Saturday, August 31, 2019

Choosing a Course Book Essay

Every teacher knows the students need a course book. It would seem that a course book is an essential element in any course, at any age, no matter how young or old the students are. Every teacher also knows it should be the best course book possible for those students. But what exactly is the best course book? So, how do we choose the course books we want use with our students? Choosing a course book is not a frivolous matter. When deciding on a course book for the students, we should be making an informed decision. It should be made based on analysis and knowledge. It shouldn’t be made lightly and we shouldn’t feel that ‘any old course book’ will do. Furthermore, we shouldn’t be coerced or bullied into choosing one course book over another, by anyone. Choose your course books based on a clear, detailed analysis of what it offers and what your students need. Many researchers have compiled checklists and guidelines for choosing appropriate course books for different students. Some are more detailed and some are less so, but all deal with more or less the same issues. It is very important to know what to look for when choosing a book. Before choosing a course book for the students in any course, it is important to create a needs-analysis for your own students. What will the students need to know by the end of the course or school year? Once the needs-analysis is done, it’s a good idea to create a list of items that you consider desirable in a course book. Based on these lists, any course book can then be analyzed. Below are a few basic questions (to help get you started) that should be asked when we are in the process of choosing a course book for our classes and our students.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Fundamental Media

Mass communication research includes media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion. In the United States, for instance, several university departments were remodeled into schools or colleges of mass communication or â€Å"journalism and mass communication†. In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising, they offer programs on â€Å"mass communication† or â€Å"mass communication research. The latter is often the title given to doctoral studies in such schools, whether the focus of the student's research is journalism practice, history, law or media effects. Departmental structures within such colleges may separate research and instruction in professional or technical aspects of mass communication. With the increased role of the Internet in delivering news and information, mass communication studies and media organizations tend to focus o n the convergence of publishing, broadcasting and digital communication. The academic mass communication discipline historically differs from media studies and communication studies programs with roots in departments of theatre, film or speech, and with more interest in â€Å"qualitative,† interpretive theory, critical or cultural approaches to communication study. In contrast, many mass communication programs historically lean toward empirical analysis and quantitative research— from statistical content analysis of media messages to survey research, public opinion polling, and experimental research. Interest in â€Å"New Media† and â€Å"Computer Mediated Communication† is growing much faster than educational institutions can assimilate it. So far, traditional classes and degree programs have not been able to accommodate new shifts of the paradigm in communication technologies. Although national standards for the study of interactive media have been present in the U. K. since the mid-nineties, course work in these areas tends to vary significantly from university to university. Graduates of Mass Communication programs work in a variety of fields in traditional news media and publishing, advertising, public relations and research institutes. Such programs are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication ACEJMC Questions a) Define and describe mass communication as a professional field giving examples of theories and criticism around this field (20 Marks) b) Give a brief history of the evolution of mass communication.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategy - Essay Example Over the last few years, mobile communication industry has increased in significance and size to grow into one of the key industries in Europe, overtaking pharmaceuticals and is now at per with aerospace firms. In the year 2010, the total revenues in the mobile handset market amounted to over 174 billion Euros and these figures are expected to keep going up as the market grows and the existing competing firms increase their production capacity as well as consumer base. Currently, mobile services are virtually ubiquitous with coverage almost at 100%; in Europe, the mobile penetration rate is well over 120% that towers over Japans, and America’s 100% and 104% respectively (Whitehead and Philips et al., nod). This is representative of over 600 subscriptions held by half a million Europeans, bearing in mind that many have more than one SIM card. Understandably, mobile services are the main form of communication, and they are used across all social, economic and age groups in Europ e. Because of the high revenues and rapid expansion, many mobile firms have joined the mobile phone industry and this has resulted in intense competition as the firms try to capture the lion’s share. ... Analysis of the Competitiveness of the Industry As aforementioned, the mobile industry is extremely competitive in Europe and firms are using all manner of strategies to keep ahead of the competition; this often involve developing new and more attractive technologies such as Android. This direct competition can attributed to saturations in the market which make it difficult to â€Å"Grow around the competition† (Dess et al.,2012, p.181).Firms are also producing more effective and convenient devices such as smart phones and tablets; furthermore, many of the new gadgets are being priced at comparably lower prices. One of the main competitors in the mobile industry in Western Europe is Samsung; today Samsung has evolved itself from a nondescript South Korean firm to become a dominant player in the global mobile market (Cellan-Jones 2013). Until 2012, Nokia had been the world’s leading brand in mobile phone production and exported more handsets as compared to other firm, ho wever, Samsung electronics, which also leads in the manufacture of TVs and screens overtook Nokia to become the world’s top mobile firm. Expert’s project that Samsung is likely accounts for 29% of all the mobile handsets shipments globally; on the other hand, Nokia’s share in the global shipments went down from 30% to 24 % within the same year (Deagon 2012). Samsung’s success can be attributed to innovative and proactive strategies; while its products tend to be pricey; it invests in the latest technology such as android for its devices and ensures that it gives its customers their money’s worth. Samsung has also diversified more than any other firm and in addition to holding the top market position for mobile handsets it

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Raising the minimum wage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Raising the minimum wage - Essay Example should not be increased because this will main that small business, which are said to play a very crucial role in the USA economy will be affected negatively and this will have a negative impact on the economy. As Hasset and Strain (Para 15) say, it is â€Å"†¦.because it will make it more expensive for businesses to hire young and low-skill workers at a time of crisis-level unemployment†. The truth is that the minimum wage is a problem in the USA. With big corporations such as Wal-Mart and McDonalds taking advantage of the minimum wage to take advantage of their employees despite the fact that these companies can afford to pay better salaries, there is a need to consider this issue. However, the solution is not to increase the minimum wage for all employers, but to address the issue with much more wisdom. However, there are experts who do not see this is this way. For instance, Cassidy (Para 2) argues that he minimum wages must be raised because of two major factors. First the inflation rates have increased over the years while the minimum wages have remained constant. This means that the workers are getting lower pay than can meet their daily needs because the inflation has reduced the value of the dollars. While the minimum wage does not increase as fast as the inflation rate reduces the value for the dollar, the firms that sell products and services to the consumers increase the prices of their products as soon as the inflation rate has reached a significant level to affect their bottom-line. Secondly, he shows that the American minimum wage is so much lower in comparison to the other first world nations like those in Europe and in Australia. However, what people like Cassidy do not realize that that there are more complicates issues when it comes with macroeconomics. This has bee n addressed by (Finnegan Para 5). Finnegan (Para 3) argues that increasing the minimum wage is not necessarily a poverty panacea and that those who think that this will solve

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Writing Assignment #2 Fence Standards, from the Fennelly textbook Essay

Writing Assignment #2 Fence Standards, from the Fennelly textbook - Essay Example CPTED offers a framework for integrating crime prevention into urban designs quality. It focuses on the reduction of crime opportunities and lessens the motivation to offend, while nurturing positive interactions between sincere users of the space. The objective of surveillance is to convince potential attackers that they are very little possibilities of a successful attack due to strong defense mechanisms. The initial security layer of building uses CPTED to discourage threats. Prior to the use or implementations of surveillance options, CPTED’s theory indicates that the proper design, as well as effective use of built environments, can decrease crime. Design is one of the key factors before considering surveillance technology. They are three primary CPTED design guidelines that are broadly accepted. The type of locks needed in facilities that require secrecy and confidentiality are dependent on a combination of correlated factors that involve design, installation, manufacturing, and system maintenance (Fennelly, 2012). In addition, not all locks are applicable in most situation, specifically designed locks are usually used in specifically provided situation, hence sufficient knowledge of basic principles of locking systems are inevitable. Security lighting is an effective deterrent method. Attackers will never enter a well-lit area or premise. This form of security cuts across various locations such as parking lots, office space, and entry points. Doors, gates and other forms of entrance must be well lit in so as  to allow for observation of persons and vehicles coming in and out (Fennelly, 2012). When lighting facility grounds, using broadly distributed low-intense lighting is normally superior to small spots of high-intense lighting, because the latter has a tendency to produce dead spots for security personnel, as well as CCTV cameras. This option is

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Emergence of Trust and Power within a Business Network Essay

The Emergence of Trust and Power within a Business Network - Essay Example It is a critical and strategic issue which needs to be dealt very carefully, this element of trust is vital in all kinds of relationships whether it is within the business or with the external stakeholders. It is very hard to make this trust however one mistake can hurt the reputation very badly and create serious consequences for the future of the business. Power is the acquisition of assets and its control which gives dominance to a party over the other. It is to have the control and ability to influence the decision of the other party. Power has its own benefits and draws backs within a business network. Too much or less of it has its own effects. However, it has been seen that where there is trust there is less likelihood of power causing any harm to the social or business network (Group H.R., 2000). When we talk about the long-term success of the business then this success is dependent on the development of positive networks in the industry. Business networks are an opportunity for the owners of the business and the team of employees to improve themselves continuously. They are a collection of companies linked through agreements for business purposes who work together to get over all benefits for the members in doing so they need to make business dealings and work together and invest and divest money Thinking Made Easy, p21, 2009). A company in the business network tends to learn from one another’s mistakes and successes and based on that they derive solutions to their own problems. Apart from the business perspective networking helps in social activities and events. It leads to strong bonds and close relationships with the business partner which is good for the business in the long term (Daft, p110, 2001). The relationship must be enduring and permanent in nature.  

