Hearts and Minds Essay

Movies and documentaries have a way of touching the lives of many. For the most part, they are geared towards the exhibition of truths that are hidden from other people. The documentary, â€Å"Hearts and Minds†, mirrored the numerous difficulties experienced by the Vietnamese in the hands of the American soldiers. The harsh realities shown by the American soldiers towards the Vietnamese was quite difficult to believe, for we all know how the Americans would care for any other individual. Directed by Peter Davis, the documentary showed different clips that prove the harsh attitude towards people at that time. Even the speech of former President Lyndon Johnson was shown in the said documentary. To give people a great feel of the said timeline, much of the most famous details during that particular time were shown. The type of music, clothes, and even some old archives were shown. In this manner, it would become easier for the audiences to understand what was being explained to them. I admire the montage feeling provided by the documentary. Together with the voice over, watching the documentary was like watching any other historical how. However, what sets it apart from the rest were the heartbreaking realities exhibited. I could not help but wonder as to how people were treated unfairly and how other people could bear causing pain to others. One of the scenes that caught my attention was the funeral of a soldier. Surrounding the coffin were grieving people, including the family and friends. However, for some reason, one grieving lady was stopped from following the coffin being laid to rest. This particular scene was contrasted with a clip showing the interview of the general who led the Vietnam War. Furthermore, there were several other interviews included in the documentary. Although I am not of Vietnamese, origin I was heartbroken by the difficulties experienced at that time. For the longest time, they experienced pain, both physical and emotional, while they struggled to raise their families accordingly. A particular scene exemplified the hardships endured by the Vietnamese during that particular time. The scene showed how the prisoners of the war were sitting restless and not paying attention to what their employer had in mind. I felt pity with the condition these people experienced, toppled by the excessive torture and inhumane humiliations provided by the American soldiers. After watching the documentary, one could not help but question what has been taught in class during our younger days. I was surprised at how the outcome of this war has been, including the participation that the American soldiers portrayed. However, due to the extensive information provided, some critics may also form their own conclusion as to how the said war was used as propaganda. On the other hand, it would be expected that some people would opt to be biased towards the Vietnamese and consider them to be victims of the American occupation. Regardless of everything that has been said, I believe that we all have our own perceptions towards things. Personally, I believe that the goal of this film was to show the other side of history that not everyone was aware of. In this manner, I would be able to form my own beliefs as to how people would be able to learn from these hurtful experiences. It is useless for us to keep on living in the past—we should all move forward in helping make a different in this lifetime. I must say that I recommend this film to everyone, especially those who are currently studying about the history of the United States.

What Can Businesses Learn from Text Mining

Case StudyWhat Can Businesses Learn From Text Mining? Text mining is the discovery of patterns and relationships from large sets of unstructured data – the kind of data we generate in e-mails, phone conversations, blog postings, online customer surveys, and tweets. The mobile digital platform has amplified the explosion in digital information, with hundreds of millions of people calling, texting, searching, â€Å"apping† (using applications), buying goods and writing billions of e-mails on the go.Consumers today are more than just consumers: they have more ways to collaborate, share information, and influence the opinions of their friends and peers; and the data that they create in doing so have significant value to businesses. Unlike structured data, which are generated from events such as completing a purchase transaction, unstructured data have no distinct form. Nevertheless, managers believe such data may offer unique insights into customer behaviour and attitudes t hat were much more difficult to determine years ago.For example, in 2007 JetBlue (the American Airline) experienced unprecedented levels of customer discontent in the wake of a February ice storm that resulted in widespread flight cancellations and planes stranded on Kennedy Airport runways. The airline received 15,000 emails per day from customers during the storm and immediately afterwards, up from its usual daily volume of 400. The volume was so much larger than usual that JetBlue had no simple way to read everything that its customers were saying.Fortunately, the company had recently contracted with Attensity, a leading vendor of text analytics software, and was able to use the software to analyze all of the e-mail it had received within two days. According to JetBlue research analyst Bryan Jeppsen, Attensity Analyze for Voice of the Customer (VoC) enabled JetBlue to rapidly extract customer sentiments, preferences, and requests it couldn’t find any other way.This tool us es a proprietary technology to automatically identify facts, opinions, requests, trends, and trouble spots from the unstructured text of survey responses, survey notes, e-mail messages, Web forums, blog entries, news articles, and other customer communications. The technology is able to accurately and automatically identify and many different â€Å"voices† customers use to express their feedback (such as a negative voice, positive voice, or conditional voice) which helps organisations pinpoint key events and relationships, such as intent to buy, intent to leave, or customer â€Å"wish† vents. It can reveal specific product and service issues, reactions to marketing and public relations efforts, and even buying signals. Attensity’s software integrated with JetBlue’s other customer analysis tools, such as Satmetrix’s Net Promoter metrics, which classifies customers into groups that are generating positive, negative, or no feedback about the company. Using Attensity’s text analytics in tandem with these tools, JetBlue developed a customer bill of rights that addressed the major issues customers had with the company.Hotel chains like Gaylord Hotels and Choice Hotels are using text mining software to glean insights from thousands of customer satisfaction surveys provided by their guests. Gaylord Hotels is using Clarabridge’s text analytics solution delivered via the Internet as a hosted software service to gather and analyze customer feedback from surveys, e-mail, chat messaging, staffed call centres, and online forums associated with guests’ and meeting planners’ experiences at the company’s convention resorts.The Clarabridge software sorts through the hotel chain’s customer surveys and gathers positive and negative comments, organizing them into a variety of categories to reveal less obvious insights. For example, guests complained about many things more frequently than noisy rooms, but complaints about noisy rooms were most frequently correlated with surveys indicating an unwillingness to return to the hotel for another stay. Analyzing customer surveys used to take weeks, but now takes only days, thanks to the Clarabridge software.Location managers and corporate executives have also used findings from text mining to influence decisions on building improvements. Wendy’s International adopted Clarabridge software to analyze nearly 500,000 messages it collects each year from its Web-based feedback forum, call centre notes, e-mail messages, receipt-based surveys, and social media. The chain’s customer satisfaction team had previously used spreadsheets and keyword searches to review customer comments; a very slow manual approach.Wendy’s management was looking for a better tool to speed analysis, detect emerging issues, and pinpoint troubled areas of the business at the store, regional or corporate level. The Clarabridge technology enables Wendyâ₠¬â„¢s to track customer experiences down to the store level within minutes. This timely information helps store, regional and corporate managers spot and address problems related to meal quality, cleanliness, and speed of service. Text analytics software caught on first ith government agencies and larger companies with information systems departments that had the means to properly use the complicated software, but Clarabridge is now offering a version of its product geared toward small businesses. The technology has already caught on with law enforcement, search tool interfaces, and â€Å"listening platforms† like Nielsen Online. Listening platforms are text mining tools that focus on brand management, allowing companies to determine how consumers feel about their brand and take steps to respond to negative sentiment.Structured data analysis won’t be rendered obsolete by text analytics, but companies that are able to use both methods to develop a clearer picture of the ir customer’s attitudes will have an easier time establishing and building their brand and gleaning insights that will enhance profitability. ENDCase Study Questions: 1. What challenges does the increase in unstructured data present for businesses? 2. How does text mining improve decision-making? 3. What kinds of companies are most likely to benefit from text mining software?Explain your answer. 4. In what ways could text mining potentially lead to the erosion of personal information privacy? Explain. 5. Visit a website such as TripAdvisor. com (or high street retailer ) detailing products or services that have customer reviews. Pick a product, hotel, or other service with at least several customer reviews and read those reviews, both positive and negative. How could Web content mining help the offering company improve or better market this product or service?What pieces of information should be highlighted| What can businesses learn from text mining? 1. What challenges does the increase in unstructured data present for businesses? The increase in unstructured data, such as that generated from e-mails, phone conversations, blog postings, online customer surveys and tweets, presents challenges for businesses as it has no distinct form, unlike structured data, which is generated from events such as completing a purchase transaction.The challenge of having unstructured data means that it can be difficult to interpret a large quantity of data in a short time as there are so many differing pieces of data rather than just a few structured pieces. The need to use tools such as text mining to interpret unstructured data adds extra challenges specifically those related to finance. The cost of implementing such tools can be great; not only does the technology need purchasing; the rate at which technology evolves means there will be costs in the upkeep with regards to updating new software.Other costs will include staff training; this will have an initial outlay a s well as a continuous financial impact as new technologies will require new training. 2. How does text-mining improve decision making? Using text mining improves decision making as it can analyse a vast quantity of data, condense the results into specific categories and reveal information that would have been less obvious otherwise. It can show correlations between many different factors more easily than without the text mining analysis.Using these less obvious insights gleaned from the information it is possible for a business to make better informed decisions that may never have been thought of if it was not used. Using text mining tools allows companies to build predictive models to gain insight into both their structured and unstructured data. Using these tools it is possible to recognise patterns and common themes amongst unstructured data, particularly those gained from things such as focus groups and blogs. Identifying these themes allows better decisions as it can show corr elations between data that otherwise would not have been visible.An example of this practice is the use of listening platforms such as Nielson Online which can determine the feelings of consumers and allow a company to better make decisions based upon their customers’ wants and needs. 3. What kinds of companies are most likely to benefit from text mining software? Large companies that have information system departments will benefit mostly from text mining software as it will enable them to speed up processes that they are already concentrating on. The text mining software will allow these companies to analyse large amounts of data that would normally take weeks to work through in just days.Other companies will benefit from smaller packages of the text mining software, particularly those that incorporate ‘listening platforms’. This will allow companies to more easily gauge how they are perceived by their consumers in terms of brand satisfaction and highlight any improvements that need to be rendered. Financial and communications provider companies can benefit from using text mining software by using it to identify their customers’ needs from their customer feedback to interpret better ways in which to retain their most profitable clients.Marketing companies can benefit from using text mining software to implement predictive modelling to improve marketing and promotions to their target audience and retailers can benefit from text mining software to quickly identify any major issues that occur on store level to better help managers improve their stores. 4. In what ways could text mining potentially lead to the erosion of personal information privacy? Text mining could potentially lead to the erosion of personal information privacy as it gives such an increased insight into the movements and habits of the public.Although text mining can help make improvements in the services being offered, it also gains a large amount of information abo ut an individual. This insight into one’s personal information further adds to the ever growing ‘big brother society’ or ‘surveillance society’. With the introduction of things such as increased CCTV monitoring the streets and larger quantities of data constantly being stored by companies there is much speculation that personal privacy is quickly being eradicated. Text mining tools may be another way in which this is apparent.An example of this is text mining tools used on holiday purchases; such a simple task can give an insight into the financial circumstances of an individual from the cost of the holiday to any extras purchased with it, as well as spending habits of that individual and other preferences. One way this information could infringe privacy is if it is then used to market other products specifically to that individual based on their prior purchases. 5. How could Web content mining help the offering company improve or better market this product or service?What pieces of information should be highlighted? Using Tripadvisor. com to read reviews on a hotel in London it has been possible to see the differing opinions of guests staying there. The hotel needs to utilise these reviews in order to better promote their services and to eradicate any problems. Using web content mining could be the most efficient way to do this. The hotel has 736 reviews of which 630 are positive and 106 are negative. It would be inefficient to manually read hrough this amount of text and cross reference specific points that need addressing. Using web mining tools the hotel could easily find which points they can use to market their services, some which appear to be the accessibility to amenities, particularly the tube station, and which points they need to improve on, particularly apparent is the attitude of the staff. Not only will web mining easily flag up these points it will easily show trends in the feelings of the guests, which could be missed if the reviews were to be analysed manually.The hotel would also save time and money by allowing the use of web mining as it eradicates most man power and human error. Bibliography Books Kenneth C. Laudon, Jane P. Laudon (2012). Management Information Systems: Managing The Digital Firm. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Online Sources Daily Mail Online (2010) Big Brother society is bigger than ever: New technology is ‘undermining privacy by stealth’. Available at: http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-1328445/Big-Brother-society-bigger-New-technology-undermining-privacy-stealth. tml#ixzz1s9qMFfIg (Accessed 10/04/2012) JISC (2012) The Value and Benefit of Text Mining to UK Further and Higher Education. Digital Infrastructure. Available at: http://bit. ly/jisc-textm (Accessed 10/04/2012) Nucleus Research (2007) SPSS Text Mining. Available at: http://www. spss. ch/eupload/File/PDF/Guidebook%20–%20SPSS%20Text%20Mining. pdf (Accessed 10/04/2012) World Ac ademy of Science, Engineering and Technology (2005) Powerful Tool to Expand Business Intelligence: Text Mining. Available at: http://www. waset. org/journals/waset/v8/v8-21. pdf (Accessed 10/04/2012)

