leadership of Carlos Joanat Nissan. Publication no. A07-03-0014. Thunderbird, 2003. Muller, Joann. â€Å"The Impatient Mr. Joan- Forbes.com.† Information for the World’s Business Leaders. Forbes, 22 May 2006. Nahavandi, Afsaneh. The Art and Science of Leadership. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Poston, Muriel E. â€Å"AAUP: Presidential Search Committee Checklist.† American Association of University Professors.

Essay About an Injury

My Injury Name: Pleun Fijneman Class: 2H Teacher: Nugteren Name: Pleun Fijneman Class: 2H Teacher: Nugteren What happened? I’m going to tell you about the fracture me brother got. It happened one day before we went on wintersports. He was playing soccer with his friends, and one of them thought it was funny to make him stumble, so he went leg hooking at my brother. My brother felt and he had a lot of pain in his leg. He couldn’t walk on it anymore, so they all helped my brother to the house of one of them. The mother of the friend where they were, brought my brother to our house.My brother looked very pale. Then my mother brought him to the emergency room, and he was sent to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital they had to wait for a long time. He said to me he had never felt so much pain as then. Then a doctor came and took him to the plastery room. First, he was laid down in a chair, and then the doctor tried to put his leg in the right position. My brother was dying of pain when the doctor touched it, and certainly when he was putting his leg in right position. After that the doctor made a X-ray of his leg, so he could see what was wrong.The doctor told my mom that he had a crack in his tibia (shin bone). The doctor was telling about fractures, but my mom didn’t know what it meant, so the doctor explained the meaning: â€Å"it’s a crack, break, or shattering of a bone, and Toots (my brother) has a crack in his bone. He has a tibia stress fracture. It’s an acute traumatic injury. which usually involve a single blow from a single application of force. † The joints which were involved: knee joint, ankle joints (and hinge joints). He couldn’t move them for 6 weeks, because the plaster was wrapped around it. RecoveryDuring recovering my brother did go with us on wintersports, but he said it was very boring for him. Because he did not go skiing or snowboarding. He had to stay at the house which we had hir ed, or go with us to the snow mountain range where we would go skiing. Most times he stayed home, because it was not very handy to always bring a wheelchair. When we got back home, the friend who made him stumble came over to apologize. Now it happened 4 years ago, but my brother is still a little bit mad at him. Because it was our first wintersports vacation and he couldn’t go skiing.When school started, he stayed most of the time at home, or he came to school at middays. He was at home for 6 weeks. After 3 weeks, he got new plaster. The plaster helped to keep the bone in the same place, so it could cure well. after 2 weeks with the new plaster he got walking cast and crutches, so he could go back to school again and learn how to walk. When he was at school, all his friends started writing sweet things on his leg. My brother was very happy that he could go to school again. Then finally his plaster could go off. His leg was very thin, and it looked a little bit scary, but aft er one week it looked normal again. Photo

Explain the key features of post Communist ,Trasformation' since Essay

Explain the key features of post Communist ,Trasformation' since 1989.Compare and contrast the experience of two or more countries as examples - Essay Example 5) as â€Å"the prison of nations†. With their new found independence, the former communist countries have become free to change the course of their own development, highly expectant of the promised prosperity by the West which confidently proclaimed this event as the triumph of capitalism over socialism. However, this unusual landmark in world history has likewise proven difficult to handle, much more to define its development. As McFaul and Stoner-Weiss (2004, p. 3) described: â€Å"the post-Soviet world has gone through the twist and turns of tumultuous political, economic, and social change.† As â€Å"one of the defining features of the second half of the twentieth century† (Edwards 1999, p. vii), understanding this crucial event becomes imperative not only in terms of socio-economic historical development but even in terms of human resource management, especially so that the fallen communist bloc had hundreds of millions of subjects (Rose 2009). Perhaps, characterising this historical period is a good start. As such, this essay seeks to explore the key features of post-communist transformation since 1989, understanding these by comparing and contrasting Poland and Bulgaria’s transformations. This will be achieved through a review of relevant literatures and studies. Ultimately, it is also hoped that this study will provide lessons useful for human resource management. Rose (2009) correctly stated: â€Å"The collapse of the Berlin Wall was an event, while transformation and its aftermath is a process of learning.† Similarly, understanding the key features of post-communist transformation since 1989 is a learning process. The collapse of communism has triggered widespread debate, speculations, assumptions and the like, bringing forth various studies, write-ups and researches. The high interest in understanding this unexpected event

Marketing research for Ice pad and Outline the process for gathering Paper

Marketing for Ice pad and Outline the process for gathering data for and explain how you would analyze the inf - Research Paper Example Yet again, market research can help management decide how best to deliver their products to the target market. With many manufacturers producing and marketing a variety of ice pads in the U.S. it is important for a new entrant in the market such as Ice Pads Limited to establish what kind of products it needs to offer to win a significant part of the market. Ice Pads Limited was established in 2011 and has been a market leader in the supply of ice pads in China. The company sees a great potential in the United States, and particularly in New York City where winter sports are commonly played. The company targets individuals of either gender who engage in winter sports such as skating and ice hockey aged between 16 and 60. The sports are played by people across all socio-economic backgrounds and who have different lifestyles. Although these games are popularly played during the winter season when there is a lot of snow, there are places in New York that have ice courses for playing thro ughout the year. The major competitors in the New York market include Paragon Sports, New York Golf Center, and Jack Rabbit, all of which offer various ice pads used for sporting purposes. Problem Definition Ice Pads Limited needs to establish the kind of ice pads to offer to the New York market, the best price for the products, and the factors that people consider when buying ice pads for winter sport activities. The organization is a new entrant in the market and needs to offer unique and well priced products to win a significant part of the market within its first year of operations. Objectives 1. To establish what customers like or dislike about the products that are offered in the market currently 2. To establish what needs to be improved in the products offered in the market currently to make them better for customers 3. To establish the factors that consumers consider when buying ice pads 4. To establish the appropriate price for ice pads in the New York market Research Metho ds Data for market research can be drawn from primary or secondary sources according to Wight (2013). During the market research, primary as well as secondary data will be collected. Secondary data will be drawn from the Internet and brochures produced by competitors in the market. Primary data will be collected through a field survey. During the survey, a sample of 50 respondents randomly drawn from New York city will be issued with questionnaires containing about 10 closed ended questions. Given that the products for which the market research is conducted are mainly bought and used by individuals across all age groups, the sample frame will include individuals of either gender, living in New York City aged between 16 and 60 years interested in and actively engaging in winter sports. In this respect, the samples will include individuals who have at least taken part in one winter sport at one time or another in their life. The samples will be drawn from different streets in New York City. The researchers will draw the samples by randomly approaching individuals between the age of 16 and 60 going about their businesses. The potential respondents will be asked to spare a few minutes of their time and introduced to the research. More specifically, the researcher will introduce themselves before briefing the potential respondent about the study; its nature and the objectives of the

King Haigler Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

King Haigler - Research Paper Example He is in fact honored and celebrated as one of the greatest among Catawba leaders for his role in this community. His role as a leader shaped up American history and remains relevant to understanding the human experience in the wake of the 21st century. King Haigler firstly shaped the history of Catawba when he facilitated and helped to negotiate a peace treaty with six nations. The Six Nations would comprise of the Iroquois in New York and Canada (Hawkins). The region had been hit by a war that had escalated after the defeat of the Tuscarora and their departure to New York. King Haigler was keen to delegate some elders who would accompany him to a conference in Albany New York on 30 June 1751 (Blumer 33-35). This initiative was well timed and relevant at a time when people were losing their lives and property. He did not sit back but led from the front. He mobilized some members of the community who bought his idea. King Haigler effort was rewarded though came at a price as he and his crews were humiliated as the Mohawk forced them to dance with their feathers pointing down during the conference. The entire effort saw both Haigler and King Hendrick of the Mohawk share apiece pipe and the Six Nations handed Haigler a wampum belt that marked the beginning of peace (Blumer 34). This event reveals King Haigler’s commitment to step up for his community when he was needed most. He would dare to go to such battled grounds to stop wars and save lives. This underscores his relevance in the history and future of America. King Haigler was not a fun of what Blumer would term as evils of alcohol (Blumer 35). With the wake of civilization, the West had engaged in new customs that would feature use of hard drinks that Haigler believed had no value to the community. His efforts are still relevant today as alcoholism has had many go down the drain through addiction rendering them