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Strategic Management at British Airways Case Study

Strategic Management at British Airways - Case Study Example The present study on British Airways is to identify, evaluate and assess the planning, development and implementation process of its strategy management and to analyze the performance of the strategic decisions made as part of the strategic management on the organization because it is believed that British Airways has been able to achieve the present position since its establishment in 1919 only due to its strategic management decisions (Cole, G.A., 2003:191). This section deals with various literatures available on the present research in order to study the process of planning, development and implementation in British Airways and also to identify the role of various stakeholders in the decision making process. Thompson, Martin and Thompson (2009:p2) stated that strategy is about how organizations cope with the world which is dynamic and emergent with technologies, design and competitors getting revamped at regular intervals providing the impetus t reformulate the existing strategy and restructure the organizations in order to survive in the competitive market. It is further clarified that strategies are means to ends; whereas the process of strategic management involves clarifying the desired ends, mapping out a route for achieving them (development), putting those strategies into practice (implementation), changing what the organization is doing tactically in the face of competition and unexpected issues that arise and finally evaluating progress and performance. Mintzberg (cited in Idenburg, 1993) stated that there are at least ten schools of strategy development with two fundamental dimensions i.e. goal orientation (what) and process orientation (how). The process of strategy developme nt includes rational planning, planning as guided learning process, logical in incrementalism and emergent strategy. Idenburg (1993) stated that four alternative view of the process of strategy development must be reflected in business research and education. Thompson and Martin (2005, p8) mention that strategic management is a complex and fascinating subject with straightforward underlying principles but no right answers. It is further stated that companies succeed if their strategies are appropriate for the circumstances they face and are feasible in respect of their resources, skills and capabilities and the same companies fail if the fail to meet the expectations of its stakeholders or produce undesirables outcomes. According to Thompson and Martin (2005), strategies are means to end as opined various other researchers and management specialists and managers are strategy makers to some extent in the companies. This statement articulates that mangers are the key persons involved in the strategic management process of planning who then take decisions regarding the development and implementation in the organization. The aviation industry has undergone major transition phase wherein the main stakeholders were involved and have been granted a greater degree of autonomy. Airlines were the first to realize the importance of strategies and strategic decision making in a competitive environment (Delfmann, 2005; p3). British Airways (BA) is major international airline with multinational operations which came into existence with merger of two

Saturday, August 24, 2019

RAK properties company financial analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RAK properties company financial analysis - Essay Example RAK Properties will also maximize shareholders’ value through its development projects in the coastal and inland areas of Ras Al Khaimah. RAK Properties has a sound capital of AED 2 billion. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of RAK Properties in early 2005 was over-subscribed by almost 57 times. RAK Properties is a company which was listed in the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange from 2005 onwards. Just like many of the property companies, the company also has faced a difficult time due to the past recession. However, the markets are turning around with UAE growth resuming and it is very much likely that the company also is in the process of bouncing back with the recovery of the markets. The company was almost bankrupt during the recession period and now is gradually emerging out of the recession and working towards developing properties aggressively. Comparing with the high ranked competitors in the region, the company is more of a smaller player in the market. However, the company h as the opportunity to build a totally new portfolio and compete effectively with the other very large holder of the property and continue to offer high value products in the market. RAK, unlike many other high end large scale companies is thriving to strike a balance between offering high end product portfolios and maintaining medium end offerings as well. Thus, the company actually has a better mix of products on offer. Abu Dhabi real estate markets are growing very fast. Currently, there are 193,000 residential units in place and this is likely to increase to 246,000 units by 2013 according to estimates by Estatesdubai (2011). This indicates that the residential properties are expected to grow fast. Most of the residential properties were purchased by Indians at a cost of AED 3.3billion for 2010. This indicates that the confidence in the property markets is increasing and as a result of the total exercise, it is very much likely that the property companies will face increased dema nd over 2012 - 2015 periods. On the Abu Dhabi growth front, office space has grown by 55,000 square meters just in Q3-2011 reaching a total office space of 2.4 million square meters and this indicates the fact that the business growth is also faster in the region. This is likely to result in sustainable growth in the property market in the future. Thus, the company is one placed in a growth oriented industry and it is likely that they need to place themselves appropriately in the market for growth. While the company holds smaller properties compared with the competitors, the company will be able to expand portfolio with the current investments and will be able to aggressively grow in the markets. 2.0 Financial Analysis When analyzing the financial statements, there are few key observations that are noteworthy. Just like many of the companies who went through troubled times during the economic recession, the company also had faced difficult times and thus, they do not have revenue nu mbers for 2009 financial year due to the temporary halt in the operations. This is common with the industry as the whole industry was impacted negatively and most of the smaller players had to face this scenario. Another important aspect to note is that the company has changed the year end date from June to December. These aspects have to be noted prior to analyzing of

Friday, August 23, 2019

Philosophy of Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophy of Death - Essay Example However, he contradicts with Aristotle by determining exuberance with pleasure. Epicurus explains this with two reasons. The major reason is that pleasure is the only affair of amusement, and practically, value for its intrinsic benefit. Moreover, it resembles Epicurus' ethical hedonism, which is significantly planted upon his intellectual hedonism. Epicurus explains it further by claiming that everything we do, is eventually for the sake of advancing to the state of pleasure for ourselves. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned fact can be apparently justified with the thorough observation of the behavior of infants, who, characteristically adheres pleasure and avoids pain. As of Epicurus, this is true in case of adults as well, but the priorities and beliefs of adults are much more sophisticated in relevancy of the matter that what will bring them pleasure. Hence, when it comes to the adults, it is more difficult to see that this is true. Epicurus states that not all pleasures are exqui site to opt for or not all pains can be prevented, although all pleasures are considered good and all pains are acknowledged as evil. Alternatively, one should determine what lies in one's deep-rooted presumption in terms of pleasure. Moreover, what will compel pleasure in the short-term if doing so will conclusively influence an advance state pleasure, which will last long. (Mitsis Phillip 1988)1 The no subject of harm argument - Epicurus mentions that if death is the phenomenon with its outcome as eradication, then it is nothing to us. Epicurus' main argument for why death is not bad is contained in the Letter to Menoeceus. In that letter, Epicurus summarizes his ethical doctrines and he depicts death as no subject of harm argument. Epicurus questions that if death is bad, for whom would it be bad. Neither for the living things, since they are not dead, and nor for the dead, as they do not exist. The expression of is argument as follows: - If At All, death is annihilation, then the living things are not yet annihilated, as they are alive. Hence, we can conclude that death does not influence the living things. So, death cannot be considered as bad for the living things. Subsequently for something to be bad for someone, that person should be in existence, at least. However, as mentioned earlier the dead do not exist. Therefore, death cannot be considered bad for the dead. Neve rtheless, the conclusion can be computed that death is bad neither for the living nor for the dead. Epicurus supports the no subject of harm argument of his by asserting that if death does not cause pain to somebody when he or she is dead, then it is mere foolishness to allow the fear of it to cause you pain now. The symmetry argument -Another Epicurean argument against the fear of death is symmetry argument, which is recorded by the Epicurean poet Lucretius. He claims that anybody who fears death should think of the time before he or she was born. The past immensity of pre-natal non-existence can be conceived as the subsequent infinity of post-mortem non-existence. However, nature has set up a mirror so that a person can think over his or her future non-existence. Nobody considers eternity of non-existence before his or her birth as a terrible thing. Therefore, should

Practical research assignment report outline Literature review

Practical research assignment report outline - Literature review Example Today there are more than 10 million possums in Northland alone (Northland Regional Council, 2014). The population has increased mostly owing to the non-existence of any natural predators of this pest. Studies have been done to understand the impact of possum infestation and fecal analysis of the pests has shown evidence of bird predation especially native forest birds. Possums are a major threat to local birds such as the kokako and kukupa (Landcare Research, 2014). Possums are also a major threat to the vegetation of New Zealand. It is estimated that possums feed on almost 21,000 tons of vegetation every single day (Landcare Research, 2014). Stoats are members of the Mustelid family which also includes weasels and ferrets. By 1880, New Zealand, had already suffered problems from harmful pests such as rabbits and hares. Stoats were imported from Britain and introduced in New Zealand as biological control for rabbits. Today, stoats are widespread in most parts of New Zealand and have themselves become mammalian pests. They are extremely adaptable to any living conditions where they may find food (Dept. Of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, 2014). Stoats are a major concern since they are a natural predator of several native birds of New Zealand such as the bush canary (yellow head) and kaka. They not only destroy the nests of the birds but also feed on their eggs and nestlings. This has led to sharp decline in the population of these forest birds. In New Zealand three kinds of rats- the common rat, Pacific rat and kiore rat have been introduced. Kiore rats were introduced by the Maori as source of food. However today, rats pose a major threat to the biodiversity of New Zealand since they feed on birds, bird eggs and other small invertebrates such as lizards. Use of chemicals to manage pests has been proved to be efficient. In 2011, an efficient and humane toxicant Para-aminopropiophenone was introduced. This

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Education Systems Essay Example for Free