Basic Statistics for Business and Economics Essay Example for Free

Basic Statistics for Business and Economics Essay Over the last four weeks of being in the QNT/351 course our team has learned a lot about researching a hypothesis and understanding the mean. The hypothesis testing begins with the statement and the assumption that determines the population of the mean, (Lind, 2011, p.288.). There are five steps taken which include; state the hypothesis, select level of significance for it, identify the test statistics, formulate decision rule, and take a sample to arrive at a decision. On the contrary, however, McClave, 2011 states that there are seven steps including; null hypothesis, alternate hypothesis, test statistic, rejection region, assumptions, experiment and calculation of test statistic, and the conclusion. With setting a hypothesis and testing it is important to understand the mean and how to compare it amongst two or more groups. With testing the mean with multiple groups, the data collected is used to help determine the probability of a given amongst two distinct groups being analyzed which have the same or equal variances. This info it all based off the given hypothesis and should result in proving the null hypothesis stated. When looking at the mean the distance noted between the hypothesis and the mean placed is a value given as a result of the probability of occurrence. When analyzing and testing the means of the two groups we use the variance analysis. An example of this type would be testing the means of the two groups based off statistical models and valid conclusions. Along with completing the testing of the means of the groups, we must also calculate the variance according to the distribution of the differences in means. If the standard deviation is known we can calculate the z-score by using the difference of the variance and the mean. In calculating the correlation between the two variables we see that it is crucial to know the characteristics of the coefficient. According to Lind, 2011 pages 386-389 we can calculate the coefficient of correlation. The coefficient of correlation can help dete rmine the cause as well as effect amongst the two variables. Calculating these numbers is  crucial as the results give information which help determine the level of significance of the given hypothesis. References Lind, D. A., Marchal, W. G., & Wathen, S. A. (2011). Basic Statistics for Business and Economics (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. McClave, J. T., Benson, P. G., & Sincich, T. (2011). Statistics for Business and Economics (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Basic Statistics for Business and Economics. (2016, Apr 02). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Epistemology and the Legend of the Sphinx in Oedipus Rex Research Paper

Epistemology and the Legend of the Sphinx in Oedipus Rex - Research Paper Example The idea of pharmakos in Oedipus Rex is embodied in the interaction between the sphinx and Oedipus and how the sphinx guards and reveals knowledge. Pharmakos is the idea that there is a duality to things; that an item can be both a cure and a poison. The sphinx is used as a pharmakos in Oedipus Rex because not only does her physical appearance portray a duality, but also her riddles conceal knowledge in their ambiguity, but also in a sense, reveal truth concerning Oedipus and the Greek society. Epistemology Epistemology can be defined as the branch of philosophy that looks at the nature, origin, methods, as well as limits of human knowledge. It seeks to answer the question of how to distinguish true knowledge from false knowledge. One of the outstanding epistemological problems in Oedipus Rex is the ambiguity presented in terms of the nature and extents of Oedipus’ knowledge about his true origins (Carel 103). Many philosophers have argued that Oedipus may have been too ignora nt to figure out facts about his past. However, at the beginning of the play, his intelligence is well portrayed when he is the only man who has the ability to solve the riddle of the sphinx. This ambiguity brings forth the vagueness of the extent to which Oedipus can and should be held responsible for his actions, which are: killing his biological father and marrying his own mother. Sophocles tells the story of Oedipus in reverse: he starts with the ending and goes to explain how it happened. According to the oracle, the plague that has befallen Thebes will find no cure until the person responsible for the murder of King Laius is found and expelled from the city. Oedipus starts an investigation to reveal the murderer, but this investigation quickly turns into an investigation of Oedipus’ real identity. Initially the epistemology lies around finding an answer to the question â€Å"who did it†, but this changes course to the question â€Å"who am I?† (Foster 22)T he psychological journey of discovery takes up much of this story. Knowledge is supposed to end with gratification and satisfaction. However, in this story, epistemology led to a discovery that was more tragic than the events that led to the discovery itself. The Sphinx The word sphinx comes form the Greek verb which when translated means â€Å"to squeeze† or to tighten (Gosse 65). Some historians however argue that the word is a corruption of the Egyptian word â€Å"shesepankh† which translates to â€Å"living image† (Zivie-Coche and Lorton 9). In Greek mythology the Sphinx is represented as having a serpent’s tail, a lion’s hunches, a large bird’s wings and a woman’s breast and face. This malevolent creature is normally characterized as being merciless and treacherous. She is the demon of bad luck and destruction and kills and mauls those who fail to correctly answer her riddle. According to myths, the sphinx was the guardian of the gates into the City of Thebes. To be allowed entry, one had to correctly answer her riddle. The riddle is â€Å"which creature has four legs in the morning, two at midday and three in the evening, and the more legs it has, the weaker it is? It is said that no man had ever been able to give a correct answer to the riddle (10). Oedipus was the only one who gave the correct answer which was ‘man’. After Oedipus gave the correct answer, the sphinx is said to have been infuriated and she killed herself. The original purpose of the sphinx

Nur 707 discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nur 707 discussion - Assignment Example When resolving a conflict as a third party, I assume a neutral ground and only propose possible solutions and soften parties’ positions. Objectiveness and communication skills are the foundations of my ability to build trusting collaborative relationships with stakeholders. I however need to improve my decision-making potential and I hope that the class will equip me in this area. A recent situation involving undiscussables was a situation in which a nurse diagnosed a patient based on symptoms alone, and not on laboratory tests, a short cut that Maxfield, Grenny, Lavandero and Groah (n.d.) identify as undiscussable and that led to misdiagnosis. Work overload was the key factor and has lead to many similar cases of diagnosis without laboratory testing. The short cut strategy occasionally leads to poor diagnosis and low quality of health. It however often leads to correct diagnosis and this motivates its use by practitioners, especially because of work overload. Based on the readings, I perceive persistence in the identified problems because even though concerns into the problems are identified, mere recommendations instead of regulatory measures are offered (Grenny, 2009; American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.). With the existence of an association, I noted possibility of developing professional codes that would have moral motivation into resolving the problems that threaten quality of care. Maxfield, D., Grenny, J., Lavandero, R., and Groah, L. (n.d.). The silent treatment: Why safety and checklists aren’t enough to save lives. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Retrieved from: http://www.aacn.org/WD/hwe/docs/the-silent-treatment.pdf. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (n.d.). AACN’s healthy work environments initiative. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Retrieved from:

Human Resource Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resource Training - Essay Example One aspect of this knowledge bank is recognition of legal concerns, particularly with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which set out to define the protected classes in terms of employment standards. Although the protected classes have been changed and updated since the middle of last century, it remains a landmark piece of federal legislation that could mean the difference between legal safety and legal action. CRA of 1964: A Lesson in History Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals from discrimination in the workplace based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (LII, p. 1964). That is, when hiring an employee, the hiring manager is prohibited from letting his or her decision be influenced by one of these classes to which the applicant belongs. This protection also extends to employees who may be discriminated against by some indirect form of prejudice, such as an association with another individual of a particular race, color, relig ion, sex, or national origin; for example, Title VII protects in this case from discrimination because of interracial marriage. ... That is, if a hiring manager is blind to the differences between a grossly unqualified candidate and a very qualified candidate, this ultimately will weaken the business and potentially open the business to the possibility of a lawsuit based on negligent hiring. However, the hiring manager should be blind to the nonessential differences, defined by the protected classes. Case Study: Sexual Harassment Of course, Title VII legal protection does not only extend to applicants for jobs; current employees are protected as well. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment, which is intimidation or coercion that leverages sex for favors, is an example of discrimination and prohibited by Title VII of the CRA (U.S. Supreme Court, 1986). In cases where members of an organization are accused of sexual harassment, there could be very serious legal consequences for the entire company, not just the individual who committed the act of harassment. Of course, preventing sexual harassment t heoretically begins at the initial hiring stages of employees, when the hiring manager should recognize potential conflicts between the individual’s personality and the company culture. However, human resources managers must always reinforce a positive culture that embraces differences rather than fosters an environment of discrimination against other employees. Because sexual harassment is a violation of federal law (as given in the Civil Rights Act and reinforced by the United States Supreme Court), the HR policy on the crime must be one of zero tolerance. Case Study: The BFOQ Companies are allowed to discriminate between the protected classes of job applicants in a few select situations that are highly tied to the business concept of

Final Stat Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Final Stat - Assignment Example Work: Since the Q3 for Quiz 1 is 95 and Q3 for Quiz 2 is 90. Quiz 2 has 25% of students 90 and above whereas the Quiz 1 has Q3 as 95 which means 90 starts even before Q3. So Quiz 1 has more students whose score is 90 and above. Work: Since the Q2 for Quiz 1 is 60 and Q2 for Quiz 2 is 50. Quiz 1 has 50% of students below 60 whereas the Quiz 2 has Q2 as 50 which means some students above this range has below score 60. So it is more than 50% Here n(A)=200 and n(B)=100 and n(Aï€  Ã¯Æ'‡B)=80; P(A)=n(A)/N=200/1000=0.2, P(B)=n(B)/N=100/1000=0.1 and P(Aï€  Ã¯Æ'‡B)=n(Aï€  Ã¯Æ'‡B)/N=80/1000=0.08. The probability that a randomly selected junior is taking at least one of these two courses is given by (a) Since the opponent’s serves which she is able to return is the no. of trials , it is 10 and she is able to return is treated as success it is 30% and p=0.3, the probability of success and q=1- probability of failure=1-p=0.7 Given that xïÆ'  N(10,2) and define a standard normal variable z=(x- ÃŽ ¼)/ÏÆ'=(x-10)/2 which follows N(0,1) so that the probabilities can be obtained form a standard normal table. P(10

'I am not a philosopher, I am an artist' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

