Patronage During the Italian Renaissance

Introduction: Imagine being an artist in Florence during the 1400-1500’s. The city would be a lively place bursting with numerous aspiring artists. Of the young men learning their trade as best as possible, most will not achieve centuries of notoriety. The ones that do earn the honor of being remembered today all had a common theme; wealthy patrons, including wealthy individuals, guilds and the church. Throughout the Italian Renaissance, the artists who achieved the most success were the artists who acquired the most notable patrons.Probably the most famous of these patrons were the Medici’s and, like other patrons, they were rich and powerful. The power did not always come directly from running the government, but because they had enough financial influence over the people in the Florentine government they indirectly influenced how the area was run. This influence means they had connections with the most important people of their day, important people who would also cr eate commissions for the artists. Powerful families were not only financially secure, but had excess money to spend on expensive items such as bronze sculptures.For the patrons it was all about showing off what they could afford to other wealthy families. Wealthy families influenced the arts because they wanted to show off, it was politically wise, and they actually appreciated the arts. These reasons lead to a profound impact upon the patron-artist relationship and the art produced during the Italian Renaissance period. Patronage To Flaunt The Medici’s were a highly affluent family and they desired to show off their excess wealth. Basically, they wanted to flaunt their wealth.Once the more expensive things in life, such fancy clothes are bought and a fancy party provided for all the friends, what else is there to do with such an excess of money? Becoming a patron of the arts was not always in association with a love of art, but because the people who could afford it wanted t o show off their wealth and prestige. One of the very best ways to do this was to purchase extravagant and expensive artwork, because it is long lasting and highly visual. One example of prestige is the tabernacle for the Church of the Annunziara in Florence.It was commissioned by Piero d’Medici and the inscription states that the marble alone costs 4000 florins. (Burke, p 98) Another proof this reason for patronage was so common is the statement, â€Å"the majority of the types of commission just referred to were determined by the taste and outlook of the upper middle class. † (Antal, p134) Many other sources assert the same exact thing. Most commissions were done according to the taste of the upper middle class because they were the people competing with one another to have the most extraordinary art.It is easy to invite people over and show the art to them or conveniently place artworks in public places to feature to clients and coworkers. This is a social practice widely used today and was in no way different during the Italian Renaissance. Political Scheming A wealthy person might support the arts based on politic scheming. If the wealth holder is a patron of the arts, then it shows he respects the talents of other men and is willing to support those other men. To quote Machiavelli, â€Å"A prince ought to show himself a lover of ability, giving employment to able men and honoring those who excel in a particular field. (Burke, p99) For someone with political aspirations, living this type of life would prove to political supporters how aware he or she is of other people’s abilities. And when someone supports those abilities as just a regular member of society, that support will likely increase as the person rises in power and wealth. The Medici’s exemplified this by the amount of art they increasingly commissioned as they increased in wealth and climbed their way to control over Florence. An example of political scheming is Bot ticelli’s Adoration of the Magi.It was commissioned by Guasparre di Zanobi del Lama, to be an alter piece for a chapel in the Santa Maria Novella. Traditionally, paintings of the magi are painted to pay religious homage to Christ, and the Magi who travelled to see him. In this particular version, Botticelli paints likenesses of the Medici into the people including depicting Cosimo de’Medici as the Magi kneeling before Jesus. It is believed that the he painted such a powerful family into the painting because of his patron’s desires. Guasparre del Lama wanted the Medici painted as the prominent characters to show his respect for the powerful family.People rarely show such a public display of adoration for a politically powerful family without having personal, underlying political motives. Ultimately, this man used his influence on the arts as a method of getting attention from the Medici family. (â€Å"Analysis: Botticelli’s â€Å"Adoration of the Magiâ⠂¬ Ã¢â‚¬  2010) Positive Patron-Artist Relationships When the artists developed a positive relationship with the patron, it proved highly beneficial for the individual artists. These benefits were primarily financial, including the potential for more work from the same patron.This can be seen many times over, including the example of Raphael with Pope Julius II. If the artist’s work pleased the patron, they would be likely to higher the same artist for more art, which would in turn lead to a stable income for the artist. In order to please the patron, the artist had to follow their specifications. Raphael completed many masterpieces for the Pope, including 3 frescoes in the Vatican. These pieces are proof that in order to please the Pope, Raphael had to incorporate him into the art.One source explained the School of Athens and the Disputa as the earthly and celestial wisdom of Julius II, while the Parnussus shows the beauty of creativity. The Expulsion of Heliodorus from th e Temple symbolizes the expulsion of the French and the subjugation of all the church’s enemies, with Julius II depicted witnessing the scene from his portable throne. In the Uffizi gallery in Florence there is a fresco completed by Raphael, showing the Pope as a resigned, pensive old man instead of a victorious Moses springing to his feet, as Michelangelo portrayed him.What the artist wanted in his paintings was irrelevant compared with the need to please the patron and continue acquiring commissions. (Barnett 2007) Not all artist-patron relationships were entirely business oriented. For proof of this more positive impact, it requires a look at Michelangelo and Lorenzo de’Medici. Unlike Raphael and Pope Julius II, Michelangelo’s relationship with Lorenzo Medici was much deeper. They were as close, if not closer than many fathers and sons.Michelangelo lived with the Medici’s for two years as a teenager because Lorenzo saw his talent and invited him to liv e at the Medici palace and study art while he was there. Lorenzo greatly appreciated his talents and was a constant source of encouragement to the young Michelangelo. There was a tradition in the Medici household, that the most prominent people were allowed to sit down first, and Michelangelo was allowed to sit before Lorenzo’s own son. Michelangelo returned the favor by carving the impressive marble relief, The Battle of the Centaurs for Lorenzo.Because of the bond the two shared, it did not come as a surprise to anyone that he went into a temporary depression upon Lorenzo’s death. Artists developing positive relationships with their patrons that heavily impacted their personal lives as well as their careers were rare for the time, but did occur on occasion and had an extended influence on their entire lives. Networking through Patronage Another major benefit that occurred from pleasing the patron was the networking. When the patron liked an artist, and another wealth y friend wanted to commission a piece of art, they would recommend the artist they liked most.Most often, when the need for an artist was announced, the artists interested would begin pestering the patron. A letter would achieve the pestering if the artist was not currently in the same city. This constant bothering involved the artists convincing their wealthy connections to encourage the patron to select them or reminding the patron of the positives concerning their working relationship. In these cases, the patron would pick the artist based upon their own personal working relationship with the artist.In 1474, news spread in Milan that the Duke wanted a chapel in Pavia to be painted. The duke’s agent is recorded as complaining that all the painters, â€Å"good and bad† were bothering him about becoming the artist for the chapel. (Burke, 101-102) Trouble often arose concerning the contract between the patron and artist over what had to be done, how it was to be done, w hen it would be done and how much it would cost. One well-known example requires looking at Michelangelo’s experiences with Pope Julius II.The strain between the two was constant and caused many complications. In order to get Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, Julius II had to first convince him to return to Rome. Something Michelangelo did with the assumption that pleasing the Pope would allow him to start working on the tomb again. How they agreed on what exactly was depicted in the Chapel does not have any specific source in the contracts, but most art historians would agree that it was a source of contention initially between the two obstinate men.And as the work progressed, Pope Julius II would show up and create new tension by telling Michelangelo to work faster. Despite the constant struggles, the Sistine Chapel was completed, which is not true for every patron-artist relationship gone south. The relationship between the patron and artist could easily become str ained resulting in frustration, unfinished works and a bad experience. But like the Pope, other wealthy families usually still commissioned paintings and sculptures because they enjoyed owning them. Even if working with an artist could be stressful.Artists would in turn continue to complete works commissioned from frustrating patrons because they provided a continuous livelihood. (King, 2003) Other Patronage Topics Another question brought to mind by the Sistine Chapel is whether great art would exist if the patron was not there to fund the art and to push the artist. Not all patrons were quite as pushy as Pope Julius II, but all patrons had some kind of say in how the paintings and sculptures were created. Proof of this is found in the surviving contracts from this time period.Without these contractual agreements and without the constant bothering from the patrons, many artworks would probably never have been completed. Due to the artist getting distracted by other work or simply n ot being interested in that particular piece anymore. A type of art that has not yet been discussed yet is architecture. Patrons who commissioned buildings were typically guilds or major groups in society, instead of individuals. But these types of patrons also had major influences on the architects. Brunelleschi’s Dome focuses on a major example of how the architects were influential.These guild patrons often helped competitions to decide who got the work instead of just going and picking someone. In the book, Brunelleschi was the main focus, but other people were brought up, such as the people he worked with and competed against. Prestige is the main factor behind competition, and competing against people who are already well known would have been difficult, so for Brunelleschi to compete anyway must have required a high amount of confidence. Especially after the rivalry between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti sparked by the gates of paradise ompetition lead Brunelleschi to focus on architecture instead of goldsmith artwork. Meaning the challenge of capping Santa Maria del Fiore must have appealed to him so greatly; that he did not care whom else he competed against. Its very pleasing that he gets the ultimate victory of the Dome, because that is the main architectural aspect of Florence and the baptistery doors exist in the shadows of his masterpiece. This method of earning a commission fueled rivalries and competition, which added to the competitive nature of art during the Italian Renaissance.This competitive nature in turn created the best work possible from each artist. When recognized for winning a competition, the artist would achieve high levels of fame that could make a career noteworthy. (King, 2000) Conclusion: Those with wealth affect everything because they are the ones with power. Art did not manage to escape that, especially throughout the Italian Renaissance. The motivation for each patron varied from political reasons, to the purpose of per sonal enjoyment, to the desire of flaunting to others.Sometimes their impacts limited the artists, other times they helped the artist become better skilled and more notable. Either way, the relationship between the patrons and the artists heavily influenced the final artistic product. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: culture and society in Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. [ 3 ]. Pluribus One Consulting, LLC, â€Å"Analysis: Botticelli’s â€Å"Adoration of the Magi†. † Last modified 2010. Accessed November 16, 2012. ttp://pluribusone. wordpress. com/2010/09 [ 4 ]. Barnett, Peter. iartid, â€Å"Art in History. † Last modified 2007. Accessed November 16, 2012. http://artid. com/members/art_in_history/blog/post/164-famous-patrons-and-their-influence-pope-julius-ii. [ 5 ]. Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance : culture and society in Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999. [ 6 ]. King, Ross. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling. New York: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. , 2003 [ 7 ]. King, Ross. Brunelleschi's Dome. New York: Penguin Books, 2000.