The Education Systems Essay Pre-school and pre-primary education in Lithuania, in the United Kingdom and in the USA have several things in common.. First, both education systems are available in three countries and also pre-school education is not compulsory. There are public and private pre-schools in three countries. Public pre-schools are those which are run by the government. Private pre-schools are those which are run by private organizations, for which parents have to pay fees. Many private pre-schools have a high reputation and parents send their children there so that they will have advantages later in life. There are nursery schools for children from the age of 1 to 3 years in Lithuania. Children from the age of 3 till 6 attend a kindergarten. The number of children in nursery schools is approximately 10 children and approximately 15 children in a kindergarten, whereas the number of children in the USA and in Great Britain is approximately 2-3 little children or 4-5 bigger children plus nursery-governor’s help. Another difference is about security in pre-school institutions. People who come in a kindergarten or nursery school are not registered. By contrast, people who come in a nursery school or a kindergarten are strictly registered in the USA and in Great Britain. Your driving licence or passport is taken and you get permission to be in a pre-school institution. The kindergartens and nursery schools in Lithuania also differs in their cost compared to cost of these pre-schools institutions in the United Kingdom and in the Usa because it is cheaper to let your children to Lithuanian kindergarten than to American or English kindergarten. Differently from Lithuania children under 5 receive pre-school education in Great Britain. Some go to playgroups several times a week and take part in structured play (play with some educational purpose) with other children of the same age. Others go to a nursery school or to the nursery department or kindergarten of a school. Children attend day nurseries until they are 6 months old the same as in Lithuania. Day nurseries take care of children activity, self-expression, security. Nursery-governors take care of children education and upbringing. The emphasis is on group work, creative activity and guided play. Day nurseries are divided into private and community. Fees in the communities are not so big as in the day nurseries. Some of the community nurseries give parents discounts according to their financial position. The working time is very different in day nurseries of Great Britain, for example, local authority pre-schools work until 15 a. m. The other pre-school institutions work from 7 till 19. All kindergartens work all year except public holidays in Great Britain meanwhile not all kindergartens work all year in Lithuania. In the same way, children attend nursery schools, day care or pre-school from an early age in the USA. Children are taught, trained in the nursery schools and in the kindergartens. Nursery-governors play with children. There are some requirements in order that your child would be inducted to kindergarten, for example, it is required children to be toilet trained and your child is not ready for the potty, they may not let him or her attend a kindergarten, but children are not required to be toilet trained in Lithuania. In the USA parents may also have to pay high fees for late pickups and end up having to stay home with their child if the pre-school says she or he is too sick to be there. Another difference is that parents can freely choose which nursery school or kindergarten their child is going to attend in Lithuania, but in the USA all children should go to nursery school or kindergarten according to their living place because there are brought under districts. All children go according to district which he or she belongs to. If parents think that their district’s nursery school or kindergarten is not as good as it should be, parents must change the living place in order that their children could go to a better pre-school institution. Pre-primary education content is similar in three countries. There a wide variety of fun activities – including singing, dancing, arts and crafts, storytelling, free play, and both indoor and outdoor games and projects – designed to teach children different skills. Cildren may also learn some academic basics such as counting and the alphabet. Children in Lithuania start to attend pre-primary institution at the age of 6, but if parents want and their child is grown enough pre-primary institution can be attend at the age of 5, while the majority of children start to attend pre-primary preparation lessons at the age of 2-5 in the United Kingdom. Also the government’s programme which is named â€Å"sureStart† gives the possibility to all children from the age of 3 to 4 to get pre-primary lessons free of charge in a kindergarten. Differently from Lithuania children at the age of 6 start to attend a school in the USA. Taking everything into account, I can note that pre-school and pre-primary education has several things in common in The United Kingdom, in the USA, and in the Lithuania, but on the other hand there are a lot of differencies.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hr Challenges In The Hiring Process Management Essay

