Vietnamese Culture Evaluation

Assement 1 (1000 words): Discusss the key dimensions of national culture in your domicile (home) country using the frameworks of Hofstede (2001) including: Power Distance; Uncertainty avoidance; Individualism/ Collectivism; Masculinity/ femininity; long term orientation. Introduction In the â€Å"flat† world today, opening a business on abroad will be easier than before (Friedman, 2005). The manager from other countries will need to face with other culture aspect that they never met before.In order to solve this problem, Hofstede’s dimensions (1970) suggested that his model with 5 dimensions: Power Distance, Uncertain Avoidance Individualism/ collectivism, Masculinity/ femininity, Long-term orientation, which refer to any culture on the globe, and Vietnam in this case. For this essay requirement, the Power Distance and Long-term Orientation will be discussed in this essay, how it is effective on this constructed in international business management as well as the disadv antage of Hofstede’s module.Hofstede’s module suggests that national culture can be influence behaviour and management in workplace. His research suggested that differences of behaviour are accounted for nationality and national culture determinants. In addition, understanding the cultural differences could be done by drawing on these dimensions. Hofstede stated that there are many national differences in work-related values, beliefs, norms and self-descriptions and societal variables, could be explained in five key dimensions of national culture. Power DistancePower distance score of Vietnam was given a high value of 70 by Hofstede’s study(2013) as mesuased by the scores in his 1970s IBM internal cultural test system, in which describe power distance as dealing with the need of a society for independence versus interdependence. In other research which is carried out by McCleland suggests that the need for power is to have influences over others and tend to be g ained more privilege than other. Additionally, Individuals with high power distance will tend to achieve target or choose a job which responsibility, feedback and a medium percentage of risk.Hofstede (1984) also suggested that in a high power distance score, Vietnam in this case, he/she is more likely to accept unequal distributions of power. It could be take away power, control mechanism or decision making, but they will easy accept this situation in higher power distance rather than lower one. However, economic system and environment are needed to take in to account as others factors which might have strongly influence power distance. In a research is carried out by Hoang (2008),a researcher from Capabella, USA, within 20 managers who are Vietnamese gave us a differences result.The research was pointed out that the managers get lower score in Power Distance, who tend be cooperate with the lower staff rather than made their decision on their own. Long-term Orientation. In Vietnames e culture, modest is highly evaluated (Te, H. D. , 1987; Cao, X. H. , 1999). In another hand, Hofstede also claimed that Vietnam got a high score on Long-term Orientation, which was influenced by Confucius, who emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.Thus, society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view ( Hofstede, 2001). It means that the Longterm Orientation is a result to develop this high score of Power Distance in Vietnam. In Hofstede website, he also claimed that Vietnam score is 80, that making it is long-term orientation. In different words, Vietnam, is a country, who believed in pragmatism, where achieving goal a task and getting virtue is prioritized.As a result, the manager can aware that the employees push their adaption up to limit if it is the requirement of the job and sometimes, working for money mind not top goal for the bread-maker. Respect from employers, peers or colleagues (Tatum, 1997 quoted by Harvery and Allard, 2009) is all so an reward for them. Despite the fact that Hofstede model is most famous theory in human resource in manager, there are some critics on it. According to Mc Sweenry (2002), Hofstede’s module was assumed that national culture is equal with company culture as well as put the Confucian Dynamism on the top of the table in his research.In Vietnamese context, beside the Confucian, Buddhism is needed to be taking in to account as well. Back in 1000 years ago, when Ly Dynasty chooses Hanoi the capital of Van Xuan, old name of Vietnam, Buddhism was become the national religious (Tran, 1997;Phan, 1992 ) until Nguyen Dynasty in 18th century. In additional, Ly Dynasty also introduced the teaching of 3 regilous: Buddhism, Confucian, Taoism at the same times in the past. This philosophy is still now alive and can be known in other name is Cao Dai religious with 3 million fellows. So Vietna m culture and behaviour will depended on religious rather than Confucian only.Conclusion. Vietnam is a developing country where is people are open-minded and easy to cooperate with other people and Money –oriented people mind be the minority, due to the reason that, the long-term goal for respect and job security is their goal of life. Two dimensions linking could be seen in the Hofstede’s module where the score of Power Distance and Long-term Orientation are 70 and 80 receptively. However, the Hofstede’s module may be still lack of evaluation in particular situation like Vietnamese behaviour in foreign countries or the over-evaluation of Hofstede on Confucian must be reviewed.From manager point of view, Hofstede’s module is still an initial step to start with. References: 1. Cao, Xuan Hao, 1999. Contributions of linguistic researches to the understanding of Vietnamese thought and Vietnamese culture 2. Confucius, a bibiography http://www. confucius. org/l unyu/edbio. htm 3. Hofstede,G. , cited in Minkov,M. , The evolution of Hofstede’s doctrine, P. 11 4. Phan, H. C. , 1992. L? ch Tri? u Hi? n Chuong Lo? i Chi (Records on Administrative Systems of Successive Dynasties). Vols. 1-2-3. Trans. by Vi? n S? H? c Vi? t Nam. Ha N? i: Khoa H? c Xa H? i Press. 5.Te, Huynh Dinh, 1987 Introduction to Vietnamese Culture. 6. Tran, Q. V. , 1997 Tim hieu van hoa dan gian Hanoi (Understanding folk culture of Hanoi). 7. Hoang. H. , 2008, Culure and Management: A study of Vietnamese cultural influences on management style. 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Education and the Subjective Quality of Life* Essay

Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1997, Vol. 38 (September):275-297 We examine whether education influences subjective quality of life. If it does, what are the mechanisms by which education affects well-being? We propose that educa- tion improves well-being because it increases access to nonalienated paid work and economic resources that increase the sense of control over life, as well as access to stable social relationships, especially marriage, that increase social support. We examine the relationship between education and a variety of indicators of subjective quality of life-depression, anxiety, anger, aches and pains, malaise, and dissatis- faction. Using two representative national samples collected in 1990 and 1995, we find that the well educated have lower levels of emotional distress (including depres- sion, anxiety, and anger) and physical distress (including aches and pains and malaise), but they do not have lower levels of dissatisfaction. Education reduces dis- tress largely by way of paid work, nonalienated work, and economic resources, which are associated with high personal control; but the extent to which it reduces distress by way of marriage and social support is much more modest. We contrast distress and dissatisfaction as indicators of the subjective quality of life. Does education matter to subjective quality of life? If it does, what are the mechanisms by which education affects well-being? We pro- pose that education is valuable to individual well-being because it provides access to the two primary determinants of well-being: non- *We are indebted to the National Institute on Aging for the grant (ROI AG12393) to John Mirowsky and Catherine Ross that supported the Aging, Status, and the Sense of Control (ASOC) data collection and analysis. We are indebted to the National Science Foundation for the grant (SES- 8916154) to Catherine Ross that supported the Work, Family, and Well-Being (WFW) data collec- tion. Sampling, pretesting, and interviewing for both surveys were conducted by the Survey Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois. We thank John Mirowsky for his statistical help, Barbara Reskin for her help with the comparison process theory of satisfaction, and JHSB reviewers for their suggestions. Address correspondence to: Catherine Ross, Department of Sociology, 300 Bricker Hall, 190 North Oval Mall, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1353; e-mail: ross. 131 @osu. edu. alienated paid work and supportive relation- ships. Compared to the poorly educated, we expect that well-educated persons have access to nonalienated paid work that increases the sense of personal control. Well-being comes, first, from nonalienated work in which people exert control over the labor process (Kohn 1976; Marx ([1884] 1964). Work that gives people the freedom from routinization, monot- ony, and external control on the one hand, and a chance to use their skills, develop as a per- son, and learn new things on the other, theo- retically increases subjective well-being, in part by increasing perceived control. Com- pared to the poorly educated, we also expect that well-educated individuals have access to stable social relationships, especially mar- riage, that increase social support. Well-being comes, second, from primary group ties and social bonds that increase supportive relation- ships with others, especially the personal secu- rity of marriage, and the sense of having other people to talk to and turn to in times of need (Durkheim 1951; Litwak and Messeri 1989). We propose that, through these processes, 275 276 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR education improves the subjective quality of life, measured as psychological well-being and distress. We extend core economic and sociological perspectives on the meaning of education to individual well-being. We argue that educa- tion’s value extends beyond jobs, earnings, prestige, and power to people’s psychological well-being. According to human capital and status attainment theories, employers need workers who can read, write, do basic math, communicate, negotiate, solve problems, look things up, figure things out, and develop ideas; this human capital is acquired in school, and these skills, knowledge, and abilities help a person get a good job (Blau and Duncan 1967; Becker 1964; Hyman, Wright, and Reed 1975; Sewell and Hauser 1975; Spaeth 1976; Treiman and Terrell 1975). The same skills and abilities shaped by schooling, we argue, improve individual well-being through their effects on objective life conditions and social psychological resources. THE LINKS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND DISTRESS The negative association between education and psychological distress is well documented (Glenn and Weaver 1981; Kessler 1982; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992; Link, Lennon, and Dohrenwend 1993; Mirowsky and Ross 1989, 1995; Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Huber 1985; Ross and Mirowsky 1989), but the mechanisms by which education affects well-being are not. Education is rarely the focus of investigation in the sociological study of stress (Pearlin 1989). Instead, it is usually a control variable in research whose focus is on something else. This means that research has not identified the mechanisms by which edu- cation affects psychological well-being. Furthermore, when subjective well-being is measured as satisfaction, researchers find little positive effect of education. This raises the question of whether education’s effect is uni- formly positive. Well-educated persons are not more satisfied with their jobs than the poorly educated (Andrisani 1978; Gordon and Arvey 1975; Glenn and Weaver 1982; Quinn, Staines, and McCullough 1974; Ross and Reskin 1992), and they are not more satisfied with life in general (Pascarella and Terenzini 1991). Some argue that if education does not increase job satisfaction, or satisfaction over- all, maybe it has little real value to the subjec- tive quality of life, since a principal motivation for attaining a high level of formal education in the United States is access to satisfying work (Berg 1971; Quinn and Mandilovitch 1977). We examine the relationship between edu- cation and a variety of indicators of subjective quality of life. We distinguish distress- depression, anxiety, anger, aches and pains, and malaise-from dissatisfaction. Theo- retically, distress results from deprivation, whereas dissatisfaction results from depriva- tion relative to one’s expectations (Mirowsky and Ross 1989). We propose that education improves the subjective quality of life, mea- sured as psychological well-being and distress -measures not confounded by high expecta- tions among the advantaged. If education cor- relates positively with subjective well-being, what explains the association? We focus on two pathways by which education might affect individual well-being: (1) work and economic conditions, which increase personal control and (2) marriage and family conditions, which increase social support. Often educational attainment is used simply as an indicator of socioeconomic status. However, education, income, and work indi- cate different underlying concepts, so we keep the three aspects separate. Schooling indicates the accumulated knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors learned at school, in addition to being a credential that structures employment opportunities. Income and economic hardship indicate economic well-being. Work is pro- ductive activity (paid or not). Further, educa- tion, employment, and economic resources are not on the same causal level. Education is the key to one’s position in the stratification sys- tem; it shapes the likelihood of being em- ployed, the qualities of the job a person can get, and income. Combining variables from different causal levels obscures processes. If education affects psychological well-being, is its effect direct, or is it indirect by way of work or economic resources? Work and Economic Conditions Paid Work. Well-educated people are more likely to be employed and are more likely to be employed full-time (vs. part-time) than are those EDUCATION AND THE SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE 277 with little education (U. S. Department of Education 1992). Employment, especially full- time employment, in turn, is associated with higher levels of psychological and physical well-being (Gore and Mangione 1983; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992; Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Bird 1994; Verbrugge 1983). Although physical and mental health affect an individual’s likelihood of being employed, the positive asso- ciation between well-being and employment is not simply due to the selection of healthy people into the work force (Kessler, House, and Turner 1987; Ross and Mirowsky 1995). Nonalienated Work. We expect that educa- tion gives people access to nonalienated work that involves a variety of tasks, nonroutine work, and the chance for continued learning and development, which decreases distress. In nonalienated work, workers control the labor process; they have the chance to use their skills in the design and implementation of the work. Nonroutine work gives people the free- dom to use thought and independent judgment in doing different things in different ways rather than doing the same thing in the same way in a process designed and controlled by others. Skilled work gives people the chance to learn new things and develop as a person through work. Together, creative, nonroutine, independent work that gives a person control over the labor process, and work that is intrin- sic to a person’s development not external to it, are the essence of nonalienated labor. Kohn and colleagues find that control over the work process, rather than ownership of the means of production or control over the labor of others, is most important to psychological functioning (Kohn 1976; Kohn and Schooler 1982; Kohn et al. 1990). We expect that the work done by well- educated people is less alienated than that done by the poorly educated, and that this work decreases distress. However, the evi- dence as to whether work characteristics explain some of the effect of education on psy- chological well-being is mixed. Lennon (1994) finds that the effect of education on depression is explained when work condi- tions-autonomy, time pressure, responsibili- ty, interruptions, physical effort, and routine- are added. Link and colleagues (1993) find that education’s impact on psychological well- being works largely through giving individu- als access to jobs involving direction, control, and planning. However, others find that the effect of education on distress remains unchanged with adjustment for job control and other occupational characteristics (Kessler 1982; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992). Economic Resources. Low levels of educa- tion increase economic hardship. Individuals with low levels of education have lower incomes than those with high levels of educa- tion (Sewell and Hauser 1975), in part because they are less likely to be employed, and if employed, more likely to hold low-level jobs. Low levels of education further deprive people of the problem-solving resources needed to cope with the stresses of economic hardship. Ross and Huber (1985) find a synergistic effect on economic hardship of low education and low income, each making the effect of the other worse. Hardship increases psychological distress; the chronic strain of struggling to pay the bills and to feed and clothe the children takes its toll, often in feelings of depression and malaise (Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Huber 1985). Marriage and Family Composition Marital Status. Evidence that education is positively associated with marriage is some- what mixed and indirect. The well educated are less likely to divorce, probably due to the fact that they marry later and do so under more favorable economic conditions (Glick 1984; Houseknecht and Spanier 1980). Education is negatively associated with widowhood, too, since men and women choose partners with similar levels of education (Kalmijn 1991; Qian and Preston 1993), and well-educated people live longer than those with lower levels of education (Rogot, Sorlie, and Johnson 1992). Although education is negatively asso- ciated with marital dissolution, either through divorce or widowhood, it is also negatively associated with marrying in the first place, especially for some groups. Education decreases the probability of ever marrying among Whites, while highly educated Blacks are more likely to marry than Blacks with lower levels of education (Bennett, Bloom, and Craig 1989). Women with high levels of education are more likely to postpone mar- riage, not to remarry after divorce, and never marry in the first place than are women with lower levels of education; and women who fail to marry in young adulthood attain a higher 278 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR level of education than those who do marry (McLanahan and Casper 1994). All told, how- ever, well-educated women and men are more likely to be currently married than those with- out high school degrees (Qian and Preston 1993). Overall, married people and those who live with partners are healthier and happier than those who are single, divorced, or widowed (Waite 1995). Married people have higher lev- els of physical and psychological well-being than do unmarried people (Gove, Hughes, and Style 1983; Ross, Mirowsky, and Goldsteen 1990; Ross 1995). If marriage has any nega- tive effects on well-being, it may be due to child care responsibilities, which fall dispro- portionately on women. People with children at home do not have higher levels of psycho- logical well-being than nonparents (Gore and Mangione 1983; Kessler and McRae 1982; McLanahan and Adams 1987). In many instances, parents-especially mothers-are more psychologically distressed than non- parents (Gove and Geerken 1977; Pearlin 1975). Most of the stress of children in the home is due to economic strains, excessive child care responsibilities, and difficulties arranging child care while parents are at work (Ross and Huber 1985; Ross and Mirowsky 1988). Since children often accompany mar- riage, the effect of marriage on well-being may not be uniformly positive. However, the well educated may get the benefits of mar- riage, without the stress associated with chil- dren, since well-educated women have fewer children than poorly educated women. Women with high levels of education are more likely to remain childless, to postpone having chil- dren, and to have fewer children than are those with lower levels of education (Bloom and Trussel 1984; Rindfuss, Morgan, and Swice- good 1984; Veevers 1979). Since men and women tend to choose partners with similar levels of education (Kalmijn 1991; Qian and Preston 1993), well-educated men have fewer children, too. Social-Psychological Resources Sense of Control. Belief in personal control is a learned, generalized expectation that out- comes are contingent on one’s own choices and actions (Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Rotter 1966). The sense of powerlessness, the oppo- site, is the belief that one’s actions do not affect outcomes. It is the main form of subjec- tive alienation (Seeman 1959, 1983). Education correlates positively with the sense of control, and the sense of personal control mediates a large part of the negative associa- tion between education and distress (Mirow- sky and Ross 1989; Ross and Mirowsky 1989). The well educated have higher person- al control than the poorly educated, even adjusting for employment, job autonomy, earnings, minority status, age, marital status, sex, and household work (Bird and Ross 1993; Ross and Mirowsky 1992). People with high levels of personal control have low levels of psychological distress (Aneshensel 1992; Gecas 1989; Mirowsky and Ross 1986; Pearlin et al. 1981; Wheaton 1980, 1983), and perceived control over both good and bad outcomes correlates negatively with depression (Krause and Stryker 1984; Mirowsky and Ross 1990). High personal con- trol helps people cope actively and flexibly, to avoid problems and to prepare for those that cannot be avoided (Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Turner and Noh 1983; Wheaton 1983). In con- trast, the sense of powerlessness is demoraliz- ing in itself and interferes with active problem- solving. Social Support. Social support is the com- mitment, caring, advice, and aid provided in personal relationships, the sense of being cared for and loved, esteemed and valued as a person, and part of a network of communica- tion and obligation (Kaplan, Robbins, and Martin 1983). Little research has examined the social determinants of support. Education may provide social support by giving people access to multiple roles with independent social net- works which boost the potential for supportive relationships (Walker, Wasserman, and Wellman 1993). Education may also help peo- ple maintain supportive relationships with oth- ers directly by way of increased flexibility in dealing with problems, the ability to negotiate and compromise, and to see more than one side of an issue; and indirectly by reducing stressors of unemployment, poverty, and eco- nomic hardship which strain interpersonal relationships (Atkinson, Liem, and Liem 1986; Gore 1978). Ross and Mirowsky (1989) find that the well educated have higher levels of support than the poorly educated, but few other studies have examined the association between education and social support. EDUCATION AND THE SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE 279 Low levels of social support, especially emotional support, are associated with psycho- logical distress, including depression and anx- iety, and poor health (Gerstel, Riessman, and Rosenfield 1985; House, Landis, and Um- berson 1988; Kessler and McLeod 1985). Social support reduces distress directly and it interacts with stressful life events and situa- tions, buffering their negative effect (Wheaton 1983). Summary of Proposed Mechanisms by Which Education Affects Distress We propose that education gives people access to nonalienated paid work and eco- nomic resources that increase the sense of personal control, and that education gives peo- ple access to stable social relationships, espe- cially marriage, that increase social support. Through these processes, we hypothesize, education affects subjective quality of life. SAMPLES We use two representative national samples. With these we will replicate regression analy- ses in order to strengthen confidence in our results, distinguish robust findings from sample-specific ones, and comprehensively measure distress and dissatisfaction in two years. The first is the Aging, Status, and the Sense of Control (ASOC) survey. It is a 1995 telephone survey of a national probability sample of U. S. households. Respondents were selected using a prescreened random-digit dialing method that increases the rate of con- tacting eligible numbers (or decreases the rate of contacting business and nonworking num- bers) and decreases standard errors compared to the standard Mitofsky-Waksberg method while producing a sample with the same demographic profile (Lund and Wright 1994; Waksberg 1978). The ASOC survey has two subsamples, designed to produce an 80 percent oversample of persons age 60 and older. The survey was limited to English-speaking adults. The main sample draws from all households; the oversample draws only from households with one or more seniors. In the main sample, the adult (18 or older) with the most recent birthday was selected as respondent.