Global marketing ethic and culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Global marketing ethic and culture - Essay Example Despite this, there are controversies about this proposed takeover as the employees of the Cadbury have lined up in London to protest against this takeover owing to the job losses that they may incur. Similarly, Kraft’s shareholders specially its largest shareholder Warren Buffet is worried about the mounting debt that the firm has taken in order to materialize this deal. Thus the issue is not just limited to the takeover of one international firm by another but it also carries with it the different ethical consequences. Apart from this there will also be issues regarding the culture as well as global marketing theory which need to be understood and analyzed in order to properly evaluate this proposed merger. This paper will therefore attempt to provide an objective analysis of the takeover by providing detailed analysis of the markets where both the firms are operating currently, relative advantages of the takeover to both the firms as well as implications for the stakeholders of the firm besides dwelling upon some of the ethical issues. Organizations enter into mergers and acquisitions for variety of reasons however, strategic reasons for takeovers are considered as most critical. Gaining entry into new markets, achieving synergy as well as diversification are some of the most important reasons that may be behind the takeovers of the firms.(Kummer,2008). Thus takeovers can either be strategic in nature or they can be financial in nature too. Financial takeovers are often done in order to gain quick gains due to market in-corrections and as such organizations engage themselves into such takeovers in order to gain monetary benefits rather than gaining strategic advantage over their competitors. It is also critical to note that the cross border takeovers and acquisitions are often made in order to overcome the entry barriers that may restrict the firms to gain an entry into a new market on its

NURSNG ROLE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NURSNG ROLE - Research Paper Example The outline also focuses on the two main roles of the nurses, which are a helping role and a teaching and coaching role. These are further composed of various aspects that facilitate the running of the profession. The helping role encompasses the roles of a nurturer, and a direct caregiver. On the other hand, the teaching and coaching role is wider and encompasses aspects such as nurses as agents of change, managers, teachers, counselors and researchers. Further, the outline also brings into focus the aspect the nurse being a champion of the patients’ rights and needs. The nurse becomes the principal care provider for the patient in the hospital. Further, the nurses inform patients of their rights and helps in enforcing and safeguarding those rights. Introductory Paragraph In the past, around the mid-1800s, nurses used to be viewed as the subordinates, or handmaiden, to the doctors. Their roles were remarkably few and majorly involved doing what the physician ordered. Such inc luded looking after patients in the hospitals, straightening beds, feeding the patients, aiding the patients with the bandages and helping the patients find their way around hospitals. Nevertheless, a lot has changed since the mid-1800s. Today, nurses are professionals who have their own roles; separate and different professional roles from doctors. Doctors still write the orders as they did before. However, a nurse gets expected to know when such an order, dosage or a medication are wrong so as to follow the necessary procedures to indulge the physicians on such orders. Further, a nurse has nursing duties that involve assessment, coming up with a nursing plan, family and patient education, medication teaching, dressing changes among others. All these nursing roles fall under two main categories, which are a helping role and a teaching and coaching role. The Helping Role This is the most essential role of the nursing profession and is considered the traditional role. A number of thi ngs fall under this role and collectively facilitate the functioning of the nursing professionals. This role gets manifested in two distinct ways. These are the roles of nurses as nurtures and direct care givers. This care is directed to the human body. The Biblical reference to this role is 1 Cor. 6:19. This scripture reference talks about the body being the temple of God and thus, taking care of it is an imperative. Text Description The helping role is one of the most prominent roles of the nurses in the hospital set up. This role is patient-oriented. The nurse serves as a nurturer of the patient. Further, the nurse is responsible for providing all the necessities of the patients throughout their stay at the hospital. In addition to this, due the extensive interaction of the nurse and the patients, the nurse comforts the patient during their hospitalization. The nurses offer direct care to the patient. Further, they promote the comfort of the client, who is the patient. This role is best made manifested by the mothering actions relevant from the nurses. Such activities involve the knowledge and sensitivity to the matters that are relevant to the clients. In essence, the nursing roles are meant to show concern for the patient welfare. Further, the nursing roles take into account the need for the acceptance of the patient as a person. References Journal of Advanced Nursing,Volume 68,

#7 Doppler Radar WSR88 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

#7 Doppler Radar WSR88 - Essay Example The Doppler Radar WSR88, or more popularly known as the WSR-88D, is named as such because it stands for Weather Surveillance Radar – 1988 Doppler, and was built in 1988 (Fitzpatrick 2006). The NWS has been using radar to detect precipitation since the 1940’s. However, the WSR-88D network was first installed in 1993, replacing the WSR-57 radar network. The old radar system built in 1957 required very hard to find spare parts that were mainly available in the former Soviet Union and thus required the necessary upgrade (Goldstein 2002). Furthermore, the displays of the original data system were often confusing and were not very effective in detecting severe weather. Compared to its predecessor, the WSR-88D systems have provided a significant increase of weather data off the coasts in storms. It was built with newly developed surface-based remote sensors that have the spatial resolution needed for coastal zone studies (National Research Council (US) Panel on Coastal Meteorology 1992). Furthermore, the WSR-88D network can detect not only precipitation, but also rainfall rate, accumulated rainfall, and the location of the rainfall. The National Weather Service and the Department of Defense have deployed and operates around 160 WSR-88D Doppler radar in the country, including in the US Territory of Guam and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (National Research Council (US) Panel on Coastal Meteorology 1992). The system uses the Doppler effect to indicate whether raindrops were moving towards the radar or away from it. The Doppler radar’s ability to detect movements has thus provided significant improvements to the meteorologist’s ability to look inside thunderstorms and find out if rotation in the cloud exists (Ahrens 2008). It is vital to pinpoint this rotation because it usually precedes a tornado. The Doppler Radar WSR-88 is a very important device in getting necessary information about the earth’s present and future weather conditions. It has evolved from

English 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

English 101 - Essay Example This essay disagrees that being optimistic is a sham and it will support its position by defining PT and PP and discussing their differences. As a branch of psychology, PP employs effective intervention and empirical understanding towards the achievement of happiness and satisfaction in life as opposed to simply treating mental illness. On the other hand, PT is a mental attitude founded on processes that create and convert the energy of thoughts into reality and drive individuals to expect favorable results. As seen from the video The Secret, this is the first step of understanding that the PT approach to happiness is not a scam. Further, although Ehrenreich (5) criticizes the concept of positive thinking, she also agrees that the practice of thinking in a positive way may not affect the physical world directly but negative thoughts will produce negative outcomes. On their part, positive thoughts such as confidence, contentment and gratitude will impact positively on health with the potential of lengthening lives (Ehrenreich 5). The Secret shows that through the law of attraction, people are able to attract to themselves whatever they think of and want to achieve. Agreeably, a thought in itself will not deliver a happy or successful life to the person thinking. However, it is equally critical to understand that that thought places an individual in the right state of mind to work towards what they want to achieve in life. In an attempt to show the limitations of the relationship between PT and happiness, PP has also shown that, for example, people who work in suits and those in higher socioeconomic classes are not necessarily happy (Halpern 25). In fact, studies conducted by proponents of PP have also found happy people among those belonging to much lower socioeconomic classes and the marginalized (Seligman 83). From this perspective, PT differs from PP because proponents of PT explain that seemingly successful members of