Hr Challenges In The Hiring Process Management Essay Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the spectrum of challenges encountered by the HR professionals while managing the hiring practices in a multicultural society in medium-to-large health care organizations, both private and governmental, within Abu Dhabi and Al Ain cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research methods were used to obtain the required data, and in-depth individual interviews with key HR professionals were conducted. Findings The findings of this study have indicated that there are unique, major and minor challenges that workforce diversity inflicted on the hiring process, among the selected health care organizations in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Research limitations/Implications The time and resources for this research study were not adequate to gather sufficient samples outside Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. All interviewees have rejected the tape recording and it was difficult to conduct focus group interviews to gain wider perspective. Since this research is qualitative in nature, it is hard to generalize across other sectors and cities. It is required to have quantitative researches in this area. Originality/value This paper provides valuable insights regarding the hiring processes challenges in Multicultural society in UAEs health sector which has not been adequately investigated before. Keywords: Hiring Challenges, Culture, Multicultural society, Diversity Management, Recruitment, Selection, Orientation, United Arab Emirates, Health industry. Paper type Research paper Introduction Diversity management has been one of the widespread research areas in Human Resources Management in the 21st century that aims at understanding and improving the management of culturally diversified workforce in organizations. Diversity is a fact that could not be ignored or avoided and it has both good and bad sides. The importance of this topic lies in the significant impact of cultural differences on how work groups interact (Kossek Others, 2003). Also, it is seen as a source of competitive advantage through effective management of a diverse workforce. Another reason is the changing composition of workforce around the world towards different language, age, gender, ethnic background, nationality, lifestyles and other characteristics (Seymen, 2006). According to Harris (2004), Promoting cultural synergy influences social change in human behavior and improves system effectiveness. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, in general and UAE in particular, are considered a rich area for research on diversity management due to the unique composition of workforce and demographics (Forstenlechner, 2010). This high level of diversity has great influence on managing the hiring process and results in many challenges which will be discussed in this research. Multicultural Societies According to Marshall (1998), multicultural societies are featured by cultural pluralism which means the division of the culture into diverse religion, age, ethnic, linguistic, racial groups, national origin or gender (DNetto Sohal, 1999; Kossek Others, 2003). It can be found at various levels, such as cities, nations, schools, neighborhoods or businesses. Organizations foster and manage diversity in order to survive in increasingly heterogeneous societies and to sustain their competitive advantage. Diversity stimulates problem solving, creativity and system flexibility (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin Cardy, 2007). Diversity Management at multicultural (or diversified) organizations means building and maintaining policies, practices and regulations that will treat all employees fairly and will leave no advantage for a group over the others in order to enable them to reach the required levels of performance to achieve the organizational goals (DNetto Sohal, 1999; Jenner, 1994; Thomas, 1994). The Hiring Process The hiring process is divided into three sections: Recruitment, Selection and Orientation. The Recruitment Process is the process of creating a pool of candidates who are potentially suitable for the position by using a variety of recruitment sources. The selection process is the process of making the hiring/rejection decision for the list of applicants according to the selection criteria and by using a variety of selection tools. While the orientation process is the process of getting the new employee to know all aspects of the organization (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007; Ivancevich, 2010). Diversity Practices in the Hiring Process Successful organizations aim to attract the best candidates regardless of their ethnicity, gender or age. Their hiring practices should be based on job-related and organizational criteria. In addition, the recruiters should be trained and skilled to run a successful selection process (Kandola Fullerton, 1994; Cornelius, 1999). And in order to assure that a diversified group of candidates apply to the job, the advertisements should be placed in ethnic language newspapers as well as the regular daily newspapers and websites. It is also important to have a diversified interview panel and selection techniques that would allow diverse people to answer to the questions or tests at their best capability (Morrison, 1992; Schreiber et al., 1993). The interview panel should be highly skilled and trained to understand candidates from different cultural backgrounds, researchers have found that most interviewers have no understanding of special interview techniques that suit candidates from different ethnical backgrounds (Caudron, 1990; Morrison, 1992). Challenges in Multicultural Societies The literature on cultural diversity management has studied issues like understanding the concept of diversity management (McVittie, 2008; Miller Rowney, 1999), the effect of diversity on individuals and groups, the benefits of diversity (Risberg SÃ ¸derberg, 2008), the diversity management best practices and HR strategies (DNetto Sohal, 1999, 2003), and the effect of diversity on organizational performance (Richard S. Allen, Gail Dawson, Kathleen Wheatley, Charles S. White (2008); Velma E. McCuiston, Barbara Ross Wooldridge, Chris K. Pierce, (2004). Most of the available literature has addressed the diversity in Western European context (McVittie, 2008, Miller Rowney, 1999; Harris, 2004; Leveson Joiner, 2009 ; Kramar, 1998). On the other hand, less attention is given to diversity management studies in the Middle East region and the subject is considered under-studied according to the 4th Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference (2010). Some of the available literature in the region studied employees attitudes towards diversity (Bakr Ahmad Alserhan, Ingo Forstenlechner, Ahmad Al-Nakeeb, (2009) ; Tariq M. Khan, Fintan Clear, Ahmed Al-Kaabi, Vahid Pezeshki, 2010) as well as managing diverse teams in the Middle East (Forstenlechner, 2010 ; Neal, 2010). With regards to the challenges faced by HR professionals in multicultural societies, the literature has studied the challenges in Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the hiring difficulties when doing business abroad (Dowling et al., 2008). Increasing diversity through recruitment practices is another widespread topic (Tipper, 2004) as well as challenges in leading diversified workforce in general (McCuiston et al., 2004). Some of the challenges that face HR professionals when managing a multicultural workforce is convincing the higher management that diversity as well as good quality diversity management programs are useful to the organization. These challenges stem from the fact that some top managers still perceive diversity management as costly and can cause disruption in the organization (DNetto Sohal, 1999). Another challenge faced by HR professionals is the communication issue (Adler, 1986; Loden Rosener, 1991). Case of UAE The United Arab Emirates, like the GCC labor market in general, is considered a unique case because of its workforce composition. According to the (Statistics Center Abu Dhabi, 2010), the size of the employed labor force in 2008 in the city of Abu Dhabi was 889,417 of whom only 10% are nationals. This high profile of non national workforce is considered a challenge for HR Professionals. According to Mohammed Ben Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (2008), the insufficiency of skilled labor in Gulf countries and UAE is a major problem. Most of the literature about UAE has discussed topics related to Emiratization as an employment challenge (Forstenlechner, 2008), diversity in banking sector (Alserhan et al., 2009) and difficulties in training a diversified workforce (Jones, 2008). No literature was located on the challenges in the hiring process within a multicultural society like UAE. Therefore, this study contributes to the HR Management literature by exploring the spectrum of challenges encountered by the HR Professionals while managing the hiring practices of culturally-diverse workforce in UAEs health care organizations. Challenges in the Hiring process in UAE The supply of the labor force is being affected by the economic and growth conditions. For example, India (which is a strong resource for cheap labor inside UAE) now undergoes a major technological and economical growth which causes the skilled labor to return to India (or what is called Brain Gain) and reduces the flow of labor outside the country (Anand, 2007). According to Al Ali (2008), it is difficult to strategize for long term programs as this non-national workforce is hired on a temporary employment visa which is considered a transient environment that doesnt encourage long term commitment as it creates a sense of job insecurity and uncertainty. Therefore, special efforts need to be given in the hiring process to attract and retain the workers. Another challenge facing HR professionals is hiring female workers. According to Naithani (2010): Participation of female in migrating workforce to GCC is one of the least in the world with only 29 per cent of the migrants being females. This shows that females have less opportunity for finding a job. Also, the laws and regulations related to visas and work permits sometimes prevents workers from exchanging jobs as they would need a no objection certificate from their previous sponsor (Naithani, 2010). The majority of non national workforce in the UAE is from Asian countries like Philippines or India, which is considered a challenge when hiring. According to Al-Waqfi Forstenlechner (2010), managing groups of people from similar nationality has multiple difficulties and can lead to conflicts, stereotyping as well as to less commitment as these groups indentify with their similar social group over the organization. STEROTYPING MAHA ADD HERE In terms of team management, multicultural workforce can be a true challenge when managing teams. Therefore, the hiring process should take into consideration that the new hire will fit in the team (Neal, 2010). According to Mohammed Ben Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (2008), 91% of the key positions in Gulf countries are occupied with expatriates due to lack of qualified national workforce. The report also revealed that in healthcare, only 63% of the Arab CEOs believed that there is an adequate transfer of knowledge and know-how from expatriates to nationals which led to continuously depending on expatriates to fill the positions and not achieving the required Emiratization quotas. The report also highlighted that fact that the cost of non national labor is increasing significantly which will reflect on the hiring process in terms if rising wages and security. In terms of hiring expatriates in different levels, the report shows that it is extremely difficult to hire in senior management, followed by middle management and operational/technical positions. Methodology Since the research approach that has been selected is exploratory in nature, qualitative research methods are best suited for obtaining the required data. To explore the variety of challenges encountered by the human resource personnel while managing the hiring practices requires the use of qualitative research methods. The researchers have decided to conduct the research on health care organizations due to ease of access and availability of many heterogeneous hospitals in size and ownership. Data Collection The selected organizations are located in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain cities, these hospitals were all selected within Abu Dhabi Emirate to save travelling time and expenses on the researchers. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with key HR personnel in the selected organizations. The researchers have approached the organizations through email and phone calls to obtain the approval for interviews. Once the approval was obtained, a detailed email was sent to the interviewees including the date and time of the interview as well as a consent form stating the purpose of the study, the procedures, and the confidentiality of data. All of the selected organizations have rejected the use of tape recording. Following acceptance of their verbal approval, the research team was divided into groups to conduct the interviews simultaneously. All interviews answers and notes were transformed from handwritten notes to typed transcripts and notes ready for analysis. The adopted analytical approach was Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) where the research team scanned the transcribed text, created and applied relational coding between categories and recognized common themes across participants. The research team has adopted the introductory techniques shown in Appendix 1. This ensures conformity and unifies the approach to potential participants at all research sites. Research Questions The literature review has discussed few challenges faced by multi cultural organizations in the hiring process; however, it has not totally uncovered those challenges in UAE. Hence this research aims to explore more challenges faced by the HR Department during their hiring process in multicultural organizations. In this study, two main research questions were formed. These questions were ordered from general to specific and from most significant to least significant. Further questions were probed according to the interviewee answers. Main Research Questions: RQ1: What are the hiring challenges faced by HR professionals in health care sector in the multicultural society of UAE? RQ2: What were the most difficult challenges faced? What were the least difficult challenges faced? The interview is mainly loosely structured with open-ended questions to maximize participants responses (Mack et al., 2005). Data Analysis Kvale (1996) details seven stages of conducting in-depth interviews. Verifying involves checking the credibility and validity of the information gathered. A method called triangulation is used as a means of checks and balances. Basically, one type of triangulation would be to use multiple perspectives to interpret a single set of information. Another simple way to triangulate would be to have a colleague read the transcripts to see if he/she came away with the same overall meaning (Guion, 2009). Initially, each team member was assigned a transcript, since the research sample consists of five health care facilities and the research team members are five. Each member read the assigned transcript and attempted to identify main themes. Then, as a method of credibility and validity check, triangulation was implemented. Afterwards, the research team sat together to do the final analysis. Categories were color-coded by using text highlight color. This section represents the final template of data analysis. Each title covers a broad theme and its associated categories. The initial research objectives are directly addressed by the following themes: Communication Challenge, Working Hours, Hiring Cost, Group and Team Management, Cultural Group Dominance, Failure to Adjust to the Culture, Turnover, Bias and Stereotyping, Selection Process, Emiratization. These themes provide a general outline of the research team interpretations of the interviewees perceptions. Participants in this research were referred to the as interviewees. The words of the interviewees were presented in quotes where they were italicized and bounded by double quotation marks. The final discussion section of this research report will review the research analysis entailment in relation to the research objectives and derive from the interview data a summary of perceived diversity challenges in the hiring process. Each title presents a data summary within each theme Results Research questions The results of this study have indicated that all selected hospitals have been facing challenges in the hiring process due to high rate of cultural diversity in UAE. The reported challenges were divided into major and minor ones. Some of these challenges were found to be common among the selected hospitals, like communication, hiring cost, culture group dominance, and group and team management. The minor challenges were found to be the working hours, Emiratization, failure to adjust to culture, biases and stereotyping, turnover, and selection process (certificate authentication and background check). The research questions have also uncovered new challenges that were not found in the studied literature review, for example the working hours, failure to adjust to the culture, selection process (certificate authentication and background check). Discussion The challenges were sorted under the three phases of the hiring process: recruitment, selection and orientation phases. Based on the discussed literature review, the challenges are: Diversity Challenges in Recruitment Phase Working Hours: Attracting a diversified workforce in terms of gender was found to be a challenge affected by some culture group requirements in working conditions. For example, Arabic female candidates prefer shorter working hours due to family obligations as well as cultural norms. The nature of work in the health sector requires 24/7 service which may not be suitable for females. On the other hand Naithani (2010) has reported a different set of challenges pertaining to hiring female workers. Also, it was reported that UAE national candidates want to continue their education which may conflict with the working hours. This challenge was not discussed in the researched literature review. Some locals are still studying so they cant leave the collage to work with us. With UAE fen males, it is difficult for them to accept shift jobs because they need to go home late. Cost of Hiring: The cost of hiring was found to be a common challenge in all hospitals which confirms what Mohammed Ben Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (2008) and Naithani (2010) have reported. In terms of health sector, the problem is even bigger. Part of the cost is related to the workforce demography in UAE which is composed mainly of non-nationals. These include the cost of international advertisements, the cost of relocation (i.e. visa, air tickets, shipping allowances, and hotel accommodation), competitive compensation packages, the high cost of living, using hiring agencies abroad, and the high standard lifestyle and backgrounds of certain nationalities. The other part of the cost is related to UAE employment regulations. The Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) regulations which require passing the licensing test for the medical jobs. The test for nurses is online however for the physicians they must take it in person inside HAAD. The hospital brings them on a visit visa to take the test and bears the accommodation and other expanses. Not all candidates pass the exam; hence the hospital takes the risk of losing such expanses. The maximum number of exam trials is three. Furthermore, security check is required by UAE immigration law before hiring any candidate they should pass the security clearance. However, not all cases are being cleared which imposes a hiring cost on the organization. We face a major problem related to the cost of hiring because first we bring the medical staff on a mission visa which costs us 1800 Dhs, tickets charges and hotel accommodation to take the exam an in many occasions they fail. We bare the cost The maximum number of trials for the exam are three, and if they fail we are unfortunate Emiratization: The challenge that was tackled by Mohammed Ben Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (2008), as well as in this research, is related to Emiratization particularly the lack of qualified local workforce in the health care field led to the heavy dependence on non-nationals. In most cases the non-nationals are more qualified so the selected hospitals prefer to hire the expat over the local employee based on skills only. Some challenges were unique to our research findings. For example, the female UAE nationals wear the veil which conflicts with organizational policies. As a result, Emiratization efforts in the health care are challenged by this matter. In addition, as previously mentioned in the working hours theme, Emirati female candidates are repelled by the long working hours in the health sector. Moreover, Emirati workforce is more attracted to work in the governmental sector because of better packages. We do have instructions to nationalize medical positions, but local candidates prefer to apply for governmental hospitals due to better benefits. And To attract more UAE nationals, the aptitude tests differ between the non-nationals and the UAE nationals. The test runs for 30 munities for locals while 20 for non-nationals. As well as the test is easier for locals than others Diversity Challenges in Selection Phase: Communication It was found that communication is a major challenge among all selected hospitals; the same was reflected in the studied literature review (Adler, 1986; Loden Rosener, 1991). It was found as a common challenge during the interview time because some candidates do not speak English or if the interviewer is not bilingual. Because I speak only English, when I interview an Arabian candidate who doesnt speak English, I call for a translator Another part of this challenge is the necessity of selecting bilingual candidates who speak both Arabic and English to communicate easily with the patients. All the doctors must be able to speak Arabic and English to build a trust relationship with their patients. The same situation is for the nurses as they need to understand the patient language and needs. Bias and stereotyping Another challenge revealed by our research is bias and stereotyping during interviews. The HR department in one of the hospitals is made up solely of one nationality which could increase the risk of biases during interviews as the selection panel is usually a one man show. Add Drs Ref about Emiratization The nationality of the hiring committee members generally consists of the local people of the country who are having enough knowledge about the people residing in their country so the local people are usually chosen for the selection procedure. The gender does not generally matters in this procedure as the person who is recruiting should have knowledge of their sector instead of gender which is not seen in this area. The age of the committee members are aged which have great experience in their whole life which are filled with the fully filled experiences which are bad and good every time. We dont consider this problem a major one because we do make our selections based on personal qualifications requirements. I conduct all the interviews by myself. Background and Security Check Two unique challenges were uncovered by this research. First, the challenge of conducting background checks overseas because of the difficulty in checking the criminal records and the possibility of falsifying these records. Second, the slow and tedious certificate attestation process. UAE Embassies around the word have a system called IntegraScreen to make sure the certificate is authentic. As an example of the first challenge, HAAD requires the proper certificates authentication that they conduct by themselves to avoid any forged certificates. As mentioned in the previous phase of recruitment, failure to pass the security check clearance reduces the pool of candidates in the selected hospitals. HAAD also requires the proper documentations; hence they run the authentication by themselves to avoid any fraud certificates. Emiratization A final challenge in this phase is linked to Emiratization as some of the selected hospitals have tailored their selection tests (i.e. English Proficiency Test) to accommodate the deficiencies in the national workforce, for example, one of the selected hospitals and in an attempt to attract more UAE nationals have created aptitude tests which differ between the non-nationals and the UAE nationals. We make our English Test for nationals easier to attract them as part of our Emiratization program. The test runs for 30 munities for nationals while 20 for non-nationals Cultural Group Dominance The selection of the candidate is influenced by the HR department inclination towards the selection of certain nationalities like Indians and Filipinos. The selection decision is generally skewed towards candidates who fall under the interviewer nationality preference. This can partially explain the cultural group dominance. An example of this dominance, one of the selected hospitals mentioned that it has 30% of its workforce from Philippines and 20% from India. Most of them are in clerical and nursing jobs. Their majority is because they are qualified and they pass the licensing exam. Another hospital mentioned that Indians constitute almost 70% of the total workforce, in this organization all HR Department professionals are Indians. The diversity rate in our HR department is 0% Diversity Challenges in Orientation Phase: Cultural Rigidity: During the orientation training some of the new comers may remain culturally rigid against the newly introduced national culture of UAE. For example, some of them may reject the idea of adhering to the dress code which is reflecting the UAE Islamic culture. During Ramadan Time, non Muslims are not aware about prohibition of eating publically so we tell them to go for a specific room to have their lunch. Limitations of the study This research study has some limitations. Due to the lack of sufficient time and resources, the research team was not able to expand the study to other sectors and cities. Hence the study was in in a confined regional area (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain). The research team has planned to do focus group interviews with tape recordings to enable the interviewers to focus on the discussion rather than note taking, and to gather information from different perspectives. However only one or two HR personnel per hospital were available and they have all refused tape recordings. Most of the studied organizations have refused to give precise documented statistics about the level of diversity. The majority of the interviewees were from the HRs management; hence it is likely that their answers to the challenges have a negative bias. Implications for future research The newly explored challenges in this research have implications for future researches. First, as this study focused only on one sector Healthcare and in two cities (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain), future researches can study different sectors and emirates using quantitative research methodology to study those challenges in dept in order to identify their causes and help to find solutions to them. Second, this study lacks the use of focus group interviews to gain different perspective and the interviewees were mainly from the management of the HR. Hence future research can be done by interviewing focus group members with different levels of seniority. Third, this study was done only in UAE, it can be replicated to other GCC organizations to assess the level of challenges in UAE compared to other GCC and find the gaps. The study can be further expanded to include Middle East countries to asses UAEs challenges in a regional market.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Carbon Reduction Treaties and the World Trade Organization