Ele569 2011 Exam Paper

[pic] **** 2011**** ELE569MICROWAVE ELECTRONICSDuration: 2 hours 30 minutes YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO READ THE CONTENTS OF THIS QUESTION PAPER UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY AN INVIGILATOR. Answer FOUR Questions. The Smith Chart is Attached. calculators arE permitted in this examination. Please state on your answer book the name and type of machine used. Complete all rough workings in the answer book and cross through any work which is not to be assessed. mportant note: thE academic Regulations state that possession of unauthorised material at any time when a student is under examination conditions is an ASSESSMENT offence AND CAN LEAD TO EXPULSION FROM THE COLLEGE. Please CHECK NOW TO ENSURE YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY NOTES in your possession. IF YOU HAVE ANY THEN please RAISE YOUR hand AND GIVE them to AN invigilator IMMEDIATELY. EXAM PAPERS CANNOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAM ROOM Examiners: Prof. Y. Hao and Prof. C. G. Parini  © Queen Mary, University of London, 2010 Question 1Answer the fol lowing questions on the Smith Chart and its applications. (a) Starting from the definition of Reflection Coefficient, explain the construction of the Smith Chart. It is NOT necessary to derive the equations for the constant impedance and constant reactance circles. [8 marks] It is a polar plot of the complex reflection coefficient. It is also known as the 1-port scattering parameter s or s11, for reflections from a normalised complex load impedance z = r + jx; [4 marks] [2marks] [2marks] (b)Consider the transmission line circuit below (Figure 1).Use the Smith Chart to find SWR on the line, the return loss, the reflection coefficient at the load, the load admittance, the input impedance to the line, the distance to the first voltage minimum, the distance from the load to the first voltage maximum. [9 marks] 0. 8 Wavelength Z0 =50 ? ZL =70+j40 ? Zin Figure 1 [pic] 1mark for each answer except for last two (2 marks) (c)A load impedance of ZL = 100-j150 ? is to be matched to a 50 ? line using a single shunt-stub tuner. Find two solutions using short-circuited stubs. [8 marks] 2 marks each for the following four answers [pic]Question 2 (a) Consider an arbitary microwave transistor with scattering matrix [S], connected to source and load impedances as shown in Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 Derive the following equations concerning (in and (out. [pic] [7 Marks] with reference to figure 1, the refelection coefficient seen looking forward the load is [pic] while the reflection coefficient seen looking toward the source is [pic] [1 Marks] in general, the input impedance of the terminated two-port network will be mismatched with a reflection coefficient given by (in, which can be defined by the following analysis.From S parameters definition, [pic] Eliminating V2-, and solving for [pic] [4 Marks] Similarly, (out can be obtained. [2 Marks] (b) In a transistor oscillator, a one-port negative-resistance is effectively created by terminating a potential unstable transistor with a n impedance designed to drive the device in an unstable region as shown in Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 Assuming that S parameters of the transistor in a common-gate configuration are S11=(2. 18, -35(), S12=(2. 75, 96(), S21=(1. 26, 18(), S22=(0. 52, 155(). Design load and teminating networks using a combination of one-eighth nd a quarter wavelength impedance transformers for a microwave oscillator. Please note that the stability circle can be calculated using the following equations [pic] [18 Marks] †¢ S11 is quite big, which means that the common gate transistor configuration is unstable †¢ The centre and radius of the output stability circle in the (T plane are: CT=(1. 08, 33(), RT=0. 665 [4 Marks] †¢ Since |S11|=2. 18>1, then the stable region is inside the stability circle, this gives large amount of freedom to choose (T plane. †¢ (T is selected as (0. 59, -104().Then an impedance matching network is used to convert ZT into 50Ohm match load †¢ From (T , (in =(3. 96, -2. 4(). It is obtained from [pic] †¢ Zin can be found to be (-84-j1. 9)Ohm, and then ZL(()= -Rin(()-jXin(() †¢ A matching network is chosen to match ZL with 50Ohm load [10 Marks] Based on the following equations, an impedance matching network can be designed (T is selected as (0. 59, -104(), ? T can be found as †¢ Zin can be found to be (-84-j1. 9)Ohm, and then ZL(()= -Rin(()-jXin(()=84+j1. 9 Question 3 Answer the following questions about microwave amplifiers: a)Show that for a unilateral device, where S12=0, the ( -parameter test implies that | S11 | < 1 and |S22 | < 1 for unconditional stability. Where the ( -parameter test is formulated as [pic] [8 marks] [pic] [pic] (b) Use the ( -parameter test to determine which of the following devices are unconditionally stable, and of those, which has greatest stability. [6 Marks] |Device |S11 |S21 |S12 |S22 | |A |0. 80

Culture and Anthropology

Evidently culture is difficult to be defined from a single definition. E. B. Tylor, in 1871 described culture as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society† this explanation however, is just a wide collection of different categories that all combined together give rise to the term. A much more accurate term of culture is the one suggested by Ralph Linton, as â€Å"the configuration of learned behavior and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society†. In this term we observe an obvious behaviorist approach which connects culture with the concept of learned behavior and more precisely with the importance of language. Finally Victor Barnouw, based on the previous behaviorist definition, names culture as â€Å"the way of life of a group of people, the configuration of all of the more or less stereotyped patterns of learned behavior which are handed down from one generation to the next through the means of language and imitation† (Victor Barnouw, 1963). Throughout investigating various definitions of culture we accomplished a correlation between learning (mostly through language) and enculturation. Enculturation is a lifelong unconscious process and each child learns the language of its community by imitation, instruction, and from the verbal behavior of others. The capacity of human beings to enlarge and transmit complex cultural patterns is dependent upon language. Then the idea of learning a language is equivalent with the idea of learning a culture. In most of the cases, no individual is aware of all the elements that create his culture but by the time he is grown, he has most probably learned the universal beliefs shared by the members of his community. Cultures vary from the importance they put on formal education as opposed to informal learning. Formal education is present in complex societies with the form of teaching institutes; nevertheless informal education is present within the family and peer group that have equally important role in enculturation. In addition to the importance of language, many societies give great significance even in the vocabulary used by very young children. Charles Ferguson has made a comparative study of infant talk in various societies and the results were fascinating similarities in phonology and morphology as well as the repetition of syllables (â€Å"bye-bye†, â€Å"pee-pee†). The most important reason why anthropologists should study young children’s speech is because it indicates a great deal about the child’s world, as well as its cultural perspective (Philip K. Bock, 1974). From the wide-ranging area of culture to the much more defined function of language, the sphere of research around the study of a particular group of people within the same boarder lines of a city is easier understood if the researcher (anthropologist) concentrates the interest of his attention, around a variety of traits with a common base the formal teaching or the informal learning from the inner community, always through the usage of language as an unconscious procedure. When you live in city like Athens and in general into a comparatively small country like Greece, an idea of universality is created in the individual. This might be the result of the modern-informational ages we are living or the outcomes of globalization that puts pressure on the individual to think always â€Å"big† and fast and not to stop in small details or differences. But in the end, those small differences compose our everyday lives and our everyday morality and finally time is needed to reveal those differences that the most of us wrongly take for granted.

Business Environment And Strategic Management. (RIM) Essay

Business Environment And Strategic Management. (RIM) - Essay Example RIM designs and develops the wireless email services for BlackBerry Phones. In the year 1999, RIM had transformed the global mobile industry with the beginning of BlackBerry solution (Research in Motion (a), 2012, p.9). RIM aims to sustain its position in the telecommunication industry by emphasising on the advancement of two-way wireless technologies as well as by enabling applications. RIM was instituted in the year 1984 and is headquartered in Canada. The common shares of RIM are traded in the NASDAQ as well as the Toronto Stock Exchange. As of March 2012, the company employs around 16,500 employees and has around 524 million shares outstanding (Research in Motion (b), 2012). As on March, 2012, RIM has a fortified balance sheet consisting of around $2.1 billion of cash, cash equivalents and investments and only a small percentage of debt. For the financial year 2012, the annual revenue of RIM was of $18.4 billion, while its net profit was $1.2 billion. Therefore, the earnings per share of Rim for 2012 were $2.22 per share. Around 40% of the company’s sales take place in the UK, UK and Canada (Research in Motion (a), 2012, p.13). With the help of BlackBerry platform, RIM provides a superior wireless communications service by means of push-based connectivity, in addition to offering industry’s best security and project manageability.... With the help of BlackBerry platform, RIM provides a superior wireless communications service by means of push-based connectivity, in addition to offering industry’s best security and project manageability. The company provides outstanding radio performance and also enables distinguished social applications like BBM that endow the users with propinquity, efficiency and association (Research in Motion (a), 2012, p. 11; Research in Motion (c), 2012.). The major competitors of RIM in the segment of mobile operating system platforms comprise of Nokia Corporation (Symbian), Apple Inc (iOS), Microsoft Corporation (Windows Phone), HTC Corporation, Google Inc (Android) and Motorola (Research in Motion (a), 2012,p.9). 1.2. The Wireless Communication Industry The wireless communications business sector engages in the conditioning of wireless voice as well as data services by means of radio frequency technologies on an array of rivalling wireless systems. These systems characteristically consist of a distinctive voice layer as a result of which the data transmission layers have been deployed consequently. The most extensively installed wireless voice as well as data networks consist of CDMA/1xRTT/EVDO and GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPA (Research in Motion (a), 2012, p. 10). GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPA and CDMA/EVDO, the two key global voice and data systems persist to be advanced to provide superior speeds as well as augmented abilities to sustain the concentration of subscribers in the same as well as fresh radio frequency spectrums. The rollout of these technologies is well underway and commercially available in many markets around the world (Research in Motion (a), 2012, p.10). In the financial year 2011, the next generation systems (4G) like

Government and the Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Government and the Economy - Essay Example This is the foremost time of experiencing such an occurrence in more than four decades. The expenditure of the federal administration has been rising at a decidedly sluggish pace in the three years of the prevailing administration. Falling expenditures of regional and area administrations, which have equally shrunk in spending at an alarming rate, plummets the slow rise. The slow growth of federal spending along with the free-falling expenditure of regional administrations is a strong pointer at the economic and political situation in the country. These signs cannot pass unnoticed because failure to experience rise on government expenditure, more so during the initial period of a new administration, is not only rare but profoundly significant in the political and economic essence. The real GDP of government (both federal and regional) for the primary three months of 2012 is estimated to be 2 per cent less than 2009, when the new administration took the reigns of power. This means tha t the spending of the administration has experienced a fall ever since the forming of government in 2009 implying that certain factors have inhibited the outlay of funds by administrations, both central and local. Such a situation transpired in the US in the course of Richard Nixon’s reign and was attributed to the waning expenditure on the Vietnam conflict. Currently, it is unclear which factors are responsible for the slow growth as well as the falling spending by regimes at the central and local level in the sense that a number of dynamics govern economic growth. Government policies play a prominent role. However, sometimes growth rate can also be attributed to luck of the incumbent regarding the state of the economy when he inherited reigns of power. The current administration took power at the time when the recession was ending. However, the recovery and growth has been remarkably sluggish. The reasons for slow economic growth, which has led to low spending by government under the prevailing regime that ranks lowest in history, have been myriad. The failure to step up government spending emanated from the feeble private sector, which made it difficult for the economy to expand at a high speed (Norris B2). The growth of the private sector is a noteworthy gauge of the circumstances of the economy because it denotes the growth rate of the economy. Changes in spending by the government are because of the expenditure on military disbursement, which has grown dismally in the past few years irrespective of the fall in expenses of Afghanistan as well as Iraq conflicts. On the other hand, nonmilitary outlay has witnessed an upward trend under the prevailing administration. In situations when economy is weak, outlay on investment by central and area governments often fall (through cutbacks) to reflect the state of the economy. Such expenditures include highways and educational institutions like schools and colleges. In essence, falling operating outlays are not new to the US economy and have been part of the country particularly in times of economic difficulty. Therefore, money saving schemes like retrenchment of tutors has not prevailed in the recent past although the number of workers in education has been low. In conclusion, the federal, state, and local governments have been shrinking in the last three years, and this means that the US

Employment skills for engineers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Employment skills for engineers - Essay Example I gained self-confidence with the importance of courage to stand in front of people and share my ideas with other people without fear. Through the numerous class projects and presentations that we did before fellow students, I have perfected the skill, and now I feel that I can harness it whenever and wherever. I have learned how to express myself confidently as well as think for myself and how to seek feedback from other people. My time management skills greatly improved over the course through the assignments that I have managed to complete on time. Most importantly, I have come to appreciate working efficiently under pressure and no supervision in order to achieve my targets. I feel I have gained enough skills and confidence to handle engineering projects in the corporate world and meet all the set goals on time. At first, I thought that I would have to read so much theory. I, however, have been privileged to participate in practical engineering lessons that gave me an opportunity to work in a team without many misunderstandings with my colleagues. Through these experiences, I have developed excellent communication skills that have helped me throughout my 12 months internship. I related well with my teammates throughout these experiences. These have given me an upper hand as I have been able to be chosen as a leader and sometimes as a follower and an active participant in these team practical projects. Throughout my campus life as an engineering student, I have developed resilience through the tough subjects and actual work, which were part of the module. I have also gained a positive outlook in life as all the hard work, and sacrifice has also yielded rewards through good grades awarded to me for the hard work. My problem-solving skills have greatly improved through the practice of identifying problems either in group work or individually and coming up with solutions to these problems. My research skills have