Global economic Essay Example for Free

Global economic Essay Executive summary The current essay demonstrates the scenario of Indian economic crisis in 2014. Causes and impact to India was talked in the first section; influence on other economy especially to Australia was analyzed and Stolper-Samuelson Theorem was applied in section 2; similar situations in history were mentioned in the third section. 1. Describe its causes economic or non-economic (2% for creativity). In 2014, many emerging economies are facing liquidity crisis, especially India. It was the aftermath of the US QE exit. The QE is the monetary policy applied by countries like US, UK, and some EU members, that to expand the money supply and leverage; it was an effective short-term fix to boost investment and economy growth, yet when it became too long, it caused negative influence in both domestic and the global economy. Indian economy is highly dependent on foreign capital inflows, and most of them are the cheap money brought from countries with QE policies. With vast investment, the India government spent a lot on infrastructures and manufacture plants that the government kept a deficit account these years. Deficits became problematic when investment capitals stopped. Economically, short of money directly make those on-going projects unfinished; quitting QE will appreciate foreign currencies like USD while make the India currency Rupee comparably depreciate; when Rupee is weaker, there will be inflation in domestic commodity price. Non- economically, delay or stagnation of projects along with weak Rupee drove a loss of confidence on India economy, bear stock and gold market caused the equity and houses prices dropped,. India is exposed under financial crisis bought by deep troubles at home and abroad: weak Rupee performance due to comparably strong dollar; market gloom due to foreign investment withdraws; domestic commodity price surge due to inflation caused by currency devaluation; GDP growth slowed and Indian government is facing questions on its creditability and huge deficit account. Below charts show the economic effects of how QE policies in the rest of the world affected India and caused financial crisis: First of all, when foreign currencies (like USD) tapered the investment injection to India (S0 to S1, q0 to q1), Rupee devaluated (as more Rupee need for 1 dollar, r0  to r1); as Rupee devaluated, price of imported goods increased, higher cost shift the aggregate supply leftwards and caused higher price level (P to P1) and lower real GDP (Y to Y1). 2. Describe its impact on world trade and commodity prices, and use the Stolper Samuelson theorem to predict the effect on income distribution in Australia. As mentioned above, stagnation of foreign investment and weak Rupee caused slower GDP growth and higher commodities prices. Devaluation of Rupee makes Indian government even harder to repay its deficits, which in turn affected all the economy activities globally. As one of the two superpowers in Asia, India has considerable economic influence over Australia. Indians are less rich compare with the rest of the world; therefore less Indians would come to Australia for study. Education market is negatively affected and there will be job losses or even closing down in education sector in Australia. As a net energy importer, India has large demand for Australian energy products, especially for coal (for coal is the main energy resource in India). Comparably strong Australian dollar makes Aussie products less favored by India, expect the mining products, for those are necessities. According to Stolper-Samuelson theorem, assuming full employment and free labor mobility, as the demand for mining products stay steady while demand for luxury products or other non-necessities slowdown, there will be different changes in mining and other sectors. For mining as a capital-intensive industry, selling price increase will increase capital and rent costs, but lower the real wage; on the other hand, labor sectors like agriculture and services industries, shrink foreign demand results price cuts, which wage level also decreases yet capital and rent costs rises. Below charts show how the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem applies on the interactions between capital/rent and wage costs. The green line represents the labor-intensive industry (marked as L, like agriculture) and the orange line represents the capital-intensive industry (marked as C, like mining); when there’s a price increase on capital-intensive products, the curve shifts rightwards (to C1), capital/rent cost increases (r to r1) while wage level decreases (w to w1); when there’s a price drop on labor-intensive  products, the curve shifts leftwards (to L1), capital/rent cost increases (r to r1) while wage level decreases (w to w1); Moreover, weak economy in India may promote talent immigrations for skilled labor (e.g., from IT industry) moving to Australia. Economically, increased abroad labor supply would lower the wage level in Australia, which may cut costs of producing and make Australian goods and services more attractive to the rest of the world; Non-economically, gathering of professions will boost technology improvement, that would have Australian more competitive; on the other hand, a surplus of labor supply may cause social problems like unemployment and high government payment on unemployment insurance. 3. Document any historical crises that might be relevant for your answer (4%). The current India financial crisis is somewhat similar to many cases in the history. The 1929 Great Depression started after the â€Å"Black Tuesday† of stock market crash in 29 October; astonishing unemployment rate had got many people lost home and the depression lasted until 1933 (America’s Story). The Great Depression is very representative because it was caused by many typical indicators like subprime bubble burst, capital rupture, unbalanced industrial structure, and pessimistic over future economy (Bemanke James 1991). One thing different is that the Great Depression results commodity prices drop where the 2014 India crisis results inflations. The price level increases while GDP slowdown could be explained as India’s high dependency on foreign investment and the vulnerability of Rupee. Part 2 Executive summary Drug policy can change supply and demand curves. Penalizing supplying reduces equilibrium quantity and raises equilibrium price while penalizing users reduces both. It is found that different policies have their advantages and limitation. An example in Singapore indicates death penalty for suppling drags but some disagree regarding social perspective. There is an ongoing debate about drugs prohibition by government. Advocates  believe prohibition can reduce drugs trafficking and use, so that lower crime, improving productivity and increasing people’s health. Opponents believe prohibition has only modest effects on trafficking and use while causing many problems such as numerous other negative side effects and increased crime and corruption. One issue in this debate is the effect of drugs prohibition on government budgets. Prohibition entails direct enforcement costs, and prohibition prevents taxation of drug production and sale. Understandably, thus, some politicians, commentators, interest groups, and citizens have embraced unconventional approaches to closing fiscal gaps, such as legalizing drugs. The enforcement costs would be negligible and governments could levy taxes on the production and sale of drug. Also, government expenditure would decline and gains in tax revenue. The figure analyses the market for drug if there were no government intervention. The equilibrium would be at point A, which price P1 and Q1. Total revenue of sellers and total spending by buyers would be the area of the rectangle P1*Q1. The other figure shows the effect of a government effort to restrict supply through any of several methods, including vigilant customs inspections, arrest and stiff penalties for drug dealer, or efforts to reduce drug traffic from producing countries like Thailand. The decrease in supply is represented by a leftward shift of the supply curve, establishing a new equilibrium at price P2 and quantity Q2. All this suggest that supply restrictions if they successfully reduce the equilibrium quantity of drug and will also raise its equilibrium price. Similarly, based on the inelastic demand for illegal drugs, has led many economists to advocate the controlled legalization of most currently illegal drugs. Others advocate a shift of emphasis in the war from decreasing supply to decreasing demand. Policies that might decrease the demand for illegal drugs and shift the demand curve leftward include stiffer penalties on drugs users. The figure shows a policy of reducing demand. As the demand curve shifts leftward, price falls from P1 to P3, and quantity demanded falls from Q1 to Q3. This would lead to total expenditure on drugs decrease and can  contribute to a low crime rate by drug users and make the drug industry less attractive to potential dealers and producers. Opponents to the policy of full legalization Opponents believe that the legalization of drugs would increase use, lad to more experimentation by youth, and exacerbate the existing deleterious effects that drugs have on society (Smith, 2011). They are of the opinion that government subsidization of addicts would have crippling effects on the economy. They also feel that legalization would help to create a large black market for drugs. The point of view is that dealers will still be involved in crime and violence and those users will still need to support themselves by engaging in criminal activity, thus, it will result in even larger prison populations. Basically, they believe that the legalization of drugs would lead to increases, not reductions, in crime because there would be more addicts and because of the aforementioned black market (Wilson, 1990). Also, they believe the legalize drugs would have devastating effects on public health, the economy, quality of life, culture and society as a whole. Opponents to the policy of penalizing use There are some arguments that against the drugs uses. For example, the failure of prohibition to prevent consumption of illicit drugs shows that existing policies do not work. It would be preferable to use the money saved by ending prohibition to provide more drug rehabilitation centres and more drug education. More than this though, prohibition creates a powerful supply vacuum which can only be filled by criminals. The consequence of this is less safe drugs (from adulteration), violence and stronger organised crime elements. Moreover, by criminalising drug users, prohibition needlessly removes people from potential employment and use to society and possibly creates criminals out of people who wouldn’t otherwise be so inclined. Some illegal drugs are no more dangerous than the legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, proponents of medical drugs such as marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. They cite dozens of peer-reviewed studies, prominent medical organizations, major government reports, and the use of marijuana as  medicine throughout world history (Barton, 2007). Opponents to the policy of penalizing supply All criminal and civil penalties against production, distribution, sale, and possession would cease because the policy might impose drugs specific regulations and taxes if in a legalized drugs regime, as occurs now for alcohol and tobacco. This would affect government budgets such as government would save the resources currently devoted to arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drugs producers and consumers (Holland, 2010). Also, government would collect tax revenue on the production and sale of legal drugs. The tax rates on drugs might be the same as those applied generally, or they might be higher, as with alcohol and tobacco. Miron (2005) indicates that drugs such as Marijuana legalization would reduce government expenditures by roughly $8 billion annually and would generate tax revenue of approximately $2.4 billion annually if drugs were taxed like all other goods. Opponents to the policy of penalizing both use and supply Criticisms of the current drug policy are varied and come from a wide variety of perspective. For example, current policy is not meeting its goals of reducing illegal drug use or its consequences. Demand for illegal drugs has not been reduced in vulnerable population or in the general population as evidenced by recent significant increases in illegal drug use among high school seniors (Inciardi, 1999). The high percentage of illegal drug use among arrestees indicates that current policy significantly contributes to criminal behaviour among drug users. This suggests that drug law simply criminalize a medical and public health problem and ask the legal system to deal with what it is, in fact, unable to affect a medical condition. Also, the drugs can be used in medicine to treat the various diseases that people have. Singapore, where is a Southeast Asian island city-state, is facing the rising of drug consumption and healthcare costs problems. The government of Singapore constitutes a range of severe polices to solve these marijuana problems. Acutely Singapore is close to the Golden Triangle opium production  region, which is the 2nd largest opium production centre in the world, as well as a major transport hub. Hence it is a transshipment point for illicit drugs, as well as minor market given the relative affluence of society (TheRealSingapore, 2013). Therefore, the drug demand will always remain, as will drug trafficking, due to Singapore status as a transport hub. In fact, the social mechanisms are harmed by the drug due to the crime, also the individual health are damaged by the marijuana (TheRealSingapore, 2013). For the actual policy on marijuana in Singapore, according to international business time 2011, Singapore, like much of Southeast Asia, has very draconian laws, particularly with respect to drug trafficking. Sometime, the drug trafficking often leads to the death penalty. In my opinion, I disagree with the death penalty due to the drug trade refer to the opponents to the policy of penalizing supply above. In Singapore, it is the penalizing supply only. For example, any adult convicted of trafficking at least 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine or 500 grams of cannabis, faces mandatory death penalty (international business time 2011). So far, estimates that at least 400 people have been executed in the island since 1991, mostly on drug-related convictions. Thus, Singapore has very small population about 5-million population; it has one of the world’s highest rates of executions per capita (international business time 2011). In addition, Singapore has defended its drug policies. In 2009, The UN Human Rights Council strongly disagrees that States should refrain from using the death penalty in relation to drug-related offenses. However, Singapore protects their drug policy that the death penalty has become major policy to deterring drug (international business time 2011). One of the reasons why someone refuses the analysis of economic to solve this problem is that the drug problem is not only the economic problem but also the social and health problems. Although using the economic analysis to deal with the drug problem that it can give the government maximum financial benefits, it will badly influence the health problem of people. Also the rate of social crime will increase due to the drug trade. According to Buddy (2013), the drug increase alertness and physical activity. Marijuana use causes short-term memory loss, decreases sperm and testosterone production  in men, and may disrupt the menstrual cycle and cause miscarriage and stillbirth in women. To sum up, the drug trade brings the negative social and health problems more than the economic benefits.