'I am not a philosopher, I am an artist' - Essay Example The intention of making artwork for the purpose of creating art instead of making a statement that is based on philosophical agreements allows one to understand how art can be created only for the purpose of expression and for representing a different form of art. To become an artist that only works with art for form and aesthetics, is the need to first define what art is. This allows one to move outside of the philosophy of art for the sake of interpreting different beliefs and ideals. When looking at art for the sake of creation, one finds that this is based on the expression of aesthetics. Art becomes one that is defined by a natural expression that is formed from art. One of the theories that relates to this is the aesthetic theory. This states that art is defined by the properties of beauty as well as art forms that oppose beauty and aesthetics. The concept that this displays with art is one that moves beyond the complexities of defining art and instead states that art is only for or against the aesthetics that are displayed in different forms and in the techniques that are used. The concept of the aesthetic of arts is one that questions the true nature of what it means to be an artist, not for a purpose or for a philosophy, but instead for the creation of aesthetics and expression1. Once one moves beyond the basic definition of art, then philosophies will often be added into the expression, such as formalism, emotionalism and other theories. This leads to other definitions that are based on philosophies, as opposed to the ideal of working with art for the sake of aesthetics and production of creativity. This has led other artists into a definition of art that takes out the extra philosophies, definitions and intent behind the work. This leads into a de-definition of art, which is created only for art sake. The mediums that are produced and the expressions

Discuss the history of the oil industry in the Middle East, including Essay

Discuss the history of the oil industry in the Middle East, including North Africa - Essay Example The production capacity between these two sides is looked into details to give a precise account of the history of oil production. Analysis Oil deposits were discovered in the Middle East and were collected for a variety of uses; by then there was no venture of exploitation for commercial purpose. This was the period of 18th century and the petroleum found was used as a new source of fuel. Oil exploitation for commercial purposes started officially in the 19th century. It was discovered that the Middle East had great oil reserves and, therefore, this impacted the decision of oil exploitation (Beltran, 234-239). When it was noted that Persia had oil deposits, the British business man called D’Arcy William asked the Persian government to grant him a concession to be able to explore oil in the country. They agreed at sharing the profit from the oil that would be extracted and share at a given percentage. He started officially extracting oil and making great sales within the perio d but along the way he ran bankrupt and, therefore, sorted assistance from the British government. During that period, around 1905, a British company named Burmah Oil was the only one operating in that region and was in a stable condition and able to ran the exploitation processes efficiently. Therefore the British government pressurized the company to give William the necessary assistance that he required to continue with the extraction processes so as to avoid a situation where he could have sold it another state or company. The company accepted the offer and several ventures were made to exploit the oil deposits. After 1905, several advances were conducted within the Middle East and large amounts of oil deposits were discovered. These lead to an increase in the percentage of oil production within the Middle East. Oil was further discovered in the areas of Arabia, peninsula Caspian Sea, Iraq and Kuwait. Till this period, the exploitation and extraction were only done by the compan ies and the countries only received concessions. These means that the countries were receiving so much less of the actual produce profit. The problem arose to the fact that the money received from the share profit of the oil extraction was poorly used by the corrupt members of government. The end result was that the whole nation was not benefiting from the oil extraction projects, but only the elite members of the country. These led to backward growth of the economy of the countries. Take, for example, Venezuela: it was faced by extreme corruption and overexploitation of the only resource that was supposed to support the whole country which led to the crumbling of the economy. Within the Middle East, politics started taking tall and affecting oil exploitation. Another problem arose at the start of the World War II where oil deposits were being bombed to cripple the energy sector of the army. The U.S and Europe which was producing plenty of petroleum decided to fuel its allies in the war, which created a big problem to the Middle East. The Muslims were unable to concentrate in the production of oil and the U.S found a chance to control the oil exploitation (Cook, 56-76). A report that was conducted by the team of DeGoyler reported to the state department that Saud Arabia was sitting on oil deposits worth 20 billion dollars. The real estimate of oil

African-American Separatism Essay Example for Free

African-American Separatism Essay African-American novelist James Baldwin (1963) maintained that at the heart of inhumanity perpetrated by whites upon blacks is the projection of their own paranoia, hate and longing. Baldwin supposed that should white people learn how to accept themselves, â€Å"the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.† At the core of Baldwin’s hypothesis is that cruelty to the black man persists because of the white man’s dissatisfaction with its own culture (hence the occasional white man who romanticizes and aspires to black ideals). Few other eras in white American history evoke such a level of dissatisfaction as the era of The Great Depression, a period of downturn not just in economy but in morale. When white culture has descended to such low spirits, it is no surprise that black separatism emerged. Marcus Garvey advocated a form of Pan-Africanism which suggested that black people reclaim and re-colonize Africa in order to form its own black nation. Elijah Muhammad on the other hand, advocated a form of black nationalism called The Nation of Islam, which concentrated more on social infrastructure such as the development of economics and nationhood. The emergence of these doctrines are not entirely surprising: with white culture being at its most broken state, the zeitgeist which results for blacks is to advocate a repudiation of this culture. Black pride therefore takes the shape of one race formulating its own society as a means to escape this broken culture, as well as to evade the white man’s inevitable projection of latent self-hate. Separatism and nationalism is therefore of meaningful use to the black races, simply because it allows them to chart their own national, political and civic self-identity apart from that which has been foisted upon them by the white culture, as well as free them from the scrutiny or approval of the white culture. However, it also poses risks because for every weakness, shortcoming or failure that may arise from nations and cultures created by these movements is the potential for more discrimination from the white culture, which will most likely subject these to more racially-charged judgment.