Earthquakes in MEDC’s and LEDC’s

A well-known principle states that the impact of earthquakes in LEDC's or Less Economically Developed Countries is generally more severe when compared with MEDC's or More Economically Developed Countries. This shall be illustrated by comparing the Kobe Earthquake in Japan of 1995 with the Kashmir Earthquake of 2005. The Kobe Earthquake occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 JST in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. It measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and lasted for 20 seconds. The duration of the tremors was around 20 seconds long. The focus of the earthquake was located 16km below the epicentre, on the northern edge of the Awaji Island, approximately 20km from Kobe. The proximity to the city was a major factor of its widespread devastation. The ground moved 18cm horizontally and 12 cm vertically. The Kashmir Earthquake was caused by the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plate boundaries colliding. Its epicentre was located in Azad Kashmir near the city of Muzaffarabad. It occurred at 08:52:37 Pakistan Standard Time (03:52:37 UTC) on 8 October 2005. According to the authorities, 79000 people died. A major factor in the severity of the earthquake was the poor construction – a salient feature of LEDC's. The Indian Plate which was moving 40 mm a year north collided with the Eurasian plate and was forced beneath it. It measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. As is evident, although the magnitude of both earthquakes was extremely similar, the impacts varied greatly. This was due to many factors, which most if not all are related to the economic situation of the countries. We shall begin by discussing the impacts of each of the earthquakes, thereafter we shall discuss why these effects differed. Kashmir Earthquake Immediately, 1400 people were killed. Buildings were swaying and many collapsed due to the strength of the earthquake. Electricity supplies were cut off, people were trapped in buildings and roads were blocked due to landslides which hindered initial rescue attempts. Of the 8 million who were affected, 100,000 were injured. Several trains on minor lines were derailed while 3.3 million homes were destroyed. These are the crux of the primary effects. Many cars were destroyed, trains were suspended, roads were blocked and in many areas the only way to access was through the air. Due to the impact on the buildings, many small businesses were shut down leading to severe job losses. Pakistan lost a total of approximately $500,000,000, which led to the president of the time, Musharraf, to appeal for international aid including money, tents, medical aid and helicopters. This suffices in illustrating the economic devastation brought to the country through the earthquake. Major hospitals were destroyed, putting the injured in an extremely grave situation, the skyline was practically non-existent and perhaps the worst secondary effect was the phenomena of landslides which destroyed much of the infrastructure and endangered those on the streets. As mentioned earlier, there were a great number of injured, homeless and jobless people. This caused widespread depression, which is understandable when the extended family set-up of households is examined. All in all, more than 87,000 people died and 138,000 were injured. The city's infrastructure was destroyed, clean water was extremely rare, hospitals were destroyed and many were homeless even after a year. This led to major secondary impacts such as outbreaks of diseases due to contaminated water supplies; people were affected with respiratory infections such as pneumonia; and the harsh winter season caused the homeless to suffer. Around 3.3 million people were living in temporary accommodation by the end of the happenings. When we compare the impacts of the Kashmir earthquake with the Kobe earthquake, we find that the primary effects are similar. These include the fact that buildings collapsed and the fact that many trains derailed. Numerous bridges and expressways collapsed and 120 of the 150 quays in the port of Kobe were destroyed as well as gas and electricity supplies being disrupted. Fires were set off due to destroyed gas pipes and electricity mains causing a further 7500 houses to burn. The roads were gridlocked causing delays in emergency services. 716 aftershocks were recorded and these lasted for several days. Industries such as Mitsubishi and Panasonic were forced to close. The death toll, however, was only 5500, injuries were 40,000 and 180,000 houses were destroyed. The newly opened Kansai Airport, due to its brilliant structural foundations, withstood the earthquake, as well as the Akashi Bridge. However, when we consider the fact that the population density of both areas was similar yet the number of dead, homeless and injured was far more in the Kashmir earthquake than that of the Kobe earthquake. By July, in about 5 months, most of the infrastructure such as water, electricity, gas and telephone services were up and running. Most buildings in commercial areas were repaired and the places affected by fires had been cleared. Rail services were back in service by August. A year later, 80% of the port was functional i.e. all but the Expressway. There was an increase in the technology used to determine information on earthquakes and movements in the region, and steps were implemented to make sure that devastation to that scale would not occur again. When the impacts of the 2 earthquakes are compared, it becomes clear that, although the population density of both areas were similar and the magnitude of both were similar, the death, injured and homeless figures are totally out of proportion, with Kashmir suffering a greater loss than Japan. This is also the case when the speed of recovery of the areas is considered, and it can be safely concluded that the infrastructure was more reliable in Kobe than in Kashmir. In addition, Japan's economy was able to self-fund the aid whereas Musharraf was left begging the international community for aid. We shall examine each of these points in detail in the forthcoming paragraphs. Firstly, in order to understand where the problem lies, one must examine the details in chronological order. We find that the primary effects were extremely similar with buildings falling, electricity, gas and water supplies being disrupted, roads blocked etc. In some instances, we even find that Japan was hit worse such as the fact that the gas supplies were set alight causing fires. However, we see that each figure is out of proportion as this table illustrates: Japan Kashmir Dead 5500 87,350 Homeless 230,000 3.3 Million Injured 40,000 138,000 In my opinion, the vast amount of people who died in the Kashmir earthquake could have boiled down to a number of factors. Illiteracy and Ignorance of emergency procedure when an earthquake strikes could have posed as a major factor in the amount of people that died. This idea could be further strengthened when you consider that many people in LEDC's do not possess modern education. This is insofar as a the personal scale goes. On a governmental scale, due to the other priorities of LEDC's, little emphasis would be placed on these types of events due to their minute chance of occurring. The government may wish to focus on other matters. This idea could be strengthened when we are to couple this fact with the reality of the Pakistani government which, according to a 2007 report of Transparency International, Pakistan ranks 7th most corrupt country in the world. It is highly likely that money may have been filtered in the wrong places. When compared with Japan, we see that they immediately increased the number of seismic instruments to record earth movements in the region. This would reduce the likeliness of it occurring again which is possibly the most important thing to do for the government. In addition, the Japanese government decreed that buildings were to be built much more strongly and outlined a new set of guidelines for this to take place. This would place too much of a burden on the Pakistani government. Although these long-term causes should be rectified, other short-term causes should be identified. These include that, since Saturday was a normal school day, many school children were studying and as a result were buried under collapsed schools. It was also during the month of Ramadan, when people were taking a nap after their pre-dawn meal, hence they may not have had enough time to escape. Entire villages were simply wiped out like this. In conclusion, although it is expected that LEDC's like Kashmir would be hit worse than MEDC's such as Japan due to their economies, it is nevertheless possible to prevent such grave impacts that took place in Kashmir happening again. The people should be educated with emergency procedures, the government should invest in relevant technology which would indicate and warn them ahead of time when seismic activity was occurring. In addition, the government should outline new guidelines for buildings in which they are earthquake resistant just as Japan did. These would strain the economy in the short-term, although in the long term this would relieve the economy should an earthquake such as this one would take place again.