British Petroleum Green Marketing Business Essay

British Petroleum Green Marketing Business Essay Introduction The essay is based on the marketing practises of British Petroleum (BP) in relation to their corporate social responsibility and the suitability of its marketing mixes application in society. The question asked is Green and fair trade marketing are just marketing ploys to get more money from consumers without really furthering the goals of sustainability or fairer trade? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the way in which an organisation expresses its values and ethical behaviour towards its stakeholders and society. Further, in light of public scrutiny and questioning; it is imperative to establish what exactly green marketing in relation to businesses CSR is and what it is doing in business today, especially in BP an oil company. After investigating BP promotional elements of its marketing mix. I watched a green advertisement; it begins with a lush green healthy forest with water dripping and sparkling from the tips of their leaves. In a distance a bird singing in the morning air, a man appear I believe is an environmentalist. The man is protecting the animal within the lush forest and the as the advertisement continues, I learn that the man works for an oil company called BP and I learn further how BP is doing such a wonderful job protecting the environment. However lets investigate BP profoundly. The company started in 1908 under company called Anglo-Persian, when oil found in a rugged part of Persia from explorer George Reynolds and British investor William DArcy. Over the next few decades, gas and electricity would largely replace kerosene for home heating; the invention of gasoline-fuelled vehicles would challenge the railways and roads. These social changes would open a door to the growth of Anglo-Persian and expand its sales both in Britain and in mainland Europe. In 1954, the Anglo-Persian board changed the companys name to The British Petroleum Company www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle. Downloaded 14-09-10. Today BP has transformed; growing from a local oil company into a global energy group. Employing over 80,000 people and operating in over 100 countries worldwide with brands such as Aral, Arco, Castrol and Wild Bean Cafà © under the BP umbrella. In 2009 financially BP had a very good year where the company made  £13,955 billion pre net profit, see appendix for full financial review. In their CSR; BP had these core values; BP pledge to help the world meet its growing need for heat, light and mobility. They strive to do that by producing energy that is affordable, secure and doesnt damage the environment. BP is progressive, responsible, innovative and performance driven see appendix for CSR and suitability reports. Progressive: We believe in the principle of mutual advantage and build productive relationships with each other, our partners and our customers. Responsible: We are committed to the safety and development of our people and the communities and societies in which we operate. We aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. Innovative: We push boundaries today and create tomorrows breakthroughs through our people and technology Performance driven: We deliver on our promises through continuous improvement and safe, reliable operations. Using Hennison and Kinnear (1976) ecological marketing concept; BP emphasizes environmental issues with geographic focus for example climate change. The basis of their green marketing campaigns is using evidence of current environmental issues and environmental views with business interaction. BP focuses on the interrelationship between business society and the environment within their marketing mixes and sustainability reports. BP saves the day Over the last few decade environmental concerns has given raise to a green consumer with increasing demands, this has led to the emergence of green marketing, which attempts to balance the pursuit of sales and profit with a concern for the environment and society. According to Prothero (1990) defines green marketing as The holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the needs of customers and society, in a profitable and sustainable way(Responsible business marketing. PG 115) Today consumers worldwide expect large companies with recognizable brands such as BP to have first-class environmental and social credentials or their brand image could suffer from the negative publicity. Ignoring social and consumers demands for high-quality ethical practices can destroy customers trust and can lead to government legislations being imposed within Archie Carroll (1979) pyramid of legal responsibilities. Incorporating ethics and sustainability programmes can enhance and build public reputation, which can increase market share, costs savings and profits worldwide. Thus sustainability is the foundation of the green marketing concept which has 2 simple criteria which are about consumption and pollution. Using BP sustainability report which is accessible on their website this is how BP meets this criteria bp.com/sustainability Using natural resources at a rate at which environmental systems or human activity can replenish them (Responsible business marketing. PG 116) Using BP marketing mixes; BPs product produces fuel, energy and funds research into environmentally friendly fuel this illustrates the innovative and progressive element of their valves which strives to reduce the use and dependence on fossil fuel by society. Additionally, this helps reduce global warming through research techniques such as fuel with lower carbon monoxide that helps reduce the carbon emissions responsible for adverse climate changes beneficial to all living creatures on earth. Producing pollution and waste at a rate which can be absorbed by environmental systems without impairing their viability (Responsible business marketing. PG 116) As a producer of oil; BP does not overproduce fuel, as it benefits financially from a stable price within the profit and market share elements of the business. Within their organisation, BP has become more conscientious and develops strategies that centralize deliveries into larger but less frequent loads by improving vehicle utilisation with the use of eco friendly trucks which has less carbon foot print. This is an illustration of the place elements with the marketing mix, the performance-driven and responsible elements of their values. BP is a voluntary member and committed to (OCIMF) Oil Companies International Marine Forum for the past 23 years which they aim to reduce marine pollution. http://www.ocimf.com/ downloaded 18-09-10. Vandermerwe and Oliff (1990) found that in response to the green challenge; 92% of businesses had changed their product offerings with 85% changes in their production systems and 78% had changed the focus of their marketing communications and BP is no expectation to this survey (Responsible business marketing. PG 115) BP over the last few decades has risen to the green challenge. They have change their product offering by investing $4 billion in alternative energy, with its activity focused on advanced bio-fuels, wind business in the US, solar power, and carbon capture and storage (bp.com/speeches downloaded 18-09-10). The company has responded from the Copenhagen conference on climate change 2009 by reducing carbon emissions from their factories, vehicles and promoting the use of natural gas. In addition; BP work sensitively around plants and animals which is integral part of their efforts to manage environmental impacts; such as in Canadian Beaufort Sea where the use of sound techniques to mitigate the potential impact of sound on marine mammals. The company focuses on education with investments in science resources in UK classrooms to supporting for Chinas Tsinghua University in building strengths in management education. In Trinidad Tobago the company is promoting community development by building schools, hospitals, providing training to local residents on reproductive health and personal hygiene which created a drop in malaria prevalence from 23% in 2000 to less than 1% in 2009 www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/e_s_assets/e_s_assets_2009/downloads_pdfs/bp_sustainability_review_2009.pdfHYPERLINK http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/e_s_assets/e_s_assets_2009/downloads_pdfs/bp_sustainability_review_2009.pdfand downloaded 19-09-10and downloaded 19-09-10 and by employment of local staff. Villagers have been assisted to create better livelihoods in activities such as fishing and farming through training and better equipment provided by BP. BP has capitalised on these sustainability achievements and has involved them into the promotional elements of their marketing mix. Their brand image focuses on being an eco friendly company, with an emphasis on quality and environmentally friendly fuel. Plus their Partnership with Virgin has supported the Africa Eden Project. www.edenproject.com/documents/Annual_Review_06_07.pdf downloaded 19-09-10 . BP the biggest environmental crimes in history BP aims to be the leading environmentally friendly producer and supplier with eco friendly petrol and gas. BP has a strong CSR and sustainability policies and has become more ethically and socially aware with the realisation of customers and stakeholders needs and expectations from the company. However, a more in depth analysis indicates that BP advertisements and public relations within its marketing mixes are designed to make it look more environmentally friendly than it actually is. The term is called green washing This phenomenon of making small environmental concessions while otherwise continuing business (Responsible business marketing. PG 45) According to the Advertising Standards Agency; the raise of this phenomenon is becoming a very serious problem and have adopted new guideline to curve this new trend. The Advertising Standards Authority has seen a huge rise in the number of complaints about environmental claims in advertisements. Their consumer research has shown that awareness of green issues is high, but there is also confusion and a lack of basic understanding about environmental and ethical claims and what they really mean. http://asa.org.uk/ downloaded 23-09-10 This is because profit and the interests of the shareholders always seen to come first before the environment. In comparison; BPs sustainability report to its actions. In July 2000, BP launched a massive $200 million public relations and advertising campaign with  the new slogan and name change Beyond Petroleum. It changed its logo to a green and yellow sun and claimed to be a greener business. In 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP Texas City