Compensation System For Multinational Corporations Economics Essay

Compensation System For Multinational Corporations Economics Essay Global compensation managers that is, everyone involved at any level in pay-related decisions increasingly deal with two areas of focus. They must manage highly complex and turbulent local details while concurrently building and maintaining a unified, strategic pattern of compensation policies, practices and values. For multinationals successfully to manage compensation and benefits requires knowledge of employment and taxation law, customs, environment and employment practices of many foreign countries, familiarity with currency fluctuations and the effect of inflation on compensation and an understanding of why and when special allowances must be supplied and which allowances are necessary in what countries all within the context of shifting political, economic and social conditions. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MULTI NATIONAL CORPORATION (MNC) AND TRANS NATIONAL CORPORATION (TNC) The both multinationals corporations and transnational corporations operate internationally and their compensation or reward system is also similar, but some differences exist between two, which are: MNCs operate in several different countries while transnational implies just across the border as in the US and Canada. Obviously, both operate internationally A MNC has a centralized headquarters is a corporation with extensive ties international operations in more than one foreign country. Examples are Coke, Pepsi, General Electric, Exxon, Wal-Mart, and Mitsubishi. A transnational company has no head office and moves whatever base of operations it has fluidly between its national offices. It is a MNC that operates worldwide without being identified with a national home base i.e. it is said to operate on a borderless basis. Examples are Daewoo, Saint Gobain, Sony, Samsung Group, Shell Oil etc. OBJECTIVES OF INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION When developing international compensation policies, a firm seeks to satisfy several objectives. The policy should be consistent with the overall strategy, structure and business needs of the multinational. The policy must work to attract and retain staff in the areas where the multinational has the greatest needs and opportunities. Hence the policy must be competitive and recognize factors such as incentive for Foreign Service, tax equalization and reimbursement for reasonable costs. The policy should facilitate the transfer of international employees in the most cost-effective manner for the firm. The policy must give due consideration to equity and ease of administration. The international employee will also have a number of objectives that need to be achieved from the firms compensation policy. First, the employee will expect the policy to offer financial protection in terms of benefits, social security and living costs in the foreign location. Second, the employee will expect a foreign assignment to offer opportunities for financial advancement through income and/or savings. Third, the employee will expect issues such as housing, education of children and recreation to be addressed in the policy. If we contrast the objectives of the multinational and the employee, we see, of course, the potential for many complexities and possible problems, as some of these objectives cannot be maximized on both sides. Firms must rethink the traditional view that local conditions dominate international compensation strategy. COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT OR SYSTEM The type and amount of compensation necessary to attract technically and culturally qualified international managers and technical professionals to the three nationals or country categories involved international human resource management activities from which employees are selected whether the people are: PCNs (parent country nationals) TCNs (third country nationals) HCNs (host country nationals) An expatriate is an employee working in a country other than their country of origin. PCNs (Parent Country Nationals) Those personnel who are of the same nationality as the contracting government or personnel from headquarters They come from the home country of the operation. The policy of using PCNs is usually employed when one or more of the following situations exist: (1) the host country cannot readily supply desired managerial personnel, (2) efficient communication with headquarters is required, and (3) the company adopts a centralized approach to globalization. TCNs (Third Country Nationals) Those personnel of a separate nationality to both the contracting government and the area of operations i.e. whose nation of residence is neither the host country nor the home country. Such an employee normally is recruited from outside the host country and relocated from the point of recruitment to the host country. HCNs (Host Country Nationals) These are Indigs (Indigenous Personnel) / Nationals / Locals those personnel who are indigenous to the area of operations Whose basic residence or home is the host nation. Local colleagues of the expatriate, they are valuable socializing agents, sources of social support, assistance, and friendship to expatriates. Expatriates are more likely to adjust when HCNs engage in this behavior. HR managers focus on their strategic objectives to develop a comprehensive compensation plan, in terms of considering base pay, short and long-term incentives, benefits and growth opportunities. The objective of this kind of strategy is to ensure that both TNC/MNCs long and short-term objectives coexist in the compensation system without overlap, which would duplicate a single pay plan for the same objectives. The purpose of the planning is also designed to ensure that the compensation system attracts and retains the desired employees and that it motivates them to do those things that support the business plan. KEY COMPONENTS OF AN INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION PROGRAM The area of international compensation is complex primarily because multinationals must cater to three categories of employees: PCNs, TCNs and HCNs. Key components of international compensation are as follows: COMPONENTS OF MNCS COMPENSATION BASIC SALARY ALLOWANCES OTHER BENEFITS 1. Base Salary In a domestic context, base salary denotes the amount of cash compensation serving as a benchmark for other compensation elements (such as bonuses and benefits). For expatriates, it is the primary component of a package of allowances, many of which are directly related to base salary (e.g. Foreign Service premium, cost-of-living allowance, housing allowance) and also the basis for in-service benefits and pension contributions. It may be paid in home or local-country currency. The base salary is the foundation block for international compensation whether the employee is a PCN or TCN. Major differences can occur in the employees package depending on whether the base salary is linked to the home country of the PCN or TCN, or whether an international rate is paid. Foreign Service inducement/hardship premium Parent-country nationals often receive a salary premium as an inducement to accept a foreign assignment or as compensation for any hardship caused by the transfer. The definition of hardship, eligibility for the premium and amount and timing of payment must be addressed. In cases in which hardship is determined, US firms often refer to the US Department of States Hardship Post Differentials Guidelines to determine an appropriate level of payment. Making international comparisons of the cost of living is problematic. These payments are more commonly paid to PCNs than TCNs. Foreign service inducements, if used, are usually made in the form of a percentage of salary, usually 5-40 per cent of base pay. Such payments vary, depending upon the assignment, actual hardship, tax consequences and length of assignment. 2. Allowances Issues concerning allowances can be very challenging to a firm establishing an overall compensation policy, partly because of the various forms of allowances that exist. (a)The cost-of-living allowance (COLA), which typically receives the most attention, involves a payment to compensate for differences in expenditures between the home country and the foreign country (to account for inflation differentials, for example). The COLA may also include payments for housing and utilities, personal income tax or discretionary items. (b)The provision of a housing allowance implies that employees should be entitled to maintain their home-country living standards (or, in some cases, receive accommodation that is equivalent to that provided for similar foreign employees and peers). Other alternatives include company-provided housing, either mandatory or optional, a fixed housing allowance or assessment of a portion of income, out of which actual housing costs are paid. As a firm internationalizes, formal policies become more necessary and efficient. (c)There is also a provision for home leave allowances. Many employers cover the expense of one or more trips back to the home country each year. Firms allowing use of home leave allowances for foreign travel need to be aware that expatriate employees with limited international experience who opt for foreign travel rather than returning home may become more homesick than other expatriates who return home for a reality check with fellow employees and friends. (d)Education allowances for expatriates children are also an integral part of any international compensation policy. Allowances for education can cover items such as tuition, language class tuition, enrolment fees, books and supplies, transportation, room and board and uniforms. PCNs and TCNs usually receive the same treatment concerning educational expenses. (e)Relocation allowances usually cover moving, shipping and storage charges, temporary living expenses, subsidies regarding appliance or car purchases (or sales) and down payments or lease-related charges. Allowances regarding perquisites (cars, club memberships, servants10 and so on) may also need to be considered (usually for more senior positions, but this varies according to location). These allowances are often contingent upon tax-equalization policies and practices in both the home and the host countries. (f)Spouse assistance to help guard against or offset income lost by an expatriates spouse as a result of relocating abroad. Although some firms may pay an allowance to make up for a spouses lost income, US firms are beginning to focus on providing spouses with employment opportunities abroad, either by offering job-search assistance or employment in the firms foreign office (subject to a work visa being available). (g)Multinationals generally pay allowances in order to encourage employees to take international assignments and to keep employees whole relative to home standards. In terms of housing, companies usually pay a tax-equalized housing allowance in order to discourage the purchase of housing and/or to compensate for higher housing costs. This allowance is adjusted periodically based on estimates of both local and foreign housing costs. 3. Benefits The complexity inherent in international benefits often brings more difficulties than when dealing with compensation. Pension plans are very difficult to deal with country-to-country, as national practices vary considerably. Transportability of pension plans, medical coverage and social security benefits are very difficult to normalize. Firms need to address many issues when considering benefits, including: Whether or not to maintain expatriates in home-country programs, particularly if the firm does not receive a tax deduction for it. Whether firms have the option of enrolling expatriates in host-country benefit programs and/or making up any difference in coverage. Whether expatriates should receive home-country or host-country social security benefits. In some countries, expatriates cannot opt out of local social security programs. In such circumstances, the firm normally pays for these additional costs. Laws governing private benefit practices differ from country to country, and firm practices also vary. Multinationals have generally done a good job of planning for the retirement needs of their PCN employees, but this is generally less the case for TCNs. TCNs may have little or no home-country social security coverage; They may have spent many years in countries that do not permit currency transfers of accrued benefit payments; Or they may spend their final year or two of employment in a country where final average salary is in a currency that relates unfavourably to their home-country currency. In addition to the already discussed benefits, multinationals also provide vacations and special leave. Included as part of the employees regular vacation, annual home leave usually provides airfares for families to return to their home countries. Rest and rehabilitation leave, based on the conditions of the host country, also provides the employees family with free airfares to a more comfortable location near the host country. Emergency provisions are available in case of a death or illness in the family. Employees in hardship locations often receive additional leave expense payments and rest and rehabilitation periods. ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS AND SERVICES Lifestyle enhancement services à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provision for employee family to learn the local language à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Education training of employee family on local culture, customs and social expectations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Counseling services for employee family à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Assistance in finding a home at the foreign work site / school suitable education programmes for children dependents à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Company car, driver, domestic staff, and child care à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Use of Fitness facilities / subsidized health care services à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Assistance in joining local civic, social, professional organizations Allowances Premiums à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Foreign Service premium tax equalization allowance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Temporary living allowance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Currency protection à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mobility premium à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Stopover allowance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Completion of assignment bonus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Assignment extension bonus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Emergency loan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Extended work-week payment APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION There are two main approaches in the area of international compensation The Going Rate Approach (also referred to as the Market Rate Approach) The Balance Sheet Approach (also known as the Build-up Approach). (a)The Going Rate Approach With this approach, the base salary for international transfer is linked to the salary structure in the host country. The multinational usually obtains information from local compensation surveys and must decide whether local nationals (HCNs), expatriates of the same nationality or expatriates of all nationalities will be the reference point in terms of benchmarking. For example, a Japanese bank operating in New York would need to decide whether its reference point would be local US salaries, other Japanese competitors in New York or all foreign banks operating in New York. With the Going Rate Approach, if the location is in a low-pay county, the multinational usually supplements base pay with additional benefits and payments. The Balance Sheet Approach The basic objective is to keep the expatriate whole (that is, maintaining relativity to PCN colleagues and compensating for the costs of an international assignment) through maintenance of home-country living standard plus a financial inducement to make the package attractive. The approach links the base salary for PCNs and TCNs to the salary structure of the relevant home country. For example, a US executive taking up an international position would have his or her compensation package built upon the US base-salary level rather than that applicable to the host country. The key assumption of this approach is that foreign assignees should not suffer a material loss due to their transfer, and this is accomplished through the utilization of what is generally referred to as the Balance-sheet Approach. COMPENSATION ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO Incentives provided to stimulate movement or expatriation to a foreign location/ host country Allowances for repatriation to home country Additional tax burdens placed on employees working in a foreign location Labour regulations in home and host country Cost-of-living allowances in the host country Home country and host country currency fluctuation Formal and informal compensation practices unique to the host country Determining home country for setting base pay of TCNs MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES CONCERNING INTERNATIONAL BENEFITS COMPENSATION Compensation is one of the most complex areas of international human resource management Pay systems must conform to local laws and customs for employee compensation while also fitting into global MNC policies Managers face diverse political systems, laws regulations; confront different economic climates, economic development, tax policies, diverse culture, customs, the role of labor unions, standard of living It is also important for MNCs to consider carefully the motivational use of incentives and rewards among the employees drawn from three national or country categories The traditional function of pay to attract, retain and motivate employees has not changed The emphasis has shifted from the attraction and retention functions to the motivation function. TNC/MNCs must ensure that those skilled employees are compensated for achieving goals that make the international business operations succeed HR managers focus on their strategic objectives to develop a comprehensive compensation plan, in terms of considering base pay, short and long-term incentives, benefits and growth opportunities The objective of this kind of strategy is to ensure that both TNC/MNCs long and short-term objectives coexist in the compensation system without overlap, which would duplicate a single pay plan for the same objectives. The purpose of the planning is also designed to ensure that the compensation system attracts and retains the desired employees and that it motivates them to do those things that support the business plan The compensation costs of a family with children are shifted to hardship allowance for schooling, childcare, increased residence cost and all fringe benefits associated with supporting a family life cycle It may be that international compensation administration is more complex than its domestic counterpart, but not radically different in pattern or form. QUESTIONS:- Q1. What is international compensation system? Explain its objectives. Q2. Explain the parties involved in international compensation system? Q3. List the components of an international compensation program. Q4. Explain the approaches to international compensation system. Q5. What are different challenges faced by the management concerned to various benefits in international compensation program.

Comparing Social Norms in My Last Duchess by Robert Browning and Ulysse

When one travels, it is easy to observe differences in social norms from country to country. One may also observe differences within a country, for example, the social norms of a small town or village versus those of a large metropolis. Differences in social norms can also be observed in literature. This essay will focus on two dramatic monologues, which were written by poets who lived in England during the same period. Robert Browning published My last Duchess in 1842, the same year that Alfred Tennyson published Ulysses. Both poets lived in England during the Victorian era. However, by examining characters from their poetry, namely Alfonso in My Last Duchess and Odysseus in Ulysses, we can see that they express opposite norms concerning controlling power, change, form and death. â€Å"E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, whene'er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together† (Line 42-46) (Browning 714). This implies that Alfonso can't sand his wife's behavior, which leads him to kill her. He doesn't want to stoop for her, which means he doesn't want to give in to her to gain her attention in that way. Instead of being nice to her, he chooses to affect his power over her, a power he is afraid to lose. Yet even after he kills her, he keeps her picture, and covers it with the curtain. This is his way of putting her in her place, a prison of sorts, in which he chooses when and to whom she will ever smile again. Then he says to the servant of the Count of Tyrol â€Å"the curtain I have drawn for you† and he shows the picture to him. From Alfonso’s words, we can tell that he is satisfied with this action becau... ... In My Last Duchess, Browning shows that thing has a form, which he literally has and everyone can see it, had a value and it will not change forever. Even Browning expresses that death still can bring back something he wants. In contrast, Tennyson mentions powers itself doesn’t attract or move him. A death won’t give anything to him. Therefore, to achieve what he wants means more to him. Browning doesn’t find any interest in the thing, which has a form and will not change forever. Change itself actually has value. From this, even though Browning and Tennyson lived in the same era, their norms are world apart. Works Cited Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." Literature Across Cultures. Ed. SheilaGillespie, et al 4th Ed. New York: Longman, 2005. Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses". Victorian Literature, 1830-1900.Boston: McPeek, 2002. pp. 399-400. Print.

Gender Identity Essay -- Sociology, Gender Scheme Theory

The development of gender awareness is fundamental for our sense of self and is also predominant in any assessment made of another person as from birth on people respond differently to males and females. Gender identity can be seen as one of the earliest social categories that children learn to apply to both themselves and other people. This is suggested in Schaffer’s (1996) definition where gender identity is the correct labelling of self and others as male or female. There are three main theories that have been explored which all suggest multiple ways in which gender awareness is developed: Bandura, Kohlburg and the Gender Scheme Theory. Firstly, Bandura (1977) notes that the idea that social influences clearly plays a very significant role in the development of gender identity. Socialization makes children aware that there are differences between male and female, and that these sex differences matter. These social pressures also suggest there are specific gender stereotypes that they are expected to conform to. Nevertheless, it can also be seen that biological and cultural changes interact with these social factors, thus defining how an individual eventually develops the gender identity of a man or a woman. An alternative theory, expressed by Kohlburg (1966), suggests that children are not the recipients of any physical information from social experiences and therefore they search for specific regulations which will explain the way in which males and females are expected to behave. In addition, gender tends to be the first thing a parent wishes to find about their child. It can be suggested that from then on the child will be treated depending on the fact that they are male or female. This is shown in research attempting to cla... ... both masculine and feminine toys. Generally, parents gave positive responses to their pre-school children when they chose same-sex toys but negatively to cross-sex toys, thereby reinforcing their children’s sex role differentiation. On the other hand, according to Fagot (1985), sex-differentiation like that viewed in the previous study was not found in the teachers in charge of a group of 2 year olds. In this study, it was the children themselves who gave their peers engaging in sex-appropriate behaviour positive feedback of one kind or another. Again, boys were more likely to be disapproved of for ‘girly’ behaviour and were thus quickly given the chance of learning what is not male and so encouraging them to drop those behaviours or activities in their repertoire. Nevertheless, there are criticisms of these ‘social influence theories’ on sex role development.