Financial Analysis write up on case provided Essay

Financial Analysis write up on case provided - Essay Example This can be due to the fact that Inventories, over the period of time has shown considerable increase hence necessitating the obtainment of external financing to fund the inventory purchase. Return on equity has greatly dipped as the company despite increasing its equity base has not been able to generate more return on its equity. From the strategic management point of view, the return on equity ratios are more critical since managers has the primary responsibility of creating value for its shareholders which company seem to have failed to achieve for the period under review. The corporate performance specially the return on the equity is a strong indicator to the investors in the capital market signaling the overall future direction of the company. This is also evident from the fact that the share price of the stock of the company has constantly dipped in the period under review and hit a low price of $62 in year 1962. Strategically dwindling confidence of the investors may not help achieve company its proposed objectives as it progresses in the future. A closer look at the gross margins earned by the company suggest that the core costs are well under the control of the company however over the period of time, its operating margins are decreasing showing the lack of control over the increase in the general and administrative overheads. Though organization seems to managing its assets in better way however this may also due to the fact of higher accumulated depreciation. Strategically the decreasing profitability of the company can be a difficult problem to handle with as the outside investors keep a very keen eye on the bottom lines of the organization’s income statements. However it must also be note that the return on the overall capital employed and Return on invested capital, both have shown an abnormal dip as mainly due to constant profitability. The almost constant level of profitability also suggest that

Human Resource Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Resource Management - Term Paper Example In the course of performing these activities, HRM faces a lot of challenges. This term paper provides a comprehensive insight into the challenges commonly faced by HRM in each of the aforementioned activities. Issues of Human Resource Management Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity Diversity as well as equality has played an important role not only in legislation and policies developed, but it has been demonstrated that it contributes to a business success (Foot, 2011). A diverse workforce allows for a wider pool of possible employees and can increase the chance of finding the best match for a job position. Similarities can be found within the legislation of several countries with regard to equality. The Equality Act 2010 UK (although sometimes considered as controversial) and the Civil Rights Act 1964 US are just some examples of legislation enforced to ensure equality at the workplace. The most common characteristics, which are protected, are age, sex, race, religion or belie f, pregnancy and disability (Noe, 2011). Yet, one has to bear in mind that Equal Employment Opportunity â€Å"does not mean preferential treatment for one individual over another† (Bernardin, 2011, p.84) due to the above-mentioned characteristics. Hiring a person solely on the ground of him or her belonging to a minority while rejecting a more qualified applicant can also be considered as discrimination. In order to work within the law, any Human Resource practice has to evaluate internal policies and adjust documents and actions so they are compliant and do not show some kind of discrimination. However, equality does not only play a role during recruitment; a good equality policy can attract future employees, creates a framework on acceptable behavior and in turn can ensure that employees are treated fairly (Foot, 2011). Job Design and Analysis â€Å"Job design determines the way in which work should be performed which, in turn, affects the degree of authority of an employe e over the work; the scope of decision-making by the employee; the number of tasks an employee has to perform; and employee satisfaction† (icmrindia.org, 2012). Job analysis is a detailed study of the scope of work and roles and responsibility of the employee in that position. Job designing and analysis is not much of an issue in a stable work environment. However, HRM faces challenges when the organizational culture is dynamic and the top management frequently makes changes in the organization structure in its attempt to change the system for the better. Planning and Recruiting of Human Resources Planning and recruiting is a very technical task and demands considerable effort on the part of the HRM. Before advertising any vacancy, the HRM needs to identify the skills’ gap in the existing organizational workforce, the job role and responsibilities of the prospective employee, the method of recruiting, analysis of the results, and integration of the new employee into the existing organizational culture and setup. To identify the roles and responsibilities of the new employee, the HRM needs to conduct a detailed study and may require input from the existing workforce. Designing of the method of recruiting is another very complicated and extremely important task because this is the

Topic in IR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Topic in IR - Essay Example Adam Smith opposed this communist theory and instead advanced the capitalist model of development. The Cold War, after the end of World War II saw a resurgence of this theory, with the capitalist economies and communist blocs advancing the theory of modernization, but within the framework of their ideologies (pg.17). Modernization involves five stages since all countries are at one of the development stages, that comprise of traditional society, transitional stage, take-off, drive to maturity and high mass consumption.(Rostow.W.W.1960), In its earliest forms, modernization had brought together masses of people leading to the establishment of either a democracy, communism or fascism. Modernization has shown people that strong democratic institutions lead to socio-economic development and cultural changes, which in turn lead to individual freedom and gender equality- all of which create a society whose main objective is to ensure human emancipation. The rise in self-expression makes society people- centered, and leads to the concept of freedom of choice. Modernization theory has thus created conditions conducive to the humanistic transformation of society, which is its biggest asset. Economic development is the avowed goal of all societies and ideologies. The development of a nation and its place on the larger world stage is determined by the economic strength that the nations wield. This development can be promoted through democratic means as also by creating an authoritarian regime. The modern world swears by the advantages of a democratic set-up, but the success rates of economics thriving under authoritarian rule cannot be ignored. When we put the economies of South-east Asian nations under a scanner, what projects forth is a kaleidoscope of nations, governed democratically as well as by authoritarian regimes. While all democratic economies are performing extremely well, authoritarian nations too show a remarkable vibrant economic

Respond to a question to an article Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Respond to a question to an article - Assignment Example The staff meeting allows the employees to choose their departmental leaders. The departmental meetings will come up with a leader according to their own perception on who is the most approachable person. The decision bases on whom the employees can approach in case of a problem and who has the best problem solving techniques. The leaders will then organize their departmental meeting once a week. Their meetings should aim at discussing overall performance and production. Through the meetings, the departments will set objectives and achievable goals depending on the core objectives of the company. The dialogue and open communication creates a wider pool of information and feedback and this will allow the departmental leaders to make the best decisions. The departmental leaders will meet their CEO to inform him/her about the decisions made weekly. This technique allows for flexibility. This technique reduces time wasted in supervision as employees develop maturity and make their own dec isions faster. The problem solving technique in the company also gives the employees a sense of ownership in the company. The function of the manager will be to monitor the progress of the company and help cultivate more staff participation. The technique saves on time and creates intrinsic motivation within the departments. Constant evaluation through weekly meetings helps in correcting and adapting new techniques (Finally,

Ch9 - reflectional journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ch9 - reflectional journal - Essay Example On the other hand, global climatic change and matters concerning national council can be explained by science. For this reason, students should be thought both social studies and science together so that they can relate them separately (National Research Council, 2011). How does the relation between subjects in schools help in effective teaching? Sciences have a relationship with other fields of study. Science and mathematics are two very close subjects, and one relies on the other while doing investigations. Mathematical concepts are used to calculate complicated steps in scientific investigations. It is more advantageous to both learn mathematics and science along so that one can be an effective teacher. For a student to understand some mathematical concepts like drawing of graphs, his/ her teacher should teach the student both mathematics and science together. This enables the student to relate the concepts and understand it well rather than teaching the two subject separately (National Research Council, 2011). The world is evolving daily, and new technologies are invented. For this reason, students should be thought the Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Engineering is an essential field in technological advancement, and so teachers should involve students in STEM experiments so that they can practically understand. The Next Generation Science Standards is more concerned with (STEM) since engineering is the core subject applied in the task. In conclusion, English and art are more important for a student to be taught. Enhancement of a student’s understanding requires much reading and writing and, for this reason, a teacher should have it as its first

Achieving Cultural Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Achieving Cultural Change - Research Paper Example In a workplace it is necessary to work in harmony and in tandem with the co-workers. The success of any organization depends on the performance of the team. OB helps to provide guidelines for effective team management. The motivation among team actually results in delivery of better work in organization and OB helps to focus on the issue (Mcshane & VonVonGlinow, 2010, p.1) The problems of Bull information can be solved by the help of OB. In the case of Bull information, the new director arriving in the company had to deal with critical problems of the organization. The organization was facing problem in proper human resource management. The most important thing the new director noticed that there was no effective communication among the employees. Most of them were hardly had any commercial awareness regarding the working of the business (Allen and Thatcher, 1995). The top managers were only involved in the decision making process and many crucial decisions were unnecessarily delayed and fudged. The management was extremely task oriented and isolationist and there was the need for development both in the middle and upper level of management. The managers did not deploy any proper risk taking skills and absence of flexibility was evident in the overall working of the business. Proper knowledge of Organizational Behavior is helpful in managing such situations confronted by the company. The field of OB stresses on coordination, collaboration and proper communication between employees for attainment of the objectives specified by the company. The problem with the management team can be dealt by inculcating the ideas and values of leadership. Collective sense of purpose needs to be built among the team leaders, managers and executives to achieve the organizational goals. B. Systematic Research. The importance of systematic research is noteworthy in the process of decision making. The process of systematic research involves framing of research questions and collectio n of data and analyzing the data to reach a conclusive decision. The process of research instigates a confidence in the decision making and provides meaningful results (Mcshane & VonVon Glinow, 2010, p.24). During the change management of Bull information the, stress was provided on building up of an effective team. In order to find out the deficiency of the present working team in the organization and to prescribe the necessary remedial measures, an overall feedback from the rest of the organization was collected in the form of a questionnaire and was followed by a detail probing of the answers through personal interview (Allen and Thatcher, 1995). The general questions which were asked in the feedback included the understanding of the role play of the management team. The transparency in the responsibilities and authorities of the management team were questioned. General idea regarding the functioning of the group as a team was also considered and views of employees relating to th e strength and weakness were also derived from the questionnaire. General recommendation for enhancing the performance of the team was also taken from the employees in the interview process. The result derived from the survey reflected on the fact that there was no presence of unity among the groups and the group members carried on with conflicts against each other. From the result derived it became evident that plans and strategies need to be developed regarding building up relationship within the team and event was organized to inculcate values and setting up basic rules for the team to work in future. C Knowledge management Practice of efficient knowledge management