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Case Study Example l has been classified by majority of sport investigators as a game sport, which depends on ‘adenosine triphosphate-phosphocreatine system’ and ‘lactic acid system.’ Nevertheless, it has been argued that a large volume of literature on fitness testing in field and individual sports such as running and cycling are performed more consistently, while the same for court sports such as basketball is contended to be fairly less. In the past, investigations pertaining to physiological and anthropometric profiles of elite basketball players have been evaluated. Notably, the performance pertaining to team sport is generally associated with various factors, specifically fitness of the team members, psychological attributes, team strategies and sport-specific expertise among others. In the present day context, several changes in the rules and development of strategies have been witnessed in the domain of basketball (Schelling & Torres-Ronda, 2013). Correspondingly, such changes have resulted in increasing physical demands of basketball players (Scanlan, Dascombe, Reaburn & Dalbo, 2012). In order to be a successful basketball player, a well-built physical fitness is extremely important for an athlete. Alongside, body size of players and elements including experience, stamina, body composition, stability between anaerobic fitness and aerobic fitness are determined to be vital for evaluating the performance of successful players. Coaches as well as sport scientists are identified to use battery of sport-specific physical tests for evaluating the aforesaid factors such as body size and composition, stamina and aerobic fitness. Testing is usually performed to determine the changes in athletes as well as to draw understanding regarding the efficacy of training programs. Sports science research has established certain values for determining the degree of changes within-athletes as well as between-athletes (Drinkwater, Hopkins, McKenna, Hunt & Pyne, 2005). Lately developed

NEGOTIATION STYLES AND COMMUNICATION Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NEGOTIATION STYLES AND COMMUNICATION - Assignment Example Globalization has brought about the need for cultural understanding for traders in various countries to enable them to trade globally. The Vietnamese and the Americans have different personality styles and preference in negotiation. To start with, the Americans and Vietnam have different approaches to negotiation with the Americans being convenience customers while the Vietnamese are valued customers. This is from the buyers’ point of view so that the negotiating party is the buyer. A convenient customer is the once who is less sensitive to brand and try to minimize effort on evaluation. The convenience customers are time sensitive, thus prefer saving on time. The Americans fit the convenience customer definition through its individualistic nature. Americans are more interested in satisfying personal needs rather than focusing on societal beliefs and culture, therefore the American consumers are known to make decisions free of societal influence. On the other hand, the value customers are conscious of both value and prices of products. They, the value customers, would want to get the best quality at the lowest possible cost thus maximizing on value. For the Vietnamese, they believe in collective communal responsibility for individuals. The people in Vietnam are aware of the general prices of products and qualities, thus are more brands sensitive. The Easterners prefer having to negotiate for lower prices but at the same time maintaining good quality of the product. The individual behavior has affected the way trader price their goods. Traders in the east are aware of the bargaining nature of most of the customers thus have priced their products to allow for bargaining. The Far East is characterized with high power distance (Van 2009). This means that the gap between those having powers, and those not in powers is big and visible. The inequality in power is reflected in the high income disparity

Business for fashion study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business for fashion study - Essay Example Among all these, surveys and sampling are the major research methods that are used to obtain valid results. Through the use of primary research unlike secondary research method, the targeted issues are well addressed. The company asking requesting for the research usually has complete control on the research and the process as far as its scope and objectives are concerned. The company bestowed with the mandate to research can concentrate on a specific area of interest rather than a general area. Again through primary data, interpretation of the data collected is always easy. This is because the collected data can be interpreted and examined as per the researcher’s needs rather than depending on interpretations made through data collected using secondary method. Also through primary research, recency of data is always put into consideration. This is because secondary data is not usually so recent and again may not be so specific to the situation or place the researcher is targeting. The researcher can use the information for knowing how trends behave or find some relation with the current event under consideration. This makes primary data a more accurate method of use. Primary research is always involved with high costs. It is a very costly proposition. This is because the researcher has always to be involved throughout and also design everything. This is a costly endeavor. Again one can get inaccurate feedbacks when he undertakes primary research. There are very high chances that the respondents will give inaccurate responses or biased information that may lead to inaccurate data to the researcher. Also research using the primary method is a time consuming activity. This is because if the exhaustive nature of the activity. The time required by the researcher in order to collect accurate data is long as compared to secondary data. Again through primary research there is a large use of resources that

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay Example for Free

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay The present study is conducted in the Banas Dairy sales area Genesis of Banas Dairy Late ShriGalbhabhai Patel established Banas Dairy with the dream of uplifting socio economic status of village farmers. This dream was fulfilled through the creation of a co-operative milk union for Banaskantha district, on the footprint of â€Å"Amul Dairy† of Kaira district, the ideal model of a Co-operative. Consequently eight village level co-operative milk societies in Vadgam and Palanpur taluk Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at DudhSagar Dairy, Mehsana from 3rd October 1966. The milk union got registered under Co-operative act on 31st January 1969 as Banaskantha District Co-operative milk producers’ Union Limited, popularly known as Banas Dairy. The foundation stone was laid by Late Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel on 14th January 1971 at 122 acres land acquired near Jagana village in order to set up a dairy plant under the operation flood program launched by national Dairy development Board. On 7th May 1971’ the dairy started functioning at the same place with a capacity of 1. 5 lakh liters of milk per day. This has now been increased to 24. 3 lakh liters per day. The dairy has three automated plants with a wide 8-9 product lines. The small dream of Shri Galbabhai has now taken the shape of a co-operative of 1350 societies with around 15000 members. With the relentless efforts of dedicated and committed leadership, the dairy has won the trust of milk producers of Banaskantha district and has brought about a happy change in the lives of all its members. It has come up as a major revolution in the upliftment of the residents of the district. Mission and Vision Banas District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. was established with the prime objective of eliminating the monopoly of private traders and providing the poor farmers the due that they deserve. Along with this it also ensures that the farmers are benefited the maximum out of their operations and activities. The mission of the organization is to provide sustainable means of livelihood to socio-economically downtrodden rural mass, while treading on the path of progress. The organization renews its vision every ten years. It strives to be a successful world class co-operative dairy. The objectives of the organization are clearly expressed through the quality policy, which states that: â€Å"I, the Banas Dairy, commit and aspire to fulfil the needs and expectations of our internal as Ill as external customers and delight them through our quality products and services. I shall achieve the goal through the followings: a). Applying principles of Quality Management Systems and Food Safety Management for continuous enrichment of our management processes. ). Providing remunerating returns, quality input services, introducing innovative and appropriate schemes and services to our milk producers. c). Motivating and providing and encouraging appropriate training for skill up-gradation of our employees. d). Protecting our value system and the environment by judicious use of all natural resources. † India is an agri- oriented country of the world. 70% people are living in rural area so I can say Indian peo ple are living in village the majority of population. The dream of late Galbabhai Patel, founder chairman and the selfless sage to uplift socio- economical status of village farmers came true after creation of a co- operative milk union for banaskantha district, on the foot print of â€Å"Amul Dairy†of kaira presently Anand) district on the model of true co operative milk societies in Vadgam and palanpur taluzka of district Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at Dudh Sagar dairy, Mahesana from 10th march 1969.

Corporate Crimes And Corporate Governance To Combat Them

Corporate Crimes And Corporate Governance To Combat Them Corporate crimes refer to criminal practices by individuals that have the legal authority to have a word for a corporation or company. These can include presidents, managers ,directors and chairman , sales people and agent or anyone within a company that has the authority to act on behalf of the firm Corporate crimes often seen to involve a very different set of dealings between offenders and victims, as there are less obvious direct harm or blood on the streets (Clarke, 1990). It appears less personal as immediate victims are often employers, the government, the public health or the environment and in many cases, such as where Safety laws are broken, causing the death or injury of employees, there is no direct intent to harm. There are also different images of the structural dimensions of victimization. To some, all citizens are victims of this kind of crime, irrespective of age, class or gender, whereas to others the crimes of the wealthy and powerful prey on the poor and powerless. Yet at the same time, victims of some financial frauds may fail to attract sympathy as they are assumed to be wealthy and to have willingly parted with their money (Shichor et al., 2000). Corporate crimes: scopes and definitions As far as scope of the crime is concern this has to be noticed that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Many victims are unaware of any harm and cannot detect it themselves as happens, for example, with some major frauds, pollution, food adulteration and descriptions of consumer goods. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Victimization is often indirect and impersonal, affecting entities such as the government although there are indirect effects on individuals tax payers, for example, have to pay more and receive fewer benefits due to tax evasion. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Individual victims may lose very little yet the illegal profits may be large as in cases in which a bank employee takes one penny out of thousands of accounts or a firm sells goods which weigh less than indicated.  [1]   This term white collar crime was coined by Edward Sutherland in his pioneering 1949 study, White Collar Crime. It describes non-violent crimes committed by corporations or individuals in the course of their business activity. Examples of criminal behaviour in most jurisdiction includes: antitrust violations ,fraud ,damage to the environment in violation of environmental legislation, exploitation of labour in violation of labour laws ,and failure to maintain a fiduciary responsibility toward shareholders. In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals that may be identified with a corporation or other business entity. Corporate Crime is criminal activity on behalf of a business organization. During much of American history the primary legal stance relating to activity of business was decidedly laissez-faire (leave it alone to do as it will). Under the influence of capitalist philosophy American Courts adopted the view that governments should not interfere with businesses by attempting to regulate it. For a long period of history victims of defective and dangerous products could not sue corporations for damages because the guiding principle was caveat emperor (let the buyer beware), and unhealthy and dangerous working conditions in mines, mills and factories were excused under the freedom of contract clause of the constitution  [2]  . Although attitudes in the 20th century changed considerably, crimes of frauds, concealment, and misrepresentation continued to victimize all sorts of groups and individuals in society. Crimes such as these are actions committed during the course of fulfilling the name of corporate profits and growth. Today as corporations have been found to be involved in environmental and health and safety law violations. In the United Kingdom, following several fatal disasters on the rail network and at sea, the term is now also commonly used in reference to corporate manslaughter. In this category would also be included the culpability of Union Carbide in the 1985 accident in Bhopal, India and the current behaviour of the pharmaceutical industry which puts profits ahead of the needs of HIV and other patients worldwide. Yet a third category of corporate crime is State-corporate crime. In a globalized world where States negotiate and conclude agreements with corporations and other international part ies or bodies, opportunities will arise for unjust enrichment and national laws will be broken. The Enron Scandal: The first major scandal of the first decade of 21st century is that Enron Corporation, which has been called one of the most intricate pieces of financial chicanery in history and for investors in its stock and its employees. The Enron sandal did tremendous damage to the company created a crisis of investors confidence the links of which has been seen since the great depression. Enron was a $100 billion corporate empire that had more then 200,000 employees in 40 countries and controlled about one quarter of all trading in natural gas and electricity in the United Status. The company poured millions of dollars into political campaign and lobbyists arguing of further deregulation of energy markets. The Enron hierarchy expected the never-ending innovation and growth from its executive to feed this monster enterprise. In response executives created imaginary markets, paper partnerships and phantom growth that enabled them to report profits that did not exist and to hide debts hat did. Executives were accomplished at cooking the financial books in many ingenious ways, which kept Enrons stock prices rising and thus their own compensation. Because much of the competition received by Enrons executives was stock based, they had major incentives to make the company look as good as possible to investors by reporting high profits. Indian Scenario There are a number of corporate crimes that have come into light now days. One of the major havoc that is created in present times is because of mysterious disappearance of corporations. Of the 5,651 companies listed on Bombay Stock exchange, 2750 have vanished. It means that one out of two companies that come to the stock exchange to raise crores of rupees from investors loot and run away. Even big names like Home Trade came up with huge publicity stunts but after raising money, vanished into the thin air. About 11 million investors have invested Rs. 10,000 crore in these 2750 companies. We have Securities Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India and Department of Companies Affairs to monitor the stock exchange transactions but none has documented the whereabouts of these 2750 odd companies suspended from the stock exchange. Many of the promoters and merchant bankers who are responsible for these are roaming scotfree Court in Assistant Commissioner, Assessment-ll, Banglore Ors. v. Velliappa Textiles Ltd Anr  [3]  . took the view that since an artificial person like a company could not be physically punished to a term of imprisonment, such a section, which makes it mandatory to impose minimum term of imprisonment, cannot apply to the case of artificial person. However, Supreme Court in 2005 in Standard Charted Bank v. Directorate Of Enforcement  [4]  in majority decision of 3:2 expressly overruled the Velliapa Textiles case  [5]  on this issue. K.J Balkrishanan J. in majority opinion held We hold that there is no immunity to the companies from prosecution merely because the prosecution is in respect of offences for which punishment prescribed is mandatory imprisonment. We overrule the views expressed by the majority in Velliappa Textiles on this point There is a severe need to fight this evil of corporate crime As has been belatedly recognized in many jurisdictions, corporate crime causes far greater damage than violent street crimes. It therefore deserves more attention from the law enforcement community. According to the FBIs 2001 report, the United States reportedly lost USD17.2 billion from robbery, burglary, theft and motor-vehicle theft while the Enron fiasco alone cost investors, pensioners and employees more than three times that amount. The United Kingdom estimates that in 2004,  £78 million (USD139 million) was lost to healthcare fraud, a reduction from  £171 million (USD305 million) in 1999. In 2004, Transparency International estimated that at least USD400 billion was lost per year worldwide due to bribery in government procurement alone. However due to the scarcity of consolidated and structured statistics on corporate crime, it is impossible to determine the overall cost of corporate crime to national economies worldwide. WHERE DOES CORPORATE CRIME LIES In the Administration Improvement Act (AIA) of 1979 the U.S. Congress defined whitecollar crime as an illegal act or series of illegal acts committed by non-physical means and by concealment or guile, to obtain money or property or to obtain business or personal advantage.  [6]   But still the sworn hang by this fact that the term corporate crime is used where the offence is committed by a corporation, usually to benefit the corporation while the term white collar crime is used where the offence is committed against a corporation, usually by its own executives or employees and the corporation is the victim. As it is stated above that corporate crimes are some or how different from white-collar crimes but still in an arena Corporate crime overlaps with organized crimes and state corporate crimes along with white-collar crime à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ White-collar crime: Because the majority of individuals who may act as or represent the interests of the corporation are employees or professionals of a higher social class; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Organized crime: Because criminals can set up corporations either for the purposes of crime or as vehicles for laundering the proceeds of crime. Organized crime has become a branch of big business and is simply the illegal sector of capital. It has been estimated that, by the middle of the 1990s, the gross criminal product of organized crime made it the twentieth richest organization in the world richer than 150 sovereign states (Castells 1998: 169). The worlds gross criminal product has been estimated at 20 percent of world trade. (de Brie 2000); and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ State-corporate crime :Because, in many contexts, the opportunity to commit crime emerges from the relationship between the corporation and the state. Corporate crime encompasses embezzlement (also known as criminal breach of trust in some countries), fraud, corruption, insider trading, unfair competition, healthcare fraud, computer crime, forgery and tax evasion. The central element of these crimes being cheating and dishonesty However, it also goes beyond these traditional boundaries.  [7]   Corporate environmental crimes The term corporate environmental crime, which may be defined as any environmental crime that has been committed by any corporate body .the importance of the inquiry was to hear from a range of corporate bodies and their representatives on the present environmental criminal justice system, while at the same time recognising that an environmental sentence for a corporate body is at present limited to fine .the reason for commiting corporate environmental crimes are also varied. The crime may occur because the business concerned is ignorant of its environmental obligations. It may also occur all too often as a result of negligent behaviour ,for example ,where business are poorly managed ,staff are inadequately trained or equipment and infrastructure has not been maintained to the required standard ,allowing a pollution incident to occur. But perhaps the most depressing cause is when corporate environmental crime is the result of a deliberate and intentional illegal act ,a decision taken in the full knowledge that the act is illegal and will result in environmental crime. In our paper our main concern would be corporate environmental crimes in which we will mainly concern about the worlds worst industrial disaster and a heinous corporate crime; the leakage methyl isocyanides (MIC) and other poisonous gases from Union Carbides Bhopal, India, pesticide factory on December 3rd, 1984.which killed 8000 people in first three days and poisoned more than 500000 people and at least 120000 people remain chronically ill and also 30 people die each month from long term effect of gases even today  [8]   The question would be arisen in your mind that why we choose Bhopal disaster as specific topic for our research and view. There are several reasons behind this ; it is only matter of time before the world is shocked and sickened by another Bhopal type industrial diasater .this is because the global economic forces that led union carbide to build and operate its ill fated factory in Bhopal have not gone away they have only become stronger. The fact tha after 20 years of the Bhopal disaster ,survivors are forced to drink poisoned water ,contaminated by stockpiles of abandoned chemicals ,clearly reflects the apathy towards communities and the environment. The lessons of Bhopal are still waiting to be learened. In fact, a 1000 Bhopals are happening in slow motion across india destroying the environmental and poisoning people with impunity. Environmental disasters , both chronic and immediate , induced by irresponsible corporate practices are becoming more frequent. Transnational corporations have learned to downplay damage ,and focus attention and liability on the local company to elude full criminal and civil liability. Bhopal corporate environmental crime Being the most worst industrial disaster itself fulfil the need to concern about it.the brutality of the incident can be fairly stated by a comment given by a Bhopal resident that Mothers didnt know their children had died ,children didnt know their mothers had died and men didnt know their whole families has died   [9]  simply after the unpleasant incident people said that We were choking and our eyes were burning. We could barely see the road through the fog, and sirens were blaring.We didnt know which way to run. Everybody was very confused  [10]  .before the occurrence Opposition legislators raised the issue in the State Assembly and the clamour surrounding these incidents culminated in a 1983 motion that urged the state government to force the company to relocate the plant to a less-populated area. Starting in 1982, a local journalist named Rajkumar Keswani had frantically tried to warn people of the dangers posed by the facility. In September of 1982, he wrote an articl e entitled Please Save this City. Other articles, written later, bore grimly prophetic titles such as Bhopal Sitting on Top of a Volcano and If You Do Not Understand This You Will Be Wiped Out. Just five months before the tragedy, he wrote his final article: Bhopal on the Brink of a Disaster. Yet when the Independent speaks of rape, the Guardian of disgrace and Jon Snow of a crime against humanity, they are not talking about THAT NIGHT but of what has happened since to those who survived it. Today, 25 years after the disaster, Bhopal remains a humanitarian disaster. Their breathless bodies no longer able to push handcarts and lift heavy loads, thousands have fallen into destitution and their families have learned the lessons of the abyss, binding cloths round their middles to give an illusion of fullness, giving children unable to sleep from hunger water to fill their empty bellies.  [11]   In the midst of this clamour, in May 1982, Union Carbide sent a team of U.S. experts to inspect the Bhopal plant as part of its periodic safety audits. This report, which was forwarded to Union Carbides management in the United States, speaks unequivocally of a potential for the release of toxic materials and a consequent runaway reaction due to equipment failure, operating problems, or maintenance problems. In fact, the report goes on to state rather specifically: Deficiencies in safety valve and instrument maintenance programs. Filter cleaning operations are performed without slip blinding process. Leaking valves could create serious exposure during this process. In its report, the safety audit team noted a total of 61 hazards, 30 of them major and 11 in the dangerous phosgene/MIC units. It had warned of a higher potential for a serious incident or more serious consequences if an accident should occur. Though the report was available to senior U.S. officials of the company, nothing was done  [12]  . In fact, according to Carbides internal documents, a major cost-cutting effort (including a reduction of 335 men) was undertaken in 1983, saving the company $1.25 million that year DOWs liability under corporate crimes Liabilty which is related to the 1984 Bhopal disaster was originally filed in 1987, and reinstated in 1991. Both Warren Anderson, the former CEO of Union Carbide, and the Union Carbide Corporation itself face criminal charges in India of culpable homicide (or manslaughter). Both Anderson and Carbide have repeatedly ignored summons to appear in India for trial, and are officially considered absconders (fugitives from justice) by the Indian Government. While Anderson, if extradited and convicted, would face ten years in prison, Carbide faces a fine which has no upper limit. Along with above mentioned liability DOW also owes environmental liability because keen to distance itself from disaster Union Carbide fled India leaving behind tons of toxic wastes strewn in and around the factory site. According to former workers of the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, while the factory was in operation, massive amounts of chemicals including pesticides, solvents, catalysts and wastes were routinely dumped in and around the factory grounds. These include deadly substances such as aldicarb, carbaryl, mercury, and several chlorinated chemicals and organic poisons. In 1977, Carbide constructed Solar Evaporation Ponds (SEPs) over 14 hectares 400 meters north of its factory. Toxic effluents and toxic wastes were routinely dumped there. Two tube wells dug in the vicinity of the SEPs were abandoned because of the noxious smell and taste of the water. Environmental criminal liability of DOW and Union Carbide A preliminary study of soil and groundwater pollution inside the plant, conducted in 1989 by Carbide, found plenty to be worried about. Some water samples produced a 100% death rate among fish placed in them. Nevertheless Carbide issued no warning. An internal memo refers to the need for secrecy, suggesting that the information should be kept for our own understanding. Not only did it fail to warn people living nearby, it vociferously denied that there was a problem and, incredibly, wrote to the Gas Relief Minister criticizing those who were trying to make people aware of the danger, suggesting that they were mischievous agitators. Carbide in the US meanwhile tried to portray Bhopal activists and their supporters ascommunists who aimed to restructure US society into something unrecognizable and probably unworkable. Carbide and Dow later relied on a report from a government organization called NEERI  [13]  which in 1997 published a report which found that water outside the factory was not contaminated. Consultant Arthur D Little had beenappointed in 1989 by Union Carbide US to work privately with NEERI. ADL believed itself to be working with UCC in Danbury, but all reference to UCC was to be deleted. ADL was to pretend to be working with UCIL alone. But a memo of 1993 shows the US Carbide executives in the driving seat. ADL eventually reported back to Carbide suggesting that NEERI had failed to find contamination because its sampling methods were flawed. In particular ADL suggested it was imprudent to claim that local water was safe for drinking and warned that groundwater contamination could happen far more swiftly and seriously than envisaged. ADL was unclear at one point as to whether NEERI was claiming that labourers were or were not exposed to contaminated groundwater. ADLs suggested ch anges ran to 17 pages, but none of them were incorporated in NEERIs published report, which is what Dow and Carbide still quote, knowing it to be worthless. Carbides own documents reveal that they knew for decades that their disposal practices in Bhopal were leading to massive contamination of the soil and groundwater, and that their sole concern was how to evade responsibility and cover it up. At last we would like to conclude about their liabilities by sayingthat the disaster was caused because Union Carbide had under-invested in an inherently hazardous facility located in a crowded neighborhood, used admittedly unproven designs, stored lethal MIC in reckless quantities, dismantled safety systems and cut down on safety staff and training in an effort to cut costs  [14]   The severity is not hidden now so further we would like to suggest 10 Bhopal principles on corporate liability  [15]  We have chosen to call them the Bhopal Principles because this disaster, more than any other, highlights the current failure of governments to protect public welfare and the failure of corporations to observe basic standards e.g. the avoidance of liability by parent corporations, and the avoidance of responsibility for compensation and environmental cleanup. And further question would is there any need for this kind of principles than we say yes why not because At the Johannesburg Earth Summit, Government looked at what has and has not been done to implement the Rio commitments. The Bhopal case shows that it is important to hold corporations liable and to provide compensation for victims of pollution and other environmental damage, that responsibility for liability and cleanup should be enforceable not only against the local corporate entity, but also against the multinational parent. The Ten Bhopal Principles on Corporate Accountability Implement Rio Principle 13. States shall as a matter of priority enter into negotiations for a legal international instrument, and adopt national laws to operationalise and implement Principle 13 of the Rio Declaration, to address liability and Compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage. Extend Corporate Liability. Corporations must be held strictly liable without requirement of fault for any and all damage arising from any of their activities that cause Environmental or property damage or personal injury, including site remediation. Parent companies as well as subsidiaries and affiliated local corporations must be held liable for compensation and restitution. Corporations must bear cradle to grave responsibility for manufactured products. States must implement individual liability for directors and officers for actions or omissions of the corporation, including for those of subsidiaries. Ensure Corporate Liability for Damage beyond National Jurisdictions. States shall ensure that corporations are liable for injury to persons and damage to property, biological diversity and the environment beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and to the global commons such as atmosphere and oceans. Liability must include responsibility for environmental cleanup and restoration. Protect Human rights. Economic activity shall not infringe upon basic human and social rights. States have the responsibility to safeguard the basic human and social rights of citizens, in particular the right to life; the right to safe and healthy working conditions; the right to a safe and healthy environment; the right to medical treatment and to compensation for injury and damage; the right to information and the right of access to justice by individuals and by groups promoting these rights. Corporations must respect and uphold these rights. States must ensure effective compliance by all corporations of these rights and provide for legal implementation and enforcement. Provide for Public Participation and the Right to Know. States shall require companies routinely to disclose to the public all information concerning releases to the environment from their respective facilities as well as product composition. Commercial confidentiality must not outweigh the interest of the public to know the dangers and liabilities associated with corporate outputs, whether in the form of pollution by-products or the product itself. Once a product enters the public domain there should be no restrictions on public access to information relevant to environment and health on the basis of commercial secrecy. Corporate responsibility and accountability shall be promoted through environmental management accounting and environmental reporting which gives a clear, comprehensive and public report of environmental and social impacts of corporate activities. Adhere to the Highest Standards. States shall ensure that corporations adhere to the highest standards for protecting basic human and social rights including health and the environment. Consistent with Rio Declaration Principle 14, States shall not permit multinational corporations to deliberately apply lower standards of operation and safety in places where health and environmental protection regimes, or their implementation, are weaker. Avoid Excessive Corporate Influence over Governance. States shall co-operate to combat bribery in all its forms, promote transparent political financing mechanisms and eliminate corporate influence on public policy through election campaign contributions, and/or non-transparent corporate-led lobby practices. Protect Food Sovereignty over Corporations. States shall ensure that individual States and their people maintain sovereignty over their own food supply, including through laws and measures to prevent genetic pollution of agricultural biological diversity by genetically engineered organisms and to prevent the patenting of genetic resources by corporations. Implement the Precautionary Principle and Require Environmental Impact Assessments. States shall fully implement the Precautionary Principle in national and international law. Accordingly, States shall require corporations to take preventative action before environmental damage or heath effects are incurred, when there is a threat of serious or irreversible harm to the environment or health from an activity, a practice or a product. Governments shall require companies to undertake environmental impact assessments with public participation for activities that may cause significant adverse environmental impacts. Promote Clean and Sustainable Development. States shall promote clean and sustainable development, and shall establish national legislation to phase out the use, discharge and emission of hazardous substances and greenhouse gases, and other sources of pollution, to use their resources in a sustainable manner, and to conserve their biological diversity. HOW TO HANDLE AND CONTROL CORPORATE CRIMES There are many ways for law enforcement authorities to combat corporate crime. Firstly, prevention. This can be achieved by encouraging awareness of the moral compass within corporations and among their employees and the promotion of self-regulation. This should be complemented by an effective corporate oversight regime through internal compliance programmes as well as regulation by the Companies Commission and Securities Commissions or its equivalent. For the latter purpose, it will be necessary to put in place effective laws and regulations in a timely manner. In turn, these laws will also have to be actively enforced by well-trained law enforcement agencies and prosecutors if they are to be a realistic deterrent. In this regard it is noted that although sustained enforcement against corporate crime is required as a strong deterrent and to maintain public confidence in the financial markets, enforcement should be seen as a measure to augment internal vigilance and not as a substitu te for it. Thus corporations must also play their role as responsible corporate citizens in the national and global communities. With regard to the investigation and prosecution of corporate crimes with a transnational flavour, be it through the multinational nature of the corporation or the elements of the crime, the importance of international cooperation to gather evidence and recover the ill-gotten gains cannot be overstated. States should therefore put in place a comprehensive domestic legal framework that includes laws to criminalize the relevant criminal acts and impose corporate and individual liability for them. Another crucial element will be effective whistleblower and witness protection laws. A network of bilateral and regional treaties on mutual assistance in criminal matters and extradition together with bilateral treaties on asset sharing is also indispensable. These instruments would complement the stand-alone framework provided under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption. In this regard, countries in the ASEAN region are also able to utilize the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters which was concluded in November 2004 among the ten like-minded ASEAN Member States and is currently in force among Brunei, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Suggestions from our side Amendment to section 62 of the Indian penal code by adding the following lines: In every case in which the offence is only punishable with imprisonment or imprisonment and fine and the offender is the company or other body corporate or an association of individuals, it shall be competent to the court to sentence such offender to fine only. In many of the acts relating to economic offences, imprisonment is mandatory. Where the convicted person is corporation, this provision becomes unworkable and it is desirable to provide that in such cases, it shall be competent to

Theory Of Second Language Acquisition English Language Essay

Theory Of Second Language Acquisition English Language Essay Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is a critical issue to both teachers and learners of a second language equally. Thus, teaching and learning a second language has always been of a highly important matter for linguistics who always seek language learning solutions to facilitate instructors job and answer educational enquires .Fillmore and Snow, 2002 and Hamayan, 1990 stated that teachers can play a positive role in improving second language acquisition if they understood how to improve the learners ability of majority. This paper will be devoted to Stephen Krashens second language learning acquisition theory. It will go through the stages of the theory and some applicable strategies for L2 teachers and learns. Key words: mother tongue, second language acquisition, learning, L2, theory Introduction Linguist Stephen Krashen (1981,1982) , University of Southern California, USA has developed the most famous second language acquisition theory (SLA) which is also known as the Krashens Monitor Model. Krahsen has developed his theory of second language acquirers who are assumed to have two autonomous systems for improving their ability in acquiring a second language and aware of the language learning. So, these systems are interconnected in an explicit way where unconscious acquisition seems to be more vital as it takes place naturally. The theory rotates around hypotheses that young learners subconsciously pick up the target language similarly to acquiring their mother tongue in informal situations. In fact, this is totally different from formal learning where it is thought to be dominated by error alteration and the appearance of the grammatical rules (Krashen and Seliger,1975). In this paper, light will be shed on SLA theory, its components and how important for the L2 teachers to be familiarizes with it. Acquisition and learning Both the mother tongue and the second language acquisition share different aspects. They both require a meaningful interaction, authentic communication in which speakers are paying the most attention for conveying and understand the message rather than the form of their utterances. Error alteration is more likely not so important and teaching grammar is not applicable to acquiring a second language. Teaching should give acquisition an adequate chance to flourish and make the second language learner gains a self-confidence which will help him later on to realize his mistakes and overcome them as this technique will help the acquisition process. (Brown and Hanlon, 1970; Brown, Cazden, and Bellugi, 1973). On the other hand, formal language learning is thought to be overwhelmed by a great deal of error correction and the existence of explicit grammatical rules (Krashen and Seliger, 1975). Although error alteration is sustained, it helps the acquirer comes to the right psychological image of the linguistic simplification. It is said that, error correction hinders the language development with a feeling of continues anxiety governed by error phobia . Whether such feedback has this effect on the acquirer to a significant degree or not remains an open question (Fanselow, 1977; Long, 1977). 2. The natural order hypothesis This hypothesis in second language acquisition assumes that mastering second language grammatical rules occurred in a predictable order. Regardless of the mother tongue of the learners, acquiring the target language rules varies in terms of their sequential which means that some rules are acquired earlier than others. Yet, second language grammar should not be taught as it is supposed to be acquired in this natural order. 3. The monitor hypothesis This hypothesis states that acquiring an L2 will be developed automatically allowing the acquirer to monitor his new language grammatical rules and edit the mistakes unconsciously at some stage, which we will see later as the Monitor. These monitor uses vary from a learner to another, with different degree of accomplishment. Stephen Krashen (1981) classify the monitors into two types, Over-users who habitually try to use their Monitor, in fact, this application leads to a result of a correct language lacks a lot of natural fluency that should help the learners in their real live. Monitor Under-users either have not intentionally learned or decide to not use their aware information of the language. Even though the modification of errors by others has little effect on the learners, they can frequently correct themselves, later on, based on a good judgment for correctness. 4. The input hypothesis Krashens theory of SLA is also called the input hypothesis, which answers the question of how a target language acquirer develops competency over time. It states that a language learner who is at i level must receive sufficient and logical input that is at his level i and a new +1.The new +1 varies from a learner to a another where an x can pick something different form a z depending on his background, interest, priority, attention and the way it is presented. 5. The affective filter hypothesis Filtering the learners input varies from a stage to another, so a learner of a second language might not need to filter every single input at the early stage. The role of filtering the new input increases as the learner have sufficient comprehensive input. At later stage, when the second language learner masters a lot of L2 rules and have reached the advanced language proficiency, filtering becomes subconscious process. This process will shape the new language and internalize its rules forming a native like competency. The preceding five hypotheses of acquiring L2 can be summed as follow: 1. Acquiring a language is far more significant than learning. 2. For acquiring a new language, two conditions are essential,i+1 input, which should be formed slightly above the learners present stage, and the second, a low sense of filtering to allow the input takes place. Development of second language acquisition Stephen Krashens concept of second language acquisition intake means presenting a language context a little beyond the learners current competence in the L2 ( Krashen, 1981,p.103). He sometimes refers to it as we saw an i+1, meaning that the learning situations should challenge the L2 acquirer by presenting a new input and above the learners level so that he will acquire something new and construct on what he already has . The concept of the continuum of learning, is said to be a shared phenomenon by most current language theorists, where predictable and sequential stages of second language development occurs. A child can acquire a second language using almost the same techniques he applies in acquiring his mother tongue. In fact, it requires authentic situational interaction in the second language and meaningful communication in which the two parties are caring not with the structure of their vocabulary but with the communication they are passing on and understanding. Error alterati on and pure rules teaching is not relevant to language achievement as Brown and Hanlon, 1970; Brown, Cazden, and Bellugi, 1973 said. The second language learner progresses from no knowledge of the new L2 to a level of competency closely like a native speaker. These theories however, have identified different stages for the development of second language acquisition where they are identified in five phases: Stage 1, the receptive or preproduction stage This stage is also called the silent stage where the learners develop survival vocabulary, following different teaching and learning situations including playing, miming, simple games and listening to stories. This phase could last from hours to six months. As the learner feels comfortable, he/she starts understanding and interacting with the teacher, his classmates and the surrounding environment using a variety of techniques like pointing to surrounding things, standing up, closing the door, nodding or might responding using simple words like yes or no. Teachers are recommended not to force learners to speak at this stage. Stage 2,the early production stage After acquiring about 5000 words in the first stage, the learner adds 1000 active words, in another six months, enabling his/ her to speak one or two words phrase, and demonstrates understanding by responding to yes/no, some WH questions or to either or. New vocabularies are required to be presented side by side with revising the old ones. Mistakes are to be tolerated in speaking provided the message is understandable. Stage 3, the speech emerging stage The most prominent phenomenal of this stage is the production of L2 phrases and simple sentences. During the second year, the learners will start interacting using the second language in reading and writing for operational purposes. The surrounding should play a positive role in encouraging the L2 learner and ignoring mistakes as long as the message is understandable and clear. Stage 4,the intermediate fluency At this stage the L2 learner is more aware of the usages of academic words in different situations comprehending about 6000 active words. He/she can interacts outside the teaching and learning contexts without using L1 for interpretation thus, he still makes errors in complex grammar and the usages of new vocabulary. The learner can interacts in academic presentations using visual and hands-on science activities, solve math problems, making models, maps, participate in academic discussion, make brief oral presentations and answer higher level order thinking questions. Stage 5, the advanced language proficiency speakers This level can be mastered after from five to seven years. The learner can comprehended academic presentations without using visual illustrations. He can use higher reading comprehension skill, writing comprehension, reports and research papers. The learner can use L2 grammar and vocabulary comparable to his age native learners. Understanding the learners stage helps the instructor to tailor the material accordingly and build on the existing strengths and remedial the weaknesses. Mother Tongue and Second Language Acquisition Mother tongue interference has been of a high priority in the history of second language acquisition researches and practices. For a long time , it had been reputed that the main source of syntactic errors in adults L2 performance was their mother tongue (Lado, 1957), in addition to a huge deal of resources preparation was done with this assumption in mind (Banathy, Trager, and Waddle, 1966). Consequently, experimental studies of errors made by second language learners guided to the detection, however, that many errors are not specific to the rules of the mother tongue, but are familiar to second language users of different linguistic backgrounds (e.g. Richards, 1971; Buteau, 1970). These results have guided several researchers to examine the importance of contrastive study and to argue as an alternative for error examination. As clearly stated earlier, the mother tongue is one of a number of causes of error but other factors need to be measured. A research conducted by Selinker, Swain, and Dumas, 1975; Plann and Ramirez, 1976 found that , mother tongue influence appears to be higher in complex word order and in word for- word translations of phrases. Mother tongue influence tends to be weaker in bound morphology. Mother tongue influence also appears to be strongest in acquisition poor surroundings. And finally mother tongue influence errors here are also in the area of word order. Pedagogies Providing Krashens Theory The question which we all need to ask ourselves is, How can a second language learner benefits from a formal learning situations? Formal learning or face-to-face learning can be of a great benefit for an L2 learner if it provides a comprehensive input. If the learner current ability helps him to add something more to his i or as Vygotsky called ZOPD. It is also said that classroom or formal learning cannot provide the acquirer with the wide range of daily issues and social langue needed. So the classrooms role is to prepare the learners for dealing with real life situations by presenting a sufficient daily actual language contexts. The theory also suggested that learners who are not able to speak output for physical problems can still master the full ability to comprehended language by presenting comprehensible input dependence on each learner. Teachers need to be slower and carefully articulate using common vocabulary and avoid dilates , slang language and shorter sentences. Teachers should facilitate presenting the best possible monitor users as to promote communication and avoid hindering acquisition with grammatical rules domination. In addition to getting the appropriate input, acquirers need to have their emotional filter kept minimum which will help them get the maximum input from the surrounding and allow them to master the techniques of dialogue and ideas exchange. Conclusion: Acquiring and learning a second language is very important in a bilingual and multi lingual society. It is also a necessity in todays global world where technology is mostly restricted to specific countries speaking a small number of languages. In fact, a lot of students, teachers, specialist and politics find themselves in a bad need for learning these languages. As presented earlier, Krashens theory of second language acquisition, suggested some useful techniques for teaching and acquiring a second language. Teachers are urged to use such theories for facilitating their job and helping their students acquire and learn better. Although this theory was a result of studies conducted in America on bilingual and multilingual speakers, our students in the Arab world in general and in the UAE in particular could gain the most of it with the help of their teachers. The focus should be on how to gradually help the learners pick the foreign language in a way that focus on fluency rather than accuracy.

The Sound of Music Essay -- Film Musicals Movies

The Sound of Music In 1965 Robert Wise presented the world with his smashing box office hit film, The Sound of Music. Over time it has become known as one of the most loved and well-known musicals of all time. Shortly after its release it won many Academy awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Adapted Score, Best Film Editing, Best Film-Musical, Best Color Cinematography, and Best Costume design (Freiden par3). The movie is based upon the true story of the VonTrapp family and allows its audience to relive their family experience as well as their flight from Nazism just before the outbreak of World War Two. So why is it that even today, The Sound of Music is still the "most popular movie-musical ever made?" (20th Century Fox). The musical film presented a sound that "inspired a generation," giving them romance, longing and love. (20th Century Fox). However, there is certainly more than meets the eye to this 1965 American production of Austria's VonTrapp family. By taking a closer look at the movie we find that, not only did this smashing box office hit present us with a classic tale of romance and adventure, but it also inadvertently challenged us to wonder if The Sound of Music was Austria’s chance to exonerate itself from its past involvement in Nazism. In order to question whether or not this movie is an opportunity for Austria to exonerate itself, we first need to understand how the movie creates an Americanized image of Austria's role in Nazism. An American audience will most certainly be affected by this movie in a different way than will a German or Austrian audience who have been personally involved in will. Because most Americans are not personally attached to ... ...s/sound-of-music.html>. Gruber, Ruth E. â€Å"Viennese Warily Confront Austria’s role in World War II.† The Jewish Bulletin. 1996. San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc. 11 November 2001. <http://www.jewishsf.com>. Perez, R.H. â€Å"Timebase 1938.† Humanitas International. 2001. 5 November 2001. <http://humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/timebase/1938tbse.htm>. Starkman, Ruth A. â€Å"American Imperialism or Local Protectionism? The Sound of Music (1965) Fails in Germany and Austria.† Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 20 (1997): 63. MAS ULTRA- School Edition. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 30 October 2001. Webster, Brian. â€Å"Review—The Sound of Music.† Apollo Guide. 2000. Apollo Communications Ltd. 10 October 2001. <http://www.apolloguide.com>. 2oth Century Fox. The Sound of Music. 1965. 9 November 2001.

Type A Personalities Essay -- Psychology, Control Freaks

I have often heard of people referred to as having Type A personalities, but for a long time did not understand the meaning of the term. Type A behavior is consistent with a person who is aggressive, ambitious, competitive, task oriented and always on the move (Ivanchevich p. 257). At times, Type A's are referred to as "control freaks" (Stone). Individuals with Type A behavior work very hard at getting the most done in the littlest time possible; they often finish peoples sentence because of their explosive speech pattern; they are impatient and can become irritated when put in situations where they must wait since they consider it a waste of their valuable time (Ivancevich p. 257). Type A's prefer things to be done their way, with little regard for people who see things differently than them and will take control of situations whenever possible, even when there is an appointed leader (Stone). The best way to deal with Type A behavior is to give these individuals the recognition they are looking for without empowering them (Stone). Type A's unknowingly fear receiving the type of treatment they use on others, therefore acknowledging their efforts will usually appease them (Stone). Type B The opposite of Type A behavior is known as Type B behavior. This person is relaxed, patient, steady and even-tempered (Ivancevich p. 258). Type B personalities go with the flow of things and do not usually worry about time pressures or pressure by other persons (Ivancevich p. 258). Type B individuals are confident and may a good amount of drive, but they work at their own pace (Ivancevich p. 258). Type B personalities enjoy winning, but do not stress out if they lose. Type B's are also reflective and often think of other and find... ...se. Type B's are also reflective and often think of other and find ways to help out when they can (Type A). In the story, "The Tortoise and the Hare", the Tortoise was laid back and took his time to reach his goal, whereas the Hare was aggressive and ruthless. The same comparison can be made with Type B's as the Tortoise and Type A's as the Hare. Type B behavior, although not wrong in itself, can be a source of stress for others in the workplace that do not display the same behavior type (Ivancevich p. 253). According to my research, the best way to deal with conflict arising from behavior type differences is to educate individuals about their differences in order to bring awareness and cohesiveness (Gordon). Manager's need to recognize the basis of employee's personalities in order to better coach and develop them as integral parts of the workforce (Gordon).

Explain Rote Learning. How Might Teachers Use This Aspect of Behaviourist Theory to Guide Their Practice in the Classroom? What Are the Benefits for Learning and What Are the Drawbacks?

Behaviourist theory is a type of teaching approach that can be used by a teacher within a classroom in the form of rote learning. This will be discussed throughout this essay with the benefits and drawbacks. I will briefly discuss reinforcement as a behaviourist approach too. Behaviourism is the idea that everyone responds to a stimulus. Pritchard believed that behaviourism is based on the idea that learning is a change in behaviour and that changes in behaviour occur as a response to a stimulus of one kind or another’ (Pritchard 2005:11).Children’s behavioural response is influenced by the stimulus. Skinner is a psychologist who analysed children’s behavioural responses and came up with the theory of operant conditioning: This concept shows ‘how behaviours are learned through reinforcers and punishment’ (Hughes 2001:22). The behaviour response is dependent on how the child reacts to the stimulus. A reinforcer is something that increases their behavi oural response whereas punishment decreases their behavioural response.If the behaviour is followed by a reward then it will occur again but if the behaviour is followed by a punishing stimulus then it will less likely to occur as the child will have to change their behaviour to get a reward. Skinner proved this by experimenting with animals. He placed rats in a box and wanted to see how they would respond to the given stimulus which was the trap. ‘He found that an organism will tend to repeat a response that has been reinforced and will suppress a response that has been punished’ (Papilia 2002:31).Positive reinforcement was shown on placement as the teacher positively reinforced the child by saying ‘well done’. This praise meant that their behaviour occurred again. This reinforcement allows the child to keep engaged in their learning and focused on the tasks ahead. Another example was where the teacher gave out stickers to the children who helped tidy away after play which meant they would repeat this behaviour again next time. Rote learning is an example of a behaviourist approach that involves a child learning key information through the use of repetition. This can be in the form of facts, numbers or the alphabet.Short relevant information allows the children to process information enabling them to recall it when needed. The child doesn’t necessarily understand the learning but knows when to use it. It is commonly used at the early stages of child development as it allows the children to process small amounts of information. The use of rote learning was massively seen whilst I was on placement in a number of forms. The children had to say the order of the numbers from one to fifty repeatedly. The use of repetition allowed the children to process this information and allow them to learn the order.Another example that ties in nicely is where the teacher asked the children to go through the different parts of a book. This allow ed the children to reflect on their past understanding and recall the parts of the book showing the learning process of knowing the different parts: front page, back page, spine. Timetables are another example that the teacher used to reinforce the information the child already knew. It allows them to be familiar with the tables and when they have to use them. ‘Behaviourism apparently doesn’t provide a complete account of development’ (Berk 2006:20).Rote learning through behaviourism doesn’t allow the child to develop a full understanding of the topic involved and stops the child from increasing their knowledge therefore a lack of understanding doesn’t allow the child to fully develop their learning. This means the child is unable to move onto more complex learning. It has been criticized for ‘neglecting children’s contributions to their own development’ (Berk 2006:20). It doesn’t allow the child to contribute to their lea rning as the information is thrown at them and all they have to do is learn it. This doesn’t allow the child to explore new things and be creative.Rote learning is useful for the start of child development as it allows children to just know the information and they don’t have to apply knowledge as they are still at a young age and still developing. The child doesn’t necessarily need to understand the concept of what they are learning. This approach is very beneficial for a child because the information can be used in further stages of learning once the child has progressed onto more advanced learning. Rote learning is the basis of learning and the information received can be expanded once they develop more understanding.It’s ideal for younger children because they don’t have to go into in depth thinking therefore it doesn’t put any strain on the brain allowing them to take in the information. On the other hand rote learning isn’t an i deal teaching method to use from the point of view of psychologist Richard Mayor as he believes that rote learning doesn’t allow you to gain knowledge and be able to transfer that knowledge to solve new problems therefore the child is unable to use the information memorised. (Mayor 2002:2). As a result of the child being unable to put their learning into practice this type of learning doesn’t benefit the child in anyway.No knowledge means the child cannot use in depth thinking and create new ideas to new situations. As the child gets older they need to come away from the idea of rote learning as they need to be able to fully understand what they have just learnt and be able to gain knowledge and apply this knowledge and understanding to different situations. (Mayor 2002:2). The use of repetition through rote learning allows the child to process the information and use it when needed in lessons. ‘Repetitive experiences allow children to construct and consolidate m eaning’ (Ward 2008:155).This puts a lot of empathy on the child’s learning and shows how the use of repetition helps the child’s learning. For example, learning the alphabet means that they can construct some meaning from the letters and be able to apply the alphabet to class situations. I believe that rote learning is the best teaching approach to use at the early stages of learning for a child as they only need to know the information they are provided with. Rote learning provides the child with the basis and therefore once they progress they are able to use the information learnt through rote to expand their learning.

Child Labour Essay

Lots has been said about child labour and in these reports there are clearly stated concerns about the effects of child labour on children‘s academic performance and its long run impact on human capital development. Situations where children of school going age are engaged in active work, does it at the expense of school. The situation existed even before Ghana attained her independence in 1957. Generally, attendance rates for males are higher than that of females but the differences are minimal because they all are geared towards the downfall of society. Often there is a mismatch between school calendar or timetable and household duties (e.g. fetching water, collecting firewood, cooking, caring for younger siblings and sick family members) resulting in some children not being able to attend school. In Ghana the cooperative effort of the government, voluntary agencies and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have employed their resources into improving the lot of children especially in northern Ghana. The objectives of the UN‘s MDG compact, which are reflected in the original poverty reduction proposals of Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, included raising the access of all the nation‘s children and youth to a defined minimum of basic education, irrespective of the economic circumstances of their parents or guardians. Child labourers lack concentration in class, end up producing bad results which could lead to school drop outs. One of the immediate consequences is streetism, a spear header of E. Sutherland‘s Differential Association- a process whereby deviance or crime is learned from others. This negative phenomenon puts the Ghanaian society in a pathological state since the impact will be an astronomical increase in crime rate. There is the need for further interventions if this problem of child labour would be reduced to the barest minimum in Ghana and especially in the study area. The impact of this phenomenon is diversified in nature and need multi-faceted solutions. In light of the above issues the problem of child labour in the study area needs to be given more attention. Though a lot of studies have been conducted about the problem it still persists. In order to address it there is the need to have a clear understanding of the nature, causes and trends of child labour. The effects of child labour on children‘s academic performance calls for further investigations. Research Questions In view of the above discussion, four questions are posed which the study will seek to address: †¢ What child labour is and how widespread is the phenomenon of child labour in Madina? †¢ Which factors influence family‘s decision to subject the child to work in the study area? †¢ How does child labour affect children‘s academic performance in the study area? †¢ How can the problem be addressed by different stakeholders? Objectives of the study The broad objective of this study is to investigate and understand the dynamics of child labour, assess the extent to which it has affected children‘s academic performance in the study area and to propose policy recommendations to improve human capital development which is a key to national development. The specific objectives of the study include the following: †¢ To examine what child labour is and how widespread the phenomenon of child labour is in Madina. †¢ Some factors that cause child labour in the study area. †¢ The effects of child labour on academic performance in the study area. †¢ To give recommendations to inform policy to mitigate the activities of child labour. HYPOTHESIS The higher the engagement in child labour, the poorer you perform academically. Theoretical Framework Theory on Child Labour Over the years many theoretical perspectives of child labour have been propounded. Some of the more common models which try to explain child labour are the household bargaining models. Bargaining models may be of two distinct kinds, depending on who the agents involved i n the bargaining are. Intra-household bargaining models – whose main agenda is often not child labour but general household behaviour – assume that the bargaining occurs within the family between parents and the child (children). Solutions to these models usually specify that a child‘s labour supply depends on the adult wages and child‘s wage that prevail on the market. In the extra household approach, it is assumed that children have negligible bargaining power in households, and are basically an instrument for the parents‘ maximization of utility. These models usually treat employers and parents of the children as the two main factors involved in the bargaining process. These models- especially the extra-household bargaining model – sharply contrast with altruist models of child labour, in which the parents are altruistically concerned with the child‘s welfare. Furthermore, the altruistic class of models is differentiated from bargaining models, as they assume multiple equilibriums. Foremost among the altruistic models is presented in Basu and Van (1998), which provides a framework for investigating how child labour and adult labour are interdependent in economic activity and under what conditions child labour emerges in the labour market. The main findings in their paper are essentially derived from two axioms referred to as the ―Luxuryâ€â€" and ―Substitutionâ€â€" axioms, respectively. Luxury Axiom: A family sends the children to the labour market only if the family‘s income from non-child labour sources drops below the subsistence level. Substitution Axiom: Child labour and adult labour are substitutes from a firm‘s point of view. Basu and Van (1998) show that there exist two multiple equilibriums in which (1) both adults and children work with low wages (―badâ€â€" equilibrium) and (2) only adults work with high wages (―goodâ€â€" equilibrium). At the ―goodâ€â€" equilibrium in which adult wages are above the subsistence level, parents have no incentive to send children to work according to the Luxury Axiom. In contrast, when the economy stays at the bad equilibrium in which adult wages are below the subsistence level, adults have to send children to work to sustain the household. In this model, a household resource is the important factor in the determination of child labour. Other models exploring multiple equilibriums have looked at the relationship between child labour and social norms, and also at the question of income redistribution. The dynamic consequences of child labour are likely to be significant since an increase in child labour frequently causes a decline in the acquisition of human capital. The issue of child labour in Ghana and in Madina of the Ga-East district in particular lends itself to the ―bad economyâ€â€" explanations that compel parents to send their children out to work to supplement family income. The theoretical underpinning of this study is on the Substitution Axiom where children work to supplement the inadequate income of the family. This from the functionalist point of view, child labour has a function to perform for the survival of the family. Theory on Academic performance A kwon thesis we can talk about is Martin Ford‘s motivational systems theory (MST). This framework focuses on the individual as the unit of analysis, but lodges the individual in the biological, social, and environmental contexts that are crucial to development. MST attempts to describe the development of the whole person-in-context, in much the same way a biologist might describe an individual plant and its relation to its immediate ecological niche, as well as the larger ecosystems in which it resides (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). Ford proposed a simple mathematical formula that attempts to represent all these factors in one model. The formula for effective person-in-context functioning is: Achievement = (Motivation x Skill ) x Responsive Environment Biological Structure The formula proposes that actual ―achievement and competence are the products of a motivated, skillful, and biologically capable person interacting with a responsive environmentâ€â€" (Ford, 1992, p.70). The motivational systems theory does not attempt to replace any of the existing theories. Instead, it attempts to organize the various motivational constructs from different theories into one model. The main constructs are self-efficacy beliefs, the role of expectancy, and goal orientation. The formula suggests that in any behaviour episode, there are four major prerequisites for effective functioning: 1. The person must have the motivation needed to initiate and maintain the activity until the goal directing the episode is attained. 2. The person must have the skill necessary to construct and execute a pattern of activity that will produce the desired result. 3. The person‘s biological structure and functioning must be able to support the operation of the motivation and skill components. 4. The person must have the cooperation of a responsive environment that will facilitate progress towards the goal (Ford, 1992). Thus, how students deal with their studies or attain their academic goals and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers does not depend solely on their biological disposition but has social or environmental contributions. This could be in the form of an achievement motivation or sociocultural factors such as family background, teaching skills and accessibility. Other theory like the individual difference theory also explains academic performance. Individual difference in academic performance has been linked to differences in intelligent and personality. Students with higher mental ability as demonstrated by IQ tests (quick learners) and those who are higher in conscientiousness (linked to effort and achievement motivation) tend to achieve highly in academic settings. A recent meta-analysis suggested that mental curiosity (as measured by typical intellectual engagement) has an important influence on academic performance in addition to intelligence and conscientiousness. The above frameworks portray a relationship between child labour and academic performance. LITERATURE REVIEW There is no single universally accepted definition of child labour. Child labour is regarded as a social construct which differs by actors, history, context and purpose (Weston, 2005). There are differences in what constitute child labour. For example, the World Bank describes child labour as a â€â€"serious threat‘ from the pointof view of the harm it can do to long term national investment (Weston, 2005). The ILO relates the phenomenon to the harm done to children by their current engagement in certain types of economic activity. UNICEF emphasizes that the issue goes way beyond the concerns of investment or its relation to economic activity, and includes several aspects of domestic work which conflicts with the best interest of the child (Huebler, 2006).There are many dimensions and views of the phenomenon but much emphasis will be placed on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations Children‘s Fund‘s (UNICEF) views on the subject. The UNICEF Concept and Definition of Child Labour UNICEF has expanded the ILO definition of child labour by emphasizing the importance of domestic work by children, that is, in addition to economic work. UNICEF defines child labour as follows: Children 5 -11 years engaged in any economic activity, or 28 hours or more domestic work per week; Children 12-14 years engaged in any economic activity (except light work for less than 14 hours per week), or 28 hours or more domestic work per week; Children 15-17 years engaged in any hazardous work. The UNICEF definition has the advantage of theoretically capturing all work that children do. The definition of UNICEF provides a good indicator of child labour that is harmful to a child’s physical or mental development. However, it is of limited value for an analysis of the trade -off between work and school attendance. The ILO Concept and Definition of Child Labour The ILO concept of child labour is derived from the ILO Minimum Age Convention No. 138 of 1973, which sets 15 years as the general minimum age for employment. Any work in violation of Convention No. 138 is considered illegal child labour that should be eliminated. ILO introduces a distinction between child work, which may be acceptable, and child labour, which needs to be eliminated. In this regard, four groups of children engaged in work/labour are identified: Children at work Children engaged in child labour, including all economically active children 5 to 11 years of age; economically active children aged 12 to 14 years, except those doing light work only for less than 14 hours per week; and, children aged 15 to 17 years engaged in any type of hazardous work. Children in hazardous work, that is, work that will likely harm the health, safety, or moral development of a child. In addition to children working in mines, construction or other hazardous activities, this group includes all children below 18 years of age who work 43 hours or more per week. Children in unconditional worst forms of child labour, as defined by ILO Convention No. 182. This includes children in forced or bonded labour, armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, and illicit activities. There are two points to note in this view of the ILO. Firstly, the first group covers activities that might be regarded as positive from an ILO perspective. The second and third groups cover child labour that deserves to be eliminated, and the fourth group requires an urgent action for elimination. Children under five years of age who are not included in these four groups are generally considered too young to be working. Secondly, the ILO definition covers only economic activity, that is, work related to the production of goods and services. Domestic work – such as cooking, cleaning, or caring for children – is ignored. The major criticism of this definition is that it is narrow as it underestimates the burden of work on children, especially for girls, who are more likely than boys to perform work in a household (Gibbons, Huebler, and Loaiza, 2005). Operational Definition of Child Labour For the purpose of this study, child labour is defined as any activity, economic or non -economic, performed by a child, that is either too dangerous or hazardous and/or for which the child is too small to perform and that has the potential to negatively affect his/her health, education, moral and normal development. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE The variable academic performance could also be definition specific. For example from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Academic achievement or (academic) performance is the outcome of education — the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. Academic achievement is commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment but there is no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects are most important — procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts. In California, academic achievement is measured by the Academic Performance Index. However, in Ghana academic performance is measured by the record of marks or grades obtained after a test or an examinations. History of Child Labour Child labour is not a just discovered phenomenon. It has existed in every part of the world since ancient times. In more recent history, it emerged as an issue during the industrial revolution when children were forced to work in dangerous conditions for up to 12 hours a day. In 1860, 50% of children in England between the age of 5 and 15 years were working. In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-powered cotton mills were described as children. In 1919, the world began to address the issue of child labour and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted standards to eliminate it. Throughout the 20th Century, a number of legally binding agreements and international conventions were adopted but in spite of these, child labour continues to this day. The highest number of child labourers is in the Asia Pacific region but the largest percentage of children working, as proportion of the child population, is found in sub-Saharan Africa. Child labour is still common in some parts of the world, it can be factory work, mining, prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents’ business, having one’s own small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as waiters).In Ghana, which Madina is no exception, most child labour occurs in the informal sector, it includes selling many things on the streets and in market places such as; ice water, chewing gums, poly sacks, ―soboloâ€â€", door mats, kerosene, scrubs, etc. Causes of Child Labour Poverty is the main determinant of child labour supply, and that child labour significantly increases the income and the probability of survival of the family. Basu and Van (1998) argue that the primary cause of child labour is parental poverty. That being so, they caution against the use of a legislative ban against child labour, and argue that it should be used only when there is reason to believe that a ban on child labour will cause adult wages to rise and so compensate adequately the households of the poor children. The contribution of children is most of the time critical since children are sent to work when parents‘ earnings are insufficient to guarantee the survival of the family, or are insecure so that child labour is used as a means of minimizing the impact of possible job loss, failed harvest and other shocks on the family‘s income stream. Poor households also tend to have more children, and with large families there is a greater likelihood that children will work and have lower school attendance and completion. ILO (2006) observes that while poverty is almost always a context for the early entry of children into regular work and into child labour, poverty can also be a function of access to labour markets and income-raising activities, family members of working age not having appropriate skills to match market needs in the area where they live, family members low educational levels, unemployment in the area where the family lives, conflict, illness or natural disaster having taken away the breadwinner of the family leaving a dependent household with no-one to depend on.. Many children live in areas that do not have adequate school facilities, so they are compelled to work. Odonkor (2007) claims ―rural parents should rather be seen as people dissatisfied with the education system than as illiterates ignorant of the value of educationâ€â€". The results of a study conducted confirmed that because of the low quality of education, difficulties in access and also the uncertainty of finding an adequate job after graduation, parents have developed a coping strategy by which they send some of their children to school and the others help in fishing, farming or other economic activities. Where education is mandatory, available and understood as important, the proportion of child labour is lower. Poverty may not be the main cause but certainly an important cause that influences a lot in child labour. Why would a child prefer to get an education or go to school when staying in work can make him eat on that day? Or even worse, not even have the opportunity of choice between attending schools or work (UNICEF, 2008). EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOUR According to a research conducted by the ILO‘s 2002 global estimates on child labour, close to half of all working children are enrolled in school. Child labour interferes with education. Either school attendance is foregone in favour of work, or learning is inefficient, either because the children are not allowed to spend time doing their homework or because they are unable to pay proper attention in school because of fatigue (Canagarajah, & Nielsen, 1999). UNICEF‘s study in Ghana and a review of similar studies by the ILO have shown that work has a detrimental effect on learning achievements in the key areas of language and mathematics. Heady (2003) also found that working children in Ghana spent an average of one hour per week less in school. According to Gibbons et al (2003) child labour is associated with higher repetition and dropout rates. Child labour competes with school attendance and proficiency, children sent to work do not accumulate (or under-accumulate) human capital, missing the opportunity to enhance their productivity and future earnings capacity. This lowers the wage of their future families, and increases the probability of their offspring being sent to work. In this way poverty and child labour is passed on from generation to generation. Child labour not only prevents children from acquiring the skills and education they need for a better future, it also perpetuates poverty and affects national economies through losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income. (ILO, 2006) demonstrate that early entry into the labour force reduces lifetime earnings by 13 -20 per cent, increasing significantly the probability of being poor later in life. There is a general agreement that some trade-off between children in labour and human capital accumulation takes place. With respect to school attendance and progress, full-time jobs have the worst impact on children‘s future productivity. Part-time jobs, especially those that are physically very demanding, also disrupt education since children are too tired to participate adequately at school activities or to study at home. The age of entry into the labour force is also important in this context: the younger the child enters the labour force, the less human capital he/she will be able to accumulate. Child labour seriously undermines efforts to provide children with the necessary st knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the 21 Century. The long term effect of child labour on the nation is enor mous and need to be addressed. Efforts in addressing the problem of child labour Ghana‘s Labour Laws and Regulations prohibit child labour, putting the minimum age of employment at 15 in consonance with ILO Standards and Regulations. Ghana has also ratified the OAU Charter on the Rights of the Child. The Constitution guarantees the child in Ghana to be protected from engaging in any work that is considered injurious to his or her health, education and/or development. The Government enacted, in December 1998, the Children‘s Act, which seeks to protect the rights of children, including the right of education, health and shelter. The establishment of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) under the Ministry of Women and Children‘s Affairs (MOWAC) in 2001 was also to oversee the welfare and development of children, and to coordinate services which would aim at promoting the rights of the child. Poverty is considered a major determinant of child labour in Ghana. To lessen the effect of poverty on the Ghanaian child there was the need of policy interventions by the government. Over the years, Ghana has developed several poverty reduction strategies and one of such strategies is the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2006 through 2009 (GPRS II) is to achieve ―the status of a middle-income economy by the year 2015 within a decentralized democratic environmentâ€â€" characterized by an increase in per capita income and an improvement in living standards (Republic of Ghana 2005:5). The GPRS II indicated that priority will be given to special programmes to combat the worst forms of child labour under which the government is implementing the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme to support families to fight against child labour. To qualify for the LEAP programme, all the household children of school age should be enrolled in schools and that no child should be trafficked or is engaged in any of the worst forms of l abour. The ILO has been campaigning to end child labour since the organization was founded in 1919. The ILO doctrine on child labour states that labour carried out by children of 15 years or younger under conditions which stifle their physical, psychological and intellectual development must be eliminated. Today, the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) is the ILO’s main instrument on child labour. These conventions, applies to all sectors of economic activity. The ILO’s ongoing offensive against child labour includes a technical cooperation programme designed to help countries build up a permanent capacity to address the problem. Launched in 1992, the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) fosters the development of an effective partnership between government services, employers’ organizations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and other interested parties including universities and members of the media. As early as 1921, the ILO passed the first Minimum Age Convention, the world has attempted to protect children‘s right to an education and to prevent any child labour which would prejudice their school attendance.(Gibbons et al, 2003). Since 1990, with the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child‘s right to be protected from ―any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child‘s educationâ€â€" (Article 32) and his or her right, on an equal, nondiscriminatory basis to ―primary education compulsory and available free to allâ€â€" (Article 28) have gained the status of internationally recognised norms, while imposing an obligation on the 192 states parties to the Convention to realise these rights for the children under their jurisdiction. In the year 2000, children were provided further protection through the entry into force of ILO Convention 182, which was ratified by 150 countries as of May 2004. Convention 182 prohibits the worst forms of child labour, defined as all forms of slavery and similar practices; child prostitution and pornography; illicit activities (in particular the production and trafficking of drugs); and work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. The International Labour Organization‘s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created in 1992 with the overall goal of the progressive elimination of child labour, which was to be achieved through strengthening the capacity of countries to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labour. IPEC currently has operations in 88 countries, with an annual expenditure on technical cooperation projects that reached over US$61 million in 2008. It is the largest programme of its kind globally and the biggest single operational programme of the ILO. The number and range of IPEC‘s partners have expanded over the years and now include employers‘ and workers‘ organizations, other international and government agencies, private businesses, community-based organizations, NGOs, the media, parliamentarians, the judiciary, universities, religious groups and, of course, children and their families. All these interventions by government and NGOs are geared towards finding solutions to the child labour problem. Challenges in addressing the problem Firstly, assuming a successful reduction in child labour both in the formal and informal economy, this notion relies crucially on the fact that lower child labour means higher schooling, which is not at all automatic. According to UNICEF (2006), to succeed in eliminating child labour, schools must be available, accessible and affordable for poor families. Schools must be of sufficiently good quality, and the curricula must be of practical help for the children living in a specific region and condition. Most importantly, school should be a safe and healthy place where to send schildren. Unfortunately this is not the case in developing countries especially in Ghana and its inner cities like the study area. In the 2001 Ghana Child Labour Survey, in all the regions and for all age groups, the most frequent reason cited for non-attendance at school was nonaffordability by parents to cater for children. The next most frequently cited reasons were long distance of place of residence from school and children not being interested in school. Classrooms are often not available especially in the rural areas and city slums and where they exist they are not in good shape and therefore not conducive enough for academic work. Both parents and pupils need to see the fruits of education from those who have passed through the school system to serve as a source of motivation for those in school and those yet to enroll. Low returns to education have made education less attractive for many parents. This has especially been the case in rural areas, where formal education makes very little difference given limited formal sector opportunities and most skills are acquired by the â€Å"learning by doing† principle. Child labour is perceived as a process of socialization in many countries and it is believed that working enables a child to get acquainted with employable skills. Lessons from the Literature From the available literature it is evidently clear that the issue of child labour is real but the problem with it in Africa is the availability of reliable data spelling out the magnitude of the problem. Several factors account for child labour in our society and they include the following; poverty, single parenting, sheer ignorance on the part of some parents and socio-cultural beliefs. From the data reviewed, poverty has been a major determinant of child labour in Ghana and in most developing countries. The vast majority of the children are engaged in agricultural related activities. The problem in the developing world and Ghana in particular is more rural than urban. Some rural dwellers regard child labour as part of a training programme for children. Working children are also considered essential contributors to household incomes. However, our group attempts to translate or research further on how the phenomenon affects academic performance in Madina- a society which hosts two dominant Religions(Christianity and Islam) and heterogeneous as well The solution to the problem does not lie only in the enactment of laws but also in empowering individuals economically to be able to provide education to their children ( Basu, 1998). Human capital is one of the keys to reducing poverty. Education opens up opportunities for better health and better nutrition. This is because education normally leads to higher income and greater access to social benefits, as well as greater productivity. Indeed education is central to all aspects of the impact of population and poverty. Therefore, in trying to find a solution to the problem, there is the need for a multifaceted approach taking into consideration the religious and cultural backgrounds. REFERENCES Basu, K, (1998). Child Labour: Cause, Consequence and Cure, with Remarks on International Labor Standards. Heady, C, (2000). ―What is the effect of child labour on learning achievement? Evidence from Ghana.† Innocenti Working Papers, no. 79. ILO, (2005). â€Å"Facts on Child Labour,†Geneva. Kumekpor, T.K.B, (2002). Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, Son life Press and services Accra Republic of Ghana (1992). The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. UNICEF, (2004). The State of the World’s Children New York. .