Service Users Perspective Critically free essay sample

In this essay I want to carefully examine a broad range of issues concerning elderly people in contemporary British society today. In particular I will want to focus on Residential homes and Older People in Community Care services. I will define residential homes and explain how they have become established from the Poor Law workhouses until present day. I will also discuss relevant government legislation with the viewpoints of older people’s pressure groups and the service users who use residential homes. I will try and suggest changes that could be made in social policy that could help advantage retired and elderly people in this the twenty-first century. There are two types of homes for older people in contemporary society, residential homes and nursing homes. Residential care is highly an important source of accommodation for old people, who even with domiciliary support cannot manage to live in their own homes, but who still do need intensive nursing care. We will write a custom essay sample on Service Users Perspective Critically or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Grundy and Arie (in Tinker 1992:161) have suggested that residential care is needed for those who need round-the-clock support and live alone. Current provisions which stem from the 1948 National Assistance Act require local authorities to provide: ‘residential accommodation for persons who by reason of age, infirmity or any other circumstances are in need of care which is not otherwise available to them’ (CPA, 1996). Residential care: consist of respite care, short stay and full time residential care. A residential home is expected to provide both personal care and accommodation. A residential home is a means of providing extra support to people who are not able to cope with their illness or disabilities, even after the support from home care services (O’Kell, 1995). An estimated three million people live in homes, a figure that is likely to rise by more than 180 per cent in the next 50 years as the average age of the population rises. Local authority, private and the voluntary sector provide homes; however there has been a dramatic shift towards private provision, but the proportion of elderly people in residential care has remained constant. In the last fifty years the development of the major voluntary agencies: Centre for Policy on Aging (1997), Age Concern (1997), Helped the Aged (1962), The National Corporation of the Care of Old People (1947) have made significant ontributions to elderly care service (Tossell and Webb 1994). On the other hand, nursing homes provide the latter along with registered nurses for older people who need care for medical purposes. Even though homes provide support and care for older people, they are often criticised as being institutions that are a form of social exclusion and social control. However, provisions f or older people have moved on dramatically from the days of the workhouse where older people who could who could not support themselves were placed. (Peace et al, 1997). Under the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, workhouses were established. This was to ensure that people who experienced extreme poverty, for example, the disabled, sick people, children and old people had indoor relief and were required to work in order to be accommodated. Even though the workhouse provided people with shelter, they were stigmatised as harsh, strict and degrading places that incurred individuals to be segregated from the rest of the society. This policy was arguably a form of social control and social exclusion as the rest of society did not want to see these people on the streets due to the Victorian snobbery of the era. In response, the government decided it was best to isolate the poor from the rest of the society by placing them in workhouses. (Peace et al, 1997). The birth rate is the number of live births born in England per 1000 per year. The number of live births in 2002 was 669 thousand. It has decreased in the last 100 years because 100 years ago, parents had many children, family sizes of 8 and 9. This was important in them days, as the parents would rely on their children to look after them, when they got older and for the children to go out to work. Nowadays family sizes are smaller, averaging couples, having babies later on in life, as women are wanting careers, also having children later on in life, therefore limiting how long they have got to conceive. Attitudes have changed over the years also; it is the ‘norm’ to have fewer children than 100 years ago. According to statistics of the 1909 Royal Commissions of the Poor Laws report showed that 150, 000 older people were residing in workhouses due to extreme poverty and need for financial support. This resulted in half of the workhouse population of this period due to decreasing mortality rates and increasing rate of life expectancy. This eventually influenced and lead to the 1908 Old Age Pensions Act. However, older people remained in poverty as the state pension was very low and it could be argued that this was an inadequate provision for older people. (Means et al. 2008). After the Second World War, there were critical inequalities in the society such as the rich and the poor divide. The Labour government then came into power in 1945 and created their policies, they were influenced by the 1942 Beveridge report, which stated that a system should be created called ‘cradle to grave’ so that an equal society can be created and eliminate the suffering caused by poverty. Their aim was to make society better and fairer for people with disadvantages such as vulnerable groups, young children and older people etc, (Blakemore 2003, p. 54). Many may argue that the workhouse is a disadvantage to older people. This can be reinforced by the Nuffield survey, a report created in 1947 on institutions. It reflected on the sufferings of older people in the environment and restrictive regime of the workhouse. The Minister of that time then introduced 1947 National Assistance Bill. The workhouses were then closed down and the residential homes were established, as residential homes could meet the needs of older people in a better way and it was more beneficial for them. (Peace et al 1997). Care homes should provide a quality of service meeting the needs of the residents as in a normal setting. However, the institutionalised nature of the care has many negative impacts on the residents’ as they perceive