Activity Based Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Activity Based Costing - Essay Example Currently at Stream International, there is no defined way of recruiting and appointing people. Personnel management and conductance of HR activities at Stream International do not follow a charted procedure. As given in the case data, 34 different people conduct HR activities. Due to this, some of the activities like payroll, training etc. get duplicated. For Stream International, costs of human resources hiring, training, development and even allocation of resources is getting duplicated. Jobs are getting redundant because too many people are hiring individuals without any consideration of specific requirements categorized by departmental needs, roles and skills demanded. Controlling and supervision is also getting haywire because employees are not under single leadership. Also, due to excessive hiring by a number of HR people, roles have become ambiguous. Thus, people have outnumbered actual job duties. If number of recruiters at Stream International is large and undefined, recruitment will not be efficient because views and opinions will bound to clash and appropriate candidate would be difficult to find who can fulfill wishes of all. As such, first of all, there has to be made a central recruitment team or division which carefully analyzes manpower requirements of divisions, skills demanded and then hires accordingly. Re-engineering the recruitment process has to be undertaken. While doing so, departmental (Leitner 2004:3) dependencies have to be taken into account. For example, if an employee can undertake two activities of two different divisions, there is no need to hire two separate individuals for both the activities. By identifying people requirements based on departments, salaries, bonuses, incentives, training and development and other expenses can be easily apportioned to the respective business so that costs and

Leading and Managing in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leading and Managing in Organisations - Essay Example iate it with something negative that brings ineffectiveness of the working or living conditions or the situation that promote inefficiency within the organization. However, conflict is not always a bad thing, in particular when it appears within organizations. Some types of conflict instead encourage new visions and solutions and increases creativity within the working team (Sims, 2002). Mullins (2007) proposes alternative philosophies of conflict. One of such concepts is a unitarist perspective, which is more traditional and views harmony and cooperation as natural state of human interactions. That is why it views conflict as negative effect of different misunderstandings and unwillingness to follow the common rules. While in the organizations the unitarist perspective is followed, it assumes that all organizational member should be in the same side, should be united by the leader and pursue the same goals. Whether some fail to follow the rest, they create conflict situation. The mo st vivid example of unitarist concept is the creation of team, a group of people that would follow certain rules and be led by the other person for the sake of reaching the same target. The pluralist perspective does not see conflict as an evil for the effectiveness of organization. Instead, it sees conflict as natural concept, however pluralists stay for handling conflict and set up certain policies and rules how to manage conflict. The radical perspective is derived from the Marxist idea about the constant struggle between owners and those who should work for owners. In organizations, a conflict is viewed as struggle between capital and labor, where managers are seen as the agents of owners and should not have their interest other than owners. Conflicts arise if managers fail to recognize these facts. The interactionist perspective views conflict as neither bad nor good thing, however, it is the integral part of each organization. However, the absence of conflict bears no ideas an d

Checks and Balances Essay Example for Free

Checks and Balances Essay This essay will discuss the Constitutional principle of Checks and Balances. It will explain the concept and effectiveness of the separation of power. As an example, the case of Brown v. The Board of Education will be used to explain the concept and effectiveness of the separation of power. Brown v. The Board of Education is a famous case that ended segregation in schools in 1954 during the Civil Rights Movement. First, lets start with what the definition of Checks and Balances is as it pertains to the Constitution. The definition according to Merriam-Webster is: â€Å"a system that allows each branch of a government to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power. †. The legislative power is vested in the Congress, the executive power rests with the President and the judicial power is granted to the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Each branch of government has separate and particular powers as listed in the Constitution, each branch is also given the power, duty and ability to control and balance the other(s) in a system of checks and balances. The Constitution grants all legislative power to the Congress. The Congress is bicameral and a bill has to pass both houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. In this way the houses check and balance each other. Both the executive and the judicial branch check and balance the Congress legislative power. Although only the Congress can make laws, the President has the power to veto bills, in which case the bill can only pass with a 2/3 majority in both houses. Finally, if the Congress and the President agree on a law, the Supreme Court has the power of interpreting the laws and a power of review, i. . the Supreme Court can declare a law unconstitutional and therefore void. As chief administrator the President is required to see that laws are carried out, to enforce existing politics and to managing the bureaucracy. The president nominates the heads of the executive branchs departments, but these appointments are subject to the Congress approval. The constitution makes the president and Congress share powers in matters such as foreign policy and the US armed forces. In the case of Brown v.  The Board of Education, the legal defense of Oliver L. Brown stated, â€Å"the discriminatory nature of racial segregation violates the 14th amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal protection of the laws,. Because of this Brown v. The Board of Education laid the foundation for shaping future national and international policies regarding human rights. At the time, the state of Kansas had segregated schools, meaning that black and white children could not go to school at the same place. At the end of the case, Brown and his legal defense had argued that it was not fair to the children because they may or may not get the best education if they were segregated. The United States Supreme Court ruled that no state should segregate any child in public schools. White and Black children would go to school together and be offered the same rights. Anything less would be unconstitutional. This is a perfect example of how the state legislature was overturned by the Supreme Court and they were able to keep a check and balance on each other. The state of Kansas did not have a law stating that the schools must be segregated, but they also did not have a law saying that they couldn’t be segregated. The Browns first took their case to the state in 1951. After the case was dismissed, Brown and four other lawsuits made an appeal to the United States Supreme Court were the state ruling was overruled. The Supreme Court had checked and agreed that it was a violation of the Constitution to segregate schools. To this day, a public school can not discriminate against any child, black or white, male or female, smart or special ed. The decision made by the Supreme Court was a unanimous ruling that was issued on May 17, 1954. At that time Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that segregated schools are not equal and cannot be made equal, and hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws. He continued, We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. †. Thank goodness for checks and balances, without them, the country would be a much different place to live.

The inter relationship between firm growth and profitability

The inter relationship between firm growth and profitability Abstract There is a widespread presumption that there is a close relationship between firm growth and firm profitability. However, most of the past studies on firm growth and profitability have been conducted without mutual associations. Only a few studies, thus far, have examined the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability and the results have been inconsistent. The reason for the inconsistency is mainly due to the lag structure of the models in each study. To address the issue, this study conducted panel unit-root tests on firm growth and profitability separately and then made appropriate models using dynamic panel system GMM estimators. Through the analyses of the models, this study found that in restaurant firms the prior years profitability had a positive effect on the growth rate of the current year, but the current and prior years growth rates had a negative effect on the current years profitability. This outcome implies that profit creates growth but the growth impede s profitability in the restaurant industry. More implications are also discussed in this paper. Keywords: Firm growth; Profitability; Panel unit-root test; Dynamic panel system GMM 1. Introduction The dynamics of firm growth and profitability (or profit rate) is an important issue for industrial practitioners as well as academic researchers (Goddard, McMillan and Wilson, 2006). Theoretically, if firm growth rate is unrelated to firm size and prior growth rate, then firm growth follows random walk and the variance of firm size can increase indefinitely. This is known as the Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE). This stochastic growth process implies unlimited industry growth in the long run. However, if growth rate is inversely related to firm size, firm growth would converge in the long run. On the other hand, Mueller (1977) claimed that firm profitability converges at a certain level due to market competition, which is referred to as Persistence of Profit (POP). The POP literature argues that firm entry and exit are sufficiently free to quickly eliminate any abnormal profit and that the profitability of all firms tends to converge toward the long-run average value. However, Goddard, Molyneux and Wilson (2004) stated, even though it is generally presumed that firm growth and profitability effect each other, that firm growth and profitability are not necessarily connected. Overall, the impact and direction of this relationship remains ambiguous. The ambiguity is associated with various econometric issues. First, due to the endogeneity it is difficult to capture a clear causality and direction between them. Further, if firm growth and profitability time lags are incorporated into the models the endogenous relationship becomes more complicated due to the unknown effects of different time lags. Recently, there have been a couple of attempts to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability (Coad, 2007; Davidsson, Steffens, and Fitzsimmons, 2009). Although it is worth exploring the relationship, the results of the studies turned out to be inconsistent. In the previous studies, two types of methodologies were used: panel unit-root test and dynamic panel system GMM estimator. The panel unit-root test is appropriate for testing the convergence hypotheses of firm growth and profit rates. It is also useful for finding the significance of the lag term in a simple autoregressive model, but it is difficult to control the endogenous effect in the model. Moreover, the panel unit-root test cannot directly examine the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability. Dynamic panel system GMM estimator can control for endogeneity and test the inter-relationship, but determining the number of lag terms remains ambiguous. Thus, in order to address the analysis problems in the previous literature, we first employed the panel unit-root test and subsequently made a testable model for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Through those analyses, we intended to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability under various time lags. More specifically, the objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the panel unit-root test on the series of firm growth and profitability separately and to find an appropriate lag structure; and 2) to make an appropriate model to investigate the inter-relationship between them through a vector autoregression (VAR) model via dynamic panel system GMM estimator. We used restaurant firms for the study sample and, thus, the results are useful for understanding the dynamics of firm growth and profitability in the restaurant industry. In the following section, we summarize prior LPE and POP literature and present the potential inter-relationships between firm growth and profitability. Next section outlines the details of the study methodology. The following section shows the results of panel unit-root test and dynamic panel system GMM regarding the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability. Finally, we conclude this study with managerial implications and suggestions for further studies. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) and Persistence Of Profit (POP) The notion that firm growth rate is independent of firm size and past growth rate is known as the Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) (Gibrat, 1931). According to the LPE, firm growth happens by chance and thus past growth is not a reliable predictor of future firm growth (Goddard et al., 2006). Hence, deterministic factors of firm growth (i.e., managerial capacity, innovation and efficiency) are randomly distributed across firms. However, recent empirical studies have claimed that there is an inverse relationship between firm growth and firm size, rejecting the LPE (Hall, 1987; Evans, 1987; Dunne and Huges, 1994; Geroski and Gugler, 2004). Most empirical studies of LPE used cross-sectional regression models through a simple autoregressive model (for example, AR(1)), but the models were criticized due to their arbitrariness in choosing lag terms. Recently, Chen and Lu (2003) and Goddard et al. (2006) tested the LPE using panel unit-root models because the LPE assumes non-stationarity i n the time series analysis. The benefit of the panel unit-root test on LPE lies in its ability to test a long series effect in non-stationarity, while the weakness of the test is its inability to include control variables that may affect firm growth (i.e., prior profitability, leverage, and market competition). Conversely, researchers on persistence of profit (POP) argue that firm profitability converges at a certain level across all firms and no firms could achieve an above average profit rate in the long run. Mueller (1977) developed the deterministic time-series model for testing the POP and subsequently (Mueller 1986) demonstrated profit rate convergence through an autoregressive model. Since Mueller (1986), most studies on POP have adopted the autoregressive model. However, Goddard et al. (2006) stated that the typical methodology for POP estimated individual effects and autoregressive coefficients for each firm, so the estimated coefficients were often unreliable and the testing power was low. Hence, Goddard et al. (2006) tested the profit rate convergence hypothesis using a panel unit-root test in order to find the stationarity in a profit rate time series. 2.2. The inter-relationship between firm growth rate and profitability (or profit rate) As noted earlier, it is widely believed that firm growth and profit rates are related to each other (Goddard et al., 2004). Some prior studies have suggested that profit rate has a positive impact on growth rate. Alchians (1950) theoretical study argued that fitter firms survive and grow, but less viable firms lose their market share and exit through the evolutionary selection mechanism. Thus, if profit rate reflects the degree of fitness, it is possible to predict that profitable firms will grow. Further, according to the financing constraint hypothesis retained profits can be readily used for investment, whereas firms with low profitability could not grow even if they have positive growth opportunities. This is also consistent with the pecking-order theory, which claims that managers prefer internal capital to external capital, such as debt and equity financing. However, the influence of growth rate on profitability is inconsistent in theories and empirical studies. A Classical Ricardian perspective claims that if a firm shows high profit rates it would grow to exploit additional growth opportunities that are less profitable but still create additional profits. This notion implies three things. First, the profit rate is converges at zero from a long-term perspective. Second, high profit rates have a positive impact on growth rates until the profit rate is zero. Finally, firm growth has a negative influence on profit rate. Along similar lines, the Neoclassical view argues that firms first exploit their most profitable growth opportunities and then consider less profitable opportunities until the marginal profit on the last growth opportunity is equal to zero. Consequently, profitable firms maximize their overall level of profits through profitable growth opportunities but experience a decrease in profit rates. Even though this argument exclud es market competition, it theoretically explains the relationship between firm growth and profit rates. However, managerial growth-maximization hypothesis under market competition (Marris, 1964; Mueller, 1972) claims that the managerial objective of a firm is to maximize growth rather than profit. Thus, this hypothesis proposed that growth and profits are in a competitive relationship with each other, which suggests the possibility that growth victimizes profit. Nevertheless, there are a number of theoretical claims that growth rate has a positive impact on profit rate. First, the Kaldor-Verdoorn Law in economics (Kaldor, 1966; Verdoorn, 1949) claims that growth increases productivity and in turn the enhanced productivity increases profit rates. This notion is consistent with scale economies (Gupta, 1981). Thus, because firm growth contributes to an increase in firm size, the larger size could gain benefits from an economy of scale and in turn this affects profit enhancement. That is, growth can help increase profitability. However, empirical studies on the effects of growth rate on profit rate have not always been supportive. Capon, Farley and Hoenig (1990) reported that firm growth is related to high financial performance, but it was significant only in some industries. Chandler and Jansen (1992) and Mendelson (2000) reported a significant positive correlation between sales growth and profit rates, whereas Markman and Gartner (2002) found no significant relationship between growth and profitability. Furthermore, Reid (1995) claimed growth had a negative effect on profitability. The relationship between growth and profit rates are more complicated when time lags of the two variables are considered. Only a few empirical studies have considered the link between growth and profit rates using various time lag terms. Goddard et al. (2004) found profitability to be important for future growth in European banks. Conversely, through panel data estimates of French manufacturing firms Coad (2007) found that the opposite direction of causation (i.e., growth to profitability) might be true. Both Goddard et al. (2004) and Coad (2007) investigated the relationship between firm growth and profit rates with vector autoregressive models using dynamic panel system GMM estimators. The difference between the two studies was that Goddard et al. (2004) used a one-year time lag but Coad (2007) incorporated three-year time lags in the analysis. More specifically, Goddard et al. (2004) found that a one-year lagged profit rate had a positive significant effect on the current-years gr owth rate, but a one-year lagged growth rate did not have a significant impact on the current-years profit rates. However, Coad (2007) showed that two- and three-years lagged profit rates have a positive significant influence on the current-years growth rate and that the current-years growth rate was positively significant in terms of the current-years profit rates. As noted, Goddard et al. (2004) and Coad (2007) reported opposing empirical results, which could be attributed to the difference in lag length. Considering the scarcity of past studies on the growth-profitability relationship and the problems with analytic methods, there is a need for a study that can verify this important relationship in a more holistic way. Hence, we intended to address the above research need in this study. A detailed outline of how the study was conducted follows in the next section. 3. Data and methodology The data used in the analysis was collected from the COMPUSTAT database using SIC 5812 (eating places). The data covers fiscal years 1978 to 2007 for U.S. restaurant firms. Profit rate (or profitability) was measured as net income divided by net sales and growth rate was gauged as the difference between the current and prior years net sales divided by the prior years net sales. After deleting severe outliers in the two main variables, growth rate and profit rate, this study used 2,927 firm-year observations for the analysis. As previously indicated, this study first conducted panel unit-root tests on growth and profit rates separately. The Dickey-Fuller unit-root test was set up for testing the stationarity of a time series. For example, if à Ã¢â‚¬  1 is equal to a unit in equation (1), the series is non-stationary. Equation (1) could be expressed as equation (2) by subtracting Yt-1 on both sides. Yt = à Ã¢â‚¬  1Yt-1 + ÃŽÂ µt (1) ΆYt = ÃŽÂ ³Yt-1 + ÃŽÂ µt (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (2) Equation (2) above is a simplified Dickey-Fuller unit-root test (DF test). The null hypothesis of a DF test is that ÃŽÂ ³ equals zero and the alternative hypothesis is ÃŽÂ ³ p ΆYt = ÃŽÂ ³Yt-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆYt-i + ÃŽÂ µt (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (3) i=1 However, the data structure of this study was an unbalanced panel. Thus, equation (3) could be expressed as a panel setting following equation (4): p ΆYi,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆY i,t-i + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (4) i=1 Equation (4) is the testable model for the panel unit-root test in this study. A few studies have developed panel unit-root tests (Im, Pesaran and Shin, 2003; Levin, Lin and Chu, 2002; Maddala and Wu, 1999). However, in the case of an unbalanced panel setting, the Fisher test is the only one available. It combines the p-values from N independent unit root tests, as developed by Maddala and Wu (1999). Based on the p-values of individual unit root tests, Fishers test assumes that all series are non-stationary under the null hypothesis against the alternative that at least one series in the panel is stationary. Unlike other panel unit-root tests, Fishers test does not require a balanced panel. Thus, this study conducted Fishers test on the growth and profit rates and selected an appropriate lag length in ADF formula. After selecting the proper lag length in ADF formula, it was transformed as follows: p ΆYi,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆY i,t-i + ÃŽÂ µ i,t i=1 = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  1ΆY i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  2ΆY i,t-2 + à Ã¢â‚¬  3ΆY i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + à Ã¢â‚¬  pΆY i,t-p + ÃŽÂ µ i,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  1(Y i,t-1 Y i,t-2) + à Ã¢â‚¬  2(Y i,t-2 Y i,t-3) + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + à Ã¢â‚¬  p(Y i,t-p Y i,t-(p+1)) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t = (ÃŽÂ ³ + à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-1 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  2 à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-2 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  3 à Ã¢â‚¬  2) Y i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + (à Ã¢â‚¬  p à Ã¢â‚¬  p-1)Y i,t-p à Ã¢â‚¬  pY i,t-(p+1) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (5) Consequently, equation (5) could be expressed as follows: Yi,t = (1 + ÃŽÂ ³ + à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-1 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  2 à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-2 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  3 à Ã¢â‚¬  2) Y i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + (à Ã¢â‚¬  p à Ã¢â‚¬  p-1)Y i,t-p à Ã¢â‚¬  pY i,t-(p+1) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (6) Thus, if the panel unit-root test chooses p lags in ADF formula, it could be transformed to AR(p+1) model. This AR(p+1) model was then used for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Also, since the purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability, this study adopted the vector autoregression (VAR) model to find the reciprocal relationship between growth rates and profit rates. p+1 q+1 p+1 SGi,t = ÃŽÂ ²0 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·iSGi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â€š ¬iPRi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²1Salei,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²2LEVi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¶iΆDMAi,t-i i=1 i=1 i=0 + DYeart + ÃŽÂ µi,t Model 1 q+1 p+1 PRi,t = ÃŽÂ ²0 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â€š ¬iPRi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·iGRi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²1Salei,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²2LEVi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²3MarketSharei,t-i i=1 i=0 + DYeart + ÃŽÂ µi,t Model 2 SGi,t is the sales growth rate and PRi,t is the profit rate at time t for firm i. Salei,t is the net sales at time t for firm i. We also included control variables in both models. In the LPE literature, recent studies showed that prior firm size is inversely related with current growth rate (Evans, 1987; Hall, 1987; Geroski and Gugler, 2004). On the other hand, Baumol (1959) provided evidence that firm profitability increases with firm size, while Amato and Wilder (Kwangmin!!, Year and reference?) showed that no relationship exists between firm size and profit rate. Finally, Samuels and Smyth (1968) stated that profit rate and firm size are inversely related. Thus, we included the prior years net sales as a firm size variable in both models to control for size effect. Debt leverage (LEVi,t) was also incorporated in both models as a control variable, which was calculated as total debt divided by total assets. Theories of optimal capital structure based on the agency costs of managerial discretion suggest that the adverse impact of leverage on growth increases firm value by preventing managers from taking on poor projects (Jensen,1986; Stulz, 1990). Opler and Titman (1994) empirically found that sales growth is lower in firms with higher leverage. Thus, the influence of debt leverage on growth could be negative. However, the prior literature on the relationship between debt leverage and profit rate, has shown mixed results. Debt affects profitability positively according to Hurdle (1974), but negatively according to Hall and Weiss (1967) and Gale (1972). Debt could also yield a disciplinary effect under the free cash flow hypothesis (Jensen, 1986; Stulz, 1990). Firms with high debt leverage can reduce wasteful investment opportunities and increase f irm performance, suggesting a positive relationship between debt leverage and profit rates. However, using debt can increase conflicts between debt and equity holders. Equity holders encourage managers to undertake risky projects because the benefits are transferred only to equity holders (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981). Thus equity holders tend to support the use of debt. However, high uses of debt could deteriorate firm profitability by taking on overly risky projects. The effect of leverage on profit rate may not be uni-directional. Consequently, we incorporated leverage as a control variable due to its important potential effects on profitability. In the growth rate equation (Model 1), we incorporated mergers and acquisitions (MA) dummy variables from time t to t-(p+1) because MA execution abnormally increases growth rates. MA executions were identified from the SDC Platinum database. In the profitability equation (Model 2), we included a market share variable, which was calculated as the net sales of firm i at time t divided by the sum of net sales at time t. According to Buzzell, Gale and Sultan (1975), market share had a positive impact on firm profitability. Because a larger market share means stronger market power, firms with large market shares could have the power to control market prices and be in a better position to negotiate with their suppliers. Thus, a positive relationship between market share and profit rates is expected. Because the current years growth could affect the current years profit rate, following Coad (2007), we included the current years growth rate in Model 2. Statistically, ordinary least square (OLS) regression requires that the right-hand side variables should be independent of the error term. However, if there is a bi-directional causation between dependent (left-hand side) variables and explanatory (right-hand side) variables, this condition is not satisfied and thus OLS regression produces biased and inconsistent estimates. This endogeneity problem could be solved by choosing appropriate instrumental variables, which are correlated with the explanatory variables but not the error term. This means that the instrumental variables should be exogenous but if they are endogenous, the equation would be over-identified. However, if the instrumental variables are weakly correlated with the explanatory variables, which is called a weak instrument, the estimates are biased and inconsistent. Arellano and Bond (1991) proposed the GMM estimator for panel data, which could control the potential endogenous explanatory variables. This method uses the first difference model, which eliminates the time-invariant firm-specific effect, and instrumental variables for the endogenous variables were generated by lags of their own level. However, if the lagged level instruments are weakly correlated with the endogenous explanatory variables, there could be a finite sample bias in estimators. In particular, if the variable series tends to show a highly persistent profit rate series (Mueller, 1977), this weak correlation between lagged level instruments and endogenous explanatory variables is problematic. Arellano and Bover (1995) and Brundell and Bond (1998) developed a dynamic panel GMM estimator that estimated with level-equation and difference equation, which is called a system GMM. Consequently, the dynamic panel system GMM estimator has better asymptotic and finite sample propertie s than the one used by Arellano and Bond (1991). Thus, this study analyzed the proposed models using the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, which produces unbiased and consistent estimates after controlling for endogeneity and firm-specific effects even when the sample period is short. Even though the full sample period of this study is 30 years, the panel structure is not balanced due to the entry and exit of firms. Bludell and Bond (1998) suggested the minimum requirement for panel length as T à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 3. Thus, we excluded firms which did not exist at least three years in the sample period. Another requirement was that there is no serial correlation of the second order error terms. We conducted the serial correlation test for panel GMM estimators developed by Arellano and Bond (1991). In order to test the exogeneity of instrumental variables, we used the Hansen test instead of the Sargan test because the Sargan test is not robust enough to detect heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation (Roodman, 2006). Finally, as Roodman (2006) suggested, we included year dummies in the models and estimated the system GMM by two-step estimator because the two-step estimator is robust enough to detect the heteroskedasticity. For comparisons with the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, we conducted ordinary least square (OLS) and fixed-effect regression. 4. Results 4.1. Panel unit-root test for firm growth and profit rates As indicated, we conducted the panel unit-root test developed by Maddala and Wu (1999) using Fishers test, which assumes that all series are non-stationary under the null hypothesis. Equation (4) was tested on both growth and profit rates. The results are presented in Table 1. For the series of sales growth and profit rates, lag(4) was justified. Thus, the law of proportionate effect hypothesis was rejected but the persistence of profit hypothesis was validated. The results indicate that the growth rates are serially correlated and the profit rates are convergent. The purpose of the panel unit-root tests on growth and profit rates was to examine the stationarity of the two series and to make an appropriate model for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. As shown earlier, if the panel unit-root test justifies p lags, the ADF formula could be transformed to AR(p+1) model. Consequently, the testable model is AR(5) for both growth and profit rates. Based on the lag length from the pane l unit-root test, we excluded any firm that existed less than five years in testing the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Then, we tested the proposed models using AR(5) in order to identify the inter-relationship between firm growth and profit rates in various time lag structures. (Insert Table 1 Here) 4.2. Descriptive statistics and scatter plots of growth and profit rates Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of the major variables of this study. The average sales of the sampled restaurant firms was 541.8 million dollars and the average growth rate in sales was 16.3%. The average profit rate (return on sales) was 1.3% and total debt rate (debt leverage) was 61.3%. Thus, the figures show that the restaurant industry has a high growth rate, but its profitability is not positive and it uses more debt than equity. (Insert Table 2 Here) Before conducting the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, we checked the scatter plots between growth and profit rates using various time lags. As Coad (2007) indicated, the non-parametric scatter plots of growth and profit rates gave us a visual appreciation of the underlying phenomenon. Thus, before testing the quantitative relationship, we can obtain useful information via scatter plots. Figure 1 shows the scatter plots of growth at time t (Y-axis) and growth rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis) for all samples. Except for the first plot (growth rate time t versus t-1), all other plots seem to show no relationship. The plots, excluding the first plot, look like a cloud shape but are a bit scattered horizontally. Based on the plot for growth rate time t and t-1, the current and prior years growth rates are positively correlated. However, Figure 1 represents all firms, including MA firms. Apparently, firms with MA can experience abnormally high growth rates compared with non-MA firms. Thus, we checked the same scatter plots after excluding MA firms, as presented in Figure 2. The relationship between current and prior years growth rate is clearly positive and growth rate at t-2 also looks positive on current years growth rate. However, the earlier years growth rates (i.e., t-3, t-4 and t-5) appear to have no relationship with the current years growth rate. Figure 3 shows scatter plots of profit rate at time t (Y-axis) and profit rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis). Interestingly, clear heteroskedasticity is detected in the relationship between them. Thus, the usage of the two-step estimator in the dynamic panel system GMM estimator is justified by Figure 3. In all of the scatter plots there is a tendency toward a positive relationship between current and prior profit rates. (Insert Figures 1, 2, and 3 Here) Figure 4 shows scatter plots of profit rate at time t (Y-axis) and growth rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis). In all plots, points were spread horizontally. It seems that there is no effect of growth rate on profit rate. Surprisingly, the scatter plot of current growth rates appears to have no relationship with current profit rate. On the other hand, Figure 5 shows that profit rates clearly have a positive influence on the current growth rate. The majority of the points were spread vertically. The scatter plots show that prior profit rates seems to have a positive influence on current growth rates, but the influence of prior growth rates on current profit rates was not found. (Insert Figures 4 and 5 Here) 4.3. Results from Dynamic panel system GMM estimator Tables 3 and 4 show the results of the proposed models explained in the methodology section. Even though yearly dummies were not reported in Tables 3 and 4, they were included in the models. As shown in Table 3, the prior years growth rate at time t-1 was found to be positively significant on current growth rates in all three regressions (OLS, fixed-effect and system GMM). However, the directions and significances of the coefficients of the other prior growth rate terms varied across the three models. As explained earlier, however, the system GMM is the most appropriate model for this study due to the endogeneity and time invariant firm-specific effect and the results of the OLS and fixed-effect regression models were used simply for the purpose of comparison. Goddard et al. (2004) reported that the prior years (time t-1) growth rate was positive but not significant. It is difficult to directly compare their results with ours due to the difference in the lag length structure. Interestingly, our study showed that growth rates at time t-1 and t-5 were positively significant on current growth rates, but growth rates at time t-2 and t-4 were negatively significant. These results suggest that short-term and long-term prior growth rates have a positive impact, but mid-term prior growth rates have a negative influence on current growth rates. Our primary interest in Model 1 was the effect of the prior years profit rates on current growth rates. The system GMM results show that profit rates at time t-1 and t-5 were positively significant. The magnitude of the coefficient of profit rate at time t-5 was small, meaning that the positive impact of long-term prior profit rates on current growth rates is small. However, the prior years (time t-1) profit rate has a positively significant effect on current growth and the magnitude of the coefficient is large. Coads (2007) study showed that profit rates at time t-1 to t-3 were all positive but the prior years (time t-1) profit rate was not significant. Coad (2007) used an AR(3) model and thus a direct comparison of ours to Coads (2007) is not possible. Yet it is clear that the direction of the coefficients were very similar. Overall, our study results provide evidence that recently profitable firms may grow faster. In terms of the relationship between prior years firm size and current growth rate, all three results show a negative coefficient but the negative effect was significant only in OLS. Also, debt leverage had a negative effect on current growth rates but the system GMM result was not significant. Additionally, all serial correlation tests were not significant, showing that there was no serial correlation problem. Also, the over-identification tests were not significant, meaning that our instruments were not endogenous and the estimates were reliable. (Insert Table 3 Here) Table 4 shows the results of the profitability equation (Model 2). The results of the system GMM shows that profit rates at time t-1, t-2 and t-5 were had positively significant effect on current profit rates. However, profit rates at time t-3 and t-4 were negatively significant. The results suggest that short-term and long-term prior profit rates have a positive impact on current profit rates, but mid-term prior profit rates have a negative influence on current profit rates. Similarly, Goddard et al.s (2004) results showed that the prior years (time t-1) profit rate was positive and significant in its AR(1) model. Table 4 also presents the effect of the prior years growth rates on current profit rates were negatively significant in time t and t-1. Unlike our results, Goddard et al. (2004) found that the prior years growth rate was posi

Sociological Theories Of Crime And Youth Criminals Criminology Essay

Sociological Theories Of Crime And Youth Criminals Criminology Essay Sociology, along with certain other multidisciplinary focuses, provides a number of reasons for why young people commit crimes. Chief amongst these is a lack of employment, the breakdown of the family, urban decay, social disenchantment, social alienation, drug abuse, and a host of others. For example, it had been proposed that integration be viewed through patterns of role relationships  [1]  however on the other hand it had been argued that new legal powers essentially comprise an extension of punitiveness underpinned by stigmatising and pathologies constructions of working class families.  [2]  In both cases, separated by a number of years, a number of factors are to blame the state, parents, and so on but little if any answers are proposed. Sociology in its broadest forms offers a prescriptive view of the world and this can leave it lacking when tasked with answering questions that arise out of its interests but which its interests cannot qualify. As a 2006 study on you th crime in nova Scotia put it, youth crime is multifaceted. On the one hand, most youth commit crime, and most typically grow out of crime as they age. Longitudinal studies further suggest there are several risk factors that place certain youth at increased risk of offending. At the same time, there are youth with many risk factors who never participate in offending behaviour while there are youth with few risk factors who have established criminal careers.  [3]  It is here that sociology comes unstuck, unable to handle the sheer multi affectedness of youth crime with an academic outlook that seeks to place youth into easily identifiable boxes. It is here That criminology, psychology, psychiatry, and social policy step in to try and make sense of this multiplicity and advise on policies which can both decrease the number of youths committing crimes, whilst encouraging those already in such a position to leave it behind. According to most commentators, growing out of crime is on the increase. Furthermore, a lot of youth crime is to a certain extent, to be expected, quite aside for reasons of social delinquency. The establishment of the new youth justices system was a reaction to this fact. As sociologists noted that certain levels of delinquency were normal, a new policy entered in the UK that sought to treat all crimes as punishable by a formal criminal justice sanction. The effects of this have been to label a young offender as an offender from an early age. On youths, this has a number of effects. The first is to further entrench criminality into the culprit, whilst the other aims to encourage the youth of the pointlessness of crime , providing punishments that equal the crime, but that also aim to dissuade against further criminal acts. Questions also arise about how to differentiate between males and females. Goldson and Muncie  [4]  note that women tend to grow out of crime earlier than boys. Whilst a sociological approach to this seeks to question why this may be, the criminological approach must make do with knowing that after the age of 18, youth offending begins to fall, particularly self-reported offending. As youths mature, they tend to swap certain crimes for others. Thus shoplifting and burglary decrease whilst fraud and workplace theft increase as they enter the labour market. These are questions best answered by the statistician than the sociologist. Theories that rely on concepts of individual pathology are redundant in the light of sociological developments in criminology. In recent years, there has been a wholesale turning away from concepts of individual pathology in sociology, necessitated by advancements in criminology which place a greater social burden on the reasons for crime. Haines draws a contrast between individualised explanations of criminal behaviour and approaches which seek to place crime in its situational and social context.  [5]  However, the positivist view that Darwinian notions of physiognomy may in some way be responsible for defining characteristics of a criminal are by now very outdated. More modern theories of criminality, derived in part from sociological studies, but also from the dismantling of the Darwinian myth of universal positivism, have led researchers to take the view that criminals are made, rather than born. That means that they are socialized in a society that views criminal behaviour as entirely rational and in keeping with the social and cultural norms of that milieu. Whilst exceptions still abound, particul arly in the case of the clinically, ill, this view informs much policy thinking and policies aimed at reducing youth crime. There are of course exceptions to this, but they remain very much the exception. Individual pathology is so closely linked with the notion of pathology that it is too universal, cutting across all classes, as to be specific enough to the rigours of criminological profiling. Criminology in its current incarnation looks at why crime exists in society and in order to do that, it needs to look at the ills of society. Taking their cues from Marx and Engels, the modern idea of criminology seeks to give answers that look at social questions as much as pathological ones. Accordingly, the individual pathology model is a control oriented ideology which serves to locate the causes of problems in specific individuals and which supplies the relevant knowledge and understanding to develop the appropriate technologies and social policies for controlling deviant members. Crimi nological theorizing thereby becomes a means of providingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a means of legitimating current policies which become justified as forms of treatment rather than punishment.  [6]  In this argument, the archaic individual pathology view becomes not only outdated, but also unfairly punitive, prescribing a series of judgments upon a larger, unclassifiable group. It strips the moral imperative from those enlisted to uphold it, and takes an awkwardly narrow view of society as a whole.

The Efffects Of Louis 16th On :: essays research papers fc

The French Revolution was a significant milestone in European history, remembered by many in historical and literary works. The situation in France, mostly under the leadership of Louis XVI, had a negative influence in France, thus creating a perfect climate for the French Revolution. France was plagued by both debt, and poor decision making. prior to 1789. France was poverty-stricken and burdened with some of the highest debts. On the financial side, Louis XVI was aided by: Finance Minister Anne Robert Jauques Turgot, and Interior Minister Chretien Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (*The economic origins of the French revolution, pg. 4). Louis introduced some of the most oppressive taxes and instituted financial reforms. Greater reforms were prevented by the opposition of the upper classes and court. This opposition was so strong that Turgot was forced to resign and was replaced by Jauques Necker. Lengthy wars, the support to the American Revolution and the gross amount of taxes paid and the lavish spending of the court contributed to the huge national debt. The government’s financial problems were made worse after 1740 by the renewal of costly wars (the French revolution, pg. 9). The war of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Year’s War (1756-1763) were European wars over the domination of central Europe and colonial and commercial wars between France and Great Britain (*Aspects of the French Revolution pg. ). At their end, in 1763 France had lost almost all of it’s colonial empire in America and India. In 1778 the French launched an attack against Britain in the American Revolution. They were hoping to weaken old rivalries and regain lost colonies. The hopes of the French were not realized and their participation in the war increased an already heavy national debt. After Louis XVI granted financial aid (1778-81) to the American colonies revolting against Great Britain, Necker proposed drastic taxes on the nobility. Neck er was forced to resign in 1781 (Louis XVI and M. Antoinette ..pg 37) because of the discontentment of the people. Charles Alexandre deCalonne replaced him in 1783 and borrowed money for the court until the borrowing limit was reached (* Canadian Encyclopedia ref: france, revolution ). The anger of the French people against taxes, debt and lavish spending on the Court resulted in the recall of Necker in 1788, who still could not prevent bankruptcy of the government. During the next couple of years the financial crisis steadily worsened, because the government was bankrupt.