Carbon Reduction Treaties and the World Trade Organization Trade and Climate Change: Proposal for Reconciling the WTO with Carbon-Reduction Treaties Executive Summary The relationship between climate change and the rules controlling the international players is an area that has elicited a lot of debate. Some of the trade agreements undermine the ability of governments to implement climate policies in their own countries. The fight for climate change is a battle for the policy makers in trade since if the conditions are not conducive for trade to happen; their profits will dwindle. Developing countries will have to suffer an extra cost on their exports if the playing field is not level with the international partners. All players in the provision of goods and services should price carbon emission costs correctly to ensure market efficiency. The policy and regulatory changes needed should affect both trade and climate change. This should be a global initiative and not just the leading partners. The effort and implement of proper policies by one party will not be sufficient, as their action will be watered down by the activities by the others. This p aper looks at the effects climate change has had on business at the local and international level. It also looks at ways in which the World Trade Organization rules and regulations conflict with International conventions on climate change, especially carbon emission reduction. Finally, I attempt to make proposals on how this problem of climate change could be resolved without necessarily causing an imbalance in the markets. Trade and Climate Change: Proposal for Reconciling the WTO with Carbon-Reduction Treaties Introduction Free trade could improve the welfare of many countries. This is rarely achievable though since countries have varying economic powers. They get into trade agreements with neighbors and have a sort of exchange of resources. These relationships are usually a give and take with the politics playing a major role. The inter-relation between climate change and international trade has gravely impacted developing countries. Much emphasis has not been given to provide a solution to a combined effort to reduce the effects of global warming caused by human intervention. Our actions now have far-reaching consequences and will affect generations to come.   In the quest to meet the needs of our respective countries, we are depleting the natural resources and poisoning the environment. This paper will attempt to highlight the potential areas of conflict between various economic interests and the interventions proposed by the trade partners and advocacy groups such as Wort Trade Organizations (WTO). Background The world stands at a crucial juncture with respect to global economic policy development. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been formulated through global governance to bring forth a new perception of the issue of climate change to protect the earth’s economy, the human race and the environment (Edouard & Bernstein, 2016). Carbon-Reduction Treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change together with the SDGs are examples of currents ways through which world leaders have come together for the sake of saving the world economy by agreeing to join forces and tackle carbon emissions with one voice. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a body of International partners who have come together to engage on matters concerning the world’s climate. It started as a call to countries to limit global temperatures and control climate changes and working towards the impact of already existing effects of climate change (Park, 2016). The Paris Climate Agreement is an accord within the (UNFCCC) was adopted in December 2015. This Agreement deals with greenhouse gas emission mitigation, adoption and finance commencing 2020.   The agreement was negotiated by 196 parties and signed by 195 members. The Paris Agreement reached an agreement in 2015 where the signatories concurred to restrict global warming ‘well below 2 °C and to pursue further reduction of these temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius (Raes, Liao, Chen & Seinfeld, 2010). Each country is expected to formulate policies and implement them the best way they see fit and finally report to the UNFCCC on their contribution towards mitigation of global warming. They agreed not to set any enforcement mechanisms of this agreement, but they would at the minimum be expected to go beyond earlier set targets. This stance was adopted after it was found impossible to ensure compliance under the Kyoto Protocol (Gupta, 2014). The concerns about this Agreement are that the current pledges by countries are not going to meet the required quota to meet the global target. Countries are not yet effecting policies to ensure carbon dioxide reduction emissions. The lack of an enforcement mechanism means nothing can be done to anyone who fails to implement policies of engage in activities that are geared towards environmental protection. The agreement was just a promise by the heads of state with no legal binding effect. No sanctions such as carbon tax can be imposed on one for failure of compliance (Park, 2016). Private investors are to take up the role of meeting the Sustainable Development Goal No.13 on ensuring action concerning climate change and its impact (Goal 13 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, 2017). This involves low carbon ventures and clean technology. The government’s role in this instance would be limited, and hopefully, the conditions in the business environments in the countries would be conducive. The existing trade agreements are of two kinds: Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA). The RTAs are reciprocal agreements between partners. They include customs unions, free trade agreements, etc. PTAs are unilateral preferences that mean the developed countries are given preferential tariffs on their imports from the LCDs and other non-reciprocal preferential systems. The most significant area of conflict between the rules in these trade agreements and climate change is the status of border tax adjustment within WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). At the moment there is no carbon pricing to enable meeting of the objectives of climate change under UNFCCC principles (Park, 2016). Strategies to combat climate change suggested by partners are many and varied such as: (1) imposing carbon tax or border tax adjustment. These tax caps are to offset any adverse effects of capping carbon dioxide releases into countries that are not executing the Kyoto protocol. (2) Increased reliance on renewable energies thereby reducing pollution and emission of gases into the atmosphere; and offering inducements for energy efficiency and preservation; (3) lowered subsidies for fossil fuels; and (4) transnational transmissions, so developing countries shun burning coal (Park, 2016). Effects of Climate Change on Business Rapid climate adjustment threatens the global economy not so much for the current generation but for future generations. Under the earlier discussed treaties, countries are expected to meet their targets through national intervention. Their efforts are monitored and recorded in the International Transaction Log by the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Secretariat to ensure compliance with the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol presented 3 market-based instruments to realize the targets by members (Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol). These instruments would motivate sustainable growth through skill transfer and investment; remove carbon in an affordable manner and inspire the privately owned businesses and unindustrialized nations to support the decline struggle. These mechanisms included Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); Joint Implementation (JI), and Emissions Trading (ET) (Goal 13 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, 2017). A recent study by James Hansen and other co-authors indicated that the glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica could be melting faster than had earlier been predicted. This would mean that within 50 years, the sea levels would rise by 10–20 feet (2015). This means that coastal cities and countries such as New York, Haiti, etc. would suffer tremendously. This is just a simple example of what climate change can do to a country. This is the reason why in 2015, the Conference of Parties (COP21) met in France to discuss International Trade in the face of climate change. The expectation was that these partners would nurture development, create businesses and improvement progress. Developing countries that still rely on the natural habitat for their existence are being affected by global warming, therefore, perpetuating more poverty. This leaves them impoverished since they will not produce any resources to engage in trade.   For example, in Africa, tourism is the main source of income for the countries with tourists visiting from all over the world to see wild animals in their natural habitat. Due to the effects of climate change, there are wildfires and drought that ravage them killing the animals discouraging sightseers. The down at the African Coast of Indian Ocean, the fish stock has gone down due to overfishing and the fact that the sea temperatures have increased, it is no longer possible to support the once attractive marine life (Reiter, 2015). Most of the African nations rely on agriculture for cash crops. This is slowly changing, as there has been a massive loss of biodiversity experienced. Not only will these countries find it difficult to feed their people, they will have nothing to trade with in exchange for the good and services they lack. For instance, the Tanzanian coast which is a central port for trade within the East African community is expected to rise by 70 centimeters by 2070. This would mean the government revenue will be affected and so will service delivery to the people. Reconciling the WTO with Carbon-Reduction Treaties In 2010, parties to the Multilateral Conventions (WTO, UNFCCC) were unable to reach consensus on reduction of emissions of heat-trapping gases at the Copenhagen climate conference and at the WTO Doha Round in 2001 since they involved complex issues. The issue of cross-linking concessions did not make the discussion easier. There are those scholars who believe that climate change is brought about by countries failing to observe the environmental cost of production, therefore, the society bears the brunt of these actions. There exists monopolies appear as a result of the absence of intervention or if they do not provide a conducive business environment. At the international level, however, market failure leads to a dysfunctioning world economy. As a result of the failure of the Doha and Copenhagen meetings, the U.S and the European Union blamed China and India whom they say are the main emitters of CO2 for failing to commit to the reduction of the emissions under UNFCC (Hermwille, 2018). 3 Policy proposals were fronted as follows: BTAFU: BorderTax Adjustment based on Foreign Unrestricted Carbon Content BTADU: Border Tax Adjustment based on Domestic Unrestricted Carbon Content BTADE: Scenario Efficient Border Tax Adjustment A tax on Carbon would guarantee efficacy between producers from countries with high carbon taxes when compared to with no carbon dioxide emission (Hermwille, 2018). Other trade policy options would include the use of domestic and export subsidies to give national companies an upper hand over international companies. Subsidizing could lead to obligations and subsequently protracted proceedings through the WTO disagreement settlement procedures. If the governments then agree on rights and duties, countries with CO2 reduction policies and existing trade measures may be tempted to reaction as a result of imagined unfair price advantage from countries with policies on carbon reduction (Hermwille, 2018). There exist general exceptions provisions within WTO rules and agreement, which would ordinarily be considered inconsistent with mainstream obligations, which allow trade restrictions of trade to protect, e.g., animals, plants or health to safeguard finite natural resources. These processes can be implemented in a general manner avoiding tedious litigation (Hermwille, 2018). The parties could use the Trade-Related Investment Measures Agreement (TRIMS) as a discussed and resuscitated idea. There was a list of export limitations, trade balancing requirements and home-grown/ local content requirement. TRIMS were a handy trade agreements permitting under developed countries to safeguard their industries. It could be used to now protect industries which committed to reduction of CO2 and dubbed Green Trims ++ (Hermwille, 2018). TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) have exceptions which could be used to help the least developed countries to advance. Technology from developed countries that aid in carbon reduction could be acquired through the â€Å"compulsory licensing† clause making it easier for these countries (LDCs). TRIPS could be widened to include TRIPS++ (Hermwille, 2018). The other solution would be by using the Plurilateral agreements to combine three different sectors as follows:   a) energy (goods and services), b) environment (goods and services) and c) trade (Preferential Trade Agreements) and development (Aid-for-Trade, Enhanced Integrated Framework, TRTAs). This would enable the countries to align their trade and development interests to a green objective (Hermwille, 2018). The WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) may be applied to combat the excessive fossil fuel subsidies. This Agreement has general restrictions have previously not been effective in limiting fossil fuel subsidies since it has been seen as an expensive endeavor (Hermwille, 2018). Plausible Solutions to Climate Changes at National and International levels To end these problems, there has to be a concerted effort, especially by all actors both in developed and developing countries. Trade alterations, trade inducements or subsidizations that encourage wasteful and unsanctionable trade and industry activities must cease to exist. The predisposition to create new hurdles touching on renewables, comprising biofuels, needs to be addressed at the local and international level. Have strict requirements concerning the burden of trade measures, which tend to work against sustainable development goals. Doing away with fossil fuel subsidies such as tax breaks, loans, cheap land, etc. that encourages big corporations to deplete the non-renewable energy sources as opposed to investing in alternative energy sources.   Carbon emissions have increasingly gotten out of hand with the fossil fuels burning such as gas, oil or coal. Carbon dioxide is released into the air when these fuels are being produced. It should thereafter be re-absorbed by plants and animals, but it is too much in the atmosphere making the global temperatures rise. This is global warming. These players need to be incentivized to reduce carbon emissions. Trade and investments are important in making a difference in markets and spreading them. If the players could be allowed to engage in an open trading system, with agreed rules, the producers of fossil energy would increase on efficacy and reduce wastage. As shown in the below, low carbon investment may possibly be attained at domestic echelons through state intervention, industry players, civil societies, private sector etc. (International governance options to strengthen WTO and UNFCCC1, 2011) Source: (Saner, 2011) At the international level, International production organizations should go green. This should be felt at all levels of production and putting in place a verifiable process to ensure strict compliance of the final outcome or process. Multilateral agreements and covenants such as Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) have attempted to achieve this but with little success. Financial markets both local and international could be rewarded for investing in climate adaptation and mitigation. They could be compelled to have an environmental and social governance performance report. This will push them to perform in a more responsible way. Tariffs on environmental technologies should be abolished to encourage innovation of environmentally friendly technologies accessible to many. Wind turbines, solar panels are some of the examples that come to mind that would help developing countries. The Montreal protocol is viewed as one of the most successful multilateral environmental agreements ever. It has received funding from UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank and spent this money through environmental conservation programs. The Clean Technology Fund is guided by UNFCC principles and finances clean technology transfers, which was to be used for financing technology transfers. These are all good actions by the World Bank, but this has not stopped them from also funding carbon-demanding projects in line with their normal procedures. These funds are in the form of loans so they will eventually have to be paid off at a steep cost especially to the developing countries. This cannot, therefore, be said to be a self-actualization of the Kyoto commitments. Conclusion To reconcile trade rules and climate policies would require the effort of all global partners including the Least Developed Countries. Governments must take it upon themselves to implement the proposals stated herein and other dictates in the WTO agreements. Bearing in mind that WTO is no longer an efficient negotiating partner, countries should engage in regional, bilateral or Plurilateral agreements that support their policies on climate change but at the same time do not stifle international change. A balance can be found where positive climate provisions could find their way in trade policies and vice versa. References Edouard, L., & Bernstein, S. (2016). Challenges for Measuring Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.  African Journal Of Reproductive Health,  20(3), 45-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.29063/ajrh2016/v20i3.9 Goal 13 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (2017).  Sustainabledevelopment.un.org. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg13 Gupta, A. (2014). Clean development mechanism of Kyoto Protocol.  International Journal Of Climate Change Strategies And Management,  6(2), 116-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm-09-2012-0051 Hermwille, L. (2018). Making initiatives resonate: how can non-state initiatives advance national contributions under the UNFCCC?.  International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law And Economics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10784-018-9398-9 Park, D. (2016).  Legal issues on climate change and international trade law. Springer. Raes, F., Liao, H., Chen, W., & Seinfeld, J. (2010). Atmospheric chemistry-climate feedbacks.  Journal Of Geophysical Research,  115(D12). http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009jd013300 Reiter, J. (2015).  What does climate change mean for the future of trade?.  World Economic Forum. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/what-does-climate-change-mean-for-the-future-of-trade/ Saner, R. (2011).  International governance options to strengthen WTO and UNFCCC. Retrieved from http://www.diplomacydialogue.org/images/files/20110611-International%20governance%20options%20to%20strengthen%20WTO%20and%20UNFCCC.pdf