Refinery, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others, its claims to have safety as one of its highest priorities. BP was charged with criminal violations of federal environmental laws and has been subject to lawsuits from the victims families. BP had a  £53 million fine from The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the US for hundreds of safety violations, and subsequently imposed an even larger fine after claiming that BP had failed to implement safety improvements following the disaster http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/30/bp-texas-city-safety-fine downloaded 19-09-10 In March 2006, BP spilled 200,000 gallons of crude oil in Alaska. The spill happened because BP failed to perform routine maintenance on its pipeline. It claims to work sensitively around the environment and animals. In October 2007, BP was ordered to pay more than $60 million by the U.S. Department of Justice for breaking environmental laws in Texas and Alaska. According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/8b770facf5edf6f185257359003fb69e/1af659cf4ce8a7b88525737f005979be!OpenDocument downloaded 19-09-10, this was the largest fine ever handed out for breaking Clean Air regulations in the U.S. In addition, BP then lobbied continuously to open up the Alaska National Wilderness Reserve for oil drilling to add to their increasing profits with no success. It claims to support conversation and wants to protect the environment from its green advertisements. In 2007 BP invested $1.5 billion to extract oil from the Canadian wilderness using methods which environmentalists say are part of the biggest global warming crime in history which 2 years earlier the company publicly said they would never invest or use such damaging environmental technology . In May 2010 BP was involved in an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which is now the biggest environmental disaster in American history blamed yet again on poor safety and maintenance. Yet in June 2010 BP decided to spend $50 million on green advertisement presenting a squeaky clean image which back fired adding to the growing tide of resentment by American consumers. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293020#ixzz0zsryzPBl Illustrating BP practises within the green marketing mixes; green products. BP produces and supplies a range of products and services. However, fossil fuels production and supply are their main source of profit which is environmentally damaging as its produces carbon emissions. Thus their core business is not environmentally friendly. As illustrated by Chick (1992), BP cannot use green packaging or reduce layers for their core business, which is the production of oil. Oil and fuel need to be stored correctly in drums and depot containers which cannot be reduce for safety reasons. There are a range of issues in managing the green promotional mix; BP has adopted a green branding marketing strategy which as indicated is environmentally friendly. However, the adoption of this green brand in its advertisement for example its marketing strategy has not been assimilated in some of BPs production mechanisms. Consequently, a range of disasters caused by BP has emerged at alarming rates, intensity and adversity within recent years. The inability to follow through on their green brand with safer production procedures will invariably result in outraged by the public. Going green may affect the cost structures of a business with a knock-on effect on prices. However with the recent oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico BP has spent  £8 billion and rising http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11174375 HYPERLINK http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11174375 downloaded 19-09-10downloaded 19-09-10 on the cleanup operation. BP had to sell assets to fund this massive cleanup operation with the CEO making a few disastrous statements in public. With this negative publicity and unpopular public image especially in the US it will affect the business and particularly its green pricing for its products. BP has green logistics; their centralized distribution centres and use of eco- friendly trucks have added to their green strategies, however producing crude oil from the tar sands a heavy mixture of bitumen, water, sand and clay found beneath more than 54,000 square miles of prime forest in northern Alberta was a backtrack from claiming 2 ago never to invest in this technology. Infrastructure had to be in place and created by forests being cleared to transport this product. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-biggest-environmental-crime-in-history-764102.html downloaded on 19-09-10. Additionally, an area the size of England and Wales in their tar sands project combined generates up to four times more carbon dioxide, the principal global warming gas, than conventional drilling. The oil sands industry will produce 100 million tones of CO2 equivalent to a fifth of the UKs entire annual emissions which BP is currently undertaking. From there $200 million worldwide advertising campaign, BP has won many awards including Nikkei BP Advertising Awards 2008. However, since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill the company has the spent $93 million on advertising to clean their image. Angry protesters have claimed that this money should have been allocated to the people who have lost their livelihoods from the disaster. (www.ft.com/cms/s/0/09ee7e22-b5ee-11df-a048-00144feabdc0.html) downloaded 19-09-10 Conclusion BP is first and foremost a business; further BP operates in many countries with different environmental laws and policies. In some countries legislations were changing to reflect the environmental public interest for going green. In turn, BP has allocated profits to green branding with use of green marketing strategies, but in some instances the company was not successful in implementing its green marketing strategies into its production units. This resulted in oil spills and other environmental disasters. On the other hand, the business has good achievements within their sustainability and CSR policies. Exploiting these achievements to reinforce their green credentials is business suicide when it goes wrong. The amount spent on green marketing is way out of proportion to their actual green energy investments. Their investments into the oil sands is very environmentally damaging because of its massive CO2 emissions. Additionally, BP responsibilities on safety are very poor which is stated as BPs top priorities in their sustainability policy. Thus BP is Progressive for building relationships between the business and their shareholders. The company is Responsible for countless environmental disasters across the world through poor safety and maintenance procedures. The company is Innovative through finding new ways to spinning their green marketing propaganda and very Performance driven in keeping their promises to their shareholders by finding new ways to damage the environment. 2151 Words Reference http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/e_s_assets/e_s_assets_2009/downloads_pdfs/bp_sustainability_review_2009.pdf http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-biggest-environmental-crime-in-history-764102.html downloaded on 19-09-10 www.ft.com/cms/s/0/09ee7e22-b5ee-11df-a048-00144feabdc0.html downloaded 19-09-10 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293020#ixzz0zsryzPBl http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/8b770facf5edf6f185257359003fb69e/1af659cf4ce8a7b88525737f005979be!OpenDocument downloaded 19-09-10 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/30/bp-texas-city-safety-fine downloaded 19-09-10 www.edenproject.com/documents/Annual_Review_06_07.pdf downloaded 19-09-10 http://asa.org.uk/ downloaded 23-09-10 http://www.ocimf.com/ B324 Marketing and Society Block 3 Responsible business marketing, Open University Worldwide, Michael Young Building, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom 2008 Prepared for the Course Team by Anja Schaefer based on a draft by David Faulkner

Study of Genotype X Environment Intraction in Asiatic Cotton Gossypium

Cotton is known as â€Å"White Gold†. Gossypium arboreum belongs to family Malvaecae with diploid set of genome have 13 chromosome number. Genotype Ãâ€" environment (GE) interactions have major role in development of improved cultivars. A cultivar is said to be commercially successful, if it performs well across the range of environments in which it grows. The differential response of a genotype or cultivar for a given trait across environments is defined as the genotype Ãâ€" environment interaction (G Ãâ€" E). Bilbro and Ray (1976) indicated that a successful breeding program should focus efforts on genotype yield level (average yield compared to standards), adaptation (what environment does the genotype best perform in), and stability (how consistent does the genotype yield compared to others). Genotype refers to the set of genes possessed by individual that is important for the expression of traits under investigation. The environment is defined as all non-genetic factor s that influence the expression of the trait and influence the growth and development of individuals. G Ãâ€" E interaction is a differential genotypic expression across environments (Basford and Cooper, 1998). According to Romagosa and Fox (1993), G x E interaction reduces association between phenotypic and genotypic values of a genotype. This may cause promising selections from one environment to perform poorly in one and better in another environment, forcing plant breeders to examine genotypic adaptation (Sharma et al., 1987). Varieties are tested in many environments due to changing their performance and adaptation ability. However, important G Ãâ€" E interactions decreases relationship between phenotype and genotype and also genetics improvements in breeding programmes (Comst... ... (1963) Genotype x environment interactions statistical genetics and plant breeding. Eds. Hanson, W. D. and Robinson H. F. National Academy of Science, National Research Council Publication, 982 : 164-196. Eberhart, S A and Russell R A (1966) Stability parameters for comparing varieties. Crop Science, 6 : 36-40. Lukonge E P (2005) Characterisation and diallel analysis of commercially planted cotton (Gossypium hirsutum l.) germplasm in Tanzania. Phd Thesis, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Myers G O (2004) Estimation of potential breeding value and genotype stability of cotton strains and varieties. http://www.cottoninc.com. Romagosa I and Fox, P N (1993) Genotype x environmental interaction and adaptation. In: M.D Hayward, N.O. Bosemark and I. Romagosa (Eds.), Plant breeding: Principles and Prospects pp 373-390. Chapman and Hall, London.