Colonialism and Imperialism in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Imperialism Exposed in Conrad's Heart of Darkness      Ã‚   Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' is a novel about European imperialism and its far-reaching effects. Conrad relates his personal opinions through the protagonist, Marlow, who learns a great deal about imperialism while on a journey to the African Congo. Although 'Heart of Darkness' seems to be an anti-imperialistic work, this is not entirely true. Conrad condemns the overly idealistic nature of imperialism, but does not attack Britain's competent employment of it.    "Heart of Darkness" opens with a discussion between Marlow and his friends concerning the idealistic imperialism of conquerors, especially English, who were "bearers of a spark from the sacred fire"-the fire of civilization (1428). Marlow himself had "tingled with enthusiasm" at the thought of imperialism, as his friends do during their recollection of the past, but this is all before his experience in the Congo, where he uncovers the crudeness of the Belgians. Marlow believes that imperialism is not always "a pretty thing," but if the conquest of land is approached in ... ...al, 1988. Edward W. Said, The World, the Text, and the Critic. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983) 13. Hillman, James. "Notes on White Supremacy: Essaying an Archetypal Account of Historical Events," Spring (1986): 29-57. McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992. Meyers, Jeffrey.   Joseph Conrad.   New York:   Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991. Patrick Brantlinger, "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?" Criticism (Fall, 1985) 364.    Colonialism and Imperialism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness Essay Imperialism Exposed in Conrad's Heart of Darkness      Ã‚   Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' is a novel about European imperialism and its far-reaching effects. Conrad relates his personal opinions through the protagonist, Marlow, who learns a great deal about imperialism while on a journey to the African Congo. Although 'Heart of Darkness' seems to be an anti-imperialistic work, this is not entirely true. Conrad condemns the overly idealistic nature of imperialism, but does not attack Britain's competent employment of it.    "Heart of Darkness" opens with a discussion between Marlow and his friends concerning the idealistic imperialism of conquerors, especially English, who were "bearers of a spark from the sacred fire"-the fire of civilization (1428). Marlow himself had "tingled with enthusiasm" at the thought of imperialism, as his friends do during their recollection of the past, but this is all before his experience in the Congo, where he uncovers the crudeness of the Belgians. Marlow believes that imperialism is not always "a pretty thing," but if the conquest of land is approached in ... ...al, 1988. Edward W. Said, The World, the Text, and the Critic. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983) 13. Hillman, James. "Notes on White Supremacy: Essaying an Archetypal Account of Historical Events," Spring (1986): 29-57. McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992. Meyers, Jeffrey.   Joseph Conrad.   New York:   Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991. Patrick Brantlinger, "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?" Criticism (Fall, 1985) 364.   

Negotiation Analysis

May 2, 2010 UPS/Teamsters negotiation in 1997 Introduction In 1997 united parcel service and the Teamsters were on table again after 1993’s contract negotiation. It was common since 1980’s that union sent signals to management about large concessions before every negotiation. Union made it clear before the 1997 negotiations started that â€Å"These negotiations are about only one thing and that is making improvements that will give our members the security, opportunities, safety, and standard of living that they deserve† (Witt, Wilson, 1999). In 1996 UPS reported $22. 4 billion of sales. 0 percent of the ground package delivery business was under control of united parcel service. UPS had 185,000 Teamsters employees. Majority of these employees were part timers and other full timers. While reported being a profitable company UPS management said that to stay profitable and beat its competitors they need to negotiate the contract wisely and its employees need to coo perate with them. The emphasis on international business and expedited air shipments was driving the growth of the company. The air side of UPS operates virtually separately than the ground operations. This is where people worked odd hours and had to meet tight operational deadlines. The ground portion also consisted of majority of the part time workers (Budd, 1997). The Teamsters was part of the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO was a federation consisted of 78 different national and international unions. Overall it had most than 13 million members. Teamster was a big in it as well. It was presenting 1. 4 million members including about 400,000 pensioners both in United States and Canada. Union leaders told its members to be offensive in the negotiation to stay in power. Teamster had many part timers in their membership and these part timers made 57% of the total UPS employees. These part timers had big stakes in this negotiation and were looking forward to get heard in the negotiation. The subcontracting was a big issue for these part timers which also made a big part of the total Teamster labor membership (Bacon, 1997) & (Witt, Wilson, 1999). Analysis At the time of 1997-contract negotiation, democrats were in power. Mr. Clinton was on the president seat. As democrats are seen historically in favor of the unions, teamster could expect government support for sure. The 1997 economy was doing great. It had the great combination of strong growth in domestic product, individual income and very low inflation rate. There was also very low unemployment rate at this time. Economy was expanding in year 1997 since 1991 (USDA, 1997). All this was favoring teamster, which was all ready for the negotiation with UPS. Solid economy meant that UPS was doing great in the business. UPS reported a great sale in year 1996, which was, suppose increase in 1997. Management had no reasons to lay back on employee demands. They were in a good position to be more generous and giving to their employees if they wanted. Low unemployment rates also put UPS in a difficult position. If Teamster wanted to go on strike UPS could have hard time filling all the vacancies. The situation was in great favor of the union side if they wanted to strike (Lecture notes). Initial demands Both sides came with their own plans and claimed their plans to be beneficial to the employees. Both UPS and teamsters saw advantage of controlling the pension funds. Management wanted withdrawal of its contribution to the pension funds. By pulling out of this plan company could be better off financially. It could cost UPS around $700 million in withdraw liability charges. To get out of 31 multiemployer plans. Instead UPS was willing to contribute $1 billion a year to a single-employer plan. UPS wanted the full control of the pension funds. UPS offered to provide a single benefit pension plan to both full and part time employees. Another offer that management made on the table was to create a new company administered health care program. The union administered the current plan and management wanted full control of the program and promised to provide same existing benefits (Bradford, 1997). Union opened with demands that it claimed to be essential for its members. These demand included fair wages and decent pensions plan. At the time full time UPS employees earned $19. 50 per hour and also 410 to $11 per hour in fringes. According to the union management their members deserved to be able to live a decent life. Next union concern was about its part time employees. As more than half of the employee working at UPS was part timers, their voice was also strong in the negotiation demands. Union demanded to make these part timers full timers and provide them same wage rate and full timers. Job security was also an issue that union wanted to be addressed in the negotiation (Bradford, 1997). UPS believed in subcontracted to make company more profitable and union was well aware of this fact. In the previous negotiations UPS had won subcontracting provisions and management wanted to keep this benefit in their plate in this negotiation as well. But, union did not like the way things went in the last negotiation, and this time they wanted to make sure that they do not let management take advantage of subcontracting. Union was very strong on the belief that its members deserved the job security which is only possible by getting rid of the subcontracting. Job safety and health improvements were also great concerns to the union in this negotiation. Union believed that UPS employee get injured more often safety was a big concern. Union believed that present safety programs were not enough. An improvement was definitely needed in this area as well (Schulz, 1997). UPS strategies To prepare for the 1997 negotiation, Teamster started analyzing management previous and up to date negotiation tactics. Management strategies included shift of more workload to lower wage part timers and also expand subcontracting. Even though company was making profit at the moment, company wanted to save money to increase its total profit (Witt, Wilson, 1999). Management proposed little wage increase than in the past negotiations. Starting with lower wage increase could benefit the company in counterbalancing any workers proposal during the negotiations. Division among part timers and full timers could also benefit management as both sides would have different priorities and will benefit management on the negotiations table (Witt, Wilson, 1999). In 1994, when UPS raise the package weight, many reformers wanted to walk out but many old-guard local leaders urged them not to work out. Management believed that same will happen if the members wanted to strike in this negotiation. Management was under impression that if the top union leadership will want to have a strike the old-guard locals will not support it (Witt, Wilson, 1999) & (Bradford, 1997). Union strategies Union was well aware of the fact that membership unity was the key for the success of the negotiation. To build membership unity union wanted to make sure they everyone is on the same page. Union started a yearlong campaign to well prepare for the negotiation table. Before the contract was expired, union took a survey of all its members. The survey wanted everyone of rank his or her priorities of the demands. The very key thing in this survey was that members were also asked about the activities member were willing to participate to help win this negotiation (Witt, Wilson, 1999). At the end of the surveys completion union had a good idea of what its membership wanted and how the things shall be proceed. This step helped union gain its members’ confidence and its members also felt being part of the process. The surveys helped Teamster to talk to their members and encourage them to get involved into contract campaign. Teamster’s main mission was to find a common ground for all its membership (TDU, 2007). Union leaders tried emphasizing on the common interests of both part timers and full timers. Union tried convincing its members that no matter whether they are full timers or part timers, the issues they will be fighting for on the negotiation table will be beneficial to both sides. A better pension plan will benefit full timers as well the part timers as better pension plan will encourage full timers to retire early. Finding this common ground was important for the union, so that it can make management’s strategy of division among full timers and part timers would fail (Witt, Wilson, 1999) & (TDU, 2007). To make its campaign successful teamster focused on building a stronger network among its members. Union tried making as many members possible to get involved in the campaign. Teamsters built a member-to-member network to spread the word about the campaign and to get as many UPS Teamsters involved as possible. Negotiation Table By knowing exactly what its members wanted, teamster started negotiation by being very aggressive about its demands. On the start of the bargaining, UPS opened by asking for huge concessions. It was nothing new for the Union. It was a very commonly used tactic by the management to stat with low offering so teamsters lower their expectations. Management wanted to make sure that it does not end up giving up too much and by making initial offers very low it can change Teamster’s minds to fight for big concessions (TDU, 2007). There were two big issues where both sides fell apart. First issue was the pension plan. As we mentioned earlier both sides was benefits in controlling the pension funds. UPS offered one plan on the negotiation table. Under which the future retirees will get monthly benefits equal to $100 each month for each of the years they have worked for the company. Under this plan a full time employee who would retire after working for 35 years for the company would earn $35,000 each month as their pension. Under this plan part time employees were also eligible for the pension plan. The plan offered part timers half of what was offered the full timers. The previous plan was a multiemployer plan that UPS wanted to get rid of. According to management this new plan would pay employee more than what is being offered under the multiemployer plan. Teamster on the other hand was not willing to change the pension plan. It wanted to keep the multiemployer plan but wanted to improve the multiemployer plan and raise the benefits offered under the plan (Bradford, 1997). Under multiemployer plan UPS was paying for other retirees of Teamster who never worked for UPS. Under multiemployer plan, UPS was subsidizing other companies’ benefits. UPS did not want to do that any longer. As their mission was to increase company profit and stay in the competition, the best alternative for them was to get out of multiemployer plan and take control of the pension funds. In a statement UPS said that it wanted its money to go to only its employees. Another point UPS made was that company will earn a greater investment return on contributions made to a pension plan controlled by company compare to the multiemployer plans (Bradford, 1997)& 15 & (Krause, 1997). Second big issue that made both sides apart was about part time workers. UPS wanted to keep part timers to stay flexible. Part time workers have been part of the company since expedited service has started. Company made an argument that not only part timers let company work be flexible but also short length shifts are less tiring than the full-length shifts. Arguments were being made that it is hard for a person to unload or load a trailer for continuously eight hours. When part timers were very beneficial for the company, Teamster was very well aware of that fact that part timers get paid less and receive less benefits compare to the full timers. UPS wanted to continue its expansion of its part timer work force. Teamsters knew that they had to stop this expansion for its members well being (Krause, 1997) & (Bradford, 1997). Union surveyed many part timers before negotiation started and they found that these part timers did not feel like being important in the company. Many of them were looking for other jobs, as their part time jobs at UPS were not paying enough. Teamsters argued that corporate managers are holding on to the worker’s wages as corporate profits are increasing and executive salaries are also increasing with it. All this is affecting part timer who are facing insecure jobs and a low pay (Grant, 1997). A final offer on July 30th by UPS did not include what teamster was willing to settle for. UPS offered to start providing 200 new full time jobs per year; expansion of subcontracting for the feeder work and it did not include a decent wage increase for the workers. UPS also stood still on its decision of taking full control of the pension funds. On August teamsters decide to go on strike, the strike which changed the history of labor force forever. Teamster Strike From the very beginning, the union’s contract campaign was designed to build a broad public support. This support could help teamsters win a good contract or win in a strike if needed. The campaign held a message that Teamster’s fight is not only about fighting for wages per hour but about the future of good jobs. Teamsters spread its word not only within the US but also many European countries where UPS was planning to expand its business to (Witt, Wilson, 1999). Union kept its position strong on the issues of retirement funds and worker’s health insurance. UPS in its previous negotiations also offered the same pension plan but this time teamsters were not willing to play this game. UPS use to take this offer off the table at the very last minute in return to get union accept other concessions. In the end management asked union for the extension of the agreement but union denied. On August 1997, teamsters went on strike (Witt, Wilson, 1999). Success of Teamsters strike had many reasons behind it. Around the time of the strike UPS owned about 80% of the ground delivery business. Clearly a strike would affect company’s stability and put some economic pressure. UPS was not conglomerate with any company, which could help it get through the strike. UPS workers use to go to each city so it became known very quickly. Another specific incident that helped this strike was that it happened in August when congress was not in session. During this period it was easy for the Teamsters to get all the media attention they needed (Cabell, 1997). UPS strike also got great support from the international unions of UPS in other countries. This involvement raised the public awareness not only in Unites Stated but also all around the world. When employees in U. S. went on strike employees in many other courtiers participated in activities like sick-out or temporary disrupted package deliveries (Budd, 2008 pg 450). At the end of 16-day strike union had a solid victory. Where originally company offered only 1000 full time jobs for the part timers ended up creating 10,000 full time jobs. UPS also agreed on keeping the existing multiemployer pension plan. It was a big victory for Teamsters. Besides winning on the two biggest issues Teamsters also won on others concerning issues. There was $3. 10 an hour wage increase over the course of 5 years contract period for the full timers. UPS originally offered only $1. 50 an hour increase. Part timers also got wage increase more than what company originally has offered. They got $4. 10 per hour wage increase where company originally has offered only $2 an hour. There were also limits on subcontracting on the final contract (Cabell, 1997) & (Schulz, 1997). Summation As we mentioned earlier political, economic environments were in favor of the union. Both sides referred to the previous negotiations and based on that built their tactics for 1997 negotiation. It was a distributive bargaining where both sides wanted to gain as much possible. One could say that union was being selfish on many aspects where it wanted more and more for its members. As it is a case in any distributive bargaining, both sides wanted more in their favor. There was no effort for mutual understanding and finding a common ground. Beside one or two issues almost every other issue could be resolved with little decent effort made by both sides. Both sides had strategies and both sides tried knowing what was going to be on the negotiation table. Based on our above analysis we can say that union was more successful in knowing management strategies and planning ahead for any of the management’s tricks. Union strength was not clear to UPS until it showed it power by pulling out a successful strike. Strike cost UPS millions in lost sales during the strike. Everybody seemed to be having won but UPS. More losses were alarming UPS as many shippers threatened to permanently shift to non-union competitors. Questions arise like what went wrong in this negotiation which leads to strike and whether teamsters were being simple selfish in what they wanted. UPS employees were enjoying relative job security at the time. Also, the turnout rate at UPS was low compare to the industry-wide rate. In many special jobs task managers like first-line managers were being paid the highest wages in the industry. The executives at UPS were not getting paid outrageously (USDA, 1997). Management might not have thought union will be that aggressive as it came out to be. There was a wall, which stopped each side from understanding one another. A good relationship of 82 years was broken with this strike. UPS and Teamsters needed to understand each other’s priorities and strengths. Trying method of interrogative bargaining could help both sides reach to an agreement without strikes and economic losses. In order to accomplish this, both sides must realistically share as much information as they can to understand each other's interest. A key for the Teamsters strike was its successful attempt to mobilize higher ranks. Involvement of the key individuals in favor for the strike was very important part of the successful strike. Next key for the Teamster success was to be able to know the issue that resonates with the general public. It was very important for UPS to know what Teamster’s strength was. Underestimating labor power was a key mistake that the management seemed to have made. Only an open and honest relationship among the management and Teamsters can help avoid strikes in future. References: 1. Witt, Wilson, Matt, Rand. The Teamsters' UPS Strike of 1997: Building a New Labor Movement. † Labor Studies Journal. 24. 1 (1999): 58-72. Web. 22 Apr 2010. http://www. accessmylibrary. com/article-1G1-54517324/teamsters-ups-strike-1997 .html (Pro-union) 2. TDU, â€Å"1997 ups contract: year-long contract campaign key to win†, Teamsters for a Democratic Union. 03-06-2007, Web. 29 Apr 2010. http://www . tdu. org/node/5252 (Pro-union) 3. Cabell, Brian. (1997, August 20). It's official: teamsters end ups strike. Retrieved from http://www. cnn. com/US/9708/20/ups. update. early/ (Neutral) 4. Bacon, David. (1997, August 24). The Ups strike – unions win when they take the offensive. Retrieved from http://dbacon. igc. org/Strikes/07ups. htm (Pro-union) 5. Michael Bradford. (1997,  August). UPS, â€Å"Teamsters boxing on benefits†. Business Insurance,  31(32),  1,25. Retrieved April 29, 2010, Business Insurance v31 p1, august 11, 1997. (Neutral) 6. JOHN D. SCHULZ. (1997, August), ‘Digging In’. Traffic world. V251 p10-13 august 18’97. http://vnweb. hwwilsonweb. com. ezproxy. lib. uwm. edu/hww/results/results_single_fulltext. jhtml;hwwilsonid=KSIR1EBXDQ24PQA3DILSFGOADUNGIIV0 (Neutral) 7. Kristin S. Krause. â€Å"Part-Time and Pensions. Traffic World v251 p11-12 August 11 '97. (Neutral) 8. John D. Schulz. â€Å"Keeping the dream Live,† Traffic World v249 p33 March 17, 1997. (Neutral) 9. John F. Budd. â€Å"What the Teamsters Knew. † Budd Jr. , John F, Initials. (1997, Nov-Dec). What the Teamsters knew. Across the Board, 34(10). (Neutral) 10. GRANT, L. (199 7). ‘How UPS Blew It. † Fortune, 136(6), 29. Retrieved from Master FILE Premier Database. (Pro-management) 11. Henry R Hoke. (1997,  September). â€Å"The UPS strike's winners and losers. †Direct Marketing,  60(5),  80. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:  15113521). (Neutral) 12. John J. Schulz. August,1997), Many Winners, One Big Loser. Traffic World v251 p11-12+ August 25 '97. (Pro-union) 13. USDA. The 1997 Economy: An Overview. (1997), Economic research service. Web: http://www. ers. usda. gov/publications/aer780/aer780b. pdf (Neutral) 14. Robert J. Grossman. â€Å"Trying to heal the wounds – human resources management at United Parcel Service of America Inc after a labor strike. † HR Magazine. Apr, 2010. http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n10_v43/ai_21136884/ (Pro-management) 15. Budd, John W. Labor Relations: Striking a Balance, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin Publishing: Chicago, 2008. (Neutral)