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Impact of Electronic Media and the Internet on Print Media Essay

The Impact of Electronic Media and the Internet on Print Media New technology has developed rapidly since the birth of the internet, and it continues to expand and evolve affecting many domains, especially the print media. This essay will investigate the influence and impact of current technology of the electronic media and World Wide Web on print media, and how future developments in technology will affect the future direction of the traditional newspaper. The way in which â€Å"Bloggers† have influenced traditional journalism will also be explored and how this has affected the journalism profession. In addition, the negative impacts of how the electronic media is being used as a political forum will also be investigated. Finally, the author will predict the consequences of future developments in this rapidly growing industry and the implications this may have on the direction of print media. Through technological advancements the television and internet now deliver the news instantly into our homes, which has inadvertently put pressure on the traditional newspaper to deliver up-to-the minute news. As technology developed swiftly over the 20th century, some academics could see the demise of the newspaper as early as the late 1960s. Marshall McLuhan (HREF1) an academic and commentator on communications technology prophesied â€Å"that printed books would become obsolete, killed off by television and other electronic information technology†. To compete with other more sophisticated electronic media systems, and to survive, newspapers joined the technological revolution and many publications went online in the fight to remain the number one information provider (Kesley 1995:16). In contrast, Kelsey (1995) states the main reaso... ...eration Newspaper: Avoiding Future Shock. Editor & Publisher, February 4, 1995, pp. 16-18 Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: some trends in online journalism. News Media & Society 6 (4) pp.443-468. (on-line) http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/4/443 (Accessed 15 September.2004) Shawcross.W. (1999). Rupert Murdoch: He turned a small-town newspaper in a diverse media empire that informs and entertains half the world. (on-line) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107991025-33716 (Accessed 15 September.2004) Stahl, J. (2004). Islamic Fundamentalists Adept at Using Media, Analysts say. CNSNews.com Cybercast News Service. (on-line) http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus (Accessed September 16.2004) Blogger Websites www.hughhewitt.com www.command-post.org campaigndesk.org www.Technorati.com The Impact of Electronic Media and the Internet on Print Media Essay The Impact of Electronic Media and the Internet on Print Media New technology has developed rapidly since the birth of the internet, and it continues to expand and evolve affecting many domains, especially the print media. This essay will investigate the influence and impact of current technology of the electronic media and World Wide Web on print media, and how future developments in technology will affect the future direction of the traditional newspaper. The way in which â€Å"Bloggers† have influenced traditional journalism will also be explored and how this has affected the journalism profession. In addition, the negative impacts of how the electronic media is being used as a political forum will also be investigated. Finally, the author will predict the consequences of future developments in this rapidly growing industry and the implications this may have on the direction of print media. Through technological advancements the television and internet now deliver the news instantly into our homes, which has inadvertently put pressure on the traditional newspaper to deliver up-to-the minute news. As technology developed swiftly over the 20th century, some academics could see the demise of the newspaper as early as the late 1960s. Marshall McLuhan (HREF1) an academic and commentator on communications technology prophesied â€Å"that printed books would become obsolete, killed off by television and other electronic information technology†. To compete with other more sophisticated electronic media systems, and to survive, newspapers joined the technological revolution and many publications went online in the fight to remain the number one information provider (Kesley 1995:16). In contrast, Kelsey (1995) states the main reaso... ...eration Newspaper: Avoiding Future Shock. Editor & Publisher, February 4, 1995, pp. 16-18 Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: some trends in online journalism. News Media & Society 6 (4) pp.443-468. (on-line) http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/6/4/443 (Accessed 15 September.2004) Shawcross.W. (1999). Rupert Murdoch: He turned a small-town newspaper in a diverse media empire that informs and entertains half the world. (on-line) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107991025-33716 (Accessed 15 September.2004) Stahl, J. (2004). Islamic Fundamentalists Adept at Using Media, Analysts say. CNSNews.com Cybercast News Service. (on-line) http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus (Accessed September 16.2004) Blogger Websites www.hughhewitt.com www.command-post.org campaigndesk.org www.Technorati.com