Sigmund Freuds The Interpretation of Dreams Essay -- Papers

Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was originally published in 1900. The era was one of prudish Victorians. It was also the age of the continued Enlightenment. The New Formula of science, along with the legacy of Comte’s Positivism, had a firm hold on the burgeoning discipline of psychology. Freud was groomed as both scientist and Romantic, but his life’s work reflected conflict of the two backgrounds and a reaction against each one. It is my opinion that The Interpretation of Dreams was not simply written as a methodology of deconstructing dreams and assigning them meaning, but its latent content (as it were) was a critique of science’s New Formula, and was designed to question, and even undermine, the possibility of objective methodology in psychology, and indeed in the sciences as a whole. The importance of his innovations were wholly unappreciated; Freud was an anomaly. Many of his contemporaries rejected his work on the grounds of invalid methodology and inconsistency. Neurologists and psychiatrists today still continue to discount his theories. The point of Freud’s subversion of contemporary mental science, was, however, quite missed, and many critics and reviewers continue to systemically assail his work, utterly oblivious to the inclusive meaning of his theories, rather than the meanings of his words themselves. Clinical studies convinced Freud that hysterical symptoms could be analyzed and deconstructed to understandable statements expressive of some underlying and utterly logical thought. From this interest, Freud embarked on a comprehensive study of dreams, and in the process, created a theory that drew meaningful attention to the unconscious, a previousl... ...ertain concepts, such as depth of mind, latent meanings, wish-fulfilments, etc.,--all of which remain valuable in themselves, in spite of Freud’s parallel objective of crushing positivistic natural science. Freud’s work has provided a paradigm through historical findings and future investigations, leaving him as pioneer of the unconscious through his unmasking of dreams. And lastly, in spite of science and philosophy’s tendencies to exploit the theory’s weaknesses instead of strengths, the deeper aim of the text, as unmasker of Positivism’s weaknesses, can no longer be ignored in its hermeneutic exploration. Bibliography: Reference List Freud, Sigmund. (1971). The Interpretation of Dreams, Volume IV,1900. London: The Hogarth Press. Freud, Sigmund. (1968). The Interpretation of Dreams, Volume V. 1900-01. London: The Hogarth Press.