Black People and Racism Essay

â€Å"There are hundred of races in the world. Unfortunately, for as long as human have existed, we have enslave those weaker, of those we perceived to be weaker than ourselves†(thinkquest). Racism is everywhere, and we often see it on the streets and schools. There are many short stories and poems that are termed as racist. â€Å"On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person† by Allison Joseph, â€Å" Sonny’s Blue† by James Baldwin, and â€Å" Blink Your Eyes† by Sekou Sundiata are renaissance works that show the issues of racism that black people had lived and are still living today. In â€Å"On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person† by Allison Joseph, the author tells the story about a young Negro whose mother received brutal treatment in her school in England. In the beginning, Allison says: â€Å"Emphasize the â€Å"h†, you hignorant ass†(557). This shows that the â€Å"h† is sarcastic, and the â€Å"tone condescending intensifies racism†(Caroline). They might have used the emphasis of â€Å"h† to humiliate the negro, to make them feel bad about their skin color, and to show the negro that they cannot fit in the white society even if they become educated. Negros have suffered horrible experiences. Allison wrote about the way teachers treated Negro in school. She says: â€Å" †¦teachers slapped her open palm with a ruler in that Jamaican schoolroom†(557). Allison’s mother lived under a white teacher’s pressure, and the teachers showed this negra that she will never learn how to speak like the whites, and they can spank her because she is black, and blacks cannot do anything against the teachers because the whites have the power and the Negro is a submissive servant. In addition, Allison also shows her own life in the United States. Allison is a black person living in the United States, and she sees people discriminating her because she does not act like a black person. Allison writes: â€Å" And I didn’t sound like a Black American, college acquaintance observed, sure they knew that a black person was supposed to sound like. Was I supposed to sound lazy† (557) Allison shows that America’s society judge the black just for their skin color, and most white people see the Negro as lazy, and do not work to bring money home, do not go to school, and do not know how to speak. For example, some restaurant servers prejudice the Negro when they walk into the restaurant by making their own assumption that the table with Negro will not leave any tip. However, in many cases, they are wrong because the table with Negro might leave more tip than a table with white people. Racism is not gone. The Negro is still facing it today, but racism today is expressed differently than it was in the renaissance era. During the renaissance in Harlem, the Negro did not have enough opportunities for their future due to racism. In â€Å"Sonny’s Blue† by James Baldwin, the author tells the story of two black brothers born in Harlem, and the older brother losses communication with his young brother, Sonny. The older brother is the narrator of the short story. Later on, they reconnect due to news the narrator receives about Sonny’s prison. Before the narrator reconnects his life back to his brother, he shows many problems both had because they are Negro. Racism is evident throughout the story. The narrator wrote about Sonny’s friend. â€Å"And now, even though he was a grown-up man, he still hung around that block, still spend hours on the street corners, was always high and raggy†(310). It shows that the Negro do not have opportunities to become successful in life. The Negro has barriers between them and the outside world, which prevent most negro to obtain education or skills, and they are obligated to live on the streets corners asking for money, using drugs and stealing. In addition, the narrator also shows how racism affect the education of a negro which can be describe as Sonny’s choice of life. Sonny choice of life relates to the lack of opportunities black people have during the renaissance in Harlem. After the death of Sonny’s mother, the narrator tries to open Sonny’s mind, and advises him to finish school. In the kitchen talking to Sonny, the narrator writes: â€Å"I want to join the army. Or the navy, I don’t care. If I say I’m old enough, they’ll believe me†(321). Sonny already knows that there aren’t opportunities for him. He is forced to choose among necessities; he sees the army as the only opportunity open for Negro to escape from the streets. On the other hand, the school will give him the degree, but he does not believe that it will help him find a good job. He already knows that there are no doors open for the Negro. However, the narrator disagrees with Sonny. They are still in the kitchen talking about Sonny’s future. â€Å"†¦ But if you don’t finish school now, you’re going to be sorry later that you didn’t†(321). His brother is showing him that he can fight against racism, and he can find opportunities for his life. For example, His brother â€Å"denied† racism, and he gained education and skills to become an algebra teacher, but Sonny does not see it, and he chooses to live on the street like his â€Å"friend†. In addition to the lack of opportunity, black people are more often to be discriminate in traffic than whites. In the poem, â€Å"Blink Your Eyes† by Sekou Sundiata, the author shows the reader a Negro is stopped by the police officer because he is black even though the Negro didn’t do anything wrong. The author writes about the red light. â€Å"But the Law said I was on my way thru a red light red light red light†(582). The following passage, the red light means that this area is not for Negro. It is a neighborhood where white people live, and black people around can be seen as a threat to their place. However, this is not an excuse for the officer to stop this person. Sundiata let the reader know that â€Å"†¦In other words the light was green†(582). The green light is open only for the white society; the Negro does not have chances to go to another level, so the door â€Å"always† will close for them. After the officer stops the negro, Sundiata writes: â€Å" Why did you stop me? Somebody had to stop you I watch the news, you always lose. You’re unreliable, that’s undeniable† (583). The white society do not want to let the negro have opportunities in life, and the negro will be always seen as a threat to the society, and the white society does not need them. The negro does not have the power to stop racism, and it will always be part of their life. However, it is changing. The negro has more voice today than in the past, and they are more recognized. For example, Oscar Grant’s case where a young black guy was murdered by a police officer by â€Å"mistake†. People see it as a â€Å"racism murder† (Jessie). Fortunately, the justice was made for his family. This shows us that Racism is not completely gone. The three stories from the Renaissance show us that black people had suffered racism for many years. From being stereotyped as lazy and uneducated, to not having opportunities to succeed in life and not being accepted by the white society, the Negro has had a difficult journey to improve their situation. Even though today racism is not as prominent as in the Renaissance, we still see some signs of racism that are not completely gone. Works Cited: Sundiata, Sekou. â€Å"Blink Your Eyes†. Approaching Literature. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl – New York Bedford and Martin’s, 2008. Joseph, Allison. â€Å" On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person†. Approaching Literature. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl – New York Bedford and Martin’s, 2008. Baldwin, James. â€Å" Sonny’s Blue†. Approaching Literature. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl – New York Bedford and Martin’s, 2008. Jessie. â€Å" Racism & The Murder of Oscar Grand III†. Racism Review Blog 17 Jan. 2010 < http://www. racismreview. com/blog/2009/01/07/racism-the-murder-of-oscar-grant-iii/ > Think Quest. â€Å"Common Prejudice†. < http://library. thinkquest. org/C006274/race/intro. html >.