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Black And White Women Of The Old South Essay -- essays research papers

Minrose Gwin‘s book, Black and White Women of the Old South, argues that history has problems with objectiveness. Her book brings to life interesting interpretations on the view of the women of the old south and chattel slavery in historical American fiction and autobiography. Gwin’s main arguments discussed how the white women of the south in no way wanted to display any kind of compassion for a fellow woman of African descent. Gwin described the "sisterhood" between black and white women as a "violent connection"(pg 4). Not only that, Gwin’s book discusses the idea that for most of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, a black woman usually got subjected to displacement of sexual and mental frustration of white women. Gwin discusses how these black women, because of the sexual and mental abuse, felt looked down on more by whites and therefore reduced to even a lower level than that of white women‘s status of being a woman. . A southern white female slave owner only saw black women as another slave, or worse. White women needed to do this in order to keep themselves from feeling that they were of higher status than every one else except for their husband. White women as, Gwin describes, always proved that they had complete control and black women needed to bow to them. Gwin’s book discusses that the white male slave owners brought this onto the black women on the plantation. They would rape black women, and then instead of the white women dealing with their husbands. They would go after the black women only since the wives had no power over the husbands, but they maintained total control of the slaves, the white women would attack the black women and make their lives very diffucult. The white women would make sure that the black women understood that the white women completely hated the black women for being raped and wanted only pain for the them. This is how the black women of that time got t he stereotypes of being very sexual beings and hated by there oppressors. You can see evidence of this when Gwin discussed the realities of such hatred in the book Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner. The main character, Clytie, sexual assaults by her male master upsets her because she doesn’t desire to be involved with him, but her female master feels that she should be punished for it. So the white female slave owner... ...man keeps her from ever getting past the dark skin, and makes the white women feel more like the Africans were more of an animal then an actual person. The white women always feels that the slave must understand that the man may rank higher than her but even if her husband wants to mess around then fault goes to the slave not the husbands. And the slave will never be to her level, because the black slave will never be a lady. And in the book you can see how the white women lost there power in the house and that their system of life that they received didn’t prove to work out anymore for them so they had to attempt to adjust to a way life took would take them. I feel that Gwin argues that the main reason for the confrontations for the struggle of power became evident in that it had gotten to point that certain black women would not let their own female owners hit them. This is an example of how not only how the whites women challenged the system, but also how the slave women started to make changes in how they willed to be treated. Bibliographical citation Gwin, Minrose. Black And White Women Of The Old South. Knoxville: Tennessee Press, 1985.

film and animation graphics :: essays research papers fc

INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hollywood has gone digital, and the old ways of doing things are dying. Animation and special effects created with computers have been embraced by television networks, advertisers, and movie studios alike. Film editors, who for decades worked trying to make scenes look real are now sitting in front of computers screens. They edit entire features while adding sound that is not only stored digitally, but that is also created and manipulated with computers. Viewers are witnessing the results of all this in the form of stories and experiences that they never dreamed of before. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this, however, is that the entire digital effects and animation industry is still growing pretty strong and, the future looks bright. In the beginning, computer graphics were really hard to manipulate but with time the software companies started to improve their programs, adding more tools and key features, which helped the way computers generated pictures, simulating real world scenes. 1 Creating computer graphics is essentially about three things: Modeling, Animation, and Rendering. Modeling is the process by which 3- dimensional objects are built inside the computer; animation is about making those objects come to life with movement, and rendering is about giving them their ultimate appearance and looks. Hardware is the brains and brawn of computer graphics, but it is powerless without the right software. It is the software that allows the modeler to build a computer graphic object that helps the animator bring this object to life, and that, in the end, gives the image its final look. Sophisticated computer graphics software for commercial studios is either purchased for $30,000 to $50,000, or developed in-house by computer programmers. Most studios use a combination of both, developing new software to meet new project needs. MODELING   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Modeling is the first step in creating any 3D computer graphics. Modeling in computer graphics is a little like sculpting, a little like building models with wood, plastic and glue, and a lot like CAD. Its flexibility and potential are unmatched in any other art form. With computer graphics it is possible 2 to build entire worlds and entire realities. Each can have its own laws, its own looks, and its own scale of time and space. Access to these 3- dimensional computer realities is almost always through the 2-dimensional window of a computer monitor. This can lead to the misunderstanding that 3-D modeling is merely the production perspective drawings.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Fesibility Study of Banana Vinegar Essay

Banana (Saba) vinegar Conner is known as the fruit basket. One of the fruits that are abundant here is banana. The word â€Å"banana† is a general term embracing a number of species or hybrid in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae. there are many different kinds of banana found in Conner those are the â€Å"Lakatan†, â€Å"Sinlowa†, â€Å"Tanda†, â€Å"Dippig tagalong† and â€Å"Dippig†. Bananas are good for dessert or for cooking description. Banana fruit or dessert is made of soft, easily digestible flesh with simple sugars like fructose, sucrose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the on ly way a banana can help us keep fit. Vinegar is known as a good ingredient for health, but banana vinegar is much better because banana is a fruit rich in dietary fiber and vitamins. It is also rich in potassium, that plays in the reducing the risk of high blood pressure and stroke, increasing strength and reducing stress. Connerians are very good in making banana vinegar only for household consumption but it is good to develop or to improve as their one means of livelihood. II. PRODUCT DESCRIPTON Ripe or over ripe banana will be the one to be used in the production of banana vinegar because it has abundant source in the locality. III.PROMOTER NAMES ADDRESSCP NUMBER Asejo, Thelmaflor B.Padaoan, Conner, Apayao09056942627 Sanagen, Freda D.Guina-ang, Conner, Ap.09352600370 Lucena, Roldan F.Caglayan, Conner, Ap.09169701473 IV. MARKET ASSESSMENT You don’t come across something as wonderful as this everyday. Our mild, fruity vinegar comes from the purely ripe banana. Unlike some flavored  vinegars, this isn’t plain vinegar with banana flavor added, Most people flip when they taste the vinegar. Of course it works as a key player in a salad dressing but we’ve been having fun with ceviches, in particular. The flavor is fruity, and while it’s clearly banana, it’s not too sweet or cloying. The acidity is 6%. Mixed in salads, there’s a vague but wonderful tropical quality that trancends cuisines. V. COMPETITION ANALYSIS The advantage of this venture is having no competitors yet in the municipality.