it is as negative form of care and a service denying independence, autonomy, privacy, power and other principle of human rights. Elderly are abused and neglected in some care homes while large proportions of staff caring for them are untrained and incompetent in caring. Funding for elderly care is major issue, on one extreme elderly are being forced to pay for care and on the other local authorities struggle to manage service within their budget. # A good definition of community care can be found in the 1989 White Paper on community care, Caring for People, which stated that â€Å"community care means providing the right level of intervention and support to enable people to achieve maximum independence and control over their own lives. For this aim to become a reality, the development of a wide range of services provided in a variety of settings is essential. These services form part of a spectrum of care, ranging from domiciliary support provided to people in their own homes, strengthened by the availability of respite care and day care for those with more intensive care needs, through sheltered housing, group homes and hostels where increasing levels of care are available, to residential care and nursing homes and long-stay hospitals for those for whom other forms of care are no longer enough† (Department of Health, 1989, p. ). The White Paper suggests the key components of community care are services which respond sensitively and flexibly to the needs of individuals and their carers, allow a range of options for consumers, do not intervene more than is necessary and concentrate upon those with the greater needs. The White Paper proposed seven key changes. Many of these changes involved more responsibility being put on the local authorities. They would now be responsible, firstly, for assessing individual needs and securing their delivery within available resources. Secondly, they would be expected to produce and publish clear plans for the development of community care services and will also be expected to show that they are making maximum use of the independent sector. Local authorities are also responsible for financial support of people in private and voluntary homes. Furthermore, local authorities are to encourage independent sector care homes. The local authority pays more from its own funds for people cared in its own homes. Moreover, the responsibility for inspecting all residential homes rests with the local authority. Finally, local authorities were given a special grant to promote the development of social care for seriously ill mental people. This is especially important for older people with senile dementia, as social services expenditure for people with mental health problems was often only a very small part of a local authorities budget. # These reforms involved making some legal changes, and thus the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 was passed. Included in this act were objectives to be achieved by community care as well as by organisational arrangements by which these could be achieved.

Structure of the TV and Video Industry free essay sample

This essay will focus on the structure of the channels the BBC and ITV, which will give the reader an understanding of the structure of the television and video industry in the UK. This essay will be split up into three parts; the details of ownership and income, systems and technologies, and their regulations as well as discussing the success of both companies. Details of Ownership and Income In the television sector, there are one of two types of broadcasters; commercial and public service broadcasters. A public service broadcaster is a non-profit public television network. An example of this sort of TV channel would be the BBC which is run by John Reith and George Villiers. The service is viewed widely through the UK and is paid for through the TV licence fees making it a national company, but it is also broadcasts in some other countries. The fee is paid for by every household that has a television. All the money which is generated goes straight to the company and is put forward into bettering their service of entertainment. They also generate money through merchandise, DVD and programme sales on their online shop. Public service broadcasters have a duty to show certain things on their channels as they are put in place for all of the public. Their remit is to entertain and inform the audience as well as educate them. This compares to commercial broadcasters which are independent and have no duty except to entertain, even if the shows they choose to air have no beneficial effect on their audience. Commercial broadcasters are independent broadcasting companies that rely on advertising slots on their channel for profit, unlike public service broadcasters which rely on TV Licence fees. They do not often air educational TV shows as they know a lot of the public are interested in being entertained, rather than learning. The public will often choose watch shows which do not require them to think too hard, but to just sit back and relax. ITV is a prime example of a commercial broadcaster and is owned by numerous different companies such as ITV Public Limited Television, STV Group PLC, UTV Media and ITV1 Channel Television. It is a national company as it is aired only in the UK and relies on advertising for most of its revenue, although it does generate money through merchandising, programme sales and DVD sales on their online shop. They sell numerous different products such as series box sets of shows they have aired and even gift items such as coffee mugs and calendars. They air a number of very successful entertaining shows such as I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here, The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. All three of these programmes have made huge sums of money for the channel. The way they earn money through these shows is by the advertising slots in between the programmes. For example, this is how it would work. In order to air a specific show, ITV have an agreement with SycoTV which is the company behind the programs The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent to air their programmes. Advertisers approach ITV and buy out advertising slots in order to reach their preferred target audience and this generates a large amount of advertising revenue for the channel. It is said that ITV had made around ? 