Philippine Constitution

The second chapter dealt on the entirety of the state which is considered to be a very important concept in the field of political science as it is branded as the basic unit of the international community and the ultimate expression of political activity among men. The third chapter was aimed at discovering the historical roots and progression of Philippine government in order to understand the complexities and changes within the bounds of local governance. This chapter will be dedicated to the discussion of the fundamentals of the so called â€Å"fundamental law of the land† which is the guiding light of the affairs of both state and government.In addition, this will e an opening salvo to the critical study of the document as we enter the portals leading to the first two fragments of the 1987 Philippine Constitution?the Preamble and the National Territory. CONCEPT OF CONSTITUTION Creating an Equilibrium Before we delve deeper into the concept of the organic law, let us first turn our attentions to the specific field of political law that is germane to the study of the constitution itself?constitutional Law.Constitutional Law is the study of the maintenance of the proper balance between authority as represented by the three Inherent powers of the State and liberty as guaranteed by the Bill of Relights. L Genuine liberty entails exercising It without causing any harm or Interception on the freedom of others. This Is the Ideal arrangement since by practice, people unavoidably uses liberty beyond normal control.Hence, the state has been endowed from Its birth with the three Inherent powers namely police power, eminent domain, and taxation in order to regulate the usage of individual rights. But this does not mean that the state always has the authority to intrude on an individual's freedom because in the context of Constitutional Law, what is being advanced is not primacy of one of the two factions but the promotion of the â€Å"co-existence† Constit ution Defined Cooley describes it as the â€Å"body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. 2 It also refers to â€Å"a written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, defined, and by which these powers are distributed among several departments, for their more safe and useful exercise, for the benefit of the body politic. â€Å"3 The first definition is much more extensive compared to the second one nice it covers even the unwritten constitutions like customs and traditions.Furthermore, Cooley's definition relates on the founding principles reflecting the aspirations of the sovereign while Miller's include in its scope the structuring of the government wherein the several powers are distributed for the promotion of the common good. In layman's terms, it is simply defined as the organic or supreme law of the state. Constitution vs.. Statute Constitution and statute are two terms belonging to the same world of legalities but differ in their scope and intrinsic meaning.The disparity is demonstrated in the allowing instances: 1 . The former elaborates on general items such as policies and principles while the latter deals on more specific topics. Statutes always follow the basic rule of legislation known as â€Å"singularity of subject. † 2. In addition, in the context of being â€Å"open to change,† the constitution (for the cases of the written, enacted and rigid) cannot be easily amended while statute is more open to change and can even be repealed easily with regards to its constitutionality. 3.The constitution is the product of the people's integral sovereign power in society while statute is a result of he process of legislation or law-making as practiced by the legislature. 4. Lastly, in most cases, there is only one constitution in operation but there can be several statutes that would be enforced within the bounds of the state. Discerni ng the Purpose The purpose of the constitution is â€Å"to prescribe the permanent framework of a system of government, to assign to the several departments their respective powers and duties, and to establish certain first principles on which the government is founded. 4 Dissecting this statement originating from American Jurisprudence, three government administering the state; 2. Next is the apportionment of the different governmental powers to the branch or department that must exercise it so as to avoid concentration of powers; and 3. Finally, to provide for the guiding principles which aid the daily affairs of the entire governmental order. Supremacy without a Doubt The constitution is the supreme law of the land.Neither legislation nor even the highest government official exercising immense powers inside the state can question the ultimate position occupied by the organic law in the hierarchy of the political system. The legislature can make laws but such laws are limited bec ause they must inform to the tenets and principles anchored on the constitution. In fact, the judiciary checks both legislative and executive departments by interpreting their actions as â€Å"constitutional† or â€Å"unconstitutional. † The people, its creator, in the exercise of sovereign power may not disregard the constitutions as well.But it must be remembered that they can institute changes if ever it is proven that the constitution does not serve or address the needs of the current situation. The supremacy scenario can also be observed in the landscape of the international community due to the fact that in cases of conflict between international law and municipal (local) law, the latter usually prevails based on the principle of par in paper non habit emporium. But there are exceptional cases wherein constitutional inferiority is demonstrated in upholding the general interests of the people. Variety Exists Constitutions around the globe are not exempted to the p henomenon dubbed as â€Å"variety. † Gradations exist and these are categorized into three major segments: 1 . There are two kinds of constitution according to form namely written and unwritten. The differentiation does not rest on the aspect of being â€Å"written† or not because mom examples of the unwritten constitution are in fact written documents. The major distinction is based on the â€Å"organization† of the scattered pieces into one, single collection.The written constitution is usually the organized one while the unwritten â€Å"consists of rules which have not been integrated into a single, concrete from but are scattered in various sources. â€Å"7 The 1987 Philippine Constitution is a written one while the English Constitution is an unwritten type. 2. The next one is constitution according to origin which also has two types: enacted (conventional) and evolved (cumulative). Enacted is a result of a thorough document construction normally done thro ugh a constitutional convention and is normally instituted at a definite time and place.On the other hand, evolved is a product of continuous process of accretion or adding up as it operates from one generation to another. The present Philippine Constitution is enacted while customs and traditions would be the best example for an evolved constitution. 3. According to manner of amendment is the last category that comprises both flexible and rigid constitutions. Flexible constitutions are characterized by flexibility which implies that it can be changed by he sense that it can only be amended by a specific body and the procedure itself is quite complex and difficult.The 1987 Philippine Constitution is rigid while the constitution of the Scandinavian state of Sweden is considered as flexible. Written Constitution: Essential Qualities Since the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines is a written one, it is more sensible to tackle the essential qualities of a constitution i n the lexicon of the written type. 1 . Broadness refers the extensiveness of the constitution in terms of its scope and reach. Furthermore, broadness relates to the fact that the constitution â€Å"is opposed to embody the past, reflect the present and to anticipate the future. Accordingly, it must have the capability to provide answers or solutions for every contingency. 2. Brevity implies that a good written constitution must stick to the basics. It is limited in the sense that it should not be a venue for staging the details which must be addressed and expressed by reinforcing legislation. Thus, the nature of the document is to prevent the situation wherein it becomes too â€Å"chatty' or wordy. 3. A written constitution must also be definite. This quality relates to the condition hat its provisions must be construed in a clear manner to avoid vagueness in the interpretation.Such ambiguity may lead to â€Å"confusion and divisiveness among the people, and perhaps even physical conflict. â€Å"8 Written Constitution: Essential Parts Almost all texts dealing on the topics of constitution, law and Political Science are in agreement that there are three essential parts of a good written constitution. These are the following: 1 . The constitution of liberty which is symbolized by the presence of a Bill of Rights, elaborates the citizens' civil and political rights as well as the imitation imposed on the side of the government in the regulation of the same.It is found in Article Ill (Bill of Rights) of our constitution. 2. Reflected in Article VI (Legislative), VII (Executive), VIII Adjudicatory), and IX (Local Government) is the second essential part known as the constitution of government whose main feature is the outlining of the governmental structure and the respective powers that they must utilize in the conduct of administration. 3. The provisions relating to the procedures on how to institute changes in the constitution is referred to as the constitut ion of sovereignty. Article XVII (Amendments or Revisions) is an exemplary of this part.Beginnings of the 1987 Philippine Constitution September 21, 1972 is the dreaded day of the proclamation of Martial Law courtesy of one of the most infamous head of state in the Philippines?Ferdinand Adrenalin Marco's. Such declaration was fueled by the various political upheavals in the Philippine political scene at that time including insurgency movements of militant groups and the fear of a communist seizure of the duly constituted government. The Martial Law lasted for about 8 years and was only lifted in 1981. The growing year 1983; Seen. Benign â€Å"Ninny' Aquinas, Jar. Turned from his exile in the United States and was assassinated at the Manila International Airport. Three years after such heart-breaking murder, Marco's called for a special snap election which was centered between him and the widow of Ninny?Carbon â€Å"Core' Aquinas. Massive cheating and electoral fraud characterized the election process in which the final tally of votes expressed the victory of the administration. Yet, even though triumph was at hand, the snap election was one of the major reasons that catapulted the People Power Revolution of 1986.The withdrawal of the military support for the overspent through the acts of high military officials Fidel V. Ramose and Juan Pence Enrich led to the downfall of the Marco's Administration. The world's attention was gravitated to the Philippines in the year 1986 when â€Å"the cheapest revolution†9 in history was launched in order to overthrow the infamous regime of Ferdinand Adrenalin Marco's. The latter was forced to go to an exile in Hawaii, United States. When Core was inaugurated as President, her administration reorganized the entire governmental order and promulgated the Freedom Constitution that abrogated the operation of the 1973 Constitution.The â€Å"Freedom Constitution† was the precursor of the 1987 organic law. In the latt er part of the same year, she ordered the formation of a Constitutional Commission through Proclamation no. 9 to draft a new constitution to legalize the new government. The regular session of the said commission was held from June 2 – October 15, 1986. It was headed by Cecilia Munson Palm, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, as chairman, together with Ambrosia B. Patella as vice- chairman. Napoleon G. Ram served as floor leader with Jose D.Cauldron and Madam Domain Alonso, a Muslim legislator, as assistant floor leaders. Members of the commission came from different walks of life which encompass such prominent names as former COMELY Commissioner Rene Sacramento, former Associate Justice Florien Regarded, former Chief Justice Hilarious Divide, Jar. , Dean Emeritus of Atone Law School FRR. Joaquin G. Barnes, S. J. , award-winningly director Lion Brocks, and notable lawyer Christian Monsoon. After drafting the newly structured and designed f undamental law, the commission recommended to President Aquinas the scheduling of the plebiscite for the ratification of the proposed code.A three-month period was given for the people to carefully study and scrutinize such. The plebiscite was scheduled on the 2nd February, 1987. During the campaign period for the ratification, Filipinos were quite apprehensiveness eventually, they approved the plebiscite. The process was a huge success with 76. 29% affirming the ratification while 22. 