Anotated Biography Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anotated Biography - Research Paper Example He presents his experiment on the cadets of Israeli Air force flight school to support his argument. The paper gives an experimental insight into the use of simulation in training which will help develop a methodology for research Gonzales and Cathcart give a factual account of how human nature adapts itself to learning. What are the problems encountered and how the brain evolves eventually? This will be very useful in the literature review of our research as it will help find a co-relation between development and simulation/training. Salas explains how PC-based simulation games can be used to exploit the student’s cognitive skills in various real world domains. This work will be helpful in the research as it seeks to provide various ways in which simulation can be used in training teachers. The paper explores the use of PC-Based simulations in air crew coordination. How valid it is, how safe it is and in what way is it better. It provides some valid points which will be useful in the research. In this paper Kincaid draws comparison between the effectiveness of tradition and simulation based training in medicine. He and his colleagues came to this conclusion that simulation and simulators are being used without regard for cognition, design and training. This will be very useful in the critical analysis part of the paper. In this paper Kincaid draws comparison between the effectiveness of tradition and simulation based training in medicine. He and his colleagues came to this conclusion that simulation and simulators are being used without regard for cognition, design and training. This will be very useful in the critical analysis part of the paper. Kohn, Linda, T, Carrigan, , & Janet, (2000). To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health Sys-tem, Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. Retrieved 15th July 2010, from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9728&page=R1 This is a detailed elaborate

Business Modeling Essay Example for Free

Business Modeling Essay Ted Ralley is working on conducting a forecast for the upcoming year for an automobile part company. The data that will be used for this research has been collected from the quarterly sales from the previous four years. Ted wants to determine what is most accurate way to determine the forecast for 2008. The model should also help determined if the economic situation and oil prices are affecting significantly the sales of the company. The two models that were provided were thoroughly analyzed to determine which model was the most appropriate to utilize. These models were a regression model with factors, seasons and an additive Holt-Winters model. The forecasts also show that there is a significant change in the sales with the economic hardship and oil prices. It was concluded that the Regression with Econometric Variables would be the best method to use to forecast the sales for 2008, estimating a 255,927,955 for that year. Background With the economy continuously deteriorating everyone seems to be getting hurt financially, even the automotive industry, which has deepening the economic recession. Automotive part suppliers continued to experience heavy debt and overcapacity caused by production cuts by automakers, specifically including the big 3 (Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Chrysler). The suppliers  are also being pressed by higher energy and input materials’ costs. It has been determined by Industry analyst that automotive companies that accounted for more than $72 billion in sales have filed for chapter 11 protections in 2008. The number of Bankruptcies will continue to rise as the years go by. Domestically, Losing the big 3 to U.S affiliates of foreign- based manufacturers and imports in 2008 have caused a dramatic 50% drop in the market share. Most US suppliers are dependent on these three companies aforementioned. U.S suppliers are currently facing the challenge of penetrating automakers’ supply chains, mostly because these relationships have been long-established with home-market supplies. Ted Ralley is the director of a marketing research for a manufacturer of spare automobiles parts and it’s working on conducting a forecast for the upcoming year. Ted is aware of the forecasting errors and how costly they can be which is why these numbers must be as accurate as possible. In order to perform this forecast, Ted has collected the data on quarterly sales for the previous four years and ran several forecasts using time series forecasting methods. Ted noticed that economic activity and oil prices have impacted significantly the auto part sales and decided that the forecast will be more accurate using econometric variables. Problem Will the econometric variables be a better predictor of sales for the coming year, given the current economic activity and oil prices? Analysis This analysis consisted of the evaluation of the regression model with factors, seasons and the additive Holt-Winters method to generate an accurate forecast of how econometric variables have affected the Auto Parts industry. The analysis involved calculating the errors metrics for the three models (mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), root mean square error (RMSE), MAPE and Theils’ U-statistics (U)) and comparing them against each other. The error metrics were calculated by using the formulas shown below: Table 1.1 Error Metrics Formulas: After studying the data provided it could be determined that there is an upward trend with obvious seasonality. Another factor that played a role in these regressions was the removal of the first two years in order to meet Holt-Winters method guidelines. The first regression was conducted using  Factors was generated by utilizing the data that provided by Ted Ralley from a large manufacturer of spare auto parts for automobiles. The data consisting of the quarterly sales for the previous four years was the dependent variables and independent variables consisted of Time, quarter 2, quarter 3, quarter 4. In this regression quarter 1 was removed in order to avoid over forecasting and binary coding was used to generate dummy factors. After the regression was completed, the independent variables were tested to determine their significance, which was done by performing a regression on the data through Microsoft Excel. Quarter 4 was removed from the model due to the fact that it was statis tically insignificant. This was determined by using backward elimination, which means, a variable that has a P-Value that is greater than .05, is considered insignificant and should be removed from the data and a new regression should be completed. The results from the new regression, shown below, have a P-Value less than .05 being sufficient to reject the null hypothesis (Ha). A very strong positive linear correlation between sales and all the independent variables combined with a 95.47%, leaving an unexplained variance of 4.53 is also demonstrated. According to the textbook â€Å"the most common measure of overall fit is the coefficient of determination (R2)†. Another important measure is the â€Å"standard error (Se), which is derived from the sum of squared residuals for n observations and k predictors† (Poane, Seward, 2013). A smaller Se Indicates a better fit, in this case the Se will be off by around 3.9 million. The coefficients used to run the forecast for 2008 are the following: intercept coefficient + coefficient time x time 1 plus coefficient q2* code for Q2 dummy variable for q2 + plus coefficient q3. Square error was used to find the magnitude of the error; the absolute value of the error to the sale s was found and then preceded to calculate to numerator. Numerator and denominator will be calculated in other to use Thiels’ U. Numerator was calculated as follow: difference between sales minus the sale of initial sale (difference q1-2 sales) /divided by q1 and squared. Bibliography Poane, D., Seward, L. E. (2013). Business Modeling Customized Readings for QNT5040. : Mc Graw Hill Education. Microsoft Office Excel. (2007). Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Albright, Winston Zappe (2010). Business Modeling, Selections from 4e – QNT 5040 (4th ed.). Mason: Cengage Learning. Aczel,A Sounderpandian,J (2009). Complete Business Statistics 7th edition (592). : Mc Graw Hill Education. U.S. Automotive Parts Industry Annual Assessment. (2009, April 1). . Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://trade.gov/mas/manufacturing/OAAI/build/groups/public/@tg_oaai/documents/webcontent/tg_oaai_003759.pdf

An analysis of Criminology and its history

An analysis of Criminology and its history Legally speaking, a crime is an act that is punishable by law. A person is called criminal who has committed such a legally prohibited act. But still there are some other criteria based on which a person is determined as a criminal or not a criminal. Criminology is considered a the scientific study which relates both the individual and society to the criminal behavior, including the nature, extent, causes, and control of this behavoir. Since Criminology is fueled from different field like behavioral sciences, sociologists(especially the sociology of deviance) , social anthropologists and law therefore it is an interdisciplinary field in these academic fields[1]. In 1885, an Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo was the first one who coined the term criminology as criminologia. But later, analogous French term criminologie was used by French anthropologist Paul Topinard around the same time[1] Since Criminology is a related to crime therefore questions come in ones mind that what is crime? Why and what reasons make people to commit crimes and is there any way to stop crime from being committed? Every day criminologists ask these kinds of questions, and some other questions that are similar to these. Criminology is a continuously growing field, because every day philosophers come up with new theories and research that link people, society and crime. The main field of criminology has many subfields that contain a number of different theories and philosophies, where they provide a link among criminal, crime and criminal behavior. Classical Criminology and Positivist Criminology are the two main criminology perspectives. Today the field of criminology is made up of these two basic theories and some other theories (like them) and they all collaborate together to provide theoretical framwork that relates both the individual and society to the criminal behavior. [2] History : In the mid-17th century, criminology came into existence when social philosophers started thinking about the crime and concepts of law[1] (3) Historically criminologists have written very little about the subject of philosophy. Similarly the philosophers have not written much about the crime and criminology field. Due to which, an implicit gap is created betwwen philosophy and criminology which has been absent either in the theoretical assumption of criminologists or in the more general metaphysical , ethical and legal writing of philosopher. However, one thing is sure throughout the history that law and justice were the most important concerns of the philosophers (e.g. Solomon and Murphy1990; Friedrich 1963). Many of the most important philosophers minds, from Plato, Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine, to Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, Cesare Beccaria, have dealt with the complexities of social obligation, social offence, social control and societal response to crime openly and intensely. Indeed, crime, as it seems, was never considered properly as philosophical issue. But , at various points in time in the historical, one can find that the subject of criminal behavior was considered by the philosophy, medical philosophy, theology and as well as by ethics where it was considered as a subset of immoral conduct,. But still crime was remained noticeably absent from the most important philosophical theories that is the general ontological, epistemological, ethical and aesthetical analysis. These theories might suggest new viewpoints and different directions for its general comprehension as well as specific applications of it in law and justice studies. Similarly the field fo philosophy and its corresponding intellectual subfields (i-e ontological, epistemological, ethical and aesthetical) never considered the criminological concerns properly. Therefore criminology evolved into a increasingly interdisciplinary as an independent field having its own scholars and practitioners where philosophy and criminology were regarded as distinct and unrelated subject perhaps. But still it can be seen that crimilogy and philosophy were related to each other in number of ways and the junction of crimilogy and philosophy were described by scholars in both camps. The aim is not to fill the gap between the two. But the above discussion is provided in order to understand how the two field were dealt before and how they created a relation to each other. Note: Due to the time limitation and number of pages I have to write (10 pages at most), I will only discuss some of the important theories that have great influence on the criminology. Now First, I will concentrate on how the concept and study of crime developed through the history by considering its progress from ancient times to the Middle Ages, then to the modernity and more recently to the postmodernity. In this essay my aim is explain different ways that how the philosophers, from philosophy field, has address the issue of crime. Also how such conceptions have been used to broader intellectual and social transformation. Secondly we will see that how the philosophy is introduced into criminology field. Crime in philosophy: For many years, philosophy and social science were one and the same. The philosophers associated with psychology , sociology and criminology( called psychologist, sociologist, and criminologists of ancient times) and from the Middle Ages were confined to these fields because they entertained only those sort of questions which were related to their specific field. It was then that these sorts of questions, during the subsequent historical periods, became a part of specific academic disciplines (Rosenberg 1988) [] Therefore after the affiliation of the criminology with different disciplines, the philosophers, of these disciplines, started to examine the essential questions of crimilogy that is what is crime , Why and what reasons make people to commit crimes, why certain people have a criminal behavior , and how system of justice should take action against the lawbreakers. When we look at most of the books on criminology or criminological theory, they begin their historical description from the Cesare Beccaria (Beccaria 1764) philosophy. [] Until then, throughout the years of Western philosophy, crime, law and justice were at least implicit topics that precede him. Criminology and its Philosophical consideration can be traced back to Plato at least, and after this era comes the Middle Ages where the criminology became the subject of theological concerns , later entered to the cause-effect discourse of modernity through the meditative thinking of Beccaria and Bentham. After the modernity it entered to the scientific discourse of the early biological positivists and then finally to the postmodernity. Although crime is social fact, but still the particular realities of crime are relative to time and place. Therefore whatever speculation, implicit or explicit, might be derived from Plato or Kant, the philosophy of crime in ancient Greece or 18 century German was radically different in western world from what we find today. Midlle Age: In Middle Ages, there was a profound influence of the theology on human conceptualization of the world (e.g. Hyman and Walsh 1983; Solomon and Higgins 1996). []The Middle Ages observed the end of the Greek-inspired crime as vice philosophy and thereafter the theological-inspired crime as sin philosophy was emerged. Both human world and social life, throughout the Middle Ages, were considered to be characterized by a constant struggle where the forces of good and evil were uneven and were against one another. There was only one important respect the soul ,in which the Middle Ages was different. The soul was associated more directly to the supernatural power(Dilman 1999; Kenny 1980). []For example according to St. Thomas Aquinas, the soul was gift from God, implanting within humans a likeness to His ultimate reason. Therefore, a sinful disobedience shows a failure to responsibly use God-gifted powers of reason and choice. Crime-as-evil took place due to the human appetites, towards worldly pleasures, were tempted by the demon to defeat our conscience embodied in our God-given soul (Enstadter and Henry 1995, p 34-35). [] Rational hedonism ( the emergence of modernity) The philosophical thinking about crime law and justice remained the same until 17th and 18th centuries, and during these centuries a significant shift in the philosophical thinking about the crime, criminal behavior and justice occurred. The general intellectual environment of the Enlightment and the criminological cohesion in the legal philosophies of Beccaria (1763) and Bentham (1996) were the origin for this philosophical shift. It is understood that the modern criminology started in mid 18th century. Since the classicism presented the criminology in perspective of human nature and behavior which was largely free of theological influence, and therefore established the locus of crime in individual thoughts and reasons instead. Which means that the classicism philosophical thinking, which was rooted in the principle of rationality, highlights personal responsibility, free choice, and hedonistic calculation, rather than putting the human nature and behavior, which was only confined t o the supernatural power determination or related to the external struggle that existed between the forces of good and evil. The utilitarian philosophical thinking of the classicism is considered a metaphysical departure from metaphysical philosophy that was largely inspired form the theology field of the Middle Ages. (6)most of the people are frightened when they first come across with theory, but still we use theories on daily basis. In our daily life we contact with many things therefore we all make assumptions about things.Theories devise some logical constructions in order to explain the natural phenomena. Although sometimes these phenomena are not observable directly, but still can be refuted or supported by some empirical findings. Therefore hypotheses are used to create a relation between theory and empirical research.And these hypotheses are testable suggestions that are logically derived from theories. The testable part of every theory is very significant because scientific hypotheses should be capable of being accepted or rejected(6). Classical: (6) Classical criminology was presented in a reaction to the barbaric system of law, justice and punishment that existed before 1789. It emphasizes largely on human rationality and free will. The Classical School was more interested in law-making and legal processing rather than studying criminals. This school of thought believed that engagement in any crime was because of the total free will and that individuals evaluated the consequences of their actions. Therefore to prevent people from committing any crime or criminal activity, Punishment is made and it must be larger than the enjoyment of criminal gains. That is why rather than defining the criminal behavior, the classical school emphasized more on the legal definition of crime. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) and Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) were the two famous writers during this classical period, both were the leaders of the movement to human rights and free will(6). The Enlightment paradigm more emphasized on the free will , and selfdetermination in human behavoiur and knowledge form which the classical paradigm appeared . Since the Classical theory of philosophy, in criminology, is emerged from the 18th century theories presented by English philosopher, Jeremy Bentham and an Italian economist, Cesare Beccaria (Hollin, 2004, 2). Therefore at time in history the punishment for crime was severe, and both of the philosopher presented the theory of utility. At that time the causes of criminal and delinquent behavior of the human was looked by new theorists (like Beccaria and Bentham) , and started explaining such deviance scientifically (Juvenile, 2005, 71). Theories such as naturalism and demonology, which were presented by the European Enlightenment paradigm as explanations for these behaviors, were rejected by those theorists. So these new theories were more related to the philosophy of rationalism and humanitarianism of the Age of Enlightenment Beccaria did not present an entirely new theory in the field of criminology, but rather he wanted to make a more rational punishment for a crime (Classic, 2001). He believed that the punishments should be in hierarchal form depending on the number of times a criminal had been charged previously and more on the severity, and seriousness of the crimes. He believed that conditions under which the death penalty was given should completely depend on the severity of the crime and it should not depend on actual act committed or the level of involvement in the act. In 1764 his book An Essay on Crimes and Punishment was published , in which he discussed that why crime occurs and what is the role of society in committing such crimes. (4)He argued that all the people should be treated equally by the law and to avoid the misuse of judicial power then the punishments for particular crimes must be standardized by legislatures. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), another classical theorist like Beccaria also argued that humans are rational beings who make choices by exercising their free will. Thus,both of these philosophers argued that a pain involved in the potential punishment for a crime must be greater than any pleasure in that crime in order to stop the people from commiting such a crime for that pleasure. (6) Utilitarianism was the major concern of Bentham. He believed that individuals are more concerned about the probabilities of the present and future pleasures rather than considering their pains in present and future time. Therefore he believed that human calculators are calculators that act acooring to calculations, and that they use a sort of mathematical equation for all factors to make a decision whether to commit an illegal act or not. The law is made to make all people happy happiness at all and so that they can live a pleasurable life, on the other hand punishment creates unhappiness but a justification for this punishment is that it prevents greater evil that it produces as a consequence(6). The early nineteenth century criminologists stated that the philosophy of legal punishments presented by the classical school did not adequately consider the generally varying circumstances of those who were involved in criminal justice system. Therefore , theses criminologists argued that those people who are unable to differentiate between right and wrong, especially children and mentally ill persons, must not be punished with the same punishment for the crime as normal and mentally capable adults who had committed the same crimes are punished. Along with the contributions from the positivists,a later generation of criminologists, these philosopher argued that the punishment for a crime must fit the criminal, not the crime itself (4). (8) The criminal justice policies were greatly changed by Beccarias theory, especially in France, and it was expected that it would soon decrease the crime rate. But actually this was not found in any way whether this occurred or not, because there were no statistics about annual crime rate to measure whether it was going up or down. In 1827 about sixty years after Beccaria wrote his book, France published its first annual national crime statistics. These statistics showed clearly that crime rate were surprisingly regular. The crime rates for general and for specific crimes such as rape and murder remained the same from year to year. Also, some regions in the country had higher crime rates than some other regions and these differences also remained the same from year to year. The new crime statistics clearly exposed that the classical punishment policies and philosophy are failed in stopping the crime form being committed, and at the same time these suggested that there were some other factors in the society that had a greater influence on the crime in society. Due to this shift in philosophical thinking gave birth to a new paradigm of criminology, which was known as positivism. The aim of this paradigm was to study the causes of crime either in the individual or in the larger society (8). Mazoor (3) Positivism: (4)Later, the positivist school of thought in the field of criminology introduces a scientific approach to the field of criminology,and they also included the biological and medical findings in this appraoch. In the 19th century, the positivist school of thought came into existence due to the scientific revolution, especially Charles Darwin discoveries and following scientific advancements. A search for the most important and basic questions about human beings and the universe around them was started and presented by using the objective science, instead of using religious and theological beliefs or arm-chair philosophy. (6) Positivists, unlike the classical philosophers , wanted to explain the universe around them objectively. The positivist presented the deterministic view of the world, to explain the criminal behavior rather considering the legal issues, and believed that the crime could be prevented through the treatment of offenders or through the or reformation of the offenders. They observed that the biological, psychological, and social qualities determined the criminal behavior. Therefore the positivists were interested in use of scientific techniques to study those behaviors. Data was collected using these scientific techniques to explain different types of social and individuals phenomena. The positivist used the theory evolution, formed by naturalists and anthropologists, to the study criminal behavior of human beings. The focus of positivism was on systematic observations and the accumulation of evidences and objective facts within a deductive frame work, therefore moving from a more general statement to a more specific one(6). Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859 (Darwin 1859), in which he stated that Humans were the same general kind of creatures as the rest of the animals, except that they were more highly evolved or developed. After the Darwinian theory, it was started to understand human beings as creatures whose behavior was influenced by biological and cultural background instead of self-determined human beings who acted according to their free will.[16] This was the time that the first scientific studies of crime and criminal behavior started to begin. Positivism describes a method of inquiry that tries to find answers to those questions that are related to the criminal behavoir which is scientific method. The researcher observes the empirical facts of the real world by testing hypotheses to reach the ultimate truth and derives laws for their reseach work (e.g.the law of relativity). The the social sciences appreciated this kind of mode of inquiry, presented by positivist, largely through the work of August Comte (1798-1857) who is often called the founder of positivism as wel as the founder of the sociology discipline. Comte stated that theological, metaphysical, and positive or scientific are the three stages through which the knowledge passes. The scientific or positivist is considered the highest or final stage of knowledge, and through this stage of knowledge the human beings are able to find out regularities among different social phenomena to establish the predictability and control[17 (5). (5) However, the big breakthrough in the positivist criminology came when an Italian doctor Cesare Lombroso published his book Criminal Man in 1876 which earned him title of the father of criminology(5). Cesare Lombroso), was the leading philosopher of positivist school thought who (6) used the concept of determinism to replace the philosophy of free will and rationality(6). Lombroso, Influenced by Darwinian theory of evolution, started to calculate the physical features of prisoner and concluded that specific physical characteristics, such as skeletal, cranial, and neurological malformations were more corelated to the criminal behavoir. (5)In his work, Lombroso discuseed the biological aspects of the criminal behavior, and stated that since the physical characteristics determine the criminal behavoir therefore a criminal is born that way and can be differentiated from non-criminals according to these physical characteristics. Lombroso called them stigmata or characteristics. Lombrosos work was the beginning of the positivist criminology and then it is subdivided into different fields. Today biology (began with Lombroso), psychology, and sociology there are three major fields of positivist criminology. Thus, biological positivism describes the criminal within the individual by considering its physical structure; psychological positivism locates the causes by considering the personality development; whereas the sociological positivism sees the causes by looking at the social factors and social structure(5).[21] In late-nineteenth-century, another school of thought came into existence, called cartographic school, who developed statisticians work in field of criminology, and analyzed this data on population and crime. The French philosopher Lambert Adolphe Quetelet, (1796-1874), and Belgium philosopher Andrà © Michel Guerry belonged to this school of thought,. Both of these researchers collected the detailed statistical information about the crime and criminal behavior and also tried to identify and find out the circumstances that made the people to commit crime. A philosopher named Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) also had a great influence on criminology. Durkheim presented the hypothesis about the criminal behavior of people and argued that it is a normal part of all societies. He also argued that there is no such society in this world who have absolute uniformity of moral consciousness. There is some deviancy in all societies, and that includes the criminal deviance too, or otherwise they will stagnate. Durkheim also mentioned the ways in which modern and industrial societies play differed role in building the criminal behavior from those societies that were nonindustrial. Individuals in industrial societies possesses a behavior called anomie by Durkheim which is a Greek word meaning without norms. Therefore the modern societies needed to develop specialized and specific laws and criminal justice systems that were not important in early societies in order to control behavior. Sociology and Criminology In the twentieth century, the most influential approach in the field of criminology was the sociological approach to criminology, which was concerned to the study of social behavior, systems, and structures. Further it was divided into social-structural and social-process approaches in relation to criminology. Social-Structural Criminology This approaches to criminology inspect the related social circumstances and structures that have a great influence on the criminal behavior. In the 1920s and 1930s , an ecological school of criminology, was developed, through the work of Robert E. Park, Ernest Burgess, and other urban sociologists at the University of Chicago which is known as Chicago school thought. (6) Human behavior was the main focus of the Chicago school thought, which was determined by social and physical environmental factors, instead of genetic or personal characteristics. The school believed that community was the main factor in the societies that effected human behavior and that the city functioned as a microcosm. An empirical sociology was developed by researchers from this school of thought, in order to study humans behavior in their natural environment rather than looking at their social environment. Data related to individual cases combined with population statistics was collected by these theorists which constructed an important information and became foundation for criminological theories of today (6). The theorists of this school also explains relationship between the crime and social and environmental change. Similarly it also tries to explain why certain regions of a city have more tendency to attract crime than its other regions. It is found by researchers that urban areas that convert from residential to business uses are mostly targeted by crime Yet there exist another school of criminology, included in social-structural approach, known as conflict school of thought. It is based on the Marxist theories of philosophy and argued that under the system of capitalism, crime was the ultimate product of conflict between different classes. The conflict theory proposes that the laws and systems of justice in society appear as a conflict instead of consensus. Laws are made by the group of people who are in power in different societies in order to control those who are not in power. Theorists of this school suggest that those who commit crimes are not basically different from the rest of the population. Therefore they maintain instead that to determine that whether a person is a criminal or not mostly depends on the society reactions toward those who deviate from accepted norms. Conflict theorists and some other theorists argue that most of the time poor people and members of minorities are considered as criminals as compare to members of the majority and wealthy individuals. In the early 1970s another philosophical thinking in criminology field came into prominence called Critical criminology ( also known as radical criminology), which was also based on the Marxism. It also tries to explain existing social upheaval. Critical criminology is based on the economic thinking and explains the criminal behavior by considering the economical aspect of the society. Theorists form this school, argues that certain inequalities exist in the economical and social aspect of the society which cause criminal behavior and make the people to commit the crime. It does not focus much on the study of individual criminals and believes that we cannot get rid of the existing crime within the capitalist system. Like the conflict school, it also declares that Laws are made by the group of people who are in power in different societies in order to control those who are not in power and that the state and its legal system exist to advance the interests of the ruling class. Postmodernity: Conclusion: (6)Aaccording to Edwin H. Sutherland, Criminology is the body of knowledge which consider the crime as a social phenomenon. And the processes of making laws, breaking laws, and the reacting toward the breaking of laws are included in the field of criminology. Criminologists have devises a number of methods of study which vary from social to behavioral sciences. Criminologists, like other scientists, also presented their theories about crime and criminal behavior over time and place. They also used various methods to discuss the characteristics of criminals, criminal behavior, and victims. Different punishments and treatments for different crimes have been presented in societies in order prevention people from committing these crimes. Simplicity or complexity of the philosophical theories depends on relationships that are made among different field in formulating these theories. The matter of truth is that we need theory so as to better understand the function of the world around us. We often recognize what we want to perceive. The behavior of human beings is very complex to study and changes as the time and values of society change, and therefore is almost abstract. Theories related to the criminology are complex, too. The theories that I discussed in this essay are from research, both past and present, which studied the criminal behavior both with systematic observation and very careful logic(6). * The purpose of these theories are not to observe the individual field of criminology in explaining the causes of criminal activity. But instead , each of the theory tried to explain the big picture of the criminal behavoir and provided ways to prevent it. Combination of theories will be the most accurate means of explaining both criminality in general and individual crimes in particular.* (7)A number of different aspects of criminal justice policy has been presented throughout the history. The Classical School of criminology presents theories that evolved from a capital punishment type of view to more humanitarian based punishment of people. Positivist criminology stresses on the control of human behavior and crimi

Africa Essay -- essays research papers

Europe tried to take many countries, Africa being one of them. The European countries had an effect on Africa today throughout all the primes. Europe had an effect on the African way of life, that in some ways were good, and in some ways bad. Imperialism is defined as the extension or rule or influence by one government, nation, or society over the political, economic, or cultural life of another. European nations decided they wanted land in the mostly unexplored continent, and they took it, without the consent of the African people. Europe brought Christian ideas into Africa. Religion was changed from what it would have been to Christianity today. If you look at most of the countries in Africa such as Angola, Congo, Ghana or Zimbabwe the main religion practiced is Christianity. You can see that Protestant and Catholic groups are about equally represented throughout the continent basically leading back to the Christian religion. Before the Europeans came to Africa their main religion was Islam. Europeans brought missionaries into Africa and started changing their religion or preaching about Christianity. When they bought a slave they would teach that slave to practice the Christian religion as well. Twenty-five percent of Africa is Christian. Christian churches are growing rapidly in the nations south of the Sahara and especially in southern Africa. It just proves that Imperialism in Africa changed the religion and peoples beliefs today. European missionaries introduced Ch...

Conscientization

The English term â€Å"conscientization† is a translation of the Portuguese term conscientizacao, which is also translated as â€Å"consciousness raising† and â€Å"critical consciousness†. The term was popularized by Brazilian educator, activist, and theorist Paulo Freire in his 1970 work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire was teaching the poor and illiterate members of Brazilian society to read at a time when literacy was a requirement for suffrage and dictators ruled many South American countries.Critical consciousness proceeds through the identification of â€Å"generative themes†, which Freire identifies as â€Å"iconic representations that have a powerful emotional impact in the daily lives of learners. † In this way, individual consciousness helps end the â€Å"culture of silence† in which the socially dispossessed internalize the negative images of themselves created and propagated by the oppressor in situations of extreme poverty.Libe rating learners from this mimicry of the powerful, and the fratricidal violence that results therefrom is a major goal of critical consciousness. Critical consciousness is a fundamental aspect of Freire's concept of popular education. Arlene Goldbard, an author on the subject of community cultural development finds the concept of conscientization to be a foundation of community cultural development. From the glossary of Goldbard's 2006 book New Creative Community. â€Å"Conscientization is an ongoing process by which a learner moves toward critical consciousness. This process is the heart of liberatory education. It differs from â€Å"consciousness raising† in that the latter may involve transmission of preselected knowledge. Conscientization means breaking through prevailing mythologies to reach new levels of awareness—in particular, awareness of oppression, being an â€Å"object† of others’ will rather than a self-determining â€Å"subject. The proces s of conscientization involves identifying contradictions in experience through dialogue and becoming part of the process of changing the world. â€Å"[2] History of application The ancient Greeks first identified the essence of critical consciousness when philosophers encouraged their students to develop an â€Å"impulse and willingness to stand back from humanity and nature†¦ [and] to make them objects of thought and criticism, and to search for their meaning and significance. 3] In his books Pedagogy of the Oppressed[4] and Education for Critical Consciousness,[5] Freire explains critical consciousness as a sociopolitical educative tool that engages learners in questioning the nature of their historical and social situation, which Freire addressed as â€Å"reading the world†. The goal of critical consciousness, according to Freire, should be acting as subjects in the creation of democratic society. In education, Freire implies intergenerational equity between studen ts and teachers in which both learn, both question, both reflect and both participate in meaning-making.Using this idea, and describing current instructional methods as homogenization and lockstep standardization, alternative approaches are proposed, such as the Sudbury model of democratic education schools, an alternative approach in which children, by enjoying personal freedom thus encouraged to exercise personal responsibility for their actions, learn at their own pace rather than following a previously imposed chronologically-based curriculum. [6][7][8] In a similar form students learn all the subjects, techniques and skills in these schools.The staff are minor actors, the â€Å"teacher† is an adviser and helps just when asked. [9][10] Sudbury model of democratic education schools maintain that values, social justice, critical consciousness, intergenerational equity, and political consciousness included, must be learned through experience,[11][12][13][14] as Aristotle sai d: â€Å"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. â€Å"[15] Picking up on Freire's definition of critical consciousness, Joe L. Kincheloe has expanded the definition of the concept in his work on postformalism.In Kincheloe's formulation postformalism connects cognition to critical theoretical questions of power and social justice. In this context Kincheloe constructs a critical theory of cognition that explores questions of meaning, emancipation vis-a-vis ideological inscription, and a particular focus on the socio-political construction of the self. With these concerns in mind Kincheloe's postformal critical consciousness engages questions of purpose, issues of human dignity, freedom, authority, reconceptualized notions of reason, intellectual quality, and social responsibility.Postformal critical consciousness stimulates a conversation between critical pedagogy and a wide range of social, cultural, political economic, psychological, and phi losophical concerns. Kincheloe employs this â€Å"multilogical conversation† to shape new modes of self-awareness, more effective forms of social, political, and pedagogical action, and an elastic model of an evolving critical consciousness (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 1993; Kincheloe, 1999; Thomas and Kincheloe, 2006).Freire's development of critical consciousness has been expanded upon in several academic disciplines and common applications[16] Public health community collaborations focused on HIV prevention for women,[17] the role of critical consciousness in adult education,[18] and the effect of peer pressure on cigarette smokers[19] Freire's notion of critical consciousness is, in part, a type of political consciousness. * Conscientization refers to a type of learning which is focused on perceiving and exposing social and political contradictions.Conscientization also includes taking action against oppressive elements in one's life as part of that learning. —  "Conscientization – Psychology Wiki†, * A conscientization strategy concerned with increasing people's sensitivity to the implications of gender inequality, and demanding that problems of gender discrimination be identified and overcome in policies and programs. Gender awareness means a high level of gender conscientization. — â€Å"Article – Gender 101 – Gender Sensitivity†, coa. gov. ph * down * up

The Other Side of Truth Summary

The story begins in Nigeria, with the death of Femi and Sade’s mother. She was killed byagents of the corrupt government, the â€Å"Brass Buttons†, to force Folarin Solaja, thechildren’s father, to stop writing for Speak , an uncensored newspaper. The children thenhave to flee the country, where they are not safe. Their Uncle Tunde arranges for themto be smuggled to London, where their Uncle Dele lives, with Mrs Bankole. Their fathershould then join them there.However, instead of finding the hoped-for safety, they areabandoned by Mrs Bankole in the middle of London, a strange city they know nothingabout. When they are found by the police, they are put into the care of Mrs Graham. Theymeet Jenny, Mama Appiah and Mr. Nathan, who try their best to help them by gettingthe children temporarily admitted in England, and by finding a new foster family forthem: Gracie and Roy King. Sade had to lie to officials about their name so as to no gether father into trouble, and t he kindness displayed by the adults makes her feel guiltyabout her lies.She is also sad about Femi’s sulliness, and feels very homesick. Matters don’t improve on her first day in her new school; she feels lost in the Englisheducation system, much less harsh and demanding with students than in Nigeria. Eventhough she finds friendship and understandingwithMariam, a fellow refugee, and MrMorris, the English teacher, she starts getting bullied by Marcia, and her gang. She isforced to steal a lighter for them, for example, in Mariam’s uncle’s store, somethingthat she feels very guilty about.She starts dreading going to school, as she doesn’tknow how to deal with bullies. One day, Mama Appiah arrives at the house with good news: she has found the children’sfather, who managed to get into England thanks to a false passport. However, he was puttaken to a Detention Centre because he didn’t ask for political asylum, because he was soworried abo ut his children. The Nigerian Police then announce that he is wanted for themurder of his wife. Desperate, Sade and Femi decide to try and meet a television reporter.

Water Intoxication and Hyponatremia

Water Intoxication and Hyponatremia Youve probably heard that its important to drink plenty of fluids or simply drink lots of water. There are excellent reasons for drinking water, but have you ever wondered if its possible to drink too much water. Heres what you need to know: Key Takeaways: Drinking Too Much Water It is possible to drink too much water. Overhydration leads to water intoxication and hyponatremia.The problem isnt really about the amount of water, but how ingesting too much water upsets the electrolyte balance in blood and tissues.Drinking too much water is uncommon. If you stop drinking water when you no longer feel thirst, there is no risk of water intoxication.Hyponatremia most often occurs when babies are given water instead of formula or formula that has been mixed with too much water. Can You Really Drink Too Much Water? In a word, yes. Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as water intoxication and to a related problem resulting from the dilution of sodium in the body, hyponatremia. Water intoxication is most commonly seen in infants under six months of age and sometimes in athletes. A baby can get water intoxication as a result of drinking several bottles of water a day or from drinking infant formula that has been diluted too much. Athletes can also suffer from water intoxication. Athletes sweat heavily, losing both water and electrolytes. Water intoxication and hyponatremia result when a dehydrated person drinks too much water without the accompanying electrolytes. What Happens During Water Intoxication? When too much water enters the bodys cells, the tissues swell with the excess fluid. Your cells maintain a specific concentration gradient, so excess water outside the cells (the serum) draws sodium from within the cells out into the serum in an attempt to re-establish the necessary concentration. As more water accumulates, the serum sodium concentration drops - a condition known as hyponatremia. The other way cells try to regain the electrolyte balance is for water outside the cells to rush into the cells via osmosis. The movement of water across a semipermeable membrane from higher to lower concentration is called osmosis. Although electrolytes are more concentrated inside the cells than outside, the water outside the cells is more concentrated or less diluted, since it contains fewer electrolytes. Both electrolytes and water move across the cell membrane in an effort to balance concentration. Theoretically, cells could swell to the point of bursting. From the cells point of view, water intoxication produces the same effects as would result from drowning in fresh water. Electrolyte imbalance and tissue swelling can cause an irregular heartbeat, allow fluid to enter the lungs, and may cause fluttering eyelids. Swelling puts pressure on the brain and nerves, which can cause behaviors resembling alcohol intoxication. Swelling of brain tissues can cause seizures, coma and ultimately death unless water intake is restricted and a hypertonic saline (salt) solution is administered. If treatment is given before tissue swelling causes too much cellular damage, then a complete recovery can be expected within a few days. Its Not How Much You Drink, Its How Fast You Drink It! The kidneys of a healthy adult can process 15Â  liters of water a day! You are unlikely to suffer from water intoxication, even if you drink a lot of water, as long as you drink over time as opposed to imbibing an enormous volume at one time. As a general guideline, most adults need about three quarts of fluid each day. Much of that water comes from food, so 8-12 eight-ounce glasses a day is a commonly recommended intake. You may need more water if the weather is very warm or very dry, if you are exercising, or if you are taking certain medications. The bottom line is this: its possible to drink too much water, but unless you are running a marathon or are an infant, water intoxication is a very uncommon condition. Can You Drink Too Much If Youre Thirsty? No. If you stop drinking water when you stop feeling thirsty, you are not at risk for overdosing on water or developing hyponatremia. There is a slight delay between drinking enough water and not feeling thirsty anymore, so its possible to overhydrate yourself. If this happens, youll either vomit the extra water or else need to urinate. Even though you might drink a lot of water after being out in the sun or exercising, its generally fine to drink as much water as you want. The exceptions to this would be babies and athletes. Babies should not drink diluted formula or water. Athletes can avoid water intoxication by drinking water that contains electrolytes (e.g., sports drinks).

Social Realism essays

Social Realism essays Social realism, in art, describes both a specific stylistic approach and an overall attitude toward the subject. Social realism aims toward the not so lovely part of life. Its goal is not to amuse but to show the observer the evils of poverty , immorality and war. Social Realists believed that paintings should describe and express the people, their problems and their times. The roots of social realism lie in the 18th century. Some of the artists involved in the start of social realism are William Hogarth, Francisco de Goya and Honor Daumier. William Hogarth attacked drunkenness and foolish extravagance with his engravings of the 1730's to the '50's. Goya had a series of horrifying etchings titled The Disasters of War. Daumier had satiricial lithographs of the 1830's to '40's, that reflect deep social concern. Social realism painting declined, in France, after the 1860's which was the time it became important in Great Britian. Sir Luke Fildes's Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward, Frank Holl's Newgate: Committed for Trial, and Hubert Herkomer's Pressing to the West depict grimy scenes of urban poverty. In the 1900's the British social realist tradition was carried on in the United States by the Ashcan school. After 1920 its emphasis was carried on by several major American painters. Ben Shahn was one of the artists in the 1920's and early '30's. He showed laborers and other victims of the Depression as well as scenes of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial and execution. Also Ivan Albright and Edward Hopper focused on the isolation of individual people in a society. ...

Arguments in favour of foreign investment

Arguments in favour of foreign investment The positive developmental role of domestic and foreign investment on economic growth in host countries is well documented in literature. Investment is usually directed in sectors that enjoy comparative advantage, thereby creating economies of scale and linkage effects and hence raising productivity. An important argument in favor of foreign investment is that it consists of a package of capital, technology management, and market access. For foreign investment, repayment is required only if investors make profit and when they make profit, they tend to reinvest their profit rather than remit abroad Zakaria M (2008). Reviewing the investment policies of Pakistan over the last six decades he observes that during 1950s and 1960s the private sector was the principal vehicle for industrial investment in the country and the role of the public sector was curtailed to only three industries out of 27 basic industries. By late 1960s the economy was mainly dominated by the private sector in imp ortant areas like banking, insurance, certain basic industries, and international trade in major commodities. During 1970s, government nationalized commercial banks, development financial institutions, insurance companies and ten major categories of industries. There was also acceleration in the direct investment by the public sector in new industries, ranging from the basic manufacture of steel to the production of garments and breads. After the miserable performance of the industrial sector following the nationalization process of the 1970s, a change occurred in the government’s approach toward the role of the public and private sectors. In 1980s, government decided to pursue a pattern of a mixed economy, with the private and public sector reinforcing each other. Despite various incentives, the highly regulated nature of Pakistan’s economy proved a restraint to the inflows of foreign investment. Specifically, foreign investment was discouraged by (a) significant publ ic ownership, strict industrial licensing, and price controls by the government; (b) the inefficient financial sector with mostly public ownership, directed credits, and segmented markets; and (c) a noncompetitive and distorting trade regime with import licensing, bans, and high tariffs. During 1990s government started to apply the same rules and regulations to foreign investors as to domestic investors. The requirement for government approval of foreign investment was removed with the exception of a few industries (arms and ammunition, security printing, currency and mint, high explosives, radioactive substances, and alcoholic beverages). During 2000s government based its investment policies on the principle of privatization, deregulation, fiscal incentives and liberal remittance of profits and capital. The policy is based on promoting investment in sophisticated, high-tech and export-oriented industries while almost the entire economic activity in other fields, encompassing agricu lture, services, infrastructure, social sectors, etc. have been thrown open for foreign investment with identical fiscal incentives and other facilities, including loan financing from local banks. Shahbaz and Khalid (2004) find that investment is considerably responsive to domestic saving, yield and uncertainty in Pakistan. Return on investment is an important determinant of investment in the country. Its role in investment decisions-making carries such a weight that it outweighs negative impact of increased rate of borrowing. Expectations and uncertainties play a major role in investment decisions in Pakistan. Whereas domestic saving is a major source of investment, foreign saving is not effective for investment in Pakistan. Tewolde H (2008) argues that the decision to invest resources is one of the significant drivers of the business financial system. Sound investments that implement well organized strategies are important to creating shareholders value, and must be analyzed both in proper context and sound analytical methods. Whether the decision involves committing resources to new facilities, a research and development project, marketing program, additional working capital, an acquisition, or investing in a financial instrument, an economic trade off must be made between the resources expended now and the expectation of future cash benefits to be obtained. In other words, investing is incurring costs in order to gain benefit during the estimated life of the plant assets or current assets in the future. Bandoi and Berceanu (2008), observe that investment decision is a very difficult for leaders of all firms. By its very nature, the decision affects the investment a company a long time horizon, if not forever. In the idea of adopting an investment decision we can use simple criteria or criteria based on discounting. Of the latter category, net present value criterion (NPV) is most often used. They further argue that inflation is a real fact today which can not be ignored. Their result highlight the fact that if effects of inflation are not taken into account we can do wrong analysis of capital budgeting.

Media and Entertainment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media and Entertainment Law - Essay Example Any exchange of the part of the Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters inescapably concentrates the degree to which it satisfies its transmit to supply public administration TV. There is as of now a progressing examination concerning the part and meaning of PSB. The Communications Act 2003 obliges Ofcom to do a survey of the degree to which the Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters [and other PSBs] have given program. It also involves administrations that, taken together, satisfy the reasons of public administration TV in the UK2. The act is the UK exchange affiliation that speaks to the commercial investments of free gimmick film, TV, activity and interactive media organizations. Act has around 1,000 parts, making it the biggest delegate gathering of screen-based substance makers in the UK and the biggest exchange relationship in these sectors3. The statutory Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters Charter Review gives a chance to get some information about the Corporations future in the light of the changing universe of public administration TV. Act will answer the key meeting inquiries in the setting of a general perspective of how an improved Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters can best give imaginative public administration television. Act upholds the Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters status as a social reference point; a paramount and positive impact on the lives of British subjects. There is no motivation behind why the Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters ought not to keep on satisfying these capacities in any event over the full compass of the following 10-year sanction period and past4. Act backs the continuation of the Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters as a solid autonomous public administration telecaster. The Commercial Public Sector Broadcasters key part is to be the first of the public administration broadcasters. The Charter Review must guarantee that the Commercial Public Sector

SOP Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SOP Paper - Essay Example No doubt, extreme sports are a major attraction for sport lovers and can garner huge revenues, but there are numerous examples of sportspersons getting injured or maimed for life. One can never forget the snowboarder Kevin Pearce who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was preparing for the Olympics in 2009. Therefore, my opinion is that extreme sports can be very dangerous for the sportsmen. For some people, extreme kinds of sports can be very tempting and they find it difficult to overcome the urge to participate in life risking sports. According to a sports consultant, Justin Anderson, some people have this innate sense of thrill that makes them do dangerous activities like jumping out of airplanes or climbing Mt. Everest (Hatfield, 2011). The question then arises is what is the thing that motivates these people to take part in such activities in spite of knowing the associated risks. It has been found that for these sportsmen, reaching the desired target is the primary factor while competition is the secondary factor. For these people, pushing their personal boundaries is a strong motivator although the fact that they are risking their life is always at the back of their minds. One common psychology behind these daredevil sports is the feeling that they have dared to dream the impossible and are also among those few who have achieved that dream (Hatfield, 2011). Extreme sports usually comprise high speed and risk. While both these elements can be thrilling for the youth because of their tendency toward heroism, the fact remains that such thrills are associated with extreme dangers that can be either fatal or lifelong disability. Since extreme sportsmen remain more excited to perform the perilous activities, most of the times they remain concerned about the event that will take place in that instant like how well they will be able to perform and

Searching for the Real Me and We. A Filipino-American Experience Essay

Searching for the Real Me and We. A Filipino-American Experience - Essay Example This essay analyses the US invasion and occupation of the Philippines and the resulting waves of migration of Filipino workers and professionals to this country. It explores, not only the socio-economic results, but also the cultural impact of US direct and indirect rule on the Filipino people’s collective memories and consciousness. The migration of Filipinos to the US was basically determined in the past and at present by the desire of the US for cheap and efficient labor, a desire in keeping with capitalism’s exploitative character and racist framework. Many Filipino-Americans have absorbed the dominant US culture, which prevents them from understanding the realities behind their own migration experience, decolonizing their thinking, and developing their unity with all poor people of color. After defeating the Spanish colonial government, Filipinos were forced to wage another war, this time against the US invading forces. This time it was a vicious racist war that resulted in the death of â€Å"at least 1.4 million Filipinos† from the actual fighting and from war-related starvation and disease (San Juan). Studying history is a important step, and I have started to fully appreciate my Filipino heritage. Understanding myself and the Filipino-American experience, I am starting to understand the reality of the Black experience, the Latino experience, the experience of all the excluded in American society. I know I have to take the next step, going beyond the me and transforming myself into the we of humanity.

Hand Washing to Reduce the Spread of Nosocomial Infection Research Paper

Hand Washing to Reduce the Spread of Nosocomial Infection - Research Paper Example Through research and healthcare studies, it is evident that nearly 5 percent of the population of patients becomes is infected in the course of hospitalization. Furthermore, increased invasive procedures have also led to an increased rate of nonsocomial infections. Currently, nearly 8% of patients who undergo invasive procedures acquire nonsocomial infections of some kind. Problem Description Healthcare professionals do not always follow the standard of hand washing when providing care to hospitalized patients. The problem of healthcare professionals not using standards of hand washing when taking care of patients has long been recognized as one of the most widespread, as well as dangerous behaviors in healthcare. Among the most common forms of nonsocomical infections include among others urinary-tract infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections and surgical-wound infections. These infections are particularly pursuant to inventions necessary in the patient care, but which conversel y impair bodily defense mechanisms. In 2004, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) republished the definitions of health-care-associated infections. Healthcare institutions do not always use CDC definitions in their identification of nonsocomical infections such institutions use the basic definition, which does not include infections acquired after medical treatment. Sources of Microorganisms In the course of healthcare delivery, patients are exposed to a number of pathogenic microorganisms such as protozoa, fungi, viruses, and bacteria. These pathogens can be transmitted from other patients, visitors or healthcare personnel. Other sources of pathogenic microorganisms include patient flora such as those residing in patients’ mucous membranes, respiratory tract, skin or gastrointestinal tract. These pathogens are typically quite difficult to control and deter. However, other sources of microorganisms that can be easily controlled include those that reside within the hospital environment. These include touch surfaces in patients’ rooms, equipment, and medications. Infections that emanate from such external microorganisms are easily preventable through viable healthcare practices. This paper focuses on best practices employed by healthcare professionals in the prevention of nonsocomical infections in patients. Means of Transmission As earlier cited, microorganisms are spread among personnel, patients, and visitors. This is primarily done through numerous routes such as direct and indirect contact, airborne spread, respiratory droplets and common vehicles. Contact transmission is one of the most important, as well as frequent transmission modes within the healthcare fraternity. Direct contact between patients and healthcare personnel. According to the CDC, contact is the main means of transmission and can be curtailed through simple healthcare practices if implemented effectively in all healthcare institutions. Prevention Practices Prev ention practices encompass modules and behaviors aimed at the deterrence of infections in patients, especially as a result of contact.

Social Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Entrepreneurship - Essay Example It is antithetical to innovation, too political, wasteful, inefficient, and bureaucratic. Dees thinks that counting on independent social entrepreneurs provides society with more opportunities at a lower risk. Social entrepreneurs tend to be more inventive when compared to government in finding solutions to problems since they respond to failures by the government by creation of parallel tracks while inventing new models, which improve public, institutional performance. By that, he means that social entrepreneurs play a crucial role in supplementing or complementing government functions. Dees also feels that the use of charity as a means of dealing with poverty cannot be relied on since it avoids dealing with the real problem. Consequently, he believes that social entrepreneurs build sustainable refinement rather than offer temporary relief by use of charity. In Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously, J. Gregory Dees (2007, p. 25) writes, â€Å"While this focus on government as a social problem solver has led to some notable successes, such as increased access to education and health care for many, the experience also revealed the limits of government as the vehicle for social problem solving†. ... Social entrepreneurs do not place a limit on their activities because of the available resources. Rather, they first focus on the opportunity, then think about its implementation later. This is in contrast to the government administrative mindset, which is dependent on budget constraints that derail the planning processes and offer priority to projects, which are ready to go. Entrepreneurs mainly focus on developing their entrepreneurial idea, then start thinking of how to acquire the money to finance the venture. An entrepreneur willing to drill a borehole in Africa devotes time to identifying the area most in need, gets the residents involved, sets the wheels in motion, then finally looks for resources. On the other hand, government will have to fit in the project in its already stretched budget, which may see it given decreased priority. Social entrepreneurship came about, in part, because of the disappointment faced by entrepreneurs with projects run by the government. Recently, an Indian bank, Ecobank started offering savings for very low-income citizens after its partnership with government to offer credit, slowed down because of the government’s bureaucratic and rigid laws and regulations. Ecobank felt that private for-profit ventures have the ability to stimulate increased innovation and economic growth. Another issue that interests me and I would like to discuss from this article is that Dees (2007, p. 27) writes, â€Å"They aim to create sustainable improvements and are willing to draw on self-interest, as well as compassion to do it†. That is to say, social entrepreneurs, through motivation by self-interest, give their charity in order to establish

Searching for the Real Me and We. A Filipino-American Experience Essay

Searching for the Real Me and We. A Filipino-American Experience - Essay Example This essay analyses the US invasion and occupation of the Philippines and the resulting waves of migration of Filipino workers and professionals to this country. It explores, not only the socio-economic results, but also the cultural impact of US direct and indirect rule on the Filipino people’s collective memories and consciousness. The migration of Filipinos to the US was basically determined in the past and at present by the desire of the US for cheap and efficient labor, a desire in keeping with capitalism’s exploitative character and racist framework. Many Filipino-Americans have absorbed the dominant US culture, which prevents them from understanding the realities behind their own migration experience, decolonizing their thinking, and developing their unity with all poor people of color. After defeating the Spanish colonial government, Filipinos were forced to wage another war, this time against the US invading forces. This time it was a vicious racist war that resulted in the death of â€Å"at least 1.4 million Filipinos† from the actual fighting and from war-related starvation and disease (San Juan). Studying history is a important step, and I have started to fully appreciate my Filipino heritage. Understanding myself and the Filipino-American experience, I am starting to understand the reality of the Black experience, the Latino experience, the experience of all the excluded in American society. I know I have to take the next step, going beyond the me and transforming myself into the we of humanity.

Social Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Entrepreneurship - Essay Example It is antithetical to innovation, too political, wasteful, inefficient, and bureaucratic. Dees thinks that counting on independent social entrepreneurs provides society with more opportunities at a lower risk. Social entrepreneurs tend to be more inventive when compared to government in finding solutions to problems since they respond to failures by the government by creation of parallel tracks while inventing new models, which improve public, institutional performance. By that, he means that social entrepreneurs play a crucial role in supplementing or complementing government functions. Dees also feels that the use of charity as a means of dealing with poverty cannot be relied on since it avoids dealing with the real problem. Consequently, he believes that social entrepreneurs build sustainable refinement rather than offer temporary relief by use of charity. In Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously, J. Gregory Dees (2007, p. 25) writes, â€Å"While this focus on government as a social problem solver has led to some notable successes, such as increased access to education and health care for many, the experience also revealed the limits of government as the vehicle for social problem solving†. ... Social entrepreneurs do not place a limit on their activities because of the available resources. Rather, they first focus on the opportunity, then think about its implementation later. This is in contrast to the government administrative mindset, which is dependent on budget constraints that derail the planning processes and offer priority to projects, which are ready to go. Entrepreneurs mainly focus on developing their entrepreneurial idea, then start thinking of how to acquire the money to finance the venture. An entrepreneur willing to drill a borehole in Africa devotes time to identifying the area most in need, gets the residents involved, sets the wheels in motion, then finally looks for resources. On the other hand, government will have to fit in the project in its already stretched budget, which may see it given decreased priority. Social entrepreneurship came about, in part, because of the disappointment faced by entrepreneurs with projects run by the government. Recently, an Indian bank, Ecobank started offering savings for very low-income citizens after its partnership with government to offer credit, slowed down because of the government’s bureaucratic and rigid laws and regulations. Ecobank felt that private for-profit ventures have the ability to stimulate increased innovation and economic growth. Another issue that interests me and I would like to discuss from this article is that Dees (2007, p. 27) writes, â€Å"They aim to create sustainable improvements and are willing to draw on self-interest, as well as compassion to do it†. That is to say, social entrepreneurs, through motivation by self-interest, give their charity in order to establish

Abc-Clio - Continental System Essay Example for Free

Abc-Clio Continental System Essay Continental System One of Europes most storied leaders, Napoleon I is remembered for his dramatic victories as the leader of France, conquering large swathes of Europe until his ultimate downfall following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Despite his military prowess, Napoleon was never able to conquer the United Kingdom, his archrival to the north. As Europes most successful economic power and the nation with the most powerful navy in the world, Britain relied on its trade with foreign nations to fuel its own economy. In an effort to undermine his rival, Napoleon initiated the Continental System, a wide-ranging system of tariffs and embargoes against Britain. The Continental System ultimately had a far more negative impact on France, however, much to the chagrin of its illustrious emperor. Origins of the Continental System Hostilities between France and Britain had boiled for many centuries, but the French Revolution, with its antimonarchical republican values and extreme violence, initiated a new low in relations between those two nations. Fearful of republican ideology spreading to its shores, Britain was staunchly opposed to the French Revolution from its inception, and as the French Army began its conquest of Europe, the island nation sought allies in its struggle against France. By 1799, Napoleon had used the support of the military to overthrow the French Directory and effectively take full control of the nation; the French coup dà ©tat of 1799 established the French Consulate as the new government of France, with Napoleon assuming the ultimate executive position of first consul. Meanwhile, French armies successfully conquered the Papal States, Sardinia-Piedmont, and Switzerland, and even occupied Ottoman Egypt for three years. Such conservative forces on the European continent as Austria and Russia shared Britains fears and quaked at the thought of French invasion. They knew that the French would not only bring occupying armies to their lands, but also displace their monarchies and establish republics, and that was something the ruling elite could not accept. With a successful general like Napoleon now at the helm of the government, the issue appeared more urgent than ever before. To counteract the threat of French invasion, monarchies across Europe banded together in a series of coalitions. In 1798, Austria, Britain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, and Russia formed the Second Coalition, but their infighting prevented any effective concerted movement to stop the French war machine. By 1805, France had firmly established itself as an imperial power, having gained control over large portions of the Continent. In response, Britain and Russia, later joined by Austria and Sweden, formed the Third Coalition. This was a crucial move for the British; Napoleon had begun to amass troops in Boulogne—on the northern coast of France—in 1803 in preparation for invading Britain. The powerful British Royal Navy was able to prevent French invasion through a blockade, however, and with the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, Napoleon realized he would not be able to launch a successful land inv asion of Britain. A New Strategy Defeated, but not demoralized, Napoleon plotted a new way to attack the British. If he could not take them on militarily, the French emperor (Napoleon had proclaimed himself emperor of the First French Empire in May 1804) determined to attack their economy. Calling the British a nation of shopkeepers in a derogatory tone, Napoleon nevertheless knew that the Industrial Revolution, along with the riches flooding into the country from the burgeoning British Empire, had made the United Kingdom the most powerful economic power in the world. Because the nation was an island, it needed trade of its finished goods to buy enough raw materials and supplies for its population to live at a level that made it possible for them to be consumers and continue their rapidly expanding industrial output. He also knew that industrialization had ravaged the rural population of Britain, as well as its artisan crafts and cottage industries. As a consequence, he believed that a massive embargo of British goods throughout the European continent would destroy the British economy and incite a popular uprising that would bring down the government, as deprivation among the poor had done in France in the 1780s. Meanwhile, despite the loss of the French Navy at Trafalgar, the French Army (renamed the Grande Armà ©e in 1805) continued its domination of Europe. By the fall of 1806, nearly all of the Continent, from the Atlantic Coast to the borders of Russia, was either under French control, occupation, or allied to France. The only exceptions, most notably Portugal and Sweden, were unable to effectively take on French military might and stood waiting to see when they too might fall under French rule. With his power seemingly uncontested in Europe, Napoleon determined that it was time to strike at the British with his new strategy of economic embargo. Economic Warfare Begins On November 21, 1806, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, which declared that France would henceforth blockade all British ships and refuse them entry into any port under French control. In December 1807, Napoleon issued the Milan Decree as well, which stated that any ships coming into French waters that had previously docked in British ports would be confiscated, along with their cargo and crews, by French officials. That new policy was meant to include such neutral nations as the United States, which at that time was Britains most important trading partner; U.S. cotton in particular was essential for fueling the textile industry, Britains most important manufacturing base at the time. To counteract Napoleons moves, the British passed their own laws, known as the Orders in Council of 1807, forbidding their trading partners from dealing with France. As a consequence, the United States was forced to cease all trade with both Britain and France, a move passed into law by the Embargo Act of 1807. The U.S. withdrawal from international trade caused significant problems in the British economy and forced British industrialists to look elsewhere for cotton and other raw materials that had previously come from America. The expansion of the second wave of British colonization in the 19th century traces its origins to that period, as does the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Effects of the Continental System Napoleons attempts at economic warfare were shocking at first, but they did not fully cripple the British economy. Russia was not under French control in 1806, so in the beginning phase of the blockade, goods from Britain were still able to enter Europe through Russian-controlled Baltic ports. By July 1807, however, France and Russia concluded peace with the Treaty of Tilsit, and Russia—along with Prussia—joined the Continental System as a term of the treaty. By 1808, the value of British exports had fallen from  £40.8 million to  £35 million, and there was a visible decline in the import of grain. Moreover, industrialists, unable to get raw materials from abroad, began to lay off their industrial workers. At the same time, there were many crop failures in Britain, leading to extreme hunger for many of the poor who, without jobs or sufficient hours and pay, were unable to afford higher prices for rarer staples. Food riots resulted, but Napoleons hopes for a popular uprising that would overthrow the government never materialized. Though deeply affected, Britains economy was able to survive the blockade in the end, largely thanks to trade with its colonies and a marked growth in smuggling. While the consequences of the Continental System were dire for the United Kingdom, historians are adamant that the system actually had a far more punishing impact on France. Europeans, both in France and in its conquered and allied territories, were bitter that the system was denying them access to many of the consumer goods they relied on that originated from Britain and its colonies, like sugar, coffee, inexpensive textiles, and tobacco. Meanwhile, smugglers thrived in the environment of the embargo, and such goods that did get into Europe from Britain were far more expensive than they had ever been. Moreover, European nations conquered by the French resented the partner laws of the Continental System, which privileged French goods by placing high tariffs on other European goods. Prices throughout Europe skyrocketed under the Continental System, giving Europeans living under French rule new reasons to resent their imperial overlords. That resentment ultimately shook the foundations of support for Napoleons empire. Resentment, War, and Defeat The economic hardships wrought by the embargo led European nations that had not fallen under French rule to resist the Continental System. Portugal entirely refused to take part, forcing Napoleon to invade the nation and attempt to capture its fleet and depose its monarchy. However, King John VI of Portugal fled his home for Brazil, Portugals largest colony, and his naval fleet went with him. His people responded by revolting against the French invasion, and the British sent an expeditionary force to support them. This was the preliminary phase of the Peninsular War, a brutal struggle for independence from the French for Portugal and Spain, most famous in the United States today for its astonishing and heartbreaking war images captured by the master painter Francisco de Goya. The war was extremely costly for the French and played a significant role in Napoleons eventual downfall. The Swedish also decided to reject Napoleons demand that they join the Continental System, an act that resulted in that nation being invaded by Russia in 1808. The war that ensued—known today as the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809—raged from February 1808 until September 1809 and resulted in Finland being separated from Sweden and established as a semiautonomous entity closely tied to the Russian government. Also, the Russians forced the Swedes to join the Continental System, and all Swedish ports were closed to British shipping. Like other parts of Europe living under the Continental System, the Swedes were furious at the results of the embargo, namely higher prices and scarcity of goods. Anti-French sentiment increased, and Sweden subsequently took part in the final campaigns to overthrow Napoleons empire in 1813–1815. As prices skyrocketed, Napoleons Continental System was increasingly resented in France as well. Moreover, the human and financial costs of the wars in which the system played a causative role—like the Peninsular War—wore on the French public. Napoleons popularity began to plummet, and by 1812, the economy of all of Europe was collapsing. In that year, Russia decided to stop participating in the Continental System, and Napoleon responded by launching a massive land invasion of the vast country. Ill prepared for the elusive tactics employed by the Russian Army and the harsh nature of the Russian winter, Napoleon suffered the worst military defeat of his career during the Russian invasion; the human carnage was devastating for both sides, and Napoleons Grande Armà ©e was practically decimated. The resentful nations of Europe, including former allies of France, seized the opportunity and rose up in unison against Napoleons weakened regime. Within three years, the emperors fate would be sealed with his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the final proof that his Continental System was, in the end, a failure. Continental System. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. Chicago World History: The Modern Era, s.v. Continental System, accessed March 3, 2011. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/. APA Continental System. (2011). In World History: The Modern Era. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/

Analysis of Russias Financial and Labour Crisis

Analysis of Russias Financial and Labour Crisis INTRODUCTION In 2003, major economic organisations and key economists predicted that within a decade, the Russian Economy will face a human capital and labour crisis that will be unable to meet the growing demands of the country. This prediction came true and Russia slowly witnessed diminishing labour market performance following the Global Financial Crisis starting in 2009. The Russian Federation has a very flexible labour market. Cutting wages, reducing working hours and minimising non-wage labour costs are some of the policies adopted by most of the companies to adjust to the economic scenario. The workers respond to this by changing jobs. Hence, there exists a high and stable overall employment rate, but also high wage inequality, informality and labour turnover, due to which firms do not have the incentive to invest in human capital and productivity improvements. Hence, the growth figures of the Russian Economy rarely indicate how the economic performance is impacting the average man. Problems in the labour market of Russia slowly became noticeable following the Global Financial Crisis that started in 2008. The global financial crisis had a significant impact on the Russian economy and its labour market. According to OECD Database, in 2009, the decline in the GDP was −7.9% (World Bank Economic Outlook, 2009). However, since the latter half of 2009, Russia showed economic recovery. There was 4.5% growth rate in 2010 (World Bank Economic Outlook, 2010), and 4.3% in 2011 (World Bank Economic Outlook, 2011). The graph above indicates the changes in the unemployment rate and GDP of Russia during 2008-09. Russia was the third country along with Slovenia in the list with highest downfall in the GDP after Estonia and Finland. The unemployment rate increased, although it was stable as compared to other countries This period saw a fall in the output generation of goods. Working hours and wages were reduced to adjust to the scenario. The Youth of the country were the most affected by the sudden increase in unemployment. As shown in the diagram, from 2009 to 2012, unemployment rate was the highest for people aged 15-24. The labour market strengthened a little in early 2013. Unemployment in the months of January, February, and March lowered by 0.4% than the rate prevalent in 2012. But the second quarter of 2013 again saw a reversal of this trend, with unemployment again growing up by 0.1% compared to 2012 (OECD Economic Survey- Russian Federation, 2013) This marked the advent of an Economic Slump in the Russian Economy that is discussed in the succeeding chapter. Russian Economic Slump: How and Why? Russia suffered from major economic slump in 2012 and tried to make efforts to recover from it using the oil and gas revenues. However the living standards and productivity was below those of advanced BRIICS countries. Growth in 2012 slowed not only because of cyclical factors but also due to slow down of potential output growth. The Ministry of Economic Development, in November 2013, projected long-term average growth to 2.5% (OECD Survey 2013) down from 4.3% (ibid) projected in April, warning that Russian growth until 2030 would lag behind the global average. The reason that led to the emergence of slump is the heavy dependence on natural resources and the challenge lies in reduction of dependence on exhaustible natural resources, strengthen sustainable, productivity-driven, regionally balanced and broad-based growth. The abovementioned Economic slump emerged in late 2012 and into 2013, resulting in the recent Russian Economic crisis triggered by stagnant terms of trade due to inefficient labour market reforms. The temporary factors that earlier boosted growth slowed down, reducing investment mostly driven by natural resource related sectors and public expenditures. The employment and capacity utilization rates are near their pre-crisis records. The unemployment rate has fallen because of employment gains, a fall in labour force, high wage flexibility and extremely low unemployment benefits. Inflation rose above the central bank target range of 5-6% (Ibid). Although this rapid rise was driven mostly by high food prices due to the poor 2012 harvest and headline inflation, the second half of 2013 was on a downward trend and inflation expectations are sticky. These factors structurally limited growth , slowing potential growth below 3% (ibid) This Russian economic slowdown led to several changes in the society and some significant trends were seen: Partial employment increase No demand for radical life changes or political changes Dormant discontent against crisis situation unique adjustment function of the Russian labor market suppressed the impact of the economic crisis on the workers and they did not express their discontent in the form of strikes The policies and reforms for this slump are given in further chapters as discussed by the OECD report on Russian Economic Crisis. OECD ECONOMIC REPORT: REFORMS AND POLICIES Previously we studied the background of Russia and the possible reasons that triggered the current Russian economic slump. OECD is a world organisation that has come up with a report about the changes required for the current economic slump. The Organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD) is a forum founded in 1961 that discusses economic growth and world trade of its 34 member countries. It provides answers to common problems, identify practices in favour of these countries and also provide coordination between the domestic and international policies. It gives assistance in economic, environmental and social issues. Objectives of the OECD- To promote sustainable development in economic growth and employment, giving a rise in standard of living along with the maintenance of financial sector. To provide economic expansion to member countries in order to promote development in world economies. To carry out this expansion on a non-discriminatory basis. OECD: Russian Labour Market The Russian Labour market is in segments even though the global financial crisis ended the long period economic growth .The labour market faces a number of problems like unequal earnings, lack of enforcement of effective labour laws and underdeveloped collective bargaining. To improve this imbalance between labour market flexibility and the protection of workers the Russian federation needs to impose favourable labour market institutions. This imbalance can be improved by shifting to a more sustainable based growth from dependence on revenues from natural resources such as oil (main relying natural resource) by making it attractive place to invest, study and work. Russia should ensure growth beyond natural endowment. BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY Stronger and more sustainable growth is not possible without better use of skills and stronger innovation. Considerable resources are employed in lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœproductivity activities. Lifelong learning, activation programmes and temporary income support remain underdeveloped. Key Recommendations: Better market oriented training. Strengthening the quality of the education system Improve the governance of higher education. IMPROVING THE BUSINESS CLIMATE The business climate in Russia is turning out to be risky as rule of law is weak and widespread corruption along with widespread state involvement. The implications are widespread such as low level of entrepreneurship and investment. Thus a stronger policy initiative along with stronger financial sector is required to match the skills of labour. Key Recommendations- Identify risks to integrity for particular jobs, work and project. Strengthening the rule of law by enhancing the quality of law instead of increasing the number of laws and regulations thus giving rise to judicial independence. Incorporating accountability and transparency of public institutions through promotion of media freedom. COMPETITION FRAMEWORK IN RUSSIA Russia has the highest barriers to competition when compared with any OECD country or emerging country. This halts the diffusion of technology and hampers the speed with which the labour productivity catch up with best performers. As suggested by OECD product market regulation (PMR) indicator, it suggests that Russia’s PMR is very restrictive as compared to any other OECD country. A PMR indicator tells the state involvement extent and administrative barrier to developing new enterprises. This high rate is reflected in Small and Medium sized enterprises sector in Russia. Key Recommendations- Lowering administrative burden on firms by cutting ‘red tape’, introducing deemed clearance regime and carrying out systematic Regulatory Impact Analysis and Stake Holder consultations. Strengthen the competition by eliminating subsidies to large firms, prioritize resources only to important cases and liberalization of foreign trade and investment policy. Widening scope of competition by taking WTO accession as an opportunity and supporting the concerned firms with framework measures rather than imposing entry barriers. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The basic problem in the Russian Economy is that it is still heavily dependent on the communist age infrastructure and economic mechanisms. No innovations or new methods of economic development have significantly evolved after the communist era collapsed. The economy still uses capitalist management styles that were used in the erstwhile USSR. The economy is heavily dependent on gas reservoirs and their rising prices. This leaves the domestic market open to major jolts due to the fluctuating world market prices of gas and other natural resources. Growth in 2013 slowed to 1.3 percent, the lowest in a decade other than during the global recession in 2009 (OECD Economic Indicators Report 2013). As mentioned in the previous chapter, the economic resilience of the economy can be raised through structural reforms. Making the economy more balanced, and less dependent on the volatile revenue from the energy market is one of the main challenges. This challenge can only be met by higher productivity of labour and energy efficiency which further, can by increasing competition in the market and investment in the structural economy. The improvement of the political economy and implementation of structural reforms is crucial to revive the Russian Economy. The society and not natural resources needs to partake in Russia’s transformation. And so there is need for investments in infrastructure, innovation and human resources. Russia needs to step up its governance and address the increasing inter-regional disparity. The OECD survey indicates that the Federation is doing well in numerous areas but future growth and development is being retarded by poor governance and laws. Russia faces major transport bottlenecks that hinder the infrastructural growth in many potential regions. The irony is that a majority of the Russian population- about a million, are engaged in the railways with most of them being disguisedly unemployed in the process. The Russian Federation has one of the highest shares of tertiary educated population in the world, but the education system has had difficulties in providing the education according to the needs of the market and the firms. The education system of the country is outdated. It needs to be revamped to suit the modern sensibilities and economic conditions. Education will have to target higher paying and more intellectual jobs (white collar jobs). Public spending on education is low and the high inequality of educational opportunities adds to the problem. Major public and private sector investments in the education sector, especially in backward areas should be a national priority. Better quality of market oriented vocational training and an improved technical curriculum is also the need of the hour. Another good way to increase the labour force of the nation is to decrease the gender gap in the labour market. Education and training focused solely on women would be beneficial. The Government should also increase the retirement age of women to equal to that of men. A boost in education and skill in turn will increase opportunities and investments in Research and Development that will bring the much needed innovation and further enhance the business climate. Flexibility in the Russian labour market has helped the economy achieve very low levels of unemployment. However, firms lose the incentive to invest in human resource due to the high labour turnover. This causes high wage inequality. The OECD encourages better communication between employers and labour, encouragement to engage in long term training programmes and temporary income support from the Government. One industry that has a lot of potential in the Russian economy and will benefit out of the recommended labour changes by OECD is the automobile industry. This will not only give a much required push to the economy but also solve the transportation bottleneck that the nation is facing. The Russian Federation will also benefit by strengthening its Immigration policies. There is a large influx of unskilled labour from countries that were part of the former Soviet Union, who come in the search for better employment opportunities and standards of living. They are seen to be putting additional burden on the Government’s diminished welfare schemes such as free education and healthcare systems. This is happening due to the easy immigration policy of the state. Hence the welfare labour policies that are already functional in the State cannot give quality output due to this additional burden put on them. CONCLUSION It can be asserted that the economic slump in Russia is a temporary bottleneck in its path of growth and development and can the removed by focusing on the improvement of the labour market performance by implementing the measures given in the OECD Economic Report on the Russian Federation 2013. As suggested by the OECD, encouraging lifelong learning among skilled workers, training and targeting the youth for inculcating better skills, developing advanced Information Technology in this arena, reducing the gender gap in the work force, reforms in the education system and promoting innovation and technology can take the nation a long way. However other measures such as State support in welfare schemes that boost labour performance and privatisation of firms can be beneficial. Encouraging better Human Resource policies in Russian Firms and stronger collective bargaining power of the workers can also help promote the right balance between wages and productivity. Russia also needs to look into its immigration policy to stop the rapid rise in immigrants who are unskilled and ultimately become a burden on the state.