75 million revenue through advertising during the X Factor as well as the live show phone-ins last year (Source). Britains Got Talent has also been said to be bringing in huge sums of money for the channel, for example last year in the final a 30 second ad spot had cost around ? 120,000(Source). I’m A Celebrity is also a huge hit with the public which is proven by the figures. Since first launching in 2002 up until 2009 ITV has made around ? 170 million pounds in global revenue (Source). Television changed a great deal in 1990 when the Conservative Government passed the 1990 Broadcasting Act which led to the 5th analogue channel in the UK (Channel 5) and the growth of multi channel satellite television. The act also stated the BBC needed to buy in at least 25% of its output from independent production companies instead of making all of its output in house. This act enabled BSkyB to grow in Great Britain. The Act has split opinion in Britain. Some see it as a massive expansion in choice but some see it as a big dumbing down of programmes and say that technical standards and other standards are no longer monitored and enforced so strongly. It has certainly enabled Rupert Murdoch’s company News Corporation to grow massively in terms of horizontal integration – the increase of the market share eg. News corporation taking over MySpace, although his company was stopped from expanding further in Great Britain by the white paper of 1995 which stopped them from buying Channel 5. Systems and Technologies Broadcasting in the UK is quite complex as many broadcasters have different ways of transmitting their channels. The first five channels of British television (BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV, Channel 4 and FIVE) are available to any home in the UK as analogue channels, as long as they pay their licence fee. Analogue TV is slowly dying out and will officially be stopped transmitting in 2012 since the introduction of more modernised means of receiving channels has been developed. There are advantages as well as disadvantages due to the fact that it will be shut off soon. Firstly, it will benefit the UK economy as a whole by convincing people to turn to options such as digital, satellite and cable TV which all cost money in comparison to free-to-vie analogue. It will also increase digital terrestrial television (DTT) reception in areas all over the UK that were unable to reach signals before due to spectrum. limitations. It will then offer more space as analogue takes up about a third of the spectrum which can also be used to increase signal reach in some areas and also make room for new services too. As well as this, it will give viewers a wider variety of channels to watch and reduce costs for broadcasters that would have had to pay more to transmit services in both formats. The downsides of the switching off analogue will mostly affect homes in the UK as they will be the people who will have to start paying for different means of watching TV. As well as affecting domestic settings, they will also be affecting non-domestic settings such as hospital’s and TV rental businesses who rely on analogue TV. Having to make the switch from analogue to digital will be difficult in hospitals as they will not only need new TV sets, but will also have to pay for new Freeview TV set top boxes for their patients. It also means that TV rental businesses will not be able to provide analogue TV’s anymore as they will have no use, cutting back their income. As well as this, some areas may even need new roof top aerials installed, totalling up to a large sum of money to make the switch. As Digital televisions such as Freeview offer a handful of more channels, but require a one off payment. There is also satellite which is currently the most popular type of TV broadcasting, with services such as Sky (BSkyB). They require a monthly subscription service and use communication satellites in space to transmit the channels to Sky set top boxes. This makes their services much more reliable compared to digital and analogue, but also has its own downside. As the signals are received from space, bad weather in certain areas can interrupt signals. This is where cable television would be useful as its service relies on radio frequency signals that are transmitted through fixed optical fibres or coaxial wires meaning that a reliable signal is expected. The BBC is transmitted through all types of television from analogue, digital, satellite and cable. It is yet to be fully digital as this change will happen in 2012 when the digital switchover from analogue will take place. The BBC is also broadcast to the internet on ‘BBCiPlayer’ which is basically a sort of catch-up on all the programmes the BBC have shown in the past 6 days, excluding programmes shown earlier on in the current day, but do offer the public a live service which allows them to view what is currently on air. As well as allowing the public to see television programmes, they even include recent radio programmes. As the internet is now available on a range of different devices, from mobile phones to games consoles as well as laptops and computers, this means that their services will now reach a wider audience, creating a beneficial effect for the BBC as a public service as they are attainable almost anywhere. ITV is much like the BBC as it is also broadcast to all types of television, but features one more type which is Internet Protocol Television. IPTV is different from systems such as analogue, digital, satellite and cable as it relies on an internet connection to stream TV channels, details of which can be found on IPTV’s website (Source). It is also not fully digital yet, but eventually will be in the digital switchover. Just like the BBC, it is also streamed online through its own website and video player, ‘ITVplayer’. Unlike the BBC, it streams programmes from the company that have been on in the past week including programmes that are currently on air and that were on earlier, helping the company reach a wider audience in the hope of attracting more advertisers which will in turn generate more profit for the company. Regulations Regulations are legal guidelines created by an authority to help make sure the things that the public are exposed to through the media industry are not offensive or cause any sort of harm to them. They are important because without them, the public would not have anyone stand up for their rights. They are two different television regulators in the UK, The ASA and Ofcom. The Advertising Standards Authority is responsible for regulating adverts. Their role is to ensure that advertisements released are legal, decent, honest and truthful by complying with their Advertising Code. Their role is important when it comes to advertising as the UK’s economy gains huge sums of money in terms of advertising revenue, gaining over ? 20 billion in 2010 alone. Advertisers are created to persuade us to buy a product or service. Giving this much power to big companies who will try to manipulate our thoughts needs to be regulated as it would be unethical for people, especially vulnerable to be manipulated. The ASA has helped ban a number of adverts that may have caused certain issues for example, the XBOX 360 advert ‘Standoff’. In the advert, we see a man walking through what seems to be a busy train station and then making eye contact with a business man coming towards him. They walk past each other but turn back to keep eye contact and face one another. Both imitate guns with their hands and point them at each other, causing the business man’s friend to hold his hand up in a gun-like position towards their ‘opponent’, which in turn makes someone else point the gun at his friend ending up with everyone holding their hands up as guns pointed at someone else. The man acts as if he’d just fired a gun saying â€Å"bang† aloud, causing the whole of the train station to start ‘firing’ at one another and people acting as if they’d been shot and falling to the ground, ending with their slogan â€Å"Jump In†. Looking at the ASA’s Advertising Codes (Source), in my opinion this advertisement was banned due to not complying with section 4. 4: ‘Advertisements must not include material that is likely to condone or encourage behaviour that prejudices health and safety. ’ The way in which Windows, the company behind XBOX Live, has failed to meet this requirement is by suggesting that it is acceptable to go outside and randomly start shooting at people. The only difference between the real world and the game world is that in the game world, you have the ability to come back to life if you were shot with a gun, whereas in reality if someone were to get hold of a gun and shoot you, the chances of you actually surviving would be pretty slim. The advertisers have not taken into consideration public safety which would be at risk if some people were to take this advertisement a little too seriously and bring real guns into the equation. I believe the ASA were right to ban this advertisement as I fully agree that it could lead to violence. Another example of an advertisement not meeting the ASA’s requirements is ‘The Cut’ which is an appeal for charity Women’s Aid. In the advert, we see Keira Knightly leaving a movie set on her way home late at night. She seems to be in a good mood up until we see her in the car, wiping off all off her make-up then reaching her home and stepping out the car. Looking up at the balcony, we can see a mysterious male figure. She goes upstairs and walks into her apartment, looking for her partner. A mirror is broken and there is blood on the floor. He walks into the room and she notices his hand and hands him a towel, but he throws it back in her face. She then says â€Å"Sorry, we didn’t agree to that. It wasn’t on the script† Her partner then abruptly punches her in the face and she falls to the ground. He then grabs her by the hair and starts to kick her in the stomach repeatedly as it zooms out from what we now see is a movie set with train tracks leading out. This did not meet the Advertising Code as it fails to comply with the ASA regulations in Section 16 (Source): â€Å"These rules are intended to prevent the abuse of people’s charitable impulses. Charity advertisements or advertisements that feature charities should treat with care and digression any subjects likely to arouse strong emotions. Although audiences are generally more tolerant of potentially distressing treatments when the objectives of an advertisement are charitable, sensitivity is nevertheless required especially in relation to younger audiences. † ASA Section 16 This advertisement did have a powerful message to convey about the importance of how domestic violence is becoming a big issue in the UK, but the way in which they had shown it was not sensitive towards the audience. The way the man had physically abused the actress, as well as the way it was shown was very graphic in a sense that many people are not used to seeing such violent behaviour, making them feel uneasy at seeing this advert. This would be the case particularly for anyone seeing the advert who had experienced any kind of violence. This advertisement was banned from airing on British television, but can still be viewed online on major video streaming websites such as YouTube. Again, I feel the ASA were right to ban this advert as the subject was not treated with enough sensitivity. Ofcom is the British communications regulator. They are responsible for regulating the content of TV programmes and radio shows as well as fixed line telecoms, mobiles and the airwaves in which wireless devices operate. They were created to make sure that the public can obtain the best from their communications services and are protected from unsuitable material that may harm, offend or persuade people to commit certain crimes or do certain things in a way television might. It is funded through the fees that media companies must pay if they are fined by Ofcom, and is also has government aid through a grant-in-aid. They are accountable to parliament and have the authority to enforce the regulation laws for television and radio programmes. An example of when Ofcom has had to investigate a complaint large number of complaints was during the 2010 X Factor final which was shown on ITV. In the live episode, ITV showed Rihanna dressed in incredibly short, tight shorts and a bra-like top. Furthermore the dance moves she performed were fairly sexual for public viewing before the watershed. Ofcom received over 1,000 complaints for the final causing an investigation to begin. In the end, Ofcom had came to the conclusion that ITV were not in breach of their codes, but because of the high number of complaints, Ofcom created new guidelines for broadcasters which outlined that they needed them to be more careful when to showing live content such music videos before the 9PM watershed as children and teenagers would be watching. (Source). In conclusion, I believe that both the BBC and ITV are effective broadcasters as they cater to the needs of their audiences well through delivering pure entertainment on ITV, and also airing informative and educational shows on the BBC. However, in my opinion the BBC is the better broadcaster as they regularly stick to their regulators rules and also cater to such a wide audience, unlike ITV who mainly seem to care about a mainstream audience because of their needs in terms of their advertisers. This was shown when they had not taken into consideration their younger audiences of the X Factor by exposing them to inappropriate things that they should not be subjected to due to the watershed. I think they did not consider their younger viewers sensitivity but considered only the popularity of the artist they were showing in order to pull in the largest possible audience thereby bringing in advertising revenue. I will still watch both channels, but I will mainly stick to the BBC as I feel I can trust them more now, knowing that they actually are regulated as a public service broadcaster by a board of governors to care about their viewing audience. I have learnt quite a lot of useful information whilst undertaking research for this analysis, such as how systems and technologies work, the main regulators of our TV media content and advertising as well as understanding the ownerships of these broadcasters and how they gain their income, giving me an insight into why they choose to air certain programmes and such. GRADE AWARDED D1: To comprehensively explain the structure of the television and video industry with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly D1: learners will talk about the structure of the television and video industry in such a way as to show how why it is structured the way it is. Learners will develop ideas critically (ie, compare, assess and discriminate) and draw out of an example precisely what it is about it that exemplifies the point it illustrates. For example, using the BBC as a case study, a learner might explain, how it is structured in terms of its role as a public service provider, giving examples of how the broadcaster conforms to its public service remit to ‘educate, inform and entertain,’ and fully explaining how these examples illustrate the public service remit in operation. The learner might then also explore how the BBC is constrained by regulation and is pressured by increasing competition from the commercial sector. Learners will explain the differences between methods of funding with clear reference to the Broadcasting Act 1990. They will explain the regulation of the industry with reference to detailed illustrative examples of self-regulation in action and cases where the external regulators have intervened, elucidating these examples in such a way as to clearly show how they demonstrate the regulation of the industry.

Smartest Guys in the Room

Introduction Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room was a documentary film showing the real story of the largest business scandal in the U.S. where top executive officers in Enron Corporation squandered over one billion American dollars while the Corporation investors and employees lost everything. Enron Corporation was a leading commodity, and Service Company established in Houston, Texas.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Smartest Guys in the Room specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was the seventh largest companies at the time. The executive officers included Ken Lay, the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Skilling, Chief Financial Officer, Andy Fastow and the Accounting Firm, Arthur Andersen. The film was based on the 2003 award-winning book, The Smartest Guys in the Room by Fortune reporters, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. It also featured insider accounts and fire-raising corporate videotapes audios, interviews with former Enron executives and employees, reporters, former Governor of California and stock analysts. The film significantly examined the collapse of Enron Corporation in 2001. It showed how smart and powerful men were driven by greed, which brought shame to themselves and severely affected innocent investors and employees (Gibney 1). In 2006, the film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature and consequently won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature. Enron Natural Gas Pipeline Company was formed in 1985 as a result of the merger of Houston and Omaha, Nebraska’s and InterNorth, natural-gas companies. By 2000, Enron Natural Gas Pipeline Company had grown and dominated the North America natural gas industry and Jeff Skilling pioneered its expansion to a different range of products that included coal, steel, and water. This resulted to skyrocketing of the company’s stocks and Jeff Skilling was considerably named CEO of the company. Many people invested in the company and with the increase in the range of products, and consequently, the number of employees had to be increased. Meanwhile, Skilling accounting results put Enron’s earnings at 53 million dollars a deal with no profits (Independent Lens 1). Summary of what happened at Enron Jeff Skilling declared the company’s earnings of $53 million dollars in a deal that yielded no profits. Essentially Enron faked its bookkeeping to report profits that never existed. The company operated on corrupt and closely-guarded mismanagement by Enron executive officers.Advertising Looking for case study on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Enron came up with a scheme to artificially increase electricity demand at the West Coast. As a result, many California citizens experienced blackouts, and unfortunately, two people lost their lives while Enron’s West Coast desk pocketed huge profits. E nron also used ghost companies to hide the massive company losses that later toppled the company. Enron crafted to sell products that did not exist and its balance sheets never balanced. Inexperienced and innocent employees who had dedicated their financial lives to Enron were surprised when Enron Corporation experienced prolonged fallout without their knowledge. About 20,000 employees lost their jobs. The company’s insurance covers crashed, Enron stocks and retirement accounts were equally devalued with urgency. Similarly, many criminal accusations were prosecuted against several Enron company’s top executive officers. Additionally, Arthur Andersen’s accounting firm collapsed, the 2006 convictions of Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Chief Financial Officer, Andy Fastow also fell. This was followed by the death of Ken Lay the CEO, two months later. Organization-related Problems at Enron Organizational related problems are the problems that come up from a group†™s influence. They include the shared beliefs and shared values. Being a well-established company, Enron ought to have had proper records, book keeping, financial statements open to public scrutiny and compliant with all financial standards. Though Enron was applauded for being innovative, it had various organizational problems. Because Enron was dealing with many cash transactions, entered into future contracts, and acted as a bank for many commodities, it was necessary for them to generate cash flows which they never did. Their reliance on borrowed cash for their dairy transactions was not a good organization technique. Enron similarly dealt with inexperienced employees, credits, debts and diverse businesses instead of being specific, which brought about organization problems. The idea of Enron dealing with all types of businesses both simple and complex made it impossible for employees to have the required expertise hence resulting to organizational problems. The entry of Enron into trading activities that were unfamiliar to the employees was an organization problem. As trading expanded, Enron’s, financial status became complex, and unfortunately, they abandoned budgetary controls. The organized structure and policy of Enron clearly did not prevent unscrupulous activities like the artificial electricity scheme (GUIDESTAR 1).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Smartest Guys in the Room specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Enron did not have a mission or a strategic plan, and that can be viewed as an organization lapse. The top management and auditors of Enron were not professionally and psychologically up to the huge task in the company and were more concerned with earnings and hence could not realize eminent business risks (Cunningham and Harris 33). Root cause of the organizational problems, values, ethical, reward systems, perceptions and leadership Many companies like Enron ha ve voluntary codes of ethics that prohibit executives from being involved in other business entities that do business with the company they are working for. However, the executive officers of Enron chose not to follow this code of ethics. Enron executives, like some other companies, were allowed to manage their own employee pension funds, which unfortunately, they messed up. The diverse businesses involved in by Enron left no space for specialization and expertise hence creating organizational problems. The schemes and conspiracies developed by Enron’s executives were unethical and poor show of leadership traits. The fact that Enron hired and paid its own auditors brought a conflict of interest into the legal and financial system which created an organizational problem. The legal and regulatory structure that allowed firms like Arthur Andersen to provide both consulting and auditing services developed a conflict of interest and thus resulting to an organizational problem. The senior management at Enron did not receive extensive ethical training and as such did not have enough knowledge to arrive at concrete decisions. Corporate governance and leadership solely relied on the state of mind, will power and personal relationships of management. However, rules were skillfully, cunningly and willfully ignored though they were in place. The fact that the law left considerable discretion to managers and executives to exercise their own business judgment about what was in the best interests of the company, enabled the executive officers of Enron to mismanage and practice corruption. Finally, the shareholders of Enron were not allowed to vet the management of the organization (Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics 1). Detailed Analysis of the Problems Identified Every corporate organization operates under its own set of code of ethics. The code of ethics details how employees, employers and company business should be transacted. Once this code of ethics is followed, smooth running of a company is guaranteed.Advertising Looking for case study on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, since this code is voluntary, top management in most cases ignore it and hence create organizational problems in a company. The executive officers in Enron ignored the code of ethics and conspired, mismanaged and engaged in corrupt activities that crushed the company. Training of management team and employees ensures a good understanding of the business and required expertise. However, no such training was offered or sought in Enron, and thus it can be said that employees did not understand the newly introduced trading activities in the organization. The diverse business activities deny a company a sense of specialization and hence no mission. This leads in business being executed in any way and thus there is no perfection. The loopholes in the legal framework are used by the wise to defraud companies. The fact that the law allowed the senior management to make personal decisions they saw fit for the company, also gave them a chance to do the opposite. Hence, the law can pr otect or be used to suit the highly ranked in a company. Senior management should at all times demonstrate good governance in a company where the interest of the company should come before personal interests. In a situation where personal gains prevail, the shareholders and employees feel the wrath as in the case of Enron. Conflict of interest destroys all company plans. In a position where an auditor is hired and paid by the management, chances of auditors giving decisions that suit the employer are high. External auditors are recommended in a public company to display the true financial position of a company. Organization behavior theories that led to problems at Enron and how they relate to the Event at Enron Organization behavior theories relate to ethics that dictate how companies should be run. For many years, philosophers have in literature stated and analyzed different theories that form the basis for ethics in business. Technological theories of ethics put more emphasis on the results of an action and can be classified into egoism and utilitarianism. In this case, egoism defines what is correct and what is wrong with respect to oneself. In such a case, when required to give any business decision, an egoist will put self-interest first. This theory is believed to lead to illegal behavior. In the case of Enron, the management put self first in the west coast where they leaped a lot of profits as employees lost their jobs while some lost their lives due to the artificial electricity demand scheme. Utilitarianism theory, on the other hand, puts more emphasis on the overall amount of good that might be produced by an action or a decision. In this case, a company might decide to expand its business physically or across the borders. Utilitarianism will analyze the amount of good that can be derived from this action. In the case of Enron, the management decided to introduce other trading activities like coal and water on top of the initial natural-gas busines s. This act was well rewarded since Enron stocks skyrocketed to generate high revenues in a short period of time. Deontological theories of ethics put more emphasis on: the rights of all individuals, and the intentions of the person(s) performing an action. It cannot harm some to benefit others but treats all equally. In the case of Enron Corporation, the government declared the corporation bankrupt, prosecuted all that mismanaged the company and participated in corrupt deals that severely affected the employees and investors. By doing this, it treated everybody accordingly. A Justice-based theory of ethics is concerned with the perception of fairness of actions. To determine the fairness of an action; distributive, procedural, and/or interaction rules are used. A just action treats all fairly and consistently in accordance with the set ethical or legal standards. In the case of Enron Corporation event, the court delivered justice on the criminal proceedings against the corrupt mana gement officials and the accounting firm. Relativism theory of ethics dictates that there are no universal principles of ethics and that right and wrong must be determined by each individual or group. It observes that standards of right and wrong may change with time and cultures. And hence the rights and wrongs are subject to interpretation (Barnett 1). Conclusion Any of the above listed problems will obviously befall a company if not checked well in advance. Enron Corporation was highly affected by organizational problems to the point of a closure and bankruptcy declaration of their accounting firm. The schemes demonstrated by the management were a sign of poor leadership, bad governance, greed for money, and self-centeredness. Mismanagement affects the employees, investors and the management itself. In the case of Enron, more than 20, 000 lost their jobs, two people died out of the faked electricity demand, senior management was taken to court, investors encountered losses, accou nting firm declared bankrupt and the sudden fall of Enron Corporation. But since some of these problems are due to ignorance, lack of personal will to do right, bending the law, and selfish interests, personal conscience and good governance are required to protect the interests of all in a company. Governments should prescribe stiff penalties for all forms of mismanagement, corruption and conspiracy in a public owned company. As of such, managers and directors in such companies should be vetted before assuming management positions to ensure transparency and professionalism. Works Cited Barnett, Tim. Ethics, Reference for business, Encyclopedia of business. Reference for Business, 2011. Web. Cunningham, Gary and Harris Jean. â€Å"Enron and Arthur Andersen: The Case of the Crooked E and the Fallen A.† Global Perspectives on Accounting Education 3.1 (2006): 27-48. Gibney, Alex. Enron The Smartest Guys In The Room. HDNET FILMS, 2005. Film. GUIDESTAR. How Ethical Is Your Nonprofi t Organization? GUIDESTAR, 2011. Web. Independent Lens. Enron: the smartest guys in the room. Public Broadcasting Service, 2011. Web. Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. What Really Went Wrong With Enron? Santa Clara University, 2011. Web. This case study on Smartest Guys in the Room was written and submitted by user Ember Waller to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Patriotisms Pen Essay Samples - How to Find Them Online

Patriotism's Pen Essay Samples - How to Find Them OnlineIf you are looking for patriotism's pen essay samples, then here are a few tips for finding them. To find patriotism's pen essay samples you have to perform a little searching, and this is pretty easy, since the Internet is full of resources. Let us start with the source, for this, it is Google.When you do a search on patriotism's pen essay samples in the common search engines, they will give you thousands of results. It is really a time consuming search, but the results can be quite interesting. On the whole, the first result that comes up is at the top of the search engine result page, which is Google. It shows over three thousand results, and most of these are submitted by people, so you should expect some spam on the site.The second top result is Yahoo, and the third result is Bing. On these search engines, patriotism's pen essay samples is not a big topic, but there are some keywords that turn up quite often. For example, p atriotism's pen essay samples in the word search box that pops up.When you are looking for patriot's pen essay samples, when a person uses patriotism's pen essay samples in their search, they are usually looking for patriotic themes, such as 'Where are our American Heroes'American Heroes on Trial.' In case of the search on patriotism's pen essay samples, the main word phrases are normally used for patriot's pen essay samples, so you can expect more searches related to these words.Patriotism is a great topic for learning American history and this is because patriotism is a topic that is not supposed to be controversial and is therefore there are less people who would write about it. When a patriot does write, it is not always about patriotism, and this is what makes it interesting.Another fun way to look for patriot's pen essay samples is by putting patriotism's pen essay samples into a Google search. Many writers will turn to this option because of its simplicity. One thing to keep in mind is that when a patriot writes, it does not always make sense, so unless you are looking for the meaning of the writing, it is not as effective as the other ways of searching.Patriotism's pen essay samples is one of the most searched topics for the term right now, which is why a lot of people are still using the phrases. So, if you have a problem to learn patriotic themes, then you can use patriotism's pen essay samples to help you get through it.

The Outlaw Josey Wales essays

The Outlaw Josey Wales essays Many western-oriented films tend to focus on reckless cowboys running from town to town, killing anyone who may potentially threaten their power. The Outlaw Josey Wales by Robert Daly, however, portrays a new type of main character defined by an entirely different set of morals and values. Throughout the film, Josey kills a total of 47 characters, but not once does he do so without reason. He never murdered anyone unless the situation left him no other option. In Josey Wales opinion, self-defense represented the only justification for killing another human being; the title outlaw inaccurately represents his true character. The movie begins with Josey plowing his farmland, which appears very solid and difficult to penetrate. This portrays Joseys modest beginnings as a hard worker and devoted family man. The difficult farming conditions, however, foreshadow the struggles that lie ahead for Josey throughout the remainder of the film. As he works, Josey suddenly hears gunshots in the distance and notices a thick black smoke rising in the air. He ran toward the smoke and found a band of Union soldiers burning his house and butchering his wife and son. Smoke is symbolic of the soul, and the color black represents death, thus portraying the death of Joseys soul upon witnessing the loss of his family. He attempted to save them, but one of the soldiers knocked him unconscious. After he awoke several hours later, the disheartened Josey buried his wife and son under a cross made of wood, showing his strong belief in religion (whatever it may have been). Later that day, he found a Union pistol buried amo ng the ashes of his house. Loading the weapon, Josey fired it repeatedly at a stake of wood not missing once. The fact that Joseys weapon-of-choice had been the former gun of a Union soldier shows how others forced him to become known as the outlaw Josey Wales. On the lighter...

Problems at Accounting for Small Business Coursework

Problems at Accounting for Small Business - Coursework Example A contract between employer and the employee has an â€Å"Inequality of bargaining power† since the employer holds more power to influence the position of the contract.3 The "inequality of bargaining power between the employer and the employee" necessitates the need for an employment contract to impose the terms of employment and where necessary use it in court to enforce the employment terms. This paper examines legal issues between employees and the employers in the case study of Accounting for Small Business (AFSB) Company. Raj had worked for the AFSB for three years and had an excellent work record during that period. He came into conflict with Sarah for attending his work late by twenty minutes. Just in the previous day Sarah had expressed her concern for employees’ lateness and issued warning against anyone who would be late for work. She had informed the workers that anyone would be late for the work would be given an extra task to perform even though she did not specify the nature of the task that would be given for lateness. When Raj arrived late one morning he apologized for lateness and explained his cause for lateness to Sarah but she was not ready to listen to any excuse. She informed Raj that he was to clean all the office desks that evening after his day job. However, Raj objected strongly using â€Å"offensive language† and asked Sarah to get the other cleaners to do the cleaning. He informed her that he could not take orders from her since she did not have authority over him. The conflict between Raj and Sarah led the managing director to convene a disciplinary meeting with Raj in which he informed Raj of his express dismissal for disobeying the lawful instructions and gross misconducts to the standard procedure. The employment act allows employers to vary the culture of the business in accordance with the changes in market requirement as long as the changes initiated  does not contravene the employment contract with the employees.

Working Conditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Working Conditions - Essay Example As we all very well know, nuclear blasts are the worst and it is up to nuclear engineers to ensure that the radioactive substances operate at optimal temperature. Furthermore, a nuclear engineer is often expected to risk his life and health every time he or she enters the reactor chamber (Mulembo, 2007). Employees of this nuclear plant are adequately informed regarding the risks involved in working in such stations. Protective gears are often provided the management that provides protection from the emitted radiation emanating from the decaying radioactive substance (Rajput, 2006). Furthermore, education regarding the dangers of exposure to radiation is well known to the employees and hence makes sure that they minimally expose them to the radiations (Rajput, 2006). Furthermore, the government has regulations regarding the working conditions and the amount of radiation expected at the working place as it protects the employees’ rights of a favourable working environment (Rajput, 2006). There are also other environmental and work policies regarding the amount of radiation that can be exposed to a given individual. I do not feel the risk is acceptable as radiation ultimately results in cell damage that eventually leads to cancer development. Hence such a risk is a ticking time bomb for the workers and is unacceptable (Rajput, 2006). The risk involved in this job far much more out ways benefits since radiation exposure usually result in changes a cellular