74% were on the contrary. The 1987 text is pretty lengthy and wordy which is composed of eighteen articles. Historical experiences have molded it into its present form and substance particularly the enormous impact of the Martial Law Era.THE PREAMBLE A Grand Introduction A book has a preface, a thesis has an abstract, and for the case of the constitution, here is a preamble. From the Latin word â€Å"presumably† meaning â€Å"going in front†, achieved through its expression of the author s of the document and their corresponding ideals and aspirations. It must be noted that the Preamble is not a source of rights, obligations and powers for both citizenry and government side. But because it sets down the origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution, it is useful as an aid in ascertaining the meaning of ambiguous provisions of the Constitution. 0 For a better understanding of the messages imparted by the Preamble, several distinct partitions will be created and analyzed. We, the Sovereign Filipino People. This opening phrase indicates the main authors of the Constitution. What is unique in this construction is that the first person point of view was employed through the usage of the word â€Å"we. † This is very different form the case of the 1935 Constitution wherein the third person point of view was reflected by the less captivating description â€Å"The Filipino people. † FRR.Joaquin Barnes, one of the framers of the current organic document, expla ined that the â€Å"third person approach (1935) suggests that another power (the United States) was merely announcing that the Filipinos were anally allowed to promulgate a Constitution. â€Å"11 Hence, â€Å"The Filipino people† in the 1935 text clearly conjures the situation of the Philippines at that time being under the hands of another sovereign power and has not achieved true independence. During the euphoria of imperialism, the term â€Å"Filipino' does not apply to the natives of the Philippines.The Spanish colonization has founded a social stratification where natives were placed at the bottom of the social ladder while pure-blooded Spaniards (peninsular and insulates) and messiest are situated in a much higher position. These groups were regarded as Filipinos while the natives were branded as â€Å"indigos†?a moniker that signified racial discrimination. It is incredible to know that the framers of the 1973 and 1987 Constitution visualized the commonality among us; that we are one homogeneous body and truly Filipinos by heart.Imploring the Aid of Almighty God. Len both 1935 and 1973 texts, this phrase is worded as â€Å"Imploring the guidance of the Divine Providence† as a form of respect to the the religious freedom of every person situated in the Philippine archipelago including non-believers. During the deliberations of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, it was decided that â€Å"guidance† would be replaced by â€Å"aid† since the latter is a â€Å"more all-embracing term†12 compared to the former. Divine Providence† also yielded to â€Å"Almighty God† due to the realization that the latter implies greater intimacy regarding our relationship with the Divine and is considered as â€Å"more consonant with Filipino religiosity. â€Å"13 Basically, this part of the preamble creates a remarkable picture on how we value the role of the Omnipotent as the rudder leading us to our outstanding lo ries and destinies in life. Build a Just and Humane Society. The state and the government being created by the people themselves must uphold and create a social order that ensures fairness and greatly values human rights and dignity.The phrase added the notion that a constitution not merely sets up a government but is also an instrument for building the larger society of which government is merely a part. 14 Establish a Government. This phrase was carried on by both 1935 and 1973 constitutions in their respective preambles. One of the major intentions in drafting a institution is to establish a government that would regulate both internal and external affairs of the state and has complete autonomy in the eyes of the establishment of this structure: 1. Embody our Ideals and Aspirations.This refers to the primary responsibility of the government in advancing people's interests and not its own selfish political agendas because the powers of the same emanates from the governed per SE. 2 . Promote the Common Good. â€Å"General welfare† was used in both 1935 and 1973 texts but it was agreed by the 1986 Constitutional Commission that â€Å"common good† would supplant it in the new constitution. The rationale is found in the implication of the former phrase as the greater good of the majority and not the greater good of all components of society. Thus, â€Å"good† must be common to all. 3.Conserve and Develop Our Patrimony. â€Å"Patrimony' is so extensive when we speak of its scope since it includes everything that is rightfully owned by the people both material (resources) and immaterial (customs and traditions) ones. The government must see to it that these valued belongings of the nation must be preserved, conserved and developed. 4. Securing the Blessings of Independence and Democracy. This particular segment is not totally similar to the 1935 Constitution because the previous organic laws preamble only mentioned â€Å"the blessing of indep endence† in the third person point of view.This scenario suggests the Philippines' status during the American occupation which is still preparing to accomplish the colossal goal of self-rule. As seen in the current version, â€Å"democracy was already inserted in order to mirror the fact that the country is already a separate and independent state observing the principles of Republicanism and Democracy. In addition, this phrase is accompanied by the word â€Å"posterity' to stress out that the securing of the blessings of independence and democracy' extends even up to the eras of the next generations.Dating and Campanile also emphasized that the government established must also operate under the following conditions: 1. Under the Rule of Law. The created â€Å"medium of the state† must follow and be guided by the laws of the land. It bolsters the principle that â€Å"ours is a government of laws and not of men† which means that no person or institution is above the law. 2. Under the Regime of Truth, Justice, Freedom, Love, Equality and Peace. â€Å"Justice† and â€Å"liberty' were enshrined in the 1935 text while peace† and â€Å"equality' were added in the 1973 Constitution. What is new in the 1987 document is the inclusion of the words â€Å"truth† and â€Å"love. Truth was incorporated in order to impart to the readers of the Constitution how dismaying and hateful the acts committed by the previous administration (Marco's) in plunging the public into the pool of myriad lies. On the other hand, love symbolized the successful staging of the bloodless revolution against the iron rule of a dictator. THE NATIONAL TERRITORY Territorial Jurisdiction of the Philippines Territory is one of the four elements of the state and Just like the effect of the cinematic of people, destruction of the government, and loss of sovereignty, without it, the existence of the state would be in huge peril.Thus, it is important for a state integrity. As expounded by Article 1, the general scope of the national territory of the Republic of the Philippines includes: 1. The Philippine Archipelago. It is generally understood that the Philippine archipelago is the aggregate of the major island groupings namely Luzon, Visas, and Mindanao. An archipelago whose etymology originates from the Greek word appeals(meaning composed of several islands or groups of islands surrounded by water. Tracing the national territory provisions of the 1935 Constitution, the â€Å"Philippine archipelago' also covers: a.The whole Philippine territory ceded by Spain to the United States of America via the Treaty of Paris which was contracted between the two parties on the 10th of December, 1898. B. Subunit Islands and Canaan De Sulk which were clarified by the Treaty of Washington that was signed on November 7, 1900. C. Turtle and Manages Islands through the Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain whose purpose was to d elimit the boundary between the Philippine archipelago and North Borneo. The said convention was signed on January 2, 1930. . Philippine Waters. â€Å"Waters† in this sense applies to all the water forms found in the entirety of the territory. Due to the nature of the Philippines as an archipelago state, the waters embracing its islands (internal waters) are also considered as vital parts of its territorial control. Moreover, the term includes the territorial sea, contiguous zone, and Exclusive Economic Zones (ZEE). 3. Other Territories. These â€Å"other territories over which the Philippines exercises sovereignty or Jurisdiction† entail the inclusion of the allowing: a.The islands of Battles as reflected by the clause â€Å"all territory over which the present government of the Philippine Islands exercises Jurisdiction†16 in the 1935 Constitution. B. Those realms belonging to the Philippines based on historical right or legal title, such as Saba in Northern Bo rneo, enshrined in Article 1 of the 1973 fundamental law. On a more specific perspective, the territorial Jurisdiction of the Philippines is comprised of three kinds of domain namely: 1 .The terrestrial domain corresponds to the Philippine landmass and land forms making up the whole archipelago such as mountains, hills, valleys, volcanoes, islands and islets, etc. Furthermore, this domain embraces the natural and mineral resources found in (floras and faunas) and below (subsoil) the land surface. 2. On the other side, fluvial domain relates to the national waters enclosed by the archipelago baseline and the expanse of water located outside of the same marker. It also incorporates the seabed, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. A.National waters include the water forms situated within the Philippine landmass like lakes, falls, rivers, canals, bays and treats as well as the internal waters identified by the archipelago doctrine. I. Archipelago Doctrine is a generally accep ted principle in International Law that is being incorporated and can be found in the last part of the National Territory provision. It states that â€Å"the waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. This doctrine is usually applicable to those states whose territory is archipelago in nature such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan. It solidifies the fact that in the case of archipelago states, the islands, even though separated by bodies of water, will still be treated as a â€Å"single integral geographical and political unit. â€Å"17 ii. Straight Baseline Method is the most commonly baseline method which follows the contours of the landmass, it is done by determining the outermost points of the archipelago and connecting such points with straight lines producing an irregular polygon.The waters within the baselines shall be considered as internal w aters; while the breadth of the territorial sea shall then be measured from the baselines. 18 iii. The Constitution treats the waters inside the baseline as internal waters but International Law through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOGS) considers it as archipelago waters. In the eyes of the municipal law, no foreign vessels can enter the internal waters without the state's consent. On the other side of the scale, International Law recognizes that foreign vessels may navigate the archipelago waters in the exercise of involuntary entrance only.Passage is innocent as long as a ship refrains from engaging in certain prohibited activities which includes but not limited to weapons jesting, spying, smuggling, serious pollution, fishing, or scientific research. 19 Involuntary Entrance refers to emergency scenarios wherein a foreign vessel enters territorial waters by reason of lack of provisions, ship is incapable of continuing the voyage, weather disturbances, e tc. B. Outside the baseline, one can find the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE), maritime areas, and the open sea. I.The dimensions and measurements of the first three are also determined by the UNCLOGS, an international agreement which was partaken by the Philippines as one of the signatory states. It. The territorial sea or waters is about 12 nautical miles from the baseline. The coastal state exercises full sovereignty and Jurisdiction over this area; yet foreign ships can enter it on account of the right of innocent passage and involuntary entrance. Iii. Another 12 nautical miles from the baseline of the territorial sea is the contiguous zone where territorial Jurisdiction of the coastal state is not absolute.Even though control is limited in this area, the coastal state is still entitled to â€Å"prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea. 20 In addition , hot pursuit can still be conducted in this zone. ‘v. Just like the previous zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone or ZEE (about 200 nautical miles from the archipelago baseline) is also not a solid component of the national territory of the Philippines.What is significant about this area is that the coastal state has the right to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage the natural and mineral reserves as well as install structures and conduct marine scientific research within its maritime dominion. V. Maritime areas include the seabed, the subsoil beneath the seabed, and the insular shelves which are redundantly found within the areas of the territorial seas, contiguous zones and the ZEE. V'. The high seas also known as international waters or open seas are definitely beyond the Jurisdiction of the coastal state.