Friday, August 16, 2019

The countries with small prison Essay

                 Small prison populations in a country may mean that the government is soft on crime since prisons were designed to hold the law breakers who have been convicted. On the other hand, it may mean that the government and the citizens of a country are doing enough on rehabilitation, training and control of the law breakers to avoid being found on the wrong side of the law (Foucault, 1977). Today, incarceration is considered to be the harshest sanction one can get for any criminal offence. Therefore, doing away with the shame and all the pain and suffering that one undergoes when imprisoned can be a better option to any government and its citizens. This paper focuses on how the small prison populations have been achieved in some countries, and answers the question of, why certain countries are considered soft on crime and others tough on crime.                  The countries like Sweden, which experience small prison population, have a humane way of sentencing law breakers. In in which the jail terms are always less than ten years. Even for the most serious law breakers, as opposed to other countries where the offenders of the law are given a jail term of not less than thirty to forty years behind bars. In real sense, this appears to be like life time imprisonment (Siegel, 2000). Taking into consideration, the life expectancies in various countries in the world. More so, the third world countries. Gendreau et al. (1999) states that the principle rationale for the compulsory minimums, creates a belief that, the duration of time spent in prison will always act as a deterrent to the future breaking of the law. The term spent in custody is believed to have effects in the victims behavioral characteristics such as suppressing criminals behavior due to unpleasantness in the life behind bars and negative social stigma associated with imprisonment this greatly reduce recidivism upon release. The time in prison is viewed as potential â€Å"psychological deep freezers†, in the sense that most of those  caught on the wrong side of the law do enter the prison with a set of antisocial behaviors and attitudes which are never changed during their times behind the bars, this greatly prevents interaction between the inmates which may lead to sharing of the ideas in perfecting their skills as they learn of the new ways of conducting their crimes through the other inmates. Thus the humanity in such countries has greatly helped reduce the crowding in the prisons giving adequate space for the incoming prisoners to get rooms in various prisons available in the various parts of such countries thus decrease in the prisoners populations.                Studies that have been conducted from 1958, involving approximately 336 000 law breakers have shown that there exists a correlation between recidivism and the length of time in prisons, and also the life as under incarceration and receiving the community based sanctions. The conclusions that were derived from such studies were prisons ought not to be used with the expectation of rectifying the behaviors of those who break the law, instead of subjecting those who break the law community based sanctions have proved to be the best teacher of the accepted behavior and norms with those around the victims and the communities at large. The excessive use of imprisonment too proved to have various cost implications, since when under custody the prisoners do meet various personalities and characters who introduce them to very immoral behaviors like homosexuality and lesbianism, the innocent prisoners are always raped, beaten and harassed and even forced to dance nude b efore other inmates. Such behaviors calls upon the prison officials to put in place repeated, comprehensive assessment of the law breakers attitudes, values, morals and behaviors while still under custody. Thus the offenders with the higher risk nature should be given reasonable periods in prison and subjected to adequate retribution.                Such countries too allow those who are under life incarceration to appeal to the courts after a given period, usually after ten to fifteen years, of time to be given a fixed term under  custody, the allowed time for any revised term always ranges between eighteen to twenty five years. The commuting of fixed terms do greatly reduce the number of those in custody, since most of those who do go for revision of their terms behind bars always succeed in overturning the previous rulings and emerge victorious in the sense of having a freedom one day after completing their terms behind bars. In United States of America, California State leads as the most propound with one of the toughest, broadest and most rigorously applied minimum policies, which are generally known as â€Å"the three strikes and out† law (D’Alession & Stolzenberg, 1997). The state has put in place a mandatory twenty five years to life for a third crime case and there is no distinct ion among the types of felonies at this stage (Bellisle, 1999).               Various countries have introduced the use of methods like electronic tagging, which is a cost effective, robust and reliable method of controlling monitoring and rectifying the behaviors of the law breakers. It has become one of the most effective means to resettle the custodians back into the society of the convicts and also using the community. Putting the tags provides a very effective way to keep on track the offender curfews, the equipment too consist of a monitoring unit which is based on radio frequency technology and its use is throughout the criminal system and as an important part of bail conditions too. The tag can be placed on the prisoner’s ankle and the monitoring unit situated in the home or other pace of curfew. The tag and the monitoring unit work together in which the tag acts as the transmitter which sends signals to the monitoring unit, which in turn sends signals to the control center. The tag and the monitoring unit are always unde r a twenty four hour monitor, thus an immediate response is always received for any kind of violation, bringing in time proof as one of its qualities thus maximum reliability. This technology when installed under a supervision requirement, greatly contribute to reduction in offending.                  Giving reassurance to the society that the behavior of the law breakers are on check.               Life behind bars without the hope of parole gives no chance for fulfillment outside the walls of prison, no chance to reconcile with the society, no hope (American Society Of Criminology, 1970). Maturity, at times do lead to the considered reflection which is the foundation of remorse, rehabilitation and renewal. Teenagers living their lives knowing that they have no chance of leaving prison until death, has very minimal incentive of becoming a responsible person. A country like The United States of America imposed sentence of life without a parole on the youths, the was achieved in the U.S by slowly and steadily doing away with the founding principles of the justice of the juvenile systems. Thus this day, a record number of various citizens in the U.S are living their youth, juvenile life without parole (JLWOP), without the fear of being sentenced for crimes committed before being eighteen years of age (Nellis, 2012). Increasing the age of those who can be se ntenced to life imprisonment to a reasonable age, for example eighteen to twenty one years, gives one the experience of life, making one more wiser and sound in both his or her reasoning and thinking capacities. This makes sure that as few childish law breakers as possible end up behind bars.               Post prison support, where the government take the initiative of teaching, guiding and supervising those on probation. This is done through free treatment programs, forums and organizing rallies to campaign against breaking the law, where the culprits are made to be fully involved after making vows never to be part of law breakers ever again. These services are always assisted by volunteers who are citizens of these countries, the volunteers always find ways to befriend the victims thus enabling them to become closer to these people making it much easier for them to interact while share ideas and opinions about where the victims do go wrong bringing some sense into the victims on probation. Mostly, the offenders are always jailed for either violence or on issues related to drugs, in such situations people who were once addicted but have found a way out of the bondage are used to help create a mentality that nothing is impossible and the victims too can also ch ange and make something better out of their lives rather than being caught on the wrong side of the law (Hall, 1982).               In most countries, the small prison population can be due to the prison break, which is the act of a prisoner escaping or  leaving  the prison through unaccepted ways. Escaping prison is regarded as a criminal offence in most countries. Therefore, when an escape occurs, efforts are always made by those in charge of the prison to recapture and bring them back. Such an offence, is always punished by additional jail terms and increased security. Other factors which include whether or not violence was involved during the escape. This is always done to discourage the other inmates from attempting to escape too. However, not all those who escape from prison are always recaptured. This too is a factor which have contributed to the reduction in population in most prisons. Example of such attempts which succeeded include, the 17th century escape of the Dutch author, Hugo Grotius, who escaped from Loevestein where he was being held captive. He managed to go through the security checks by getting into a book coffin and was then smuggled outside. In 1915 the German Naval Air Service Kapitanleutnant, known as Gunther Pluschow, escaped broke from Downingtown Hall prisoner of War camp (Sutherland & Cressey, 1974). From Texas Death Row in 1998, Martin Gurule escaped and he was found dead few days after (Siegel, 2000). Such incidents have greatly contributed to the small prison population in various countries across the world.                In some countries, prisoners are treated like other normal persons, with responsibility and trust. Instead of making them to spend time behind bars, they are given duties within the prisons and mandates to explore their talents and areas of profession. Such prisoners, though under custody becomes very important elements in the society. They always involve themselves in productivity of the nation. They learn new skills which do help them once they are out of prison. Once such skills are acquired, some of the prisoner always involve themselves too much into the new skills they acquire. Such serious involvements help the detainees to rehabilitate and start acting in manners which are always accepted in the community. This too gives the government and other volunteers who are always willing to help those on probation, easy time when dealing with such people when they finally come out of jail. They become good ambassadors, some of them join the volunteers as activ ists against being found on the wrong side of the law. Some, with their newly acquired skills always involved themselves in activities which are productive in the society such as the non-formal education e.g. tailoring, shop keeping etc., skill building programs which involves the motivational talks and subjection to training and control. Such like activities, which they do learn when behind bars while interacting with their fellow inmates. They turn up to be very important parts of the society. And also they are always accepted by most people, because of the important contributions that they make towards the well-being of those around them and the country. Through such activities, other members of the society who in one way or the other, may be found on the wrong side of the law do try as much as they can to try as much to live like those on probation whom they interact with in their day today life (Conclin, 1981).                The other factor which have greatly contributed to small population in prisons, is corruption. Research has shown that the corruption in most prisons, are more widespread and deeply rooted as ever before. The Transparency International United Kingdom (TI-UK) even the conclusions made, do underestimate the true extent of corruption in prisons. This is because they omit three major factors. These factors include, the risks of the officers who are not in the prison  staff being widely involved in corruption. The other factor is, the impact that the organized crime within the prison population has and the symbiosis relationship between the management performance and the corruption. The research shows that the main problem within the services offered in various prisons is smuggling of the illegal materials within the prison walls, these include, drugs and mobile phones. Siegel (2000) states that, the act smuggling not only involve the non-prison staffs but also the prison officers. The prison officers even involve themselves in unwanted relationships with those who have been incarcerated. This close relationship makes it easier for the prisoners to manipulate the officers’ mind and find ways to escape. Escape of prisoners who are in a relationship is always easier because they can be given the uniforms by the officers. Through this the populations are greatly reduced in such prisons. Such corrupt officers do accept bribes from the prisoners so as to help them escape out of the prison.               In countries like the United States of America where there is the highest number of prisoners, approximately 1.7 million. Research show that early 1990s, when the imprisonment rate was half of the present figures. A federal court order was released to reduce overcrowding. This left various states with only two choices, the first one was to put fewer law breakers in custody and secondly, to construct more prisons. In the State of Louisiana, they managed to achieve only the first option which was to lock up fewer people, this was due to lack of funds. But, they were determined to put every law breaker behind bars. The sheriffs had to find ways of footing the funds for construction of the new prisons. And after a few years, there were prisons in most parts of the state. To the sheriffs having people behind bars is like a business with opportunity to develop his law enforcement arm. The sheriffs do buy new squad cars, guns and laptops. These improvements in the ar ms made by the sheriffs, help improve and monitor the arms with ease. This help ensuring that there is very minimum crime cases in the arms headed by any sheriffs. Due to the increased rooms and bed spaces, with arms too for sheriffs to take charge, there is always competition among the sheriffs. This creates a healthy completion where no sheriff will want to be left out.             The high prison population, can also be due to high number of laws set by the government to individuals to tame those with unwanted behaviors in the society. The many laws that are always put in place are there to guide, train and control the citizens to act according to the countries orders. Those found on the wrong side are always put under the police custody for some period of time before being tried to court to be found guilty or not. This is done for every slightest mistake, because when left unpunished, such people always turns out to be criminals charged with very massive offences. To prevent these the government always resolve for the best option of holding the law breakers captives until they are fully rehabilitated. This has proved to be best method to tame the unruly citizens. Since, some of the citizens who always break the law are always afraid to be imprisoned. However, other unruly citizens in these countries which experience high number of populati on in their prisons do get into trouble because of the kind of treatment then get when locked under bars (Grapes, 2000). Not all citizens of a country lives a good state at their homes. Some are dwelling in absolute poverty. To avoid the stress of thinking what to wear and food to eat, they always resolve to get into trouble. Such people when under the custody of the police, they always sure that at the end of the day they’ll be having the basic needs that are unaffordable when they are at their homes (Sutherland & Cressey, 1974). This is due to the good treatment in most of the prisons in the developed countries, where the prisoners’ rooms are always fitted with luxurious equipment like television, internet enabled computers, washrooms etc. For the street urchins who are tired of sleeping in the cold, they always resolve to committing crimes which do land them in such luxurious prisons to eliminate the problems that they do have in life. Conclusion                   The evidence is overwhelming: small prison population does not mean that a country is soft on crime. Through rehabilitation, even the most stubborn criminal can turn out to be the best activist against crime. The life behind bars too can transform any person no matter how rotten the morals of the person is. Increase of the age for those who can be sentenced for life to a reasonable age too is an important contributing factor for the small prison population in these countries. These countries too may be acting soft on criminals in that in most cases the criminals who are kept in custody always find ways to escape. Corruption is also found to be one of the factors that majorly contribute to both low and high prison population in these prisons. On the other hand, those countries with a high prison population is found to have many laws. These laws are found to be the greatest contributor to the large numbers behind bars. References Siegel, L. J. (2000).  Criminology. Belmont, California-U.S.A: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. American society of criminology. (1970).  Criminology. Columbus, OH [etc.: American Society of Criminology [etc. Sutherland, E. H., and Cressey, D. R. (1974). Criminology. Philadelphia-U.S.A: Lippincott Nellis, A. (2012). The Life of Juvenile Lifers. Washington, D.C-U.S.A: DeSales St. Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Pantheon Books. Gendreau, P., GOGGIN, C., LITTLE, T., AND CANADA. (1996).  Predicting adult offender recidivism: What works! Ottawa- Canada: Solicitor General Canada. Grapes, B. J. (2000).  Prisons. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. Canadian criminal justice association. (2003).  Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice Revue canadienne de criminologie et justice peÃŒ nale. Ottawa, Canadian Criminal Justice Association. http://www.metapress.com/content/1911-0219/. Hall williams, J. E. (1982).  Criminology and criminal justice. London, Butterworths. Source document