Caste Discrimination Essay

Caste systems are a form of social and economic governance that is based on principles and customary rules: Caste systems involve the division of people into social groups (castes) where assignments of rights aredetermined by birth, are fixed and hereditary. The assignment of basic rights among various castes is both unequal and hierarchical, with those at the top enjoying most rights coupled with least duties and those at the bottom performing most duties coupled with no rights. The system is maintained through the rigid enforcement of social ostracism (a system of social and economic penalties) in case of any deviations. Inequality is at the core of the caste system.  Those who fall outside the caste system are considered â€Å"lesser human beings†, â€Å"impure† and thus â€Å"polluting† to other caste groups. They are known to be â€Å"untouchable† and subjected to so-called â€Å"untouchability practices† in both public and private spheres. â€Å"Untouchables† are often forcibly assigned the most dirty, menial and hazardous jobs, such as cleaning human waste. The work they do adds to the stigmatisation they face from the surrounding society. The exclusion of ‘caste-affected communities’ by other groups in society and the inherent structural inequality in these social relationships lead to high levels of poverty among affected population groups and exclusion from, or reduced benefits from developmen t processes, and generally precludes their involvement in decision making and meaningful participation in public and civil life. The division of a society into castes is a global phenomenon not exclusively practised within any particular religion or belief system. In South Asia, caste discrimination is traditionally rooted in the Hindu caste system. Supported by philosophical elements, the caste system constructs the moral, social and legal foundations of Hindu society. Dalits are ‘outcastes’ or people who fall outside the four-fold caste system consisting of theBrahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya and Sudra. Dalits are also referred to as Panchamas or people of the fifth order. However caste systems and the ensuing caste discrimination have spread into Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Sikh communities. Caste systems  are also found in Africa, other parts of Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and in Diaspora communities around the world. In Japan association is made with Shinto beliefs concerning purity and impurity, and in marginalized African groups the justification is based on myths. Caste discrimination affects approximately 260 million people worldwide, the vast majority living in South Asia. Caste discrimination involves massive violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It is often outlawed in countries affected by it, but a lack of implementation of legislation and caste-bias within the justice systems largely leave Dalits without protection. Videos – Cases of Caste Discrimination Click here to see a Playlist from IDSNs YouTube Channel with a selection of videos dealing with cases of caste discrimination and the consequences of this. Understanding ‘Untouchability’  A comprehensive Study of practices and conditions in 1589 Villages Caste-based discrimination is the most complex human rights issue facing India today. To date, the tools used to assess its status have been divided by discipline—human rights, legal and social science. Although significant contributions toward understanding untouchability have been made in each of these areas, it is difficult to comprehend the scope and pervasiveness of the problem without combining the tools of all three. We have spent the last four years compiling quantitative, comprehensive and reliable data exposing the current state of untouchability (caste-based discrimination) against Dalitsi (â€Å"untouchables†) in Gujarat, India. This report presents data on untouchability practices in 1,589 villages from 5,462 respondents in Gujarat on the issue of untouchability. In 2000, Martin Macwan of Navsarjan received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, initiating a long-term partnership between Navsarjan and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. In response to Navsarjan’s identified need for an extensive study on caste discrimination, members of the RFK Global Advocacy Team from the University of Maryland/Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame, and Dartmouth College/University of Michigan joined the team. The objective was to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the topic in order to better drive Navsarjan’s advocacy and intervention work. In its efforts across Gujarat and India, Navsarjan has experienced first-hand that a deeper  understanding gained by intensive data collection leads to the development of more effective strategies to address the contin ued practice of untouchability. Indeed, interactions with individuals across age, caste, gender and social sectors during the implementation of this study reveal that the potential for ending untouchability may exist within two large groups of people that can be seen as sources of hope. First, a large segment of Indian society, primarily of younger generation Indians, though largely ignorant about its scope and practice, appears ready and willing to learn about untouchability and work towards its true abolition. Second, another group of people across caste, nationality and religious affiliations have become deeply concerned about the prevalence of untouchability practices viewed from the perspective of human rights. This group of activists, advocates, donors, lawyers, students, academics, politicians and ordinary citizens has developed an awareness of untouchability as an issue of civil and human rights law. The report presents both a general and multi-disciplinary view of current untouchability practices across rural areas in Gujarat (bringing together political science, sociology, law, public policy and community organizing) and provides evidence to refute the belief that untouchability is limited to remote and economically underdeveloped corners of India. The broad picture of untouchability can be used to educate Indian society about these practices and to initiate an informed national and international debate on how to address the problem. Equally important, this report presents a picture of untouchability that promotes global visibility on the continued human rights violations suffered by Dalits and provides an example to other countries on methods for identifying, understanding and eliminating discriminatory activity. We believe that a systematic approach to understanding untouchability shatters the myth that the problem is intractable. Instead, we hope that the data presented here and the understanding it generates will spark new energy and commitment to the movement to end the injustice and indignity of untouchability. (to view the full report hit the link below) Caste-based discrimination is a form of discrimination prohibited by  international human rights law. Although it may not be equated with racism, it is quite clear from several references made by several UN treaty and charter-bodies that this issue warrants due recognition as an example of gross human rights violation that needs to be taken into consideration by all human rights mechanisms available in the UN system. ICERD definintions and CERD practice on descent-based discrimination The ‘descent’ limb of the definition of ‘racial discrimination’ Article 1(1) of ICERD defines ‘racial discrimination’ as follows: Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life (emphasis added) The term ‘descent’ as a prohibited ground of discrimination springs unheralded and unexplained into the basic framework of ICERD. It is one of only two terms in this list that isn’t borrowed directly from the UDHR formulation (the other being ‘ethnic origin’, in lieu of ‘social origin’). It does not appear in any of the key pre-ICERD texts on racial discrimination. It is also noteworthy that, although included in the definition in article 1(1), the term ‘descent’ was omitted from the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in article 5 of ICERD. CERD General Recommendation No. 29 on descent CERD has confirmed its interpretation of ‘descent’, in the form of its General Recommendation No. 29 on ‘descent-based discrimination’, adopted on 22 August 2002. This General Recommendation: Confirms â€Å"the consistent view of the Committee that the term ‘descent’ in Article 1, paragraph 1 of the Convention does not solely refer to ‘race’ and has a meaning and application which complements the other prohibited grounds of discrimination†; and Reaffirms that â€Å"discrimination based on ‘descent’ includes discrimination against members of communities based on forms of social stratification such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights†. From this review of CERD’s practice, it is apparent that the Committee has consciously and consistently adopted an interpretation of the ‘descent’ limb of article 1 of ICERD that e ncompasses situations of caste-based discrimination and analogous forms of  inherited social exclusion. Read CERD General Recommendation No. 29 on descent CERD General Recommendation No. 32 on special measures This CERD General Recommendation on the meaning and scope of special measures in the ICERD, adopted at its 75th session in August 2009, affirms General Recommendation 29 on Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent), which makes specific reference to special measures. The Committee also states that special measures should be ‘carried out on the basis of accurate data, disaggregated by race, colour, descent and ethnic or national origin and incorporating a gender perspective, on the socio-economic and cultural status and conditions of the various groups in the population and their participation in the social and economic development of the country.’ Subsequent CERD practice Any â€Å"subsequent practice in the application of the treaty which establishes the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation† may also, in such circumstances, be taken into account. In the course of reviewing state party reports, CERD has expressed explicit reliance on the ‘descent’ limb of article 1 in order to address the situation of Dalits in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the UK, as well as the analogous situations of the Burakumin in Japan. CERD has also addressed situation of ‘descent-based discrimination’ in a number of other instances, even though in some of these additional cases the reliance upon the ‘descent’ limb of the article 1 of the Convention has been implicit. Concluding observations have been made by the Committee in respect of Yemen, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Senegal, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Mauritius. Conflicts in Somalia had also been viewed by CERD as being based on descent, thus bringing them within the purview of ICERD. As CERD expert member Patrick Thornberry has argued, â€Å"whatever the argument on the relation between the specific reference to ‘race’ in Article 1 and the caste issue, there is a suggestion here that in the context of the Convention as a whole, and in particular in the context of special measures, the redress of caste disabilities finds a place.† Response by affected countries In early August 1996, CERD considered India’s consolidated tenth to fourteenth periodic reports. In this context, India sought to establish that discrimination related to caste did not fall within the scope of ICERD or within the jurisdiction of the Committee. â€Å"The term ‘caste’†, the Indian report declared, â€Å"denotes a ‘social’ and ‘class’ distinction and is not based on race.†The report expressly acknowledges that â€Å"Article 1 of the Convention includes in the definition of racial discrimination the term ‘descent’†, and that â€Å"oth castes and tribes are systems based on ‘descent’†. However, the Indian position concerning the interpretation of this term was that: †¦ the use of the term ‘descent’ in the Convention clearly refers to ‘race’. Communities which fall under the definition of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are unique to Indian society and its historical process. †¦ it is, therefore, submitted that the policies of the Indian Government relating to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes do not come under the purview of Article 1 of the Convention. In the course of discussion of the report in the Committee, the Indian delegation said that India’s report â€Å"had focused on matters relating to race as distinct from other categorizations referred to in the Constitution. †¦ Constitutionally, the concept of race was distinct from caste. †¦ To confer a racial character on the caste system would create considerable political problems which could not be the Committee’s intention. In the spirit of dialogue, however, India was prepared to provide more information on matters other than race, without prejudice to its understanding of the term ‘race’ in the Convention.† A number of CERD members challenged the Indian Government’s interpretation of the term ‘descent’, and in its concluding observations CERD insisted that â€Å"the term ‘descent’ mentioned in article 1 of the Convention does not solely refer to ‘race’†. Moreover, the Committee affirmed that â€Å"the situation of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes falls within the scope of the Convention†, and went on to specifically recommend that â€Å"special measures be taken by the authorities to prevent acts of discrimination towards persons belonging to the scheduled castes and sc heduled tribes, and, in cases where such acts have been committed, to conduct thorough investigations, to punish those found to be responsible and to provide just and adequate reparation to the victims.† The Committee specifically stressed â€Å"the importance of the equal enjoyment by members of these groups of the rights to access health  care, education, work and public places and services, including wells, cafà ©s or restaurants.† CERD also recommended a public education campaign on human rights, â€Å"aimed at eliminating the institutionalized thinking of the high-caste and low-caste mentality.† Nepal has also appears to have acquiesced to CERD’s interpretation and practice in this regard. CERD has now taken up the issue of caste-based discrimination in Nepal on three successive occasions without demur from the Nepalese Government. Indeed, Nepal has volunteered substantial amounts of information concerning caste-based discrimination in its periodic reports. When Pakistan was examined by CERD in February 2009, the Government took a principled decision by engaging constructively in a dialogue with the Committee on how to tackle the challenges faced by the Government in addressing the issue of caste-based discrimination in contemporary Pakistan. CESCR General Comment No. 20 on non-discrimination General Comment No. 20 on Non-Discrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) at its 42nd session in May 2009. In this General Comment, the Committee reaffirms CERD GR No. 29 that â€Å"the prohibited ground of birth also includes descent, especially on the basis of caste and analogous systems of inherited status.† The Committee recommends States parties to â€Å"take steps, for instance, to prevent, prohibit and eliminate discriminatory practices directed against members of descent-based communities and act against dissemination of ideas of superiority and inferiority on the basis of descent.† Caste in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights In none of the human rights instruments does the term ‘caste’ appear. Nevertheless, an examination of the travaux preparatoires of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights shows that caste was explicitly contemplated by the drafters as being encompassed in some of the more general terminology in the UDHR’s foundational non-discrimination provision. In 1948, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly was in debate over the inclusion of the word ‘birth’ in the list of prohibited grounds of distinction in what was to become article 2 of the Declaration. Mr Habib, representing India, said that he ‘favoured the use of the word ‘caste’ rather than ‘birth’, as the latter  was already implied in the article.’ Mrs Roosevelt for the United States of America, and a member of the informal drafting group, demurred to both this intervention. In her opinion, ‘the words â€Å"property or other status† took in to consideration the various new suggestions that had been made.’ Mr Appadorai of the Indian delegation in effect accepted the US and Chinese caste-inclusive interpretations of some of the more general language in the draft article. He said ‘his delegation had only proposed the word â€Å"caste† because it objected to the word â€Å"birth†. The words â€Å"other status† and â€Å"social origin† were sufficiently broad to cover the whole field; the delegation of India would not, therefore, insist on its proposal.’ It is apparent therefore that caste was acknowledged in the drafting process as being encompassed in the terms ‘other status’ and/or ‘social origin’, if not also in ‘birth’ (the specific grounds of the Indian objection to this term not being entirely clear from the travaux). To that extent, a special meaning may be regarded as having been attributed to those terms. As well as appearing in the non-discrimination provisions of most subsequent international human rights instruments, the terms ‘social origin’ and/or ‘other status’ (either or both of them) have been incorporated in the non-discrimination provisions of the significant number of national constitutions that have borrowed these formulations from the UDHR. At the same time, it is noteworthy that a number of national constitutions have put the matter beyond question so far as their domestic legal regimes are concerned by explicitly referring to caste in their non-discrimination provisions. This applies to the constitutions of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Burkina Faso. Caste discrimination: More than 165 million people in India continue to be subject to discrimination, exploitation and violence simply because of their caste. In India’s â€Å"hidden apartheid,† untouchability relegates Dalits throughout the country to a lifetime of segregation and abuse. Caste-based divisions continue to dominate in housing, marriage, employment and general social interaction—divisions that are reinforced through economic boycotts and physical violence. Working in partnership with the International Dalit  Solidarity Network, India’s National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, and the Gujarat-based Dalit grassroots organizationNavsarjan, IHRC works to hold the Indian government accountable for its systematic failure to respect, protect, and ensure Dalits’ fundamental human rights. In 2007, for instance, the IHRC issued a series of statements and a report based on its analysis of India’s failure to uphold its international legal obligations to ensure Dalit rights, despite the existence of laws and policies against caste discrimination. The report Hidden Apartheid—which was produced in collaboration with Human Rights Watch—was released as a â€Å"shadow report† in response to India’s submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. IHRC also participated in proceedings related to the Committee’s review of India’s compliance with the Convention and presented the report’s findings.

