Best Business Tips

When producing minutes for a business meeting it is required that formal language is used. This is because minutes are records that are stored for business use. Minutes could be later used by an employee, as evidence to show a meeting has taken place or used in another discussion with other professionals. Formal language makes minutes of a meeting clear and make sense. The tone required for meeting minutes must be serious and formal. They do not need to be persuasive or intriguing, as they are a set record of the discussion within a meeting so they just need to be clear and understandable. The image of a set of minutes should include in the organisations set logo, colours and themes. This is so that it is easily recognisable as the organisations document. The presentation of a set of minutes must be structured into different agenda items, which may be in a table or just simple paragraphs so that the document is clear and people can easily navigate the parts they need to read.When writing an email, the language should be formal. This only tends to vary when the audience changes. For example, if an employee was to email another colleague, they may be friendlier and slightly informal. Formal language should be used to internal and external business people, so that it gives a good impression of the sender as an individual and shows professionalism of the company they work for. The tone required for emails are dependent on the recipients. For instance, when writing a sales email, a more persuasive tone will be used. When writing a complaint response, a more sympathetic and helpful tone will be used. However, a professional tone should be maintained in emails to keep up an organisations reputation and professionalism. The image of an email should have the organisations particular style of font and email signature to make it easily identifiable by other companies. It also makes the email look more professional to make people take the company seriously. The presentation of an email is required to be structured into paragraphs with a professional greeting and closing message. When integrating images into documents it's important to use the format and theme to use that is the same as the businesses. It is important to think about what the business needs to accomplish and what impression needs to be given to the reader. Whilst creating the image of the document that we want to reflect well on the business, it is also important to make sure copyright laws are not being breached. Therefore images and themes should be checked to make sure it is not that of another brand or business. A good image has to be unique and professional as it will be used often for all kinds of documents being sent to external customers and internal workers.An image can be inserted into a word document or PowerPoint by attaching an image saved onto the computer by clicking on the insert tab and pressing pictures. To easily locate the desired picture it is best to save it somewhere and name it something memorable. Another way of integrating images into documents is to copy and paste them by right clicking on the image and pressing the copy function, then right clicking where the image needs to be copied to and pressing paste. This is the quickest option however sometimes it doesn't always work and we have to save images to the computer instead. Corporate identity allows documents to have their own trademark. Corporate identity makes a businesses documents look professional, draws in more customers and makes them easily recognisable. This includes the company's logo, header and footer styles, theme colours, personalised document templates and font choice. When this is changed and updated it could affect previous documents with the outdated corporate identity by making them not recognisable as that company. It is important the corporate identity is only amended slightly and still maintains it's unique theme so it is always recognisable. It's also important to notify all staff members of these changes so that everyone is using the same corporate identity to avoid confusion. To avoid breaking copy right laws, a company must ensure they have their own corporate identity that is not the same as another company. To avoid breaking copy right laws, a company must ensure they have their own corporate identity that is not the same as another company. When designing or creating a document you must follow corporate identity by using the businesses fonts, logos and themes etc. If another businesses fonts, logos or themes are used in your businesses documents, it could appear as though your business is stealing another businesses identity. This looks like your business is trying to commit fraud or frame another business. In regards to the Data Protection Act, it is important that a persons personal information isn't included in letters or emails unless permission is given by that person. Data stored on documents about a person must be stored safely and securely and only accessed by permitted persons. Documents including data with someones personal information must not be shared with any one other than permitted persons and must be kept strictly confidential, else this is a breach of the act. To avoid breaching the Copyright laws, a company must not use images, ideas, or work etc. that is copyright protected. A document producer must check this before integrating images or information on to their documents. The same goes for intellectual property. Any original idea owned by someone or a company cannot be used by another person when protected by copyright.Intellectual property is something unique created by an individual or a group. To avoid breaching intellectual property legislations when producing business documents, it is important to make sure other peoples creations, e.g. names or brands are not included in the documents. This means documents must be strictly the creation of the company itself and not copied from another company's. Version control is when changes that are made to a file are traced with the details of who changed them, when they traced them, why they did and any problems enhanced or resolved when the change was made. Organisations do this to ensure that previous versions of a document are accessible as well as current ones to follow up problems occurring or to compare them. Organisational procedures for version control are that employees must always record their name, the date and what changes they have made to a document so that other employees are aware. This is crucial for tracing back to old documents and comparing them to recent versions. Other organisational procedures for version control is that old documents must be maintained in case newer versions may contain errors or having missing information. Security requirements for documents are having set passwords to gain access into a file so that only particular people have access to it. Other requirements are read only settings so that the author only has permissions to make changes to the document so that other people cannot edit and make unwanted changes to it. A document created for external use needs to have the recipient checked if any personal data is included within it to prevent breaching the data protection act if the email was to be sent to the wrong recipient. If personal data included on a document is being sent by mail, it is important the mail is stamped with ‘private and confidential' on the front to ensure safe delivery.

Salary Is Not the Most Important Factor in Motivating Employees

Salary is not the most important factor in motivating employees The psychology of motivation is enormously complicated and there is a small part of it has been illustrated with any degree of guarantee. A number of people are desired for an effective formula for moving employees. Some adopt to the way of increasing salary, not all of which is conductive (Herzberg,1987). There are a great many factors in motivating employees. Salary plays a significant role while other factors such job participation, job loading and the work environment are available as well.Although salary is useful to move hirelings, salary is not the most important factor in motivating employees because job autonomy, job security and appreciation for work done are significant. Job autonomy has a practical effect on motivating employees. Employees who are allowed to partake in varieties of decisions may be given more incentive for action. If managers allow hirelings to set their goals, they will have the responsibili ty to compass the object and devote themselves to the job. Subordinates may feel that they are an important part of the company and be more willing to apply to the task (Madura,2008).A flexible work schedule is another approach to increasing job satisfaction which is helpful to accomplish projects (Madura,2008). It has been disputed by research proving that if superiors allow employees to have longer weekends, hirelings are likely to perform well (Madura,2008). With a flexible work schedule, people are willing to improve work efficiency and fulfill other liabilities as much as they could. Job participation is an effective approach to moving employees. Employees will realize the value of their existence when they participate in the projects.If employees desire to achieve a goal as a group of people with varied occupations, they are motivated to do their best. Job autonomy is a significant element which moves employees effectively. Job security is becoming an important factor increasi ngly to employees (Wiley,1997). Employees’ responses to job insecurity influence the development of the society, which has been proved by much evidence. Work pressure will increase and job insecurity is especially hard on the weak group in the countries.If work safety is not guaranteed and people keep working in an unsafe environment, there may be a negative impact on mental health. Organization will be affected by the lack of job security as well, which leads to negative outcomes (Wiley,1997). Job insecurity is likely to cut down work guarantee, which may result in damage of companies’ credit. Deterioration of efficacy of companies’ will happen and it has a negative impact on job satisfaction and performance (Wiley,1997). Job security has ever been the top of the list of motivational factors for employees (Wiley,1997).People’s behavior is much a function of job safety. Workers have to divert attention from work as a result of concern about unsafe factor, which have a passive influence on programs (Madura,2008). The basic needs of employees could not be fulfilled, which lead to their concern about finding safer work. The employed who have job security are likely to be given incentive to achieve the goals. Appreciation for work done is one of the important motivations for employees. Feedback and recognition for the projects which have been accomplished will give employees encouragement.Most of employers voice acknowledgement for a job done to moving subordinates and give them confidence and satisfaction. Appreciation for work done has ever been chosen to be the peak motivator in modern society and has also been taken into account by enterprise increasingly. Most of the practical elements which fulfill work occasions are from recognition. Offering opportunities for hirelings who are motivated to accomplish the goals is manager’s job (Wiley,1997). The expression of why the behaviour is available will be beneficial for employeesà ¢â‚¬â„¢ long-term development, which improves their ability and enrich their knowledge.It is significant for people to have feedback and learn more about themselves. With this method, employees are able to know which position is more appropriate for them. Feeling capable is one of factors which are useful for work. Additionally, appreciation is a way for employees to feel competent. Therefore, the employed will be achieve the goals with confidence. Greater essential motivation may be caused by recognitions which image capacity. Appreciation could bring encouragement, opportunities and feelings of competent to employees and plays an important part.Although salary is an important factor in motivating employees, it is not enough to satisfy employees’ need of autonomy, security and appreciation. High salary is advantageous to fulfill all of people’s requirements and achieve their needs. There are a number of people who gain high emolument having many complaints because the y have difficulty in their work. Money fail to meet the mental needs of people on occasion. High salary is available to improve standard of living. There exist employees whose salary is high but their work stress is too heavy for them to suffer from.Because of the reason, they may not be able to leave free time for themselves. Health and mental health problems may caused by too much work stress. No one could enjoy the life without fitness. High salary means more opportunities and happiness for employees. Though some people gain high paying salary, they are occupied with projects and have seldom time to spend with family. An examination of the evidence has shown that a part of people gaining higher payment are not as satisfied with life as ones gaining lower payment. Salary is effective on occasion but it is not always the most important motivation.In conclusion, there exist a number of factors which play a considerable part in moving employees such as job autonomy, job security and appreciation. Therefore, salary is not the most effective. Give hirelings increased job autonomy including decision making, flexible work schedule and participation, which can motivate them. Job security for employees is an important source of motivation and safe working environment is helpful for people to tap their potentials. Appreciation for work done shows respect for employees, which leads to result of motivating people.Motivation has direct relationship with business of the company. Employees ought to learn how to motivate employees. Both salary and other factors are significant. References Herzberg, F. (1987)’One more time:How do you motivate employees’, Harvard Business Review, September-Octorber, pp. 87-99 Madura, J. (2008) Introduction to Business. 4th ed. Beijing: Post & Telecom Press. Wiley, C. (1997) ‘What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys’, International Journal of Manpower, 18(3), pp. 263-280.

Group Work and Free Riders: Mitigating the Situation

In most universities, if not all, group work aims to enhance the learning experience of students. This is primarily done through collaboration among the students in meeting specific objectives for group activities. While group work trains students in work-related skills, it also improves their personal inclinations to adjust to a group environment where individual tasks may be designated in order to meet the goals of the collective whole. However, group work can also serve potential problems to the group in terms of members who are mere ‘free riders’.These loafers may not be of any use or help to the entire group since they do not provide significant contributions. Instead of aiding the group in keeping with the tasks at hand, the free riders become burdens to the group, thereby giving weight to the tasks all the more. One way to mitigate this problem is to give less complicated and less tedious tasks to the ‘free riders’ in the group while keeping a closer eye on their performance. It can be said that collaboration among group members helps in easing the larger chunk of the tasks involved.A reasonable distribution of tasks among members is â€Å"an advantage to a group essentially because it divides the general tasks required necessary for achieving certain goals (Barley & Kunda, 2001, p. 78). † Although the distribution of tasks may vary depending on several factors which include but is not limited to individual capabilities, it nevertheless creates the sense where each member has a definitive role and share in the interest of the group. By doing so, every member is also given certain responsibilities to meet under a specified timeframe. More importantly, the distribution of tasks entails certain expectations from the members.In the end, the overall welfare and performance of the group will have to depend on the members themselves. Since both the welfare and the performance of the group rely on the individual members, free rid ers among the group can pose serious disadvantages not only to the entire group but also to those who are working appropriately with their designated tasks (Pelled, 1996, p. 616). For one, there may be a psychological effect on the attitude of the other members when the ‘free riders’ tend to give no consideration for their respective responsibilities.When there are members of your group who do not function according to the group’s expectation, it is most likely the case that the other members will have negative responses whether explicit or not. It can affect their individual inclination to perform their duties because they can be influenced with regard to their behavior in doing their responsibilities. In order to mitigate the problems posed by the free riders in the group, these group members should only be given less complicated and less tedious tasks.It should also be the case that the free riders should be given more attention or focus from the group members since the free riders are the ones who are most likely to give problems to the group in terms of the completion of tasks among others. Given a number of tasks involved in completing the group requirements, the division of tasks should be appropriated in such a way that the perceived ‘free riders’ are given the lighter responsibilities instead of the tedious ones (Phillips & Phillips, 1993, p.534). The roles to be given to these members should be the ones which, when removed or separated from the overall product of the group work, can only give minor disadvantages. These minor disadvantages can come in the form of the absence of peripheral parts of the group work. By doing so, even if the free riders in the group are not able to submit their expected contributions to the group the overall group project can nevertheless still stand on its own.Or it can also be the case that even without the minor contributions from the free riders the rest of the group can still be able to amend the situation by fulfilling the peripheral tasks left behind. Moreover, the free riders should be given more focus by the group members so as to at least make certain that their tasks are met and that no delays will hinder the progress of the group work. This can be done by constant meeting with the group members so that the tasks can be done while every member is present.When each member of the group is present, there will be more chances for the group members to keep a close attention on what everybody else is doing (Formanek & Sibley, 1991, p. 650). By doing so, the free riders will also be guided accordingly by the other members of the group in cases when the free riders are unable to efficiently perform their responsibilities. An early correction of the perceived problems can â€Å"greatly help in arriving at a thoroughly crafted products or goals at the end of the day (Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003, p.139). † However, one problem that can surface even in the light of the suggestions offered to mitigate the probable problems that may be encountered by the group with regard to the free riding members is the problem of the total absence or non-participation of these members. If the free riders in the group do not actually attend meetings or escape from participating in the group tasks, even the suggestions to mitigate the perceived problems may not be able to fully address the problems.Nevertheless, one thing that can be done to avoid the eventual downfall of the group as caused by the free riders is that the rest of the group can choose to take charge of the supposed responsibilities of the free riders as early as possible. After that, the rest of the members can then suggest to the teacher or the instructor in charge to relieve the supposed free riders from being members of the group due to the reason of complete lack of participation. In general, as long as there remains the possibility of controlling the problem, mitigating the situation is still the best option.In fact, the act of mitigating the situation in itself is already a task which requires a collective effort from at least the majority of the group. More importantly, mitigating the situation can win back the free riders as functioning members of the group, thus leading to fruitful results to the group as a whole and to each member of the body. References Barley, S. R. , & Kunda, G. (2001). Bringing Work Back In. Organization Science, 12(1), 78. Formanek, E. , & Sibley, D. (1991). The Group Determinant Determines the Group.Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, 112(3), 650. Parboteeah, K. P. , & Cullen, J. B. (2003). Social Institutions and Work Centrality: Explorations beyond National Culture. Organization Science, 14(2), 139. Pelled, L. H. (1996). Demographic Diversity, Conflict, and Work Group Outcomes: An Intervening Process Theory. Organization Science, 7(6), 616. Phillips, L. D. , & Phillips, M. C. (1993). Faciliated Work Groups: Theory and Pra ctice. The Journal of the Operational Research Society 44(6), 534.

Australian Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Australian Media - Essay Example The media coverage offered a concrete context for a national response to the question whether Australia should become a republic (O'Shaughnessy, pg 185). The contemporary Australian media has diversified into a more intricate operational structure and digressed from its old way of functioning. In the recent epoch, the unrestrained growth of Australian media has made it an important subject of studying if it is performing the dual job of entertaining and educating or has it streamlined its purpose to offering nothing but entertainment Like many other media industries in the world, Australian media industry is also dominated by a group of multi-billion dollar corporations which forces their will and on the various forms of Australian media like, television, radio, internet and newspaper. Television is among the most influential tools of media which forms a quasi-indispensable part of the daily life of an Australian. The cultural mingling and confluence of different external sources have a collective impact on the integrity and reverence of this audio-visual form of media in the country. Ever since mainstream professional television was launched in 1956, the broadcasters had striven to influence the lifestyle of the people. Since television is a part of the media industry, it cannot escape the general trend of this perennially lucrative industry to attract the customer with their uniqueness and fatten their profit margin. In the pursuit of making a name for itself in the media industry, the television channels try to produce shows and programs without considering much about its educative value and the type of message they are conveying. Australia has currently 6 free-to-air networks which include ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network and SBS. Considering the expanse of Australia, each of these channels covers a large region and thus has the potential to influence a bigger audience. From the people's point of view it is expected that every media industry should aim at distributing information that concerns its audience and entertain them with light-hearted shows. Be it the television or any other form of media, it is their onus to maintain the equilibrium in their content so that they do not get inclined on one aspect overlooking the other completely. ABC network has its number of channels operating all over Australia. These main government-owned TV channels seem to understand their social obligation to educate their audience and enrich them culturally. Starting from showing documentaries to critically acclaimed plays, the channels bring before the people the deeper subjects of the world. This widely broadcasted Australian channel has a proper segmentation of shows which are broadly categorized into children's adventure shows, documentaries, and talk shows with the celebrities and political stalwarts. The channels are also consistent in broadcasting religious shows along with the travelogues and wildlife shows. The edifice of success which ABC has built for itself is not based on the foundation of entertaining motive only. Some of the long running programs in Australia like, Mr Squiggle, Play School, Children's media program Behind the News, A Big Country and Music icons Countdown and rage may have the element of entertainment but they also come with an affirmative educative value. The online version of ABC

Looking at the political development of the region, what is the role Research Paper

Looking at the political development of the region, what is the role and importance of multilateral organizations such as ASEAN - Research Paper Example This was true for all irrespective of the form of rule be it monarchy, communism, military rule or democracy. ASEAN policy of constructive intervention has led to increased participation of all the countries, including Myanmar, in the regional affairs. Establishment of AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) has led to increased free trade in the region. However, AFTA is not as strong and consolidated as EU and needs further intensification. Currently ASEAN holds around 200 meetings annually2 for increasing the economic prospects within and outside the region. Even China, which is busy setting up several military base stations in within and outside the ASEAN region, is exploring every possibility to increase in trade and investment openness among other countries. However, there is a need to make the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia sharper for economic well-being of the member countries. With US biggest consumer and China the biggest producer, there will always be economic int er-dependence in the Asia Pacific region. Hence APEC could not have been only a consultative forum. All the countries in the association have adhered to an open multiparty system of trading. Though APEC includes economically stronger countries like U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada, ASEAN countries in the ASEAN-APEC group are definitely going to have competitive advantage over the others.

French BA Hons undergraduate.1. Why was there a considerable delay to Essay

French BA Hons undergraduate.1. Why was there a considerable delay to the introduction of universal suffrage in France - Essay Example The second section will provide a detailed description of the Napoleon laws and how they were regressive to women’s right. An examination of the socio political doctrines of French legislators and the dynamics that hindered women’s rights to vote including the role of the fight for power in the delay will follow. Further discussions on the limitations and lack of structured leadership of the women’s right movement will also indicate the reasons for the delay. Eventually the essay will discuss the changes in French law that allowed women to vote and contend for official positions. Daley (1994) defined suffrage as individual’s right to vote and provision of an opportunity to vote. Similarly, universal suffrage refers to extension of provision of voting rights to adult members of the society, both male and female. Daley (1994) further argued that universal suffrage is mainly intended to safeguard members of the public from being excluded in the voting process either as a voter or a candidate based on one’s religion, social class, knowledge, race and gender. France became the first country to grant universal suffrage to male citizens irrespective of their religion or race during the French revolution. The French revolution began as noble campaign by members of the Third estate who were agitating for a head count voting system as opposed to voting as parts of an estate in 1789. The fall of Bastille on July 14 1789 led to constitutional revolution that culminated to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens. Under the declaration, only white men who had attained stipulated property provisions were allowed to vote. However, in 1972, the property provision was excluded and the voting process was based on universal manhood suffrage. Alarmingly, political emancipation of French women was never achieved until 1945. Women in France voted for the first time on 29th April in 1945 during the municipal elections and for the

Statistics for managers class discussion wk12 Coursework

Statistics for managers class discussion wk12 - Coursework Example Statistical process control is used when we are interested with the effectiveness of a production process. This is because the method uses statistical formulas to predict the suitability of the production process to meet the required standards of consumers. If the number of defectives is higher than stipulated figure, then the process is considered ineffective. If we are more interested with the likelihood of goods produced meeting the threshold of consumer standards, then acceptance sampling is the best method. It uses sampling methods to predict percentage of defective goods. If the extrapolated results do not reflect the minimum specification of defectives, then the whole batch of goods is rejected. It is a faster quality control method. Acceptance sampling involves rejecting or accepting a whole population of goods based on results obtained from a sample. Inspecting a sample is faster than inspecting several samples or a whole population of

Should U.S. Military keep staying in South Korea Essay

Should U.S. Military keep staying in South Korea - Essay Example Contrary to the claims of the Bush Administration, they did not perceive of the U.S. military as a force of liberation and a symbol of freedom but as an aggressor who violated international laws through uninvited entry into a sovereign nation. While the Iraqi scenario is, arguably, typical of attitudes towards foreign military presence in a sovereign nation, the case of South Korea is somewhat different. South Korea is a sovereign nation whose sovereignty is not threatened by the U.S, military but ensured and protected through its continued presence. Despite the fact that some within South Korea are arguing in favour of the departure of the American military, the historical contribution of the U.S. military to South Korea and the role that it plays in the securitization of the nation support its continued presence. The majority of South Koreans, including President Roh and his government, are in favour of a U.S, military withdrawal from South Korea. The United States, according to Richard Halloran (2006), the military correspondent for the New York Times, is complying with the South Korean demand for withdrawal and has already begun phasing out its military forces in the country. The United States argues that its decision is based on a number of considerations. These include the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the resultant pressure they have placed on US military forces; the United States' belief that South Korea is finally in a position to assume responsibility for its own national defence; and South Korean public opinion (Halloran, 2006). Indeed, a recent public opinion poll has indicated that the majority of South Koreans are strongly in favour of U.S. military withdrawal and both the President and the government have repeatedly expressed the imperatives of U.S. military withdrawal from the country (Holloran, 2006). It is for these reasons that the United States has commenced military withdrawal from South Korea. A review of the historical contribution which the United States military has made to South Korea's stability, national security and evolution into a democratic nation supports arguments against withdrawal. The history of the US military presence in South Korea stretches back to 1945 when, at the conclusion of World War II, the American forces liberated the Korean Peninsula. As Yang, a Korean political scientist and author of North and South Korean Political Systems: A Comparative Analysis explains, prior to the American military liberation of Korea, the Peninsula had suffered 35 years of brutal Japanese military occupation. During those thirty-five years, the Japanese attempted to obliterate the Korean identity, exploited the nation and abused its population and, more importantly, completely undermined and annihilated the very notion of Korean sovereignty. While conceding to the fact that the United States hardly attempted to intervene in this situation prior to World War II, the fac t is that its eventual comprehension of the Japanese military threat motivated intervention in favour of the Korean Peninsula. Indeed, were it not for the United States' military, the Korean Peninsula is quite unlikely to have regained its sovereignty and independence as early as 1945 (Yang, 2004). In other words, US military intervention has played a profoundly constructive role in the country's history. Apart from its

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 7

Literature review - Essay Example They further state that schoolwork burden has some negative effects on test performance. Thus, according to the theory of child-centred education, students’ intrinsic motivation for learning could be developed under child-centred circumstances. The theory of â€Å"Learning for Mastery† which states that learning is a function of three variables; student cognitive entry about the need to learn, student affective entry characteristics showing the will to learn and quality of instruction where the teacher should show willingness to teach (Tang andFu, 2008, p. 505).Therefore, the quality of schoolwork completed in both child-centred and teacher-centred settings, will be analysed to compare academic performance. In this essay, the researcher will review the literature concerning three aspects of thesubject area: the issues around the definitions of child-centred and teacher-centred classrooms and the efficiency of schoolwork under both settings; the past and present contextsof acquiringChinese literacy in primary school in China; and the value of effective schoolworkfor improving children’s educational outcome in child-centred classrooms. In this regard, effective schoolwork refers to the way students can best use their study time in the hope that examination oriented teaching can be changed toward the development of an educational system that is multi-standard with the aim of alleviating burden of schoolwork (Tang and Fu, 2008). This will go a long way in improving schoolwork among the students at the primary level. The basic concept ofchild-centred teaching is that children’s physical, psychological and cognitive development should be placed at the centre of education (Doddington and Hilton, 2007). It is argued that,due to increasing anxiety about academic performance child-centred education has been replaced by teacher-centred education, which emphasises the authority of the teacher and ignores the learner’s individual

Ch 15 discussion 2 response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ch 15 discussion 2 response - Assignment Example appreciate the way you used evidence from the book to justify ways in which the Native Americans were abused against their common rights such as the violation of treaties that were made initially protect them. I believe that such actions were not fair then and cannot be considered fair if they happen today. Whiles selecting the tribes for discussion, you paid homage to a tribe whose activities has been the foundation of America’s agricultural value till date and that is the Anasazi Indians. I believe that agriculture has remained an important part of America and its growth cannot be overlooked today. You opine that the value given to jewelry be reduced but I would differ with you on this. My reason is that value is not given to jewelry merely for its ornamental qualities but for the economic value it gives to our economy and so instead of abandoning it, we should rather look at ways of engaging in healthy mining. Under no circumstance can someone claiming the property of another person be regarded as right and so I agree perfectly with you on the position that the Native Americans were treated unfairly because the Whites took their lands from them

How to build brand synergy among the integrated marketing Research Paper

How to build brand synergy among the integrated marketing communication elements to deliver an effective and consistent message to consumers - Research Paper Example 6). Protecting and promoting the brand in therefore very important. However, it can be challenging given the relative ease with which it can be copied and the fierce competition in an increasingly technologically sophisticated market place (Johnson and Myatt 2003, 749). Building brand synergy among the integrated marketing communications can be particularly tricky. This is because, today there is a wealth of media technology facilitating communications globally. For marketing managers the problem therefore turns on attempting to ensure brand integrity locally while simultaneously cultivating synergy globally (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2009). This means ensuring that marketing brands must be coordinated among the integrated marketing communication elements in such a way as to deliver an effective and consistent message to consumers. In marketing products the focus must be on ensuring that brands maintain the same quality in terms of substance and packaging. In the service industry, branding is attached to the business rather than the product (Berry 2000, p. 128). As brands have the potential to clutter, confuse and crowd the market, building synergy is entirely important since there is an intense â€Å"proliferation of products, brands and sub-brands† in the market place (Aaker 2004, p. 6). Branding has entered a new phase in the international business environment and permeates local markets as a natural consequence. With the advances in modern technology particularly with respect to telecommunications have changed the way that businesses are required to coordinate brand promotion and protection. Moreover, competition is becoming increasingly fierce (Cravens, Piercy and Prentice 2000, 369). Businesses are therefore taking steps to become what is characterized as â€Å"smart environments† (Raman and Naik 2006, p. 381). It is therefore important to study how the new

Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay Example for Free

Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay In this task I will be looking at various business practices in any area of activity and explain how those actions have an effect on society as a whole, the areas of activity I will be discussing in this report are: Ethics in finance, e.g. bribery Ethics in human resource management e.g. discrimination Ethics in production, e.g. animal testing Ethics in sales and marketing, e.g. spamming Ethics in intellectual property, e.g. software privacy I will also be investigating how my chosen business Timberland considers these issues and addresses them. The Timberland company was set up in 1955 by the Swartz family. Originally a shoe store based in Abington, Massachusetts the small family business has grown into one of the most easily recognisable brands of modern times. Since its inception in 1955, be it either under the Abington shoe company brand name or under the Timberland company brand name, one thing has remained the same, its business Code of Ethics Charter. Timberland Code of Ethics Charter Timberland has a site dedicated to their beliefs of ethics and explains what is expected of their employees and what consumers should expect from Timberland as a business regarding ethics. Their mission statement reads, We believe the honest and ethical conduct of our employees is an essential prerequisite to our success as a company. There is a direct relationship between the code of conduct of the company and the employees, and the attainment of our corporate missions and goals. Maintaining the highest standard of ethical behaviour is consistent with our core values of Humanity, Humility, Integrity and Excellence. Area of Activity: Ethics in Finance In regards to ethics, when most people think of ethics they think of various scandals and illegal trading which appears to be ever present in the news such as insider trading, bribery, lobbying and executive pay. Some of the more recent unethical actions which have happened are the MPs expenses scandal which occurred in mid 2009 and the banking crisis which started in late 2008. This is a concern for ethics as individuals want to know who they are doing business with and if they can trust them, for example If a business is accused of being unethical because they bribed a member of parliament in order to gain an unfair advantage over competitors so they could evade paying a certain amount of tax or VAT then not only are they giving themselves a bad name but they are also ruining the reputation of their business associates and partners who may decide they no longer wish to provide their service to that business in order to save their own credibility. NEED TO WRITE AN INTRODUCTION EXPLAINING WHY THIS AREA IS A CONCERN FOR ETHICS.CHECK YOUR NOTES! There are several key areas where ethics can be questioned in terms of finance and these include: * Insider trading is the illegal trading, buying or selling of corporate stock based on information received which has not been made public and is supposed to remain confidential; insider trading is a common law broken by employees. The Timberland Company set up its Code of Ethics Charter to provide assurance to its customers but also to provide guidelines to employees so that they can clearly understand what is expected of them from the business. The Timberland Code of Ethics Charter clearly states that the securities laws set up within the business strictly prohibits insider trading and tells employees what to do if they are in doubt as to what information can be shared and what to do if they are in any doubt as to what information can be shared and what information must remain private. Employees and directors may not trade in or even recommend company stock whilst in possession of any information. Timberlands insider trading policy applies to all employees and directors. * Bribery is a form of corruption in which an individual or business may offer a payment or gift to a person in a position of trust in order to gain an unfair advantage over other competitors. On the 20th of July 2010 the UK ministry of Justice announced that a new, modern and comprehensive bribery act will be brought into force in April 2011. The new act replaces the existing legislation known as the Prevention of Corruptions Act of 1889 1916. The Timberland Companys general principles, Code of Ethics Charter and compliance guidelines state their policy on bribery is that they are not permitted in any circumstances and that they believe a bribe can be anything from a simple gift or an undercover payment. Their general principles also state that any individuals suspected of accepting or being involved in bribery in anyway will be held accountable in a court of law and will be dealt with by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. BRIBERY NEED TO DISCUSS * Executive pay is the financial compensation paid to an executive official within an organisation, most executives would receive their basic salary along with added incentives such as share options, annual bonuses, salary rises and pension schemes. Many employees in a business may feel disheartened by the gulf in salary between them and their chief executive, especially in the middle of a recession as the public are being made more and more aware of the bonuses many executives are receiving whilst other employees are being made redundant. Many people regard this to be unethical as it is taking money away from a bunch of employees and putting it into the pocket of one executive who may not even work as hard as the individuals who may be regarded as below them in the hierarchal structure of the business. Recent news reports suggest that the new chief executive of the bank Barclays Bob Diamond is in line to receive a bonus of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8million despite only being in the job for just 9 days, the story so far has caused outrage amongst Barclays employees who feel the money should be given to existing employees or pumped back into the economy. The Timberland Company dont currently have any publicly viewable policies or corporate guidelines regarding executive pay. EXECUTIVE PAY NEED TO DISCUSS * Lobbying is a form of corruption when a business will use personal contacts, peer pressure, public pressure or political action in order to persuade a politician to make a decision which will benefit the business. Currently lobbying is not illegal which means it is easy for big multi national organisations to get away with changing legislation to benefit them but affected their competitors if they have the right connections to the right people in power. The Timberland Companys policy on lobbying is that no director, executive, officer or manager has the authority to breach or violate any government law in any country that Timberland operates in, nor may they engage in any activity that involves benefiting one individual party whilst others dont have the opportunity to. LOBBYING NEED TO DISCUSS Area of Activity: Ethics in Human Resource Management Human resource management is the management of the workforce of a business to ensure sufficient staff levels with the right skills that are properly motivated and equally rewarded. The human resource department is one of the key elements in Timberlands organisational structure, without it the business would be an inefficient, unproductive business which manufactured sub standard products. The human resource department in the Timberland Company is responsible for overseeing a variety of issues such as contract of employment violations and employee problems and queries. The human resource department of Timberland recently put into place the Fair and Equal Treatment Policy. The policy was designed to promote fairness in the workplace. The code clearly states that no factory employee be disciplined through corporal punishment, harassed, abused or run the risk of employee retribution on the basis of expressing grievances predicted on the violations of basic human rights. To promote equality, Timberlands code prohibits status discrimination based upon race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion or for any other reason. When a candidate is applying for a job and is invited for an interview it is important that Timberland act ethically and treat every individual candidate fairly and equally, they must not discriminate against any candidate in any way, shape or form regarding their age, race, colour, ethnicity, sex, religion or political views. In order to remain as ethical as possible Timberland should look to tweak their recruitment process so that they can ensure no individual candidates will feel targeted throughout the recruitment process and that all the personal information gathered from the candidates remains as confidential as possible. Many employers give applicants various tick boxes to fill in on their application forms, the only answer which appears on every question that candidates can tick is the answer would rather not to say. This cuts down on discrimination as employers can not make pre judgements on any candidates based on the information received in their application which may help the candidate to be successful at their attempt to get the job. To date Timberland has yet to be accused of discrimination, this is due to the high levels of transparency within the business an Timberlands attempts to broaden consumers awareness of what Timberland is trying to achieve as a business and what it is planning corporately. One of the most growing concerns amongst employees is workplace surveillance through CCTV footage, internet activity and email monitoring. Many businesses now offer their own dedicated email service which allows employees to communicate with one another through email rather than passing memos to one another. Although this may seem like the business is offering something positive to the employees, many believe there is a hidden agenda behind it. The administrators who monitor the email service can also go through the individual emails of every employee registered to the service and can view every email without the employee even knowing. Many people argue that this is an invasion of privacy and that employers shouldnt be allowed to pay attention to every aspect of the employees working life however employers argue that it is up to the employee if they wish to work in that environment and it is not a requirement for the employee to sign up for the email service and should not use the email service for personal use. Some businesses tend to overstep the boundaries and may do things which may not seem ethically correct such as firing employees for matters that did not happen during working hours or do not affect the business. An example of this is when 16 year old Kimberly Swann was dismissed from her post at Ivell Marketing Logistics after three weeks of employment for describing her office job as boring on the social networking site Facebook. Steve Ivell of Ivell Marketing Logistics said the decision was made to dismiss Kimberly because she had shown disrespect to her employer and her dissatisfaction undermined her relationship with the business which made it untenable. Many people agreed with Kimberly Swanns response to the statement made by her former employer that she shouldnt be persecuted for a throw away comment made after a tiring day at the office for a 16 year old. Ms. Swann believes that what her former employer did was unethical and she shouldnt have been dismissed for something which happened out of work hours and was written on her personal page whilst in her own time on her personal computer. You also need to discuss the ethical concerns that some have in regards to recruitment. What must Timberland ensure they do to ensure fairness in recruitment (use you unit 13 notes, e.g. same interviews questions, balanced interview panel, etc.) Has Timberland been accused of discrimination in recruitment? If not, include a business which has! You also need to discuss the concerns some have about the increasing level of workplace surveillance why are people concerned? Use the Facebook example we discussed in class! Area of Activity: Ethics in Production The production process involves transferring a range of inputs into the outputs desired by the target market. The production process requires two main resources; the transforming resources and the transformed resources. Transforming resources include the building where the product is manufactured, machinery, computers and employees. The transformed resources are the raw materials which compose the end product. To make sure that their production process is ethical a business must look at a range of issues such as: * Genetically modified food Many food producing companies in the US have come under heavy criticism for modifying their products without informing customers. One of the more recent cases was Monsanto An agricultural company which helps farmers develop new technology and produce better quality crop was charged by the California Northern District Court with for producing low quality crop which was to be distributed to countries which forbid the growing of genetically modified crops. Although no charges were ever made against the company, it was a wake up call to other businesses that their practices are being closely monitored and scrutinised. However they argue that in order to protect the food from insects, parasites, weed and unfriendly bacteria it must be genetically modified so that they arent attracted to it in anyway. By keeping the insects away there will be more crop which means more money for the farmers however many people believe this is an unethical tactic used by farmers to get as much money as possible and that the GM food could contain harmful viruses or diseases. you need to tell me what it is and why some believe it is unethical * Product testing on animals Many people believes this to be the biggest argument regarding ethics believing that it is wrong for businesses to use defenceless animals who do not share the same genes and DNA as humans to test their products on. A counter argument to this statement is that in order for scientists to find cures to medical diseases there must be some way for them to be able to test the products without using illegal methods such as trialling them on humans. One of the strongest and most controversial arguments raised from this topic is that why do people believe it to be wrong to test cosmetic products on animals but not medical products which could potentially hurt or even kill them. Timberland have issued numerous press releases stating that they in no way support animal testing nor do they practice it themselves and that 80% of raw materials they use for their products is recycled with plans to use recycled materials 100% on all of their products by 2014. you need to explain what it means, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Planned Obsolescence Planned Obsolescence is when a business deliberately design a product which can be sold to the public with a few flaws and can be improved in an upgraded model which will be sold again to the public at a later stage. An example of this is Apples iphone. The first iphone was released on the 29th of June 2007. The original model could ring, send and receive text messages, send and receive email messages, browse the internet with a wifi connection and users could download custom applications. One of the flaws of the original model was the camera didnt have a flash and the internet wasnt fast enough when users didnt have access to a wifi connection. The iphone 3g was then released a year later to succeed the original iphone, the difference between the two models was that now users could access the internet almost anywhere thanks to the 3g connectivity but the camera still lacked flash, optical zoom, auto focus and didnt support video recording. Apple have released a new and improved model of the iphone annually since the launch of their first iphone and released the iphone 4 on the 24th of June 2010. The fourth instalment of the apple iphone was now fully equipped to do everything users could ask for ranging from the internet issues to a new and improved 5 mega pixel camera which supported HD video recording, had digital zoom and had an LED flash. you need to explain what it means with an example, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Environmental ethics some questions are raised about how ethical products are produced in terms of the environment. The Timberland Company take this seriously and have introduced the Green index in 2007, a unique calculating tool which can measure the impact manufacturing their boots has on the environment and allows customers to see the carbon footprint Timberland creates. In 2008 Timberland expanded the Green Index programme to include the carbon footprint created from the entire range of Timberland products. Area of Activity: Ethics in Sales and Marketing Businesses such as Timberland manufacture a variety of products and are constantly updating them in order to keep the attention of their audience and maintain its market share. Sometimes a business may decide to use unethical methods to help boost sales and raise the company profile. Some of the unethical techniques a business may use include slandering other businesses or even providing false information when promoting and selling products. In 2001 the supermarket Tesco was charged by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for misleading its customers. Tesco mislead its customers on price comparisons, comparing the prices of rival business Sainsburys with its own prices however the prices shown for Tesco products were all on a discounted promotion at the time but were not at Sainsburys. However, the main types of unethical activities in terms of sales and marketing are: * Product Placement Sometimes a business may decide to place their product in a television programme or in a movie, this is known as subliminal advertising . It is the easiest way for businesses to expose their products to customers without their knowledge. However it can be expensive, some producers may charge the business more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1million for their product to be in front of the camera for just a few seconds or even mentioned as part of the dialogue in a script for just one sentence in the entire film. Some consumers believe this to be unethical as people who pay money to go to the cinema do not wish to view a hidden advertisement during their film and have no choice but to sit and watch throughout the entire film. People who watch television at home may not like watching adverts and would rather flick through different channels whilst waiting for their original programme to come back on than sit and watch four minutes of advertising. Whilst agreeing the terms and conditions for TV licensing one of the key points the BBC agreed to was to no advertising and no product placement so rather than advertising products at the end of a programme, the BBC will just advertise its own upcoming programmes and its programmes rather than referring to or showing the brand name of a product such as mobile phone, they will just show the phone itself with the brand name hidden. Timberland have used product placement in various television programmes and films such as in the heist film TAKERS. All of the actors involved in robbing from the bank never mentioned any brands of the clothes they were wearing but were constantly referring to their Timberland boots and how they were the best for the job. The Timberland Company have confirmed that they did agree to the actors mentioning their product but did not ask them to continually mention them to get the viewers attention. People may still view this as unethical as although it was the film producers who approached Timberland, they still had the option of rejecting the offer. GOOD CRITIQUE! * Greenwashing Green washing can be defined as the act of misleading consumers or being untruthful about the environmental practices of a company, or the environmental benefits of a product or service. A business may choose to use this technique in order to attract more customers and appeal to a wider market. The Timberland Company have a full website dedicated to explaining its views on ethics and have set out four pillars which are updated annually and analysed regularly to ensure all targets are met. If any of these were found to be incorrect, this would be an example of green-washing. * Spamming in business this is where a company may often send various newsletters and promotional emails to somebody who has never signed up to the newsletters and often do not wish to receive the newsletters and updates because of the volume of emails being received. Businesses that do use this method often use a false email address which can not be replied to or blocked. Many businesses say they only use this method to gain the attention of potential customers and promote their products and services. Many people believe this is unethical as the recipient of the spam email has not agreed to receive the junk email and have no alternative but to ignore and delete all emails which they suspect to be junk or spam that clog up their email account. Spam emails are regarded as a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 as the only way a business can obtain the email addresses of customers is through purchasing them from other businesses with the consumers consent. Area of Activity: Ethics in intellectual property Intellectual property law gives people the rights to their own creations such as ideas, concepts, videos or music sounds. The most common way people protect their intellectual property is through copyrights, patents and trademarks. Ethical issues which arise from intellectual property are: * Counterfeiting A counterfeit is a forged copy of a product or brand name with the intent to deceiving people. The counterfeiter copies the original idea of a product or service and alters it slightly to either pass it off as their own or to deceive people into believing it is genuine. Tesco have been accused on numerous occasions of selling counterfeit versions of products from top designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and have faced numerous court cases and legal action. * Piracy Piracy is the unauthorised copying and distributing of a product. Reproducing a product without the consent of its original creator is illegal and can lead to a large fine and a jail sentence. An example of piracy sharing is online peer to peer programs such as Limewire. For years Limewire was used by millions of people to share illegal products with one another rather than obtaining them legally which caused many people to lose money such as musicians, film producers, computer programmers. Eventually enough evidence was put together to charge the creators of Limewire who were subsequently fined, jailed and had their peer to peer sharing software shut down permanently. Piracy is a growing concern and is becoming a losing battle for prosecutors as many websites which stream illegally sourced movies and songs are being shut down and are back live again under a similar name on a new server within an hour. Implications If a business chooses to ignore the ethical concerns of its customers then they are giving themselves a negative image and gain negative publicity and bad press which will cause them to lose money and drive away customers. Every business must make sure it listens to and takes into consideration the different corporate and environmental implications in order to ensure their popularity is maintained and attract more customers. Corporate implications are to do with the day to day running of a business looking at the corporate social responsibility policies, employee hiring and firing, consumer protection and managing suppliers. The Timberland Company have a clear Code of Ethics Charter which is available to all employees, investors, potential customers, potential investors and general members of the public. Their charter was set up to show employees and partners and future partners what Timberland is trying to achieve ethically as a business. Environmental implications are ethical issues which affect the environment such as pollution, recycling, using renewable sources and water conservation. Timberland have become very environmentally ethical since 2006 and have created a whole new line of products created solely from recycled products using renewable energy. Timberland also has a website detailing their four pillars which they have built their organisational structure around, the four pillars are : Energy : Becoming carbon neutral Products : Design products for recyclability Workplaces : Fair, safe and non-discriminatory workplaces Service : Community greening Conclusion In conclusion I believe that in order for a business to be truly ethical it must take into consideration all environmental and corporate implications and analyse their business practices before truly declaring themselves as an ethical business. Bibliography http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105954p=irol-govConduct http://www.rightrespect.com/2010/07/29/right-respect-best-practices-timberland/ http://finance.mapsofworld.com/business/ethics.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/csr/csr,default,pg.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/green-index/environ_green_index,default,pg.html http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theoryproduction-process254.php http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_2001_Dec_20/ai_81515662/ http://newscdn.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/business/102177.stm http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/software_piracy.html http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/bribery-bill.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7914415.stm

Impact of Reality Shows on Younger Generation

Impact of Reality Shows on Younger Generation Jump to: Research Methodology | Research Background | Research Data | Results Analysis | Conclusion and Recommendations With the successful completion of the Sirasa Super Star Session 1 most of Sri Lankan television channels started airing various kinds of reality programs. The organizers identified that these programs can easily raise the popularity of the television channels and above all the main aim of organising such events is the money which generating behind the screen. One of the main features of such shows that proliferated in the recent past across the television channels is the active participation of celebrities in varied capacities viz; presenters are judgers. Usually organisers of such events take greater care to stage such events in a more planned, colourful and in a dramatic manner, so as to attract all the age groups in the society. Due to the tough competition prevailing among the television channels to win the viewers, innovations and differentiation has become key words to stay ahead in the reality business. Producers seems trying introducing various types of programmes but it is not hard to find those so called innovated programs happens to be just the carbon copies of American, European or the Indian reality shows. Due to this lacuna in originality these programs might not be suitable to the Sri Lanka culture as these programmes have been germinated with features related to the American or European culture. Under this light it can be posited that nowadays reality shows are adversely effecting the educational and social development of our younger generation because predominantly the spectators found to be consisted with this social group. CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AIM The aim of this paper is to highlight the effect of reality programs on the younger generation in the light of their social and educational development. PROBLEM STATEMENT Does the Sri Lankan younger generation is addicted to the reality programs due to the glamour and popularity of such programmes and will it effect the social and educational development of the younger generation of the Sri Lankan society? RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Reality programs are adversely effecting the educational and social development of the younger generation in the Sri Lankan society. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of this research is to gather the views and ideas of public regarding reality programs and to measure its effect on our younger generation. GENERAL OBJECTIVE To find out the reasons behind reality shows become so popular among the Sri Lankan viewers and to discover which age groups are more prone to be attractive to these programmes. Furthermore, to surface effects if any by the broadcasting reality shows on social and educational development of the Sri Lankan Society. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To determine the reasons behind the popularity of reality programs among the Sri Lankan viewers. To obtain a better understanding about the financial benefits offered to the competitors and the spectators by the organisers and also to learn about the huge amount of money that circulating behind the screen. To find out true intensions of the organizers with regard to the facilitation the youths to enhance their talents, bringing talented youths to the limelight, making available monitory benefits and how the organizers (TV channels) intend to be benefited by reality programmes. To comment about the true potential of created Stars to remain bright in the show business sustaining the popularity over their contemporary traditional artists. To comment how will be the judges are qualified to judge the competitors fairly and to comment on the process of selecting the winners by the viewers through the medium of Telephones, SMS and post cards. METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION Data collection methods are as follows. a. Primary Sources. Primary source of information will be gathered by interviewing selected groups of people. A questionnaire will be administered to the following respondents. i. School Teachers ii. Doctors iii. Parents iv. Officers in No 33 JCC representing Tri Forces v. University Students vi. School A/L Students b. Secondary Source. Secondary source of information will be the related books, paper articles, web articles, library sources and relevant databases. THE STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER The thesis is structured as follows a. CHAPTER I This Chapter will cover the Introduction. b. CHAPTER II This Chapter will cover the Methodology. c. CHAPTER III This chapter will covers the background of reality programs which are airing in Sri Lankan television channels. d. CHAPTER IV This Chapter will cover the data which collected through the questionnaire. e. CHAPTER V This Chapter will cover the data which collected through questionnaire and analyzes them accordingly f. CHAPTER VI Conclusion. CHAPTER 3: BACKGROUND OF RESEARCH Reality programs are genre of television programming that presents supposedly unscripted dramatic or entertaining situations, events, competitions and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors and the significant is the program is manipulating by a popular star  [1]  . This kind of reality programs are commonly called reality shows and often they are produced in series. Documentaries and non fictional programming such as news and sports shows are usually not classified as reality shows. Reality television frequently portrays a modified and highly influenced form of reality, utilizing sensationalism to attract viewers and so to generate advertising profits. Participants are often placed in exotic locations or abnormal situations, and are sometimes coached to act in specific scripted ways by off-screen story editors or segment producers, with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through editing and other post-production techniques  [2]  . Till the time all these reality programs were recognized as huge profit making exercise behind the screen and which were helping to raise the popularity of television channels. The present nature of reality shows are started in American television channels, the most successful one was American Ideal and this was become very famous all around the world. Later it was spread among some other countries with their own identities such as, Australia, England, China, Japan and our neighbour country India too. Sirasa TV is in the pioneer among the Sri Lankan television channels to air the reality shows. This has stemmed from their vision to present new energetic televisions programs to the Sri Lankan television society. General opinion held by the public of this country is that Sirasa television always comes with a different style or sometimes may be very peculiar programs which may give an impressive experience to the Sri Lankan spectators who are already bored with watching monotonous television programs. Sirasa TV introduced the new culture in TV entertainment through mega tele drama to the Sri Lankan Society deviating away from traditional tele-dramas. Initially those tele-dramas were Indian origin and subtitled or dubbed in Sinhala language (e.g. Shanthi the Indian mega tele-drama dubbed in Sinhala). The regular Hindi lovers in the Sri Lankan society may embrace these tele-dramas. The popularity of the mega tele-dramas were increased in many folds with the introduction of mega tele-dramas with a Sri Lankan touch but based on Indian lifestyle and later themes and style shifted to be in line with the traditional Sri Lankan context. The statistics shows spectators flocked to-gether with the Sirasa TV each day during the hours between 2000hrs to 2200hrs to see their favourite tele-dramas in Ran Depaya which telecasted both Indian and Sri Lankan four mega tele-dramas within two hour period in the week days. Tele dramas of Hindi origin but dubbed in sinhala such as Mahagedara, Chiththi and Praveena and also the tele-dramas with Singhalese themes but produced in Indian style such as Wasuda and Kindurangana were equally became popular among Sri Lankan viewers. Observing the grand success achieved by Sirasa TV all the other television channels had to face the challenge of regaining their lost popularity. As a counter strategy other TV channels were also opted to follow the leaders path. Hence, almost all other TV stations started to telecast mega tele-drams in their channels and some channels like Independence Television Network (ITN) become more successful than Sirasa TV since they managed to capture the taste of Sri Lankans with Sri Lankan style dramas instead of Indian dramas. Indian style Sinhala dramas also helped to boost up the popularity of the TV channel. As examples Batti, Mutu Kirilli Paba became very famous among the viewers. This series of Mega Tele-dramas were the last of the production list as produces witnessed a mark decline in popularity for such entertainment. When the time passes these Mega tele-dramas become more burdensome for the viewers and they understood that the substances of most of these stories were same, monotonous and meaning less. Because of the endless and prolonged nature of these dramas, story had to be changed aimlessly suiting to the production difficulties ignoring the viewers needs and wants. Above all busy schedules of the working class caused to refuse these programs gradually but surely. When the viewers are receding away from mega tele-dramas TV stations were forced to change their strategies to win the crowd. The requirement of the day was to innovate entertainment programmes that ensure a different experience to the tired mega tele-drama viewers. Again being the pioneer of presenting new experience to the viewers, Sirasa TV found out the solution to this. They presented an energetic, dramatic and curious program to the viewers named as Sirasa Super Star Session I, a singing competition. That was the gateway to Sri Lankan viewers to enter into the world of reality shows. The Sirasa Super Star Session I is the most successful first reality program produced by the Sirasa TV which based on a singing contest among general applicants. Because of its attractiveness and dramatic way of presenting it became vary famous among the viewers. Furthermore, because of that program telecasted during the weekend, it became ideal way of spending weekend for the people those who fed up working through week days and this has become real entertainment during weekends. Viewers found that they no longer required being bond to mega tele-dramas during the whole weekdays. Because of the popularity and financial benefits acquired by the Sirasa TV they started second session of the same program soon after the first. Mean time the other television channels also did some experiments on same reality programs and after achieving success they were ventured out to experiment more different types of reality programs and most of them again became very successful. Some times Derana TV a nd Swarnavahini were at the peak of popularity than Sirasa TV. Some of the Reality programs aired by each channels are attached to this as Annex B POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THESE PROGRAMS BECOME VERY POPULAR AMONG OTHER PROGRAMS. Locations and Stages. Normally these programs are being filmed at very attractive, colourful stages or locations or peculiar places such as ships, boats, gardens and famous hotels instead of using traditional stages. These stages are preparing in a very attractive style by spending huge amount of money due to the competition among each other. Utilization of modern technology for the stages decorations, filming and airing generally are at a higher standard and the quality is increasing day by day. Dress and appearance. During the final stages of competition the organizers are having tendency to change the appearance of the competitors. This is done by changing dresses, hair styles and doing characteristic changes. Some times all the competitors are wearing same type of dresses according to the gender but keeping unique identity of the competitors. Some times they completely change the characters such as while male is dressed as woman and female is dressed as male. Sometimes they dressed as cartoon characters and may as jokers. The dress of the day may decided by the art director which related to the particular entertainment or the event of the day. Empirical evidences shows that they changed the days dress of competitors according to the singing competition or the style of the songs or the era of the original song which sung by the first singer. In some programs like Derana Shadow Stars, the competitors are dressed up as the professional characters without any single change. However both the competitors and the organizers were blamed and criticised by the public regarding the improper dress selections of Sirasa Kumario ,Derana Kumario and loving Stars programs. In this programs the competitors and organizers were blamed that the young girls who were exposing the body in an unwanted way and which were not suitable to the society specially the children viewers. But this method of present was given a boosting popularity among the teenagers specially the men and majority of the others also accepted but not shown their consent openly. Dramatic way of presenting The most attractive feature of this kind of reality programs are the dramatic way of presenting. This dramatic style is a new experience for the Sri Lankan viewers and it is the most successful feature which supporting to these programs becomes very popular among the public. This unscripted dramatic or entertaining situation touches the hearts of viewers and they automatically become emotional and some times they wouldnt believe or like to believe the reality of the situation. The emotions feels to a competitor after loose or win can be feel even the viewers and they also become the part of that programs. During final stages the organizers are planning to take the competitors to their hometowns and giving a good publicity through media and make them to be welcomed by the people of their hometowns, sometimes these events may pre planned. The organizers make the viewers to become a participant of the program and make them to feel that the voting through SMSs is a responsibility of them and to be with their countryman till the end and make him as the winner by their SMS votes. Involvement of famous personal and stars as program announcers and masters of the ceremonies. Famous characters such as Film stars, Dancers, Singers or Politicians are taking part as the program announcers, Judges or as conductors of the program which is a significant feature in reality programs. Some times they take part in the judging panel and some times judges participating in the event may not have any relevance to the particular field or may not have any experience in that particular field. The popularity is rising up remarkably because of the participation of these people. Some examples for that are attached to this as Annex C. These kinds of programs are doing a commendable role to take out the talented Sri Lankan younger generation, those who does not having opportunity or financial support, to come out or highlight their talents. The experience is the most valuable intangible value that can gain by the competitors. Other than that popularity, good repetition in the society, identification in particular fields and opportunities are also intangible values that they can gain. Considering tangible values and financial values are at the peak and other than that other presents such as vehicles and properties and other gifts sometimes exceeds the value beyond the expectations of the participants. The Sirasa Super stars is at the cliff of presenting huge financial values to the competitors. Swarnavahini also has gained recognition as generous giver to the winners among other channels. MONEY EARNING METHODS Reality programs have been identified as most lucrative programs in the Sri Lankan society which high profits can be assured by spending less. There are lots of methods that the organizers earning money through these programs and the methods of organizing these competitions with a lowest cost. SMS Campaign In this reality programs the viewers also doing a vital role as the competitors. They are actively participating to these programs by sending their consent or the vote for a particular competitor while sending SMSs or calling to the dedicated hotlines. Sending a SMS or calling to dedicated hotlines is an effective method to attracting and bonding the viewers to the programme since they are convincing that they also being a part of the programme. Mean time it can be defined as utilization of modern communication technology to attract the people to take part of these programs. For this process all the Sri Lankan telecom providers participated and they introduced their own methods for sending SMSs and calling to dedicated hotlines to facilitate viewers. This is one of the profits gaining mechanism of reality programs. But only few of viewers know the cost they spending for a single SMS may be five times than normal SMS charges (Normal SMS Charges for Ea. Rs 1.00 and Reality show SMS Charges for Ea. Rs 10.00)  [3]  . This amount charging for single SMS is dividing between both the Organizing authority and the telecommunication provider. For facilitating this service to the viewers, the entire telecommunication providers in Sri Lanka had allocated special hotlines and hotline numbers for each program separately and introduced various types of formats and methods to sending SMSs and giving consent to the competitors since this is a good profitable mechanism for them. Further some other organizations also encouraging their customers to participate these programs. As example NDB has promoted their account holders that to win a chance of Rs 25,000.00 by sending SMSs to the Sirasa Super Stars. Advertisements Charging for advertisements which are airing during the reality programs telecasting time is also one of the money earning mechanism for the organizers (Television Canals or media sponsors). Ex: During Sirasa super Stars session 3 final day a thirty second advertisement were cost to rupees 600,000.00 Selling of songs, videos and photographs of stars. This is also one of a profitable business for the organizers. They sell the songs, which became popular during competitions, videos of special events and photographs of popular characters, stars or special events since the organizers are the dictator rights of the ownership of the program. In this case due to their whole authority the profits may be directly benefited to the organizers. Musical shows and displays of stars to the public. Since the agreements and bonds which are signed by the stars, they automatically becoming real mallets of the organizers. This type of outdoor activities are arranging for the purpose gain popularity for the program and for financial benefits. ARRANGING REALITY PROGRAMS WITH A MINIMUM COST TO BEARING UP BY THE ORGANIZERS. Arranging of this kind of reality show is huge money consuming task than a normal program. Because to get the attraction of people and competitors the organizers have to arrange these programs with mega prizes, attractive locations sometimes may overseas film shooting, attractive and different kinds of fashioned costumes and jewelleries, famous personal to lead the programs and for judging panels, cosmetics and dressing and attractive stages and luxury vehicles. To provide these facilities and come out with a successful presentation is a huge task for a single organizer. To overcome those difficulties the organizers are gathering sponsors to fulfil the above requirements. By sponsoring for these reality shows the sponsors also having opportunity to introduce and make attention of their products to the viewers. The business market that the sponsors are targeting can automatically be achieved through the programs because the majority of viewers are being teenagers. Some of the companie s sponsoring for the programs are as follows: Locations : Famous Hotels in Sri Lanka Cosmetics and dressing : Janet cosmetics and Natures secrets Jewelleries : Stone and strings Dresses : Mondy, Wills, Hamedia, Saree Mandir, Nolimit Vehicles : AMW and United Mortars Official Drinks : Pure Beverages and Elephant House Official Bank : NDB DOES THE JUDGE PANELS ARE BEING QUALIFIED ENOUGH TO PERFORM THEIR DUTIES? General question comes out with at the end of the program that the viewers that the judge panel are being qualified enough to judge the competitors. In some programs the judges were selected considering only the popularity they obtained in the society and they done their duties completely out of their relative subjects. Sometimes a well qualified dancer is in the judge panel of singing competition and some times a well qualified singer is judging a dancing competition. Sometimes performance of some judges are become real entertainment to both competitors and viewers but the problem is can they given a fair decision to the competitor without having sufficient knowledge about particular subject to choose the correct person for the next round. This type of trick is done by the organizers to attract viewers but the competitors are suffering from their incapable decisions  [4]  . FUTURE OF THE STARS Because of the recognition given in a limited time period and lack of experience some competitors are unable to identify their weak points they might be overconfident of their talents. After become a star in one night they dont have any idea to maintain their flow and they dont have clear forward vision since their recognition has achieved without any sacrifice or effort. Also these stars becoming popular among the viewers by imitating professionals. As examples in singing competition the competitors are imitating the songs which were sung by professionals and in a comedy program they are imitating the professionals. So at the end of the reality program the stars are recognize by the viewers from imitated presentations and the viewers may actually loves for the original owner of that presentation, may not for the competitor. Another factor is these stars are charging high charges from Rupees 25000.00 to 50000.00 to sing 4 or 5 songs for a musical show and the professionals are charging Rupees 5000.00 to maximum 20000.00 for the same.  [5]   Sponsoring for these high charges of the Stars for social events may bear up the Sri Lankans those who are being abroad or the wealthy social events take place in Sri Lanka. But in outdoor activities in Sri Lanka local sponsors may not willing to bear up this high charges of stars since the Sri Lankan outdoor market is earning less profits and even the indoor activities spectators may not willing to pay high charges for entrance tickets. REALITY PROGRAMS AND ITS EFFECT OF OUR YOUNGER GENERATION Most of the reality programmes are very attractive and presenting in a decent style to the audience. Some of the programmes are actually imparting knowledge to the viewers especially for the younger generation. As example Punchi Pahe MaÅ„ Sri Lankan Life Derana Real Leader etc.. EFFECT ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION Because of the competition among the television channels the organizers are trying to implement different type of reality programmes and sometimes with or without intention they are violating Sri Lankan ethics and norms due to high competition among each other. As examples Sirasa Kumariya and Derana Kumariya programme were blamed by the general public that the organizers are intentionally selecting unethical dresses which unnecessarily exposes the body of the girls and sometimes they are appearing to the programme wearing swimming suit or wetted cloths which indirectly showing body curves to the public in an unethical way. Another example the organizers of Swarnawahini Loving Star programme was blamed because some events are unethical and which are not suitable for the Sri Lankan society and some of the events of that programme were giving wrong ideas to the younger generation. Due to displeasure of the general public especially the elders that programme was stopped after completing only one session. EFFECT ON EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION These programmes are airing usually after 1830 Hrs to 2200Hrs  [6]  and that time is commonly known as the ideal study time for the students. But due to addicting to these programmes the younger generation is spending their valuable study time for education some times because of the addiction of the parents to these programmes it may disturb to the children those who are engaging studies during these time period. CHAPTER 4:  DATA The required data was collected through a questionnaire and under mentioned groups were questioned through the questionnaire. Numbers of forty five people sample among the general public were selected randomly under the following heads. a. School Teachers b. Doctors c. Parents d. Officers in No 33 JCC representing Armed Forces e. University Students f. School A/L Students 52. The data which are collected through questionnaire and were re structure according to the under mentioned age groups. a. Age below 20 years (13People/ School Students) b. Age between 21 to 30 years. (8 People/Majority is University Students) c. Age between 31 to 40 years. (11 People/Majority is Armed forces Officers) d. Age above 40 years (13 People/Parents) 53. Among the questions in the questionnaire, under mentioned questions were selected and data analyzed with respected to the questions and age groups are as follows. Question No 9:  Do you think reality programs (Such as Sirasa Super Star/Comedy Star/Dream Star/ Little Star/ Sirasa Kumariya/Shadow Star etc) are badly affecting to the social development of our younger generation? Question No 10:  Do you think reality programs (Such as Sirasa Super Star/Comedy Star/Dream Star/ Little Star/ Sirasa Kumariya/Shadow Star etc) are badly affecting to the educational development of our younger generation? Question No 11:  As your view, the intention of organizing reality programs by the television channels is/are, Question No 12:  Do the winners of this kind of reality programs are having a future carrier and are they capable to maintain their popularity as professional entertainers for a long period? CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF RESULTS Question No 3: Would you interested to watch reality programs (Such as Sirasa Super Star/Comedy Star/Dream Star/ Little Star/ Sirasa Kumariya/Shadow Star etc)?   Analyzing the answers given for the popularity based question, it can be justified that the people below 40 years of age are more interested to watch reality programmes than the people above 40 years among the selected people group. It can prove that the younger generation is more interested than the elder people about reality programs. Analyzing all the result of the answers given to above questions, it is proving that all the age groups are interested to watch reality programmes which are telecasting in Sri Lankan television channels. Question No 9:  Do you think reality programs (Such as Sirasa Super Star/Comedy Star/Dream Star/ Little Star/ Sirasa Kumariya/Shadow Star etc) are badly affecting to the social development of our younger generation? Analyzing the answers given for the affect to the society and social development based question, the people below 30 years are not agreed to the authors argument but people above 30 years, who can be considered as mature people, are agreed with the authors argument. Also overall result analyze for the question regarding affects to social development majority of the selected group of people are agreed to the argument which made by the author. So it can be conclude as the reality programmes are badly affecting to the social development of our younger generation. Question No 10:  Do you think reality programs (Such as Sirasa Super Star/Comedy Star/Dream Star/ Little Star/ Sirasa Kumariya/Shadow Star etc) are badly affecting to the educational development of our younger generation? Analyzing the answers given for the effect to the educational development based on question, the whole sample which consists younger and elder generation is agreed with the argument made by the author. Specially the age group above 31 years have expressed their idea that the some reality programs are being affected to the educational development of the younger generation Also overall result analyze for the question regarding affects to educational development majority of the selected sample of people are agreed to the argument which made by the author. So it can be conclude as some of the reality programmes are badly affecting to the educational development of our younger generation. Question No 11:  As your view, the intention of organizing reality programs by the television channels is/are Analyzing the answers given for the actual intention of the organizers of reality programs based on question, the each age group is having believe that the actual intention of the programmes are popularity and financial benefits of the organizers. But considering whole result of the question the sample is having believe that the actual intentions are popularity and financial benefits of the organizers and explore the young talents in relevant fields. Question No 12:  Do the winners of this kind of reality programs are having a future carrier and are they capable to maintain their popularity as professional entertainers for a long period? Analyzing the answers given

The concerns of Water Pollution In Africa

The concerns of Water Pollution In Africa Water pollution has become a serious problem in every country in the world. Urban growth, climate change, growing population, investments in agriculture, industrial development, and economic growth have increased the demand for water. Natural and manmade disasters have increased pollution risks in todays environment. Contamination of land, air and water is challenging the health of humans, plants, animals and other living organisms. Governments worldwide are burdened with mounting healthcare costs which is diverting investment capital away from economic development public sector projects. The report will discuss issues on water pollution problems which countries in the African continent are facing. Sources of water pollution, water contamination impacts on health, environmental damages, and strategies necessary for reducing or eliminating water pollution would be discussed. I. WATER SUPPLY IN AFRICA a. Water Supply and Water Demand i. Supply Source Rainfall Average annual rainfall in South Africa is recorded to be 450 mm per year. Rainfall varies between one location to another in South Africa some regions receiving heavy rainfall and others recording low amount of rainfall. For example, people living along the coastal regions to the west of South Africa enjoy an annual average rainfall of 1000 mm. But regions in the north west receive very poor annual rainfall at less than 100 mm as reported by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2006. Rivers which are seasonal in nature have water only during the rainy seasons and they remain dry most times throughout the year. The seasonal rivers during rainy days produce excess flow of water. The government of South Africa stores water in dams to meet the supply needs for drinking, industrial and agricultural needs throughout the year. South Africa is divided into following nine administrative provinces (12-86): (Markus Tà ¶rnqvist and Bjà ¶rn Ãâ€"fver strà ¶m, â€Å"Drinking water supply in Southern Africa with a risk assessment perspective.†) Eastern Cape Free State Gautang Kwa Zulu Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga Northern Cape SouthwestProvince Western Cape The average annual rainfall varies between one province and another. Information listed in Figure-3 illustrates annual rainfall in South Africas provinces as follows (12-86): (Markus Tà ¶rnqvist and Bjà ¶rn Ãâ€"fverstrà ¶m, â€Å"Drinking water supply in Southern Africa with a risk assessment perspective.†) ii. Demand Source Population According to published data by the UNESCO in 2006, South Africas total population is listed to be around 48 million. It is estimated that 59% of the population live in the urban community dwellings. Northern Cap which is the largest administrative province is reported to over 28 million people living in the area which accounts for 37% of South Africas overall national population. Due to rapid economic growth and development, urbanization is fast growing with more and more people moving to metropolitan commercial centers in search of jobs or livelihood. Migration of people from rural areas to urban cities have triggered massive growth in cities businesses, industries, infrastructures, civil defense, internal security, hospitals, and educational institutions etc. As a result of this there informal settlements have rapidly grown in and around commercial centers within the South Africas administrative provinces. All these growth and development have made water supply management very cha llenging. Millions of inhabitants living in various cities in each of the nine administrative provinces do not have adequate supply of water. Drainage and sanitation network are overstrained and inadequate to serve the communitys need. in these communities have not access to proper water and sanitation infrastructure. People living in the rural areas wholly depend on groundwater to fulfill or satisfy their needs for water. In South Africa, 19% of people in the overall population do not have access to safe water and over 33% people do not have the bare necessity for basic sanitation services. Over 50 million people in 1994 had suffered miserably without any water supply services. People had no choice except to meet their water demands from rivers, lakes, springs and ponds. Due to the concentrated and focused efforts by the government of South Africa in resource management efficiencies, overall number of people who did not have any water supply during 1994-2004 had dropped to by appro ximately 40 million (14-86). (Markus Tà ¶rnqvist and Bjà ¶rn Ãâ€"fverstrà ¶m, â€Å"Drinking water supply in Southern Africa with a risk assessment perspective.†) b. Water Pollution i. Mining Water Pollution Johannesburg which is the largest city in South Africa is on the brink of environmental disaster. There is no excavation and recovery process going on in several mines in the area and as a result of this most of these mines today remain closed. Unfortunately toxic water which is flowing out of these mines pollute and contaminate both surface and groundwater. Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) indicates entrapment of toxic water exists in the mines and when the toxic water flows out in a stream it contaminates entire water resources surface water and ground water. Closed mines in Witwatersrand, South Africa stretches from Roodepoort to Boksburg (1-5). (Admin, â€Å"Sinking Solutions for Mining Water Pollution.†) Digging for minerals for years leave big gapping tunnels and hole in the mine. During the mining operation water which collects from ground seepage are pumped out to allow miners to perform their tasks. But when mining operation is suspended for commercial non-viability, water is collected inside and fills-up tunnels and holes deep inside. These water becomes highly contaminated by getting mixed with heavy metal particles from inside the mine. Overflowing toxic mine water becomes dangerous to the environment and contaminates rivers, ponds, lakes and springs along its flow path. Toxic water endangers humans, plants, animals, birds, marine life and the ecosystem with serious healthcare challenges (1-5). (Admin, â€Å"Sinking Solutions for Mining Water Pollution.†)