Changes in Gender Inequality in Canada in Sports Essay

Society expects males and females to fulfill specific gender roles – â€Å"attitudes and activities that society links to each sex†. Males are expected to be ambitious, strong, independent and competitive, which â€Å"encourages males to seek out positions of leadership and play team sports†. And females are expected to be deferential, emotional, attractive, quiet and obedient, â€Å"supportive helpers and quick to show their feelings† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011:300). These traditional stereotypes have been challenged and confronted by many women and feminists, and in this paper we are going to look specifically in sports and physical activities. My thesis statement will be that gender inequality has been decreasing over the last 100 years. Women were slowly starting to participate in all sports which were considered to be masculine, and were only available for men to enjoy. One of the first factors which could be linked to the emancipation of women in sport in late 1800 – early 1900s is the safety bicycle. It not only caused a revolution in women’s fashions: women’s sportswear was finally being designed to accommodate more vigorous activity, but â€Å"was also a â€Å"vehicle† through which women broke with traditions and asserted their independence† (Hall and Richardson, 1982: 32-33). Slowly more organizations, sports clubs and tournaments were opening up for women. In the early 1900s, women started to participate in most forms of sport, but were still prohibited from activities there body contact was possible. Period after the World War I and throughout the 1920s was really exciting for sportswomen in Canada and their fans. â€Å"This often called the â€Å"golden age† of women’s sports, it was time when popular team sports like basketball, ice hockey, and softball became sufficiently organized to hold provincial and Dominion championships; when the best athletes, especially in track in field, began to complete internationally and eventually at the Olympic Games; and when women leaders and administrators took control of women’s sports, claiming they knew what was the best for girls and women, although the advice of the man was still needed† (Hall, 2002: 42). In the 1928 Canadian women have joined Olympics in Amsterdam for the first time for the track and field competition. In the mid 1930s â€Å"depression tightened its grip on Canada and the were signs that the Golden Age was over. Reactionary attitudes towards athletic competition for females was taking hold; commercialized professional sport for men was on the rise, meaning that men’s sports were given priority of access to public facilities. Spectators were drawn away from the women’s games to the exclusively male professional sports like ice hockey, football, baseball; it became increasingly difficult to find sponsors for women’s amateur sport† (Hall and Richardson, 1982: 36). World War II took its toll on both men’s and women’s sports. Although many of leagues continued to exist, nobody took athletics seriously. Olympic Games did not start again till 1948. † Post war conservatism has been described by Betty Friedan: women should desire â€Å"no great destiny than to glory in their own femininity†. Careers or commitments outside of their home were unnecessary for their personal fulfillment and undesirable for the satisfactory performance of the housewife role† (Lenskyj, 1986: 83) For the duration of war women were occupying men’s jobs and were laid off as soon as men returned home to resume the rightful place. It was still alright for women to participate in â€Å"beauty producing† sports like figure skating, synchronized swimming, or gymnastics and as long as they looked pretty and feminine on the tennis, badminton courts, golf courses, and ski hills, they were not criticized. But women athletes which were â€Å"sweating on the basketball courts, softball pitches, ice hockey rinks, and the cinder tracks were suspect, their femininity continually questioned† (Hall, 2002: 109). Participation in school, university and community sporting programs however, was hardly likely to pose a threat to femininity. Basketball continued for the most part to be played by girl’s rules. Softball, an already simplified version of baseball, was in some cases was modified further for girls and women. In the 1960s not only women’s femininity was being questions but also their sexuality. In the 1966 the first official â€Å"sex tests† were introduced, with three gynecologists visual examination to confirm that athletes genital sex was, in fact female. â€Å"The introduction of sex tests coincided with significant advances for women in terms of their participation at the Olympic Games, with number of them increasing dramatically throughout the 1960s and 1970s.† For example at the summer Olympics, the 800 meter running was reintroduced in the 1960s. Women’s volleyball, the first team event for women was introduced in1964, along with pentathlon and 400 meter individual medley, swimming event. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City six more swimming events were introduced and in the 1972 at Munich, the 1500 – meter run, 4Ãâ€"400 meter track relay, and kayak slalom were introduced. So the number of women on Canada’s Olympic team has increased from 11.30 to 22.6 per cent for the Summer Olympic between 1960 and 1972, and from 21.4 to 38.3 per cent for the Winter Olympic Games during the same period. Sex testing at the Olympics originally was called â€Å"femininity control† and was trying to determine who was genetically female, because prior to that where has been a lot of men who were trying to pose as women, which was only found out after the fact and also women athletes were becoming more â€Å"masculine†, therefore it had to be proved that they were actually females (Hall, 2002: 153 -159).The sex testing did not stop until the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano. By the mid-1970 all across Canada parents started noticing that their daughters were not being treated the same way as their sons when it came to recreational and sporting opportunities by the late 1970s there has been a lot of sports related complaints of sex discrimination. The majority of these cases were involving young girls who wished to play on all male sports teams. The main value of these human rights cases was to bring public interest, concern and â€Å"pressure to bear on eliminating unequal, sex discriminatory sport and recreation programs† (Hall, 2002: 163) In March 1981 Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport(CAAWS) was established. It started providing women athletes with funding and support. And finally â€Å"in 1982 women were granted equal protection and equal benefit of the law in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011: 305). Beginning of the 1990s in the most areas of organizational life including sports, has been a subtle shift from â€Å"equality† to â€Å"equity†. â€Å"Gender equity is the principle and practice of fair and equitable allocation of resources and opportunities for both females and males. This eliminates discriminatory practices that prevent the full participation of either gender† (Larkin and Baxter, 1993: 4) In the past decade Canadian women are participating almost in all sports on competitive levels. â€Å" In 1998, in Nagano, Japan, women’s hockey was an official Olympic sport for the first time, and world of Canadian women’s hockey changed forever. The game that originated in Canada had become part of our collective identity, continues to be our most popular sport and it is now played by women – legitimately!† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011:320) Canadian women Hockey team has won Olympic gold medal 3 times in a row: 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, 2006 Olympics in Turin, and 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Their achievements have been absolutely amazing. They have showed that they force to be reckoned with. They actually have done better than Canadian male Olympic team. In this 2012 Olympics Games in London, England for the first time women’s boxing is going to be introduced. And there has been controversy of women should wear shorts or skirts. The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) requested that female boxers wear skirts so that would make them more elegant – on the trial basis – at the European Championships and for permanent use in the Olympics. One of Canadian boxers Elizabeth Plank, told Teddy Katz of CBC radio sports news this January: â€Å"Forcing women to wear skirts, I think, it’s sexism†. Eventually AIBA have decided to have optional for female athletes to decide if they want to wear skirts or shorts. (CBC Sports) As we are able to see gender stereotypes and discrimination in sports still exists. Women still do not get as much Media coverage as men do. They are still making smaller salaries than their male counterparts. Women athletes still have to look beautiful and attractive or they might be stereotyped as being lesbian, butch or masculine, if there are not. What about the future? It seems that future for Canadian women athletes seems bright. There are much more opportunities that are coming up for women in sports, for example in the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, Russia – the addition of women’s ski jumping has been approved. Women are going to keep fighting for the equal rights to participate in sports events without being criticized to be unfeminine. Daniels (2009) argues that femininity –masculinity divide still prevents women athletes to be taken seriously in their sports. And the best would be to embrace the polygendered way of being, which emphasizes the similarities between women and men, and that way female athletes will be given the chance to achieve their full sporting potential and be judged for performance, rather than their appearance. References 1. Baxter, Betty and Larkin, Jackie.1993. Towards Gender Equity for Women in Sport. ON: CAAWS. 2. CBC Sports, Feb 19, 2002 (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2012/02/19/sp-aiba-boxing-skirts.html) 3. Daniels, Dayna B. 2009. Polygendered and Ponytailed. Toronto: Women’s Press. 4. Hall, Ann M. 2002. The Girl and the Game†. ON: Broadview Press Ltd. 5. Hall, Ann M and Richardson, Dorothy A. 1982. Fair Ball. Ottawa: The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. 6. Lenskyj, Helen.1986. Women, Sport and Sexuality. Toronto: Women’s Press. 7. Macionis, John J and Gerber, Linda, M. 2011. Sociology.7th ed. Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc.