Exclusionary Rule Essay

The exclusionary rule is a legal procedure in the United States, which falls under the constitution. It protects citizens of the country in making sure that law enforcement officers are operating lawfully and that they abide by all search and seizure laws. It goes so far to protect the citizens of The United States that if a law enforcement officer illegally obtains evidence it can and most likely will be thrown out of the court. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the exclusionary rule, exploring its fallacies and importance while also including the history and evolution of the controversial exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule is a very important legal principle in the United States and is crucial to keeping law enforcement and the judicial system in a fair balance with accordance to the United States Constitution. The exclusionary rule was never even thought about or existed until the early 20th century. Samaha (2012) states that before the exclusionary rule ever existed the only remedy for constitutional violations involving the exclusionary rule were private lawsuits. The framers of the constitution had it in their mind that judges would just handle each case as they see fitting to the nature of the situation. However this seemed not to work for quite  some time as there was a police misunderstanding of the 4th and 5th amendments figuratively speaking. It wasn’t until 1914 when citizens of the United States began to receive their liberty back piece by piece. In the case of _Weeks v U.S.,_ federal officials raided his house in order to obtain evidence in a gambling case against Freemont Weeks. They had no warrant and no right to be in his house to seize any  of his possessions. So Freemont appealed and he won, in a way. The Supreme Court ruled to give back his belongings. They did not return contraband and this rule only applied to the federal law enforcement. Which is why this is the first hint of a trend towards a prominent and well known exclusionary rule. There was many Judges and government officials who still refused to side with Justice Edward White in the case of Freemont Weeks. For example, in the case of _People v. Defore_ Judge Cardozo mad his opinion very well-known and famous. According to Kamisar (2003) in the _People v. Defore_ case Judge Cardozo boasts his opinion very loudly and clearly stating that he would not adopt the exclusionary rule within New York. Kamisar (2003) then goes on to quote Judge Cardozo: â€Å"excluding illegally seized evidence was not the only effective way to enforce the Fourth Amendment†. Cardozo was not the last Judge or Justice to disagree with the new trend. The next case to disagree with Cardozo and many other opposing Judges would have to be _Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. U.S._ (1920). Justice Department officers and a U.S. Marshall entered the lumber company’s office and illegally obtained all of the company’s documents. They then went on to make photo copies and subpoenaed the Silverthornes. When they refused to follow court orders they were taken into custody for contempt of court. Samaha (2012) states that â€Å"According to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the government’s search and seizure ‘was an outrage'†. This case expanded the exclusionary rule introducing the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine. This doctrine bans the use of evidence indirectly based on an illegal government  action. Even after multiple court cases ruled in favor of the exclusionary many state legislatures still were not in agreement with the [exclusionary] rule. Some legislatures found ways around the fourth amendment. In the case of _Coolidge v. New Hampshire_ New Hampshire’s legislature was challenged on their warrant issuing practices. According to Lynch (2000) New Hampshire law was very controversial in the manner of how warrants were issued. The warrant-issuing power was vested in the Justice of the Peace. Now judges must issue warrants; but in the past it was very prominent for Justices of the Peace to fulfill this duty. In New Hampshire they vested the Justice of the Peace within the executive branch of the government. In other words, according to Lynch (2000) the â€Å"police officers had subverted the Fourth Amendment by issuing search warrants to themselves†. The Supreme Court ruled that New Hampshire’s practices were unconstitutional because the executive branch was issuing warrants to themselves. This practice was very opposing to the idea of checks and balances. This court case was a very historical one in which ruled in application with the separation of powers doctrine. It also further supported the exclusionary rule. One of the biggest cases in the history of the United States and the biggest turning point for the exclusionary rule was in the case of _Mapp v. Ohio._ In this case officers forcibly entered Miss Mapp’s home without a search warrant or consent and provided a false warrant. Before this case not all states adopted the exclusionary rule. In the dissent by Harlan, Frankfurter, and Whittaker (1961) they stated that the â€Å"_Weeks_ exclusionary rule should also be enforced against the states†. Lafave (2009) also touches on the case quoting the courts statements: â€Å"[A]ll evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is, by that same authority, inadmissible in a state court†. Estreicher, S. and Weick, D. P. (2010) make an extremely valid  and important point; stressing that the exclusionary rule is â€Å"constitutionally required because it was the ‘only effective available way’ to enforce the constitutional guarantyâ⠂¬ . This case is so historically significant because of this ruling. Finally, nearly 50 years after the _Weeks_ case, the exclusionary rule applied to all states. Even though the rule applied to all states we still did not have every aspect of the rule covered. The ‘Knock and Announce’ rule was always under controversy as to if the exclusionary rule was applicable in such situations. It wasn’t until _Hudson v. Michigan_ when the courts clarified the issue. The police had a warrant to enter _Hudson’s_ home and when they knocked and announced their presence they waited a mere three to five seconds before entering the premise. Hudson appealed stating his fourth amendment rights were violated because the officers did not follow ‘Knock and Announce’ procedures. His evidence was suppressed, but later the appeal was reversed by Michigan Court of Appeals. According to Justice Scalia the waiting period of the officers had no connection to the discovery of the illegal drugs and weapons. Because of this case the ‘Knock and Announce Rule’ was clarified by stating that the rule did not have any interest in preventing the government from taking evidence described in a warrant. Tomkovicz (2008) believes that this case was intended to further the restrictions on the exclusionary rule. I have to agree with Tomkovicz in this statement. Gittins (2007) also makes a valid argument in concerning the argument. He [Gittins] states that during the night hours residents will have a longer period of time in which they will be able to open the door. However the courts have found that very short periods of time (five seconds) can be â€Å"reasonable wait times†. Courts are still in the process of clarifying the exclusionary rule; although _Hudson v. Michigan_ added some amount of clarity to the issue. Lastly, and the most recent court case concerning the exclusionary rule is _Herring v. U.S._ in which a recalled arrest warrant was executed  accidently. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department were executing a warrant in which the county clerk found to be accurate. Upon arrest they soon learned the warrant was recalled some five months ago. Herring moved to suppress the evidence on the motion that his warrant was rescinded. Josephson (2009) states that the courts generally exclude the exclusionary rule when there are negligent errors amongst recordkeeping. The court denied Herring’s motion for suppression because of the Good Faith Clause established in _U.S. v. Leon._ This is a significant case because of how it furthered the interpretation of the exclusionary rule. Josephson (2009) explains how this case interpreted the exclusionary rule’s main goal which is â€Å"the deterrence of unconstitutional police conduct†. Therefore by the police unknowingly executing what they thought to be an accurate warrant left the evidence applicable in courts. The exclusionary rule is intended to keep law enforcement and federal officials in check with the constitution. But often there is the controversial topic of whether or not the framers of the constitution intended for such a rule. The framers never had any motion to include an â€Å"exclusionary rule† into the fourth amendment. However, Geller (1975) makes an excellent observation stating that the framers didn’t provide any remedies for a violation of the fourth amendment. Which brings me to my next topic of the controversy. Because the framers left no remedies for violations of the fourth amendment, the courts were left to create the exclusionary rule to deter law enforcement from violating citizen’s rights. Many argue  that this does not effectively deter officers. Geller (1975) argues that there is no significant evidence to support such claims. Geller (1975) also comments on alternatives declaring that â€Å"Until data [is] available concerning the effect of these alternatives, it is impossible to state with any degree of certainty that these alternatives are either more effective or less effective than the exclusionary rule.† The last major issue I found in Geller’s (1975) journal came from a group called Americans for Effective Law Enforcement (AELE). They seem to believe the exclusionary rule is no longer necessary due to the high degree of police professionalism. AELE believe police violations are unintentional and because of their high degree of professionalism they act in â€Å"Good Faith†. Therefore petty mistakes allow evidence to be excluded and free criminals. Until there is a significant study that entails multiple well rounded solutions to the exclusionary rule; I do not see any possible alternatives. The exclusionary rule was created almost one hundred years ago. The rule will continue to be reformed and transformed as time goes on. Although there may be a substantial argument pertaining to the issue, we need the exclusionary rule. Undoubtedly the rule has an abundance of justifications compared to its fallacies. It was stated loud and clear by the framers some two hundred years ago what rights we as American people possess. The exclusionary rule is a major backbone of the judicial system of our country, it maintains the system of checks and balances keeping the American people’s rights prevalent and intact. The exclusionary rule is in working order, being reformed every day to protect our civil liberty and keep the integrity of our constitution set out by our own framers. Bibliography Estreicher, S. and Weick, D. P. (2010) Opting for a legislative alternative to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule. UMKC Law Review. 78, 949. Gittins, J. (2007). Excluding the exclusionary rule. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2007, 451-481. Josephson, M. (2009). To exclude or not to exclude: The future of the exclusionary rule after Herring v. United States. Creighton Law Review, 43, 175-203. Kamisar, Y. (2003). In defense of the search and seizure exclusionary rule. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 26(1), 119. Lafave, W. (2009). Recent developments: The smell of Herring: A critique of the Supreme Court’s latest assault on the exclusionary rule. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 99(3), 757-787. Lynch, T. (2000). In defense of the exclusionary rule. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 23(3), 711. Samaha, J. (2012). Criminal procedure (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth. Tomkovicz, J. (2008). Hudson v. Michigan and the Future of Fourth Amendment Exclusion Iowa Law Review, 93. Retrieved October 29, 2013, from http://www.law.uiowa.edu/documents/ilr/to Bibliography Geller W. ,Enforcing the Fourth Amendment: The Exclusionary Rule and Its Alternatives, 1975 Wash. U. L. Q. 621 (1975).

Wish You Well by David Baldacci

Character development is an important part of all novels. A character's mindset can change throughout the story as they go through events that may change there mindset. In Wish You Well by David Baldacci, Oz's personality and attitude change from the beginning to the end of the novel. His point of view alone effects the story. As the book starts off Oz is a little immature boy. He is not self efficient and relies completely on his mother Amanda and his older sister Lou. â€Å"Fortunately, his fearful cries would be replaced by a smile when Oz would at last focused on her, and she would want to hold her son always, keep him safe always. (Baldacci p. 4) Amanda had protected Oz his entire life and made him feel a sense of attachment. He never had to make his own decisions or face an event where his hope or faith was challenged. Until the car accident, his mother was severely injured and his father was killed. â€Å"Oz reached for his mother, incomprehension the only thing between the little boy and possibly fatal panic. † (Baldacci p. 14) This was the first and only time in the story that we see Oz in panic. Lou being older feels she understood more about the world and life than Oz. She had loved her father but clearly did not have the same type of relationship with her mother. After the accident and her father was dead, Lou seemed to get a negative outlook. She never once had a positive thought that possibly her mother could might get better and regain consciousness. Oz on the other hand never lost his faith. He always though positively. Throughout the novel Oz makes comment to his grandmother, diamond, and Lou that his mother could and was getting better. His love for her was so strong that even though deep down he knew the reality of her healing was not likely, he would do whatever he could to make it possibly come true. Oz thinks that wishing for his mother to regain her health at the wishing well will make her better. â€Å"I wish that my mother will wake up and love me again. He paused and then added solemnly, And Lou too. † (Baldacci p. 131) Oz truly cared about his mother and sister and risked his fear to try and make them all happy again. He was truly a caring character who changes from being a shy innocent boy. Into a caring self confident young man. Lou and Oz both loved each other and there mother. However, each characters point of view was different regarding the citation. Lou was kind of angry and tried to think about things realistic. She knew the odds of her mother getting well and there family going back to normal was limited. She realized it and tried to move on. As opposed to Oz who hoped and wished that his mother and Lou would get better and things could go back to the way they were. In the end even though both character's points of view where vastly different, they each helped each other get through some tragic events in the novel together, through love and perseverance.

Summary of Genesis 27-45 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary of Genesis 27-45 - Essay Example The passage generates two major phenomenon; irony and radical reversals. Irony is seen when characters are extremely deceptive and end up earning privilege rather than punishment. For instance, Jacob deceives his father, Laban to Joseph and Rachel to Jacobs’s family. Irony and radical reversal too is evident when Jacob the lastborn is blessed instead of Esau the firstborn as it is the tradition. Esau receives lesser blessing in addition to being excluded from the covenant forever. This passage is important as it shows humanity that choices have consequences. Esau lost his inheritance for choosing a bowl of soup; Rachel suffered for hiding the idols and Jacobs brother suffered for selling in Egypt. This passage reveals world division by way of binary opposites, initiated at the creation story. Just like male opposes female as per the creation story, Jacob and Esau are absolutely different in everything right from their occupations, behaviour and appearances. Another pair of binary opposites is Rachel and Leah both struggling for Jacobs affections. Oppositions are also seen in intangible elements like the match between man and God, contrast between famine and abundance. This passage is important as it shows the Gods way of working with humanity. It shows how God creates realms of contrasting reversals, symbols, and forces to suggest through whom and how His covenant is to be

Impact of Discrimination on Productivity Article

Impact of Discrimination on Productivity - Article Example The routine evaluation should also be systematized in such a way that any discriminatory behavior on part of the supervisors is immediately evident. different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, sex or age." [Hobson, pg 131] We all like to believe that we live in progressive times, times when we have left social evils like discrimination far behind us, and that when they rear their ugly heads, we will be protected from them by social laws. We often fail to take into consideration the fact that we, as people, are flawed. On a normal day, each one of us "discriminates" against our fellow man in hundreds of different ways. Choosing to sit next to a friendly looking lady on the morning bus instead of the malodorous homeless man, choosing the coffee shop attendant who gives every customer a friendly smile rather than her sullen colleague who looks like she got off the wrong side of the bed these are small, everyday snippets from our lives that no-one holds against useven though we are making "distinctions" that are "unjust" and "prejudicial". It is said to be indirect if a requirement or condition is applied equally to all, but it has a disproportionately detrimental effect on one sex or racial group, because of their inability to comply with it. Impact Of Discrimination on Productivity in the Workplace 4 It takes the from of harassment when someone is subjected to inappropriate actions, behavior, comments or physical contact that is objectionable or causes offence to the recipient. It may be of a sexual or racial nature or it may be directed towards people because of their age, their sexuality, a disability or some other characteristic.[ Guild, pg 3] As is evident from the information provided above, the most common forms of discrimination encountered in our everyday lives are those based on race, gender and age. On basis of the information provided by Ms. XX, she believes that she was subjected to racial and gender discrimination during her tenure of ten years in this company. In addition to being overlooked for a promotion that she believes she deserved, she also states multiple other minor grievances, in the from of incidents where she felt that she was being subjected to discriminatory treatment. All her complaints will be assessed separately. Her primary complaint is that at the time of promotion, she was overlooked, in-spite of her seniority and greater work experience, and the promotion was given instead to a less qualified colleague

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 10

Research paper - Essay Example Therefore, the given paper will examine some of the public and official responses, as well as some of the most important applications on human cloning, and its potential promises. Firstly, the two major cloning techniques will be analyzed in order to understand what cloning involves, and clarify the meaning of the term itself. Secondly, various opinions about the issues, moral and ethical problems it evokes will be presented and analyzed in order to clarify the fact that cloning is not actually immoral or unethical, as many prefer to claim. Cell mass division is the only technique that has been used on human beings. It was first used to multiply human embryos in October 1993, by Robert Stillman and Jerry Hall at George Washington Medical Center (Stock, 2000). They cloned human embryos by splitting early two- to eight-cell embryos into single embryo cells. Each embryo cell will grow up to create a distinct individual, completely separated from the other embryo cells. Therefore, cloning using the cell mass division does not produce copies of an individual. It only produces one more individual with the same genotype. We should never forget that cloning will only produce twins with the same genotype which means that each individual will be a distinct person. This technique is based on the idea that nuclei from cells derived from an adult could be reprogrammed, or that the full genetic complement of such a cell could be reactivated well into the chronological life of the cell. To date, there has been only a single reported case of cloning using this technique on a higher animal. It is important to recognize that this procedure has a great number of important applications in research. One of these applications is to clone genetically engineered animals to produce large quantities of powerful pharmacological agents or to produce

Globalization & Multinational Corporation Term Paper

Globalization & Multinational Corporation - Term Paper Example In the first paper, for instance, the author looks deep into the key features that characterized both the Industrial Revolution and the Great Divergence. The author considers the divergence that occurred in the 19th century. By constructing a trade/growth model. The paper compares the trade styles, technology and industrial growth between the north and south regions in this era of divergence. The second paper on the other hand significantly presents a multi-country theory of economic growth. This growth is related to how different countries are connected in terms of trade and exchanges. Since the stated growth is directly related to the human practice and knowledge accumulation, the paper revisits The Great divergence in relation to how specific countries connect to the rest of the world and how these networks contributed to the phenomenon. The third paper is rather specific, focusing on the issue of transportation cost as a factor that affected The Great Divergence. The paper focuses directly on the effects of transportation cost in different trade sectors. In an inquiry fashion, the paper specifically addresses how the reduction in transportation costs of industrial goods. The paper recognizes that such a reduction is related to an enhanced convergence of economic growth rates. The papers relate directly to the issues affecting economic growth in many countries in the world. Currently, economic growth is directly related to trade and the costs of movement. In addition, these costs and trade depends on the connections and the networks that exist between the specific country and the rest of the world. Globalization and multinational corporations are a direct expression of this network. Since this is a current issue in business, the papers therefore bring out an interesting relationship between The Great Divergence and the current status of economy and globalization. My motivation for choosing the papers is therefore

See the dic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

See the dic - Essay Example is no new requirement with a harmful effect to the project is added; Time Management, which involves ensuring that the deadline of the project is met; Cost Management, which sees the project completed within the budget; Quality Management, which ensures the project does what it was intended to and is completed according to the requirements; Human Resource Management, which involves all processes for managing, developing and putting the team together; Communication Management, which determines the type of information needed and the medium of sending that information as well as how the performance of the project will be reported; Risk Management, which includes identification, controlling and management of risks associated with the project; and Procurement Management, which involves processes for acquisition of services and materials required for successful completion of the project. In summary, there are nine major knowledge areas of a project and each knowledge area covers an important part of the project. One knowledge area may cover various phases of groups of processes in the project. A project manager must therefore excel in all the nine knowledge areas even though some knowledge areas may be more pivotal than the others. Each area must however be executed with professionalism and care in order to have a successful project

Political Science; Democracy- Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Science; Democracy- Immigration - Essay Example I have at times in the past felt that no illegal immigrant had any right to complain if they were caught and deported. They know they are entering a country illegally and that they should obey the law and take their punishment if they are caught. From the discussion on the video, I can see that it just isn’t this cut and dried. Almost all illegal immigrants have family back home depending on the income they make in America. That income is a lifeline and a deportation means an abrupt stoppage of that remittance income. Arresting and deporting illegal immigrants affects many more people than just the illegal immigrant. The video also made me aware of the economic impacts of illegal immigrants. I know that economics drives immigration. There is no other reason for people to leave their friends and family than seeking a better life. I have always heard about the costs of illegal immigrants. Many people are quick to point out that illegal immigrants fill up schools with their kids, show up at the emergency room without health insurance and pay no taxes for government services. But illegal immigrants also provide cheap labor for various industries and segments of the national economy. The overall feeling I got from the video is the need for comprehensive immigration reform from the federal government. It is not an issue that the states should be able to address because this will just leave us with the patchwork of immigration laws that we currently have. States are going to step in to the void created by the federal government that seems unable to deal with the current situation in any comprehensive way. Advocates for illegal immigrants are very convincing in the video, but I feel that they may actually be doing more harm than good. Compromise needs to be made on all sides if a workable immigration reform is to be made. Some illegal immigrants may need to come out of hiding or may even need to return home.

Doing Business in a Foreign Country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Doing Business in a Foreign Country - Essay Example The understanding of the things that can determine the performance of a business operation in Brazil will ensure that foreign investors will be able to establish sustainable businesses in the country. Though doing business in Brazil cannot be easy and has several issues, it is achievable for a foreign organization that is committed to explore the opportunities in the country. The business environment of Brazil requires that the investor be willing and dedicated to the performance of business by supplying sufficient resources and personnel (Ibp Inc 56). Political environment of Brazil Brazil has a business environment that is regulated by the political atmosphere of people in the country considering the federal government has a lot of input into the operation of the business. The government strategies in the country have contributed to the kind of operations into which investors can venture so that they exploit the economic opportunities in the country. Through the government system, the parliament of the country decided on the amount of interest that businesses and individuals could be charged when they acquire loans from the banks. This regulation of the interests on loans shows that there is political influence in business operations in the country (Ibp Inc 55). Legal Environment Foreigners who have to invest in Brazil take a considerable long time to comply with the bureaucratic systems that are established to allow them to operate in the country. This time is taken in filing of issues that show compliance to the legally acceptable charges like taxation, labor laws, reporting and getting permits for their businesses. These processes are legally stipulated and, therefore, every foreign investor has to conform to the requirement to be allowed to start a business (Ibp Inc 55-57). Economic Environment Brazil is a capitalist state that operates in the southern America and has firmly established itself in export of high quality products that attract customers. Thi s means that businesses in the area have to compete for their customers and ensure that they make sales to them so that they can sustain their operation. In many instances, the operations in the business in this country involve export of coffee and other agricultural products, as well as impost of machinery and other products from its business partners that may include the US, China and South Korea among others (Ibp Inc 56). Monetary Environment The federal government of Brazil has Real as its currency since 1994 and, therefore, business operations in the country are done using this currency, especially when it targets the local population. The currency has performed well at the steady exchange rates with other popular currencies within the business environment. This means that the operations of the business in the country are not threatened if the exchange rates in the currency shift within considerable limits. The currency is used to trade with the people within the country or tho se who want to buy products from the country from other countries (Marr 76). Fiscal Constraints in doing Business in Brazil In Brazil, the rates of interests in the central bank of the country are high as compared to other countries in the world and, therefore, it can affect adversely the foreign investors who want to

The Odyssey Essay Example for Free

The Odyssey Essay The passage that Homer exquisitely wrote in The Odyssey was in Book 5, lines 309-323. Homers techniques established an image that could never be forgotten. In this passage, Odysseus was being dragged down to the sea by Poseidon. The sea god was furious that all the other gods were in his favor. Odysseus talked to himself and wondered out loud, Rag of man that I am, is this the end of me? (V, 309) Irony was a method Homer utilized to convey the message of helplessness. Odysseus has used trickery and deception during his Journey. The sneaky hero went under disguise as a beggar with rags. The great, humble man categorized himself to the lowest position. Its intriguing when Odysseus seems to regret and reflect about the past- lucky those Danaans were who perished should have had a soldiers burial and praise from the Akhaians-not this choking waiting for me at sea, unmarked and lonely. (V, 316-323) Odysseus doesnt seem to be afraid of death. He does not ask for Poseidons forgiveness. The only thing he regrets the most is being unable to be recognized for his accomplishments. Usually, Odysseus is the victor of his odyssey. Now, he has lost control to the waters. To exemplify the mood, Homer inserted caesuras. The section Would God l, too, had died there-met my end (V, 317) is heart-wrenching. When I read this sentence, I had to hold my breath for the long pause. Odysseus sounded as if he was reflecting what could have been in a different scenario. Another event that was potentially touching was in Book 23, lines 258-264. The passage wasnt sappy. Penelope was filled with suspense after dealing with the foolish suitors in the past. She said, mfou make my stiff heart know that I am yours. (XXIII, 258) It wasnt her fault she could not trust Odysseus at first. When she had an epiphany and trusted Odysseus, they melted into each others arms. Their longing for each other had been quenched at last. Homer provided a brief recap of Odysseus adventures preceding his arrival in Ithaka- a swimmer spent in rough water where his ship went down under Poseidons blows, gale winds and tons of sea. (XXIII, 263-266) Although this passage was relieving, the passage where Odysseus was in a errifying situation had more zest. This piece had Odysseus at his weakest. He was on his own, worried about not being found. While Odysseus contemplated, there were no gods present to assist him yet; he would have to use his clever abilities to think of a way to survive. Although its common to find instances where Odysseus is the supreme leader and in control, its rare to see Odysseus break down. Odysseus broke away from his impassive armor in both passages. However, when Odysseus is alone, the reader truly understands Odysseus true self. Odysseus reflection (V, 309-323) included a major theme of The Odyssey- loneliness. Each character had a need for others and a home. Penelope cried over her missing husband, Telemakhos has only heard of the great legends of his father, and Odysseus mother died because of her son. Mortals are not the only group that can feel forsaken or alone. Gods/immortals can feel that way, too. Calypso, the sea nymph, was furious at the gods for taking away Odysseus from her. She claimed it not to be fair- Oh you vile gods, in Jealous sepernal! You nate It wnen we cnoose to Ile wltn men ( 24-125) It seems as IT Odysseus is the missing piece to everyones problems. The theme of loneliness extracts another major matter-endurance. Odysseus proved himself to be a brave warrior of surviving his loneliness. Penelope endured the suitors aggravating stay. Telemakhos had not faced any major hardships, but he did survive without a father. Odysseus has iron determination. Odysseus perseverance that came after a near- death experience of chilling loneliness helped him return to Ithaka and reunite with his loved ones.

A Marketing Plan For The Company Apple

A Marketing Plan For The Company Apple Apple Inc has been very successful especially when it revolutionized its business and customer-focus by providing an operating system which was specifically designed with graphical user interface, even when it has been experiencing rigorous competition in both software and hardware marketing. Out of Apples major visions are its marketing strategies such as differentiation, unique design, own-store retailing, complete solution and brand loyalty that in turn have helped the company achieve sustainable competitive advantage and create its very own market with long-term profitability. Apple has been amazingly impacting the technology, society and the world at large and it continues to innovate to the date. Computer and digital music machines have long been presumed to be high-tech devices reserved for scientists, mathematician, intellectuals and professional musicians, but Apple, with its technology and innovation, has turned them into an essential tool of everyones daily lives. Framing of the Research Issue The main issue being discussed in this paper is the retail store marketing strategy adopted by Apple Inc and its impact on Apples overall business. This piece of research work is an attempt to explore and answer what is Apples retail-marketing and why Apple Inc has chosen this strategy? The paper will interpret the advantages of implementing the own store retailing strategy to Apple Inc and analyze how this has contributed to its business success. Apple Inc is one of the large multinational companies of today and its marketing strategies, that have helped it achieve this success, have gained increased popularity and attracted attention of academic and business experts. Companies use different strategies at different times. Some of them may turn to be highly useful while others may not be so. Due to a number of factors like globalization, fierce competition between firms, technological advances and changing consumer behaviour, business contexts have become increasingly complex (Grover and Kettinger 1995, p. 58 ) and companies therefore require adopting effective strategies to survive these challenges and complexities. Apples retailing strategy has been thus an effective ideology it used to survive competition and other marketing challenges. As Pearce and Robinson (2004, p. 6) stressed, strategic issues usually have multi-functional and multi-business consequences. Decisions regarding strategies like customer mix, competitive emphasis, organizational structure and customer focus necessarily involve a number of firms strategic business units, divisions and programs. These strategies will yield positive outcome when they are well structured and effectively managed. When it comes to Apple Inc, a number of marketing strategies it adopted has been found to be extremely beneficial to the companys success. This research paper relates to one of its strategies- own store retailing. Research Contexts, Scope and Limitations No area of marketing and economic development has perhaps been more popular than retailing. Retailing has long been a critical pillar of a strong economy (Findlay, Paddison and Dawson 1990, p. 21). Similarly, retailing has been found to be a powerful marketing element that contributes much to the economic and financial well-being of a company as well. Many large multinationals operate retail stores, may be as part of its Supply Chain strategy or to promote direct marketing of their goods or services to the customers, with an aim to seize enormous opportunities of retailing. Large scale retailers like Wal-Mart, Sainsbury, TESCO and others have been studied extensively to assess their effectiveness and find the secrets behind their success. Their marketing techniques and how their retailing helps them maintain long-term profitability have been studied by a number of researchers. But, the significance of retailing as a strategy being implemented by a particular large-scale company is seldom explored, except that some of the researchers have indentified retailing or own store retailing only as a strategy with no extensive research on its importance and contributions to the company. Rather than generally talking about the importance and benefits of retailing strategy adopted by Apple Inc, this paper aims to explore literatures regarding the same and articulate specific factors that explain why it is important to adopt retailing strategy to a company like Apple Inc and what are the major benefits of it. The researcher would like to learn different aspects of using retail marketing to a large-scale business, Apple Inc, and for this purpose, researcher would review and evaluate the literatures and examine how customers respond to this marketing facility, what consequences of such retail marketing can have on the reputation and customer satisfaction of the business. The researcher will review literatures to find relations between retail marketing of Apple Inc with a number of marketing variables like customer satisfaction, brand building, brand loyalty, customer relationship, value proposition etc. By reviewing the literature about Apples Retail-marketing, the researcher would establish the importance of using retail-marketing as a marketing strategy to enhance greater long-term profitability and gain sustainable competitive advantages. This research is merely about Apples retail-marketing and therefore the findings and conclusions of this research may not be directly applicable or closely comparable with other businesses or manufacturing firms. Statement of Research aims and objectives This research paper aims to illustrate the benefits of retail-marketing to Apple Inc and find out how retail-marketing has contributed to Apples unique success stories in recent years. The main objectives of the study are: To define and explain retail-marketing with relation to its implementation by Apple Inc. To study and interpret the literature review of the importance and benefits of using retail-marketing as a business strategy, To ascertain what literatures talk about Apples retail-marketing strategy and how this has helped the company achieve its organizational goals like gaining sustainable competitive advantages, To examine how retail-marketing is closely related with various other marketing variables like customer focus, customer satisfaction, better servicing, direct marketing, brand loyalty, brand equity and customer relationship marketing etc, To suggest some successful measures and techniques that can be used along with retail-marketing strategy in order to help the company achieve its business goals. To establish what results can bring a retail-marketing on the competitive advantages of a firm, from the case of how Apple has successfully used it. Structure of the dissertation The introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the structure of the research paper and an introduction in to the main issue being discussed in this paper- retail marketing of Apple Inc. The framing of the research issue, the scope and limitations of researching retail-marketing in relation to Apple inc, and statement of objectives of the research are detailed in the introduction. In order the research to be clearer, it is highly important to have an outlook into Apples business and its various marketing strategies. Second chapter will briefly examine Apples business overview, market-share, market strategies, competition rivalry and value propositions it delivers to its customers. The researcher considers various literatures to be reviewed in chapter 3 and discusses previous works and studies in retail marketing of Apple Inc. Chapter 4 provides an overview in to the theoretical framework and methodology that this research uses for studying retail marketing of Apple Inc. The findings and results of literature review will be discussed in chapter 5. The researcher will summarize and list out major findings, results, suggestions and recommendations, based on the research in the conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 APPLE INC: MARKET OVERVIEW In todays highly rigorous competitive market landscape, Apples hot selling of iPod, iPhone, 3G phone, and digital music players, directly or through its own-store retailing, promises to revolutionize the market opportunities of digital entertainments as well as to meet varying customer needs for advanced technology. Brand loyalty, unique hardware and software design, differentiation and own store retailing have been some of its strategies that helped the company gain greater competitive advantages. Porter (1998a, p. 29) emphasized that an effective marketing strategy take either an offensive or a defensive action in order to create a defendable position against major competitive forces. Apples marketing strategies, especially its retail-marketing and unique hardware design were more or less capable of establishing strong defense against major competitive forces like Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Microsoft etc. Walker (2003, p. 4) found that Apples management has guided the company to create a focal point for effective decision making which in turn has been extremely useful for the company in certain ambiguous and uncertain situations. Basically, a strong marketing vision, with support of certain effective strategies has helped Apple Inc maintain a very strong profitability and ever-increasing sales figures, as accounted to be $42,905 million in financial year ending of 2009 (Datamonitor 2010). Company Profile Apple Inc is a multinational company, headquartered in Cupertino, California, that is engaged in designing, developing and marketing of personal computers, severs, communication devices, network solutions, portable music digital players and relate accessories (Datamonitor 2010). It delivers its hardware and software products and services through its own-retail stores, online stores, sales force and third party sellers (Sander and Slatter 2009, p. 81). Apple Inc has always been prospering on innovation. It has ignited the personal computer revolution in early 1990s with the development of Apple-II, reinvented the personal computer within the next decade by the development of Macintosh and gained a very successful and deeply routed brand loyalty with its iMac by 1990s (Kerin, et al, 2005, p. 395). Finally, it identified vast opportunities for very new technologies that the market until then was less aware of them and developed new markets with iPod, Apple i-phone, and 3G i-Phone in very recent years. Apple Inc, through out its plants, offices and retail stores, employs 34,300 employees around the world and offers a wide range of products and services including iPods line of portable digital music and video players, iPhone handsets, iPad portable multimedia and computer machines and software like Mac OS, iLife, iTune, iWork, and internet applications such as Safari, Quick time etc (Datamonitor, 2010). The companys inexorable efforts on ease of use, utility, customer value, simplicity, efficiency and fun have helped Apple Inc make iPhone, 3G iPhone, and other products seem to be a very different species from that of the competitors. These newer products have recently turned to be more approachable and ultimately very desirable that many or almost all brands in the market (Newsweek, 2007). Apples major competitors are Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard company, IBM, Lenovo group limited, Microsoft Corp, Motorola Corp, Nokia Corp, Oracle Corp, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba (Datamonitor, 2010). Apple designed a number of marketing strategies to compete with these large companies and grab a better slice of the highly competitive market pie. Market-Share Analysis Latest reports show that Apples share in the worldwide PC market is constantly surging, as more and more customers have continuously been preferring Mac PCs even when there were rumors of iPad and iPhone that have grabbed news-headlines. According to Gartners report, Apple has become the fifth largest PC seller in the US market for the first three months quarter in 2010. Around 1.398 million Mac computers were shipped by Apple inc and thus it stands just behind HP, Dell, Acer and Toshiba (Tilmann, 2010). Apple sold 1.4 million Macs in the first quarter of 2010 which remains to be highly impressive and has been recorded to be a very healthy 34% year on year growth. With 8% market share, Apple stays to be fifth largest in worldwide PC market (Kahney, 2010). The company has recorded a total revenue of 42,905 million US Dollars during the financial year ended in September 2009, showing an increase of 14.4 % over 2008 figures. The increase in sales has been mainly due to the growth in sales of iPhones handsets and third party digital contents and other utilities, through its online as well as own-stores. iTune stores too played an important role in its increased revenues in 2009. The operating profit of the company during 2009 has been accounted as $11,740 million, showing an increase of 41% over the same of 2008. The net profit also has been recorded to be $8,235 million, with an increase of 34.6% over 2008 figures (Datamonitor, 2010). Gartners (2010) research reported that Apple is the third largest Smartphone marketer in the world just after Symbian and Research in motion. In worldwide cell-phone marketing, Apple holds 2.7 % market share, being the seventh largest worldwide cell-phone marketer. It is observed that Apples share in worldwide cell-phone market has been growing with a 112.2% increase in mobile device sales. iPhone OS release and Apples focus for the new communication service providers in UK markets increase its opportunities and to gain greater competency in its markets (Gartner, 2010). Chapter- 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Company-Owned retail marketing Large-scale companies implement a number of different marketing strategies like its-own retailing, franchising, merger and acquisition and so on. Company-owned retailing is not a new marketing strategy, but has first been used by IBM in early 1980s. Mohr, Sengupta and Slater (2009, p. 326) found that IBM opened its first product centre and own-store retailing for the personal computer in New York City in April 1982. By 1986, the number of IBMs own stores had grown to 84. Gateway expanded aggressively in to its own stores retailing during the PC industry boom, but it had to shut all 188 stores in 2004. Sony also launched its own-stores retailing in United States to showcase its products to the customers and expanded them in 1996, and reached 57 stores by June 2008 (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater 2009, p. 326). Manufacturers own retailing thus has long been considered to be a strategically powerful tool to enhance better marketing. Many of firms adopted own-store retailing has found success where as many other failed to continue retail-operation. Gateway and IBM failed and others like Apple Inc succeeded with this direct retail channel strategy. Companies found it successful were able to cut middlemen costs and middle men profits and thus to make its products quite cheaper to the customers, to establish closer relationship with customers, to deliver quality services directly to the customers and create brand loyalty to enhance long-term profitability. Marketing mix and Companys own retailing Company-owned retail marketing strategy is closely related to the place element of the Marketing-mix concepts. Out of the four Marketing-mix Ps, namely product, price, place and promotion, place or distribution is a very critical element that determines the extent of businesss success. The channels a marketer chooses for marketing its products always largely influences its marketing effectiveness. The above depiction illustrates how theoretically and strategically Apple designed its marketing-distribution strategy through its own-store retailing. As Hill, OSullivan and OSullivan (2003, p. 243) emphasized, distribution addresses the issue of how to establish an appropriate and more profitable relationship with the maximum number of relevant customers at the minimum cost to the organization. A well-designed and developed distribution strategy can lead to coverage of a wider audience, accessing more numbers of customers and enabling existing customers to have a more satisfactory expedience. When it comes to Apples case of retail-marketing, there are three factors to be highlighted, a) profitable relationship, b) with maximum number of potential customers and c) at the least costs being possible by eliminating all middle-men involvement. It thus not only attracts wider audience but also delivers all those that can increase satisfaction of the existing customers. For a manufacturer, choosing own-stores for retailing is generally justified on the ground that it eliminates middle-men costs, reduces risks of handling inventories, enables closer relationship with consumers and delivers maximum satisfaction to them. But, Raysman (2002, 4- 4) argued that the most effective form of retail distribution is likely to be through third party distributors who are well-established in the market place and have a strong distribution infrastructure, though it is possible for technology product producers to sell directly to their own retail outlets. He justified his argument that selling through third party established firms can help the producer relieve from significant logistical concerns, and third party distributor will give the producer easy access to markets which may otherwise have been time-consuming and helps reduce the producers overhead expenses (Raysman 2002, 4- 4). Apple has virtually been integrating different distribution channels. It not only used third parties for sale, but also online stores and its own retailing stores in order to grab the maximum potential opportunities from the existing market. Third part sellers helped Apple spread of its valuable information over regions and countries, its won store retailing helped it maintain closer relationship with customers and deliver direct services to them. Retail marketing / Own-store marketing strategy of Apple Inc Apple Inc used a number of different distribution channels including own store retailing or retail marketing, online store, sales force and third party sellers. Among these channels, retail marketing remains to be a very specific and unique marketing strategy that helped the company overcome difficulties associated with big-box sellers and their staffers who are ill-informed of Apples products. More over, this marketing strategy helped the company establish stronger relationship marketing in order to create customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Apple opened its first own-store retail-marketing in McLean, Virginia in 2001. By June 2008, with phenomenal records of greater success throughout its stores, Apple operated 215 retail stores in six countries, they are USA, Australia, UK, Japan, Canada and Italy. By 2008, these 215 stores were able to contribute nearly 20 % or more as growing of Apples total revenues (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater 2009, p. 326). Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz (2005, p. 395) found that Apple has been thriving on innovation from Apple- II to Macintosh, to Apples PCs and iMac, but its step forward to starting its own store retailing in 2001 was merely a better promise to revolutionize its market landscape. As Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz (2005, p. 395) noted, beginning with one or two stores in 2001, Apple Inc has been able to launch more than 25 stores per year. By 2004, about half of the US population were residing within 15 miles of an Apple store. These stores created an atmosphere where consumers were able to experience the thrill of owning and using Apples complete line of Macintosh computers, wide range of entertainment equipments and utilities like digital cameras, camcorders, and the entire iPod family devices. Apples retail-stores were selling its products and services exclusively, targeting tech-savvy customers within its store-products presentation and workshop. These stores facilitated displaying of a full lines of its products, software and accessories and Genius Bar staffed by an Apple specialist (Kotler and Keller 2006, p. 485). These stores were friendly places where all of its customers, especially Mac and PC users are freely allowed to play with and explore Apples technology-lines and get software or useful utilities (insidecrm.com, 2011). Rationale Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (2009, p. 339) found that Apples management has been dissatisfied with how third part distributors were selling the computers and others products of the company and this has been the main reason behind Apples thought of starting own-store retailing. Apple observed that some third party distributors buried Macintosh displays inside major retail stores, surrounded by PCs running the more popular Windows operating system by Microsoft. This brought their attention to hire a retail executive to develop a retail strategy. Mainly due to the disappointment regarding Apples resellers, the company announced that it would begin opening and operating its own Apple stores. Steve Jobs conveyed his major concern that most resellers had been unsuccessful in making the products of Apple stylish and more appealing at customers level (Gitman and McDaniel 2008, p. 345). Most of the literatures, apart from the two mentioned above, stressed that Apples thought to start retail marketing has been mainly driven by its findings that third party resellers didnt deal with its customers in a way Apple expected how it should be. The retail stores not only must be able to sell the products to the final customers, but also, these stores must be able to deliver quality services, valuable information and facilitate customers entertainment etc. Apples stores were designed by considering all such important factors. What was predicted about Apple-stores? When Apple Inc first opened its retail-store in May 19, 2001, there were rumors and many experts and media predicted the failure of its specialty stores. They argued that Apples users already knew where to buy Apples products and therefore Apples investment in establishing retail-stores would bring nothing more that higher fixed costs (Gitman and McDaniel 2008, p. 345). Such specialty stores might increase Apples expenses and its products will be more expensive to the customers, as Apple might like to cover its costs by increasing the prices and this ultimately cause less-appeal to the mass consumer. Knowing Apples attempt to launch of retail stores in 2001, Business Week wrote Sorry Steve, Here is Why Apple Stores Wont Work. The street.com opined Its desperation time in Cupertino, Calif. Well known retail-consultant David Goldstein predicted I give (Apple) two years before theyre turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake (Jerry, 2007). A number of business experts and media were looking Apples retail stores quite surprisingly as an attempt for no use. They found nothing more than just add costs to the company and to the customers. But, the story was surprising to them that its design, outlook, services offered in-store and amenities being provided to the customers were extremely appealing to them and it finally added greater share of its total revenue. Those who predicted failure of Apples store might have generalized what was known about CompuAdd, IBM, Gateway and Microsoft. Dvorak (2010) stated that the retail-marketing has been tried by a few computer companies before Apple tried it out and they all except Apple failed for obvious reasons. CompuAdd, once a head-on-head competitor with Dell and IBM, rolled out a number of stores which in turn bankrupted the company. IBM opened few stores, even before CompuAdds stores. IBM aimed at more professional market and therefore had to shutter them all at once. Gateway opened many stores called Country Stores, but stores themselves were boring and ominous and they too created almost same story. Microsofts stores opened in 1999 were not up to the mark due to that there were no buzz or energy in the place. Apples experience of unique success with Retail-marketing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak didnt realize that they were establishing one of the most multibillion-dollar PC industry of all times when they invented the Apple-I in a garage on April 1976 (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 247). The same story repeated for its retail-marketing as well. Apples retail-marketing, despite predictions of experts and media about it to be failure, has become one of its greater achievements to be unparalleled as a wise move. These stores achieved $1 billion revenues faster than any retail business in history, just taking three years to reach that success-point. Around 40 % of the people purchasing items from Apple stores are new customers (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 395). Gitman and McDaniel (2008, p. 345) found that Apple Inc, just three years after opening its retail stores, was attaining around one-seventh of its total revenues from its stores alone. More interestingly, customers attracted to these stores were not just current Mac or other Apples products users, but rather, half-of the Mac sold in these stores were to first time Mac buyers. Though Apples launch of a line of new retail stores in 2001 was met with major skepticism around the US, Apple has been able to turn its retail-stores to be one of the crowning achievements of the resurgence (OGrady 2008, p. 14) that many other large retailers failed to achieve. When Gateway announced closure of its line of retail-outlets in April 2004, Apple reached its retail-market growth by opening its 53rd store. OGrady (2008, p. 14) identified that this great success has been the result of effective strategic planning. Apple built a prototype store in one of its warehouse near the Apple campus to test the concept and possibilities and it arranged a combination of photos, videos, music and kids. By October 2007, it announced completion of 200 retail-stores throughout USA and other five countries. The Fifth Avenue location in New York was able to attract more than 50,000 customers per week. Apples store sales has become the top in the industry, with an average earning of $4032 per its square foot (OGrady 2008, p. 14). Twice (October, 2008, p. 28) reported that, TWICE was awarding Apples retail-stores the Award of Excellence in Retailing in the Best Vendor Retailer category in 2008. It opined that Apples retail stores, from just one in 2001 to reach 200 by 2008 is an excellent and rather a very unique success in retailing history itself. Twice (2008) found that Apple has been providing consumers a hands-on way to experience its products which are displayed in a variety of specific-categorized areas that encouraged customers to test and play with Apples products. These stores have also carried third-partys accessories and software titles that are compatible with Apple products. Twices (2008) observations about Apples stores designs, customer attraction, revenue-generating capacity and customer feedback have led it decide to give its award to Apples stores. As Twice (2008) observed, The Genius bar facilitated in Apples retail stores and moreover its sales growth of 40.5% in 2007 from the sales of 200 6 have been some other very significant factors that are highly impressive about Apples stores. Most amazingly, Apple stores have won Twices Excellence in Retailing Award four times from 2006 to 2010. Olenick (2010, p. 30) reported that Apple continued to pipe up TWICE retail awards as Apple took home the Best Vendor Retailer trophy, which was the fourth time it gained since 2006. As Olenick (2010) opined, Apple was able to take this award home due to its ongoing ability to operate unique destination stores and because of its merchandising excellence, store designs, customer service and retail innovation etc (p. 30). Apples retail-store design Apple always thrived on innovation. When it comes to its products, unique design created the brand Apple. When it comes to its retail-stores, design played pivotal roles in its success, even when many large-manufacturers own retail stores created failure-stories. For no doubt, Apples innovative store design has been one of the very powerful tool it strategically used to make its retail-stores winning. As Davis (2009a, p. 340) evaluated, Apple-owned retail stores have been designed and facilitated in a way that it has become a cultural phenomenon, with their bright lighting, clean layout, easy access to products and almost museum-like zeal for captivating its products-displays. Customers are automatically encouraged to play with its products and all of its stores have arranged an in-store Genius Bar which offers customers a place to ask questions and get answers for their doubts and troubleshoots. Jones, Comfort and Clarke-Hill (2009, p. 243) found that Apples stores, for instance one of its store opened in 2004 on Londons Regent Street, offer a variety of programs for customers. the 24,000 square feet store offers free basic getting started workshops, including showing customers how to set up a new Mac, connecting to the internet, sending e-mails, downloading or uploading photos and transferring music and television shows to an iPod etc. Apple stores have facilitated a Personal Shopping program which the company claims as new way to shop which is intended to give customers attention and allow them to take all the time they need to test drive the products they are interested in. As Danziger (2006, p. 12) noted, Apples retail-stores are clearly revolutionary in todays increasingly cluttered retailing environment and its very specific layout is the key to a unique shopping experience. the sparkling contemporary design showcases each computer and piece of peripheral devices, with minimum of products on displays. Customers are always welcome to get hands-on with computer machines, check their e-mail, use networking, and make test drive of the computer machines. This very different store design and layout is intended to guide the intellectual and emotional experience of the customers through the store (Danziger 2006, p. 12). Apple consistently listens to its network and customers at large. One of the very significant point in its store is Genius Bar, a tech-support station, which answers customers questions and deal with their troubleshooting and thus serves as Apples commitment to superior customer service. Superior customer service comes to life in the form of problem solving and helping build bigger loyalists out of Apples customer base (Davis, 2009b, p. 98). There are many strategic elements that the company planed carefully about the effectiveness of its retail store in any new location and carefully considered how each floor space can be converted in to long-term profitability. Floor (2006, p. 206) stressed that Apple opened its stores only when it expected them to be profitable within a short period of time itself. As Apple believed, using a computer is as simple as buying one would be. The store layout was so simple and logical and its design and fixtures are kept as simple as possible. Apples stores were white box with a lot of lighting, being equipped with materials like stone, metal, glass, transparent synthetic and beech-wood. Large pictures and glasses are used to differentiate departments within its stores. As the image above illustrates, Apple has designed its store in a way it can maximize net profit per square foot of the available space. Customers enter or exit the store from cashwrap area and all varieties of Mac and iPods are located in the

Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Classroom Essays

Educational Goals and Philosophy Webster’s dictionary defines philosophy as the study of the causes and relations of things and ideas or the serene wisdom that comes from calm contemplation of life and the universe. As I write this educational philosophy statement I will look at the relations or nature of students and knowledge, the purpose of public education, what methods I will incorporate in teaching, the curriculum in elementary school, and my professional development plans. When I am through I hope that there is some wisdom in what I have said. I feel that students or children are basically innocent and are shaped by their environment. Most children, I have found, want to feel good about themselves and want to be loved. Children who have not been shown love by a parent or someone close to them tend to act up. But if someone pays the slightest attention and lets them know that they care about child there can be a change in that child. I feel most children want to learn and they want to be taught is right. Knowledge or what is learned is relative to the person, place and time. Not everyone learns in the same ways. I feel everyone is capable of learning but how much and what he or she learns is relative to that person in a certain place and time. Students who acquire knowledge quicker than others deserve to be taught in such a way that they are not held back. But on the other hand that student that is slower in learning also deserves to be taught in a way to prevent them from being left out or left behind. Education is important in that it provides students with information and knowledge so they can function in the world. Education is knowledge that is passed from one person to another. Without it we would still be living in caves and trying to figure how to get from one place to another without having to walk. But as Rousseau ‘s philosophy was I want to be able to draw knowledge out of students. As a teacher I hope to be able to help my students discover the knowledge they will need and I hope to inspire them to always want to learn as much as they possible can. I hope to instill in them the thought that you are never too old to learn and you should learn something new everyday.

Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman :: essays research papers

The fraud in the story â€Å"Skinwalkers† was committed for the sole purpose of getting back at the American government. The reasoning behind the fraud was because a treaty that was signed at Fort Summer decades ago. This treaty promised things to the Indian people things, which were never delivered, such as one teacher for every thirty residents. Basically Dr. Yellowhorse was now making the government reimburse the hospital for the bills of people who had already been released and even for people who were already deceased. The reason this was done so easily was because there were no death certificates for the deceased and many people that were dead had no date of death along with there name. The cases where Dr. Yellowhorse easily covered up people that were still living because he worked in the hospital and had access to the financial data. This meant it was almost effortless for him to file faulty reports as often as possible. The only problem that Yellowhorse ran into was that some people were starting to catch on. Onesalt had caught on to the hospital fraud and was building a case against Dr. Yellowhorse and the hospital. This is also the reasoning for why Endocheeney, Wilson Sam and Roosevelt Bistie had all been killed and furthermore why an attempt had been made on Jim Chee’s life. Yellowhorse feared she would expose him so he had her murdered by making up a story that she just like the others was a skinwalker and they had put a curse on whomever did the particular killing (the mother). Before being shot Onesalt had spoken to officer Chee and Yellowhorse assumed that now he knew as well or would find out with time. Chee probably should have caught wind of what was going on long before the end of the book. He was the detective on the case and I even realized what was going on before he did. The hardest part of putting two and two together was finding a motive, which throughout most of the book there didn’t seem to be one. This was of course until Yellowhorse spilled his beans to Chee right before he was going to kill him. The government would have to take a much closer look at death records and even possibly monitor the Badwater Clinic more closely to avoid a reoccurrence of this sort. Basically the government needs to take a more hands on approach to dealing with these types of situations.

Financial forecasting & planning Essay

Financial forecasts are, quite simply, your forecast of how your business will perform financially over, say, the year ahead. Preparing forecasts will help you to assess your likely sales income, costs, external financing needs and profitability. Financial forecasts are essential if you need to raise money from a third party, such as a bank. But they also provide you with the means to monitor performance on, say, a monthly basis and thereby exercise effective financial control – arguably the second most important management function in running a business. Objectives The aim of this section is to help you to prepare financial forecasts. It will enable you to: †¢Understand costing and pricing; †¢Use break-even analysis as a way of setting sales targets; †¢Understand financial forecasting; †¢Assess working capital requirements. Assignment The purpose of these assignments is to ensure that you are able to prepare the necessary financial forecasts for your business. Satisfactory completion of the set of assignments will demonstrate that you know and understand how to: †¢Identify and calculate the financial outlines it will be necessary to prepare. †¢Calculate your own personal survival budget. †¢Determine the funding/materials requirements of starting in business. †¢Consider how you will take and keep effective financial control of the business. †¢Consider and plan to deal with alternative scenarios. 1. Personal budget How much money do you need for yourself. Think about food, clothes, holidays, personal travel, etc. Draw up a personal budget. Don’t skimp. You may be in business to have fun – but you need to make money as well. Use this budget in calculating your costs and prices. Of course you may not have enough sales at the start to be able to take that amount of money, so you should also calculate the minimum requirement that you must take from the business. 2. Costing and pricing Calculate all your costs and determine a suitable price for your product or service. Think about your raw material requirements as part of your direct costs; think about your likely overhead costs. 3. Break-even Now that you have calculated all your costs and set a price, you should be in a position to prepare a break-even chart. Is your forecast of sales above or below break-even? Do you have a reasonable margin of safety? How much profit will you make if you achieve your sales forecast? 4. Forecasting profit and loss You should have all the figures that you need to prepare a forecast of profit and loss. What is your anticipated gross profit margin? What is your operating profit? How much money will be retained in the business? 5. Cash flow forecasting You should have all the figures that you need to prepare a cash flow forecast. Remember to think about everything shown on the profit and loss account, expenditure items not shown on the profit and loss and, in particular, to think about timing or receipts and payments. You will also need to think carefully about your stock holding requirements and your capital expenditure. The first time you prepare the cash flow, ignore any investment or borrowing other than that required for capital equipment. The worst cumulative deficit will indicate the minimum level of working capital required. 6. Forecasting your balance sheet Once you have completed the profit and loss and cash flow forecasts, you  should be able to prepare a balance sheet forecast. What level of working capital requirement is suggested by the balance sheet? 7. Sensitivity analysis Have another look at your profit and loss and cash flow forecasts. What happens if sales are 15% less than you have forecast? Do you still make a profit? What happens if raw material prices go up by 25%? What does this do to your profitability? Can you pass on such increases to your customers or will they switch suppliers? 8. Effective financial control You should now be in a position to exercise control over your business. Will you use a simple manual book-keeping system or a computerised one? As a brief reminder, write down the key reasons for keeping effective financial control. What are the critical numbers at which to look to ensure you retain effective financial control? Break Even Analysis Break-even analysis identifies the point at which your business starts to make a profit. You can work out the break-even point using any timescale, e.g. weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. To calculate the break-even point you need to know the following: †¢The total fixed costs of your business – these include rent and rates, your drawings, loan repayments, etc; †¢The total variable costs for producing your product – these include labour, materials and packaging; and †¢The selling price of your product. Once you have these figures, you can work out your break-even point using four simple calculations and plotting the findings on a graph. Example: Ron from Widgets ‘R’ Us want to work out how many widgets he needs to sell in order to break-even every month. He works his fixed costs out as follows: †¢Rent –  £167 per month †¢Salary –  £834 per month †¢Rates –  £70 per month †¢Loan repayment –  £100 per month †¢Total –  £1,171 ( £1 = Rs.84) (Note: It is better to round figures up rather than down, as this will increase your safety margin.) This figure can be plotted as follows: Ron then works out his variable costs for the production of each widget: †¢Materials –  £9.00 †¢Packaging –  £1.00 †¢Labour –  £11.00 †¢Total cost –  £21.00 per widget ( £1 = Rs.84) He selects a value on the ‘number of widgets’ axis (in this case, 250) and does the following calculation: †¢250 widgets x  £21.00 per widget =  £5,250 Ron plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to zero. The next step is for Ron to work out his total costs. To do this, he adds his fixed costs to his variable costs:  £1,171 +  £5,250 =  £6,421 ( £1 = Rs.84) He plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to  £1,171 on the ‘Pounds’ axis. Ron now needs to work out his revenue line. To do this, he simply multiplies his products’ selling price by the example number of widgets he chose earlier (250):  £32.50 x 250 =  £8,125 ( £1 = Rs.84) He then plots this figure on the graph and draws a straight line from it to zero. Ron can now find his break-even point simply by locating the exact point where the revenue line disects the total costs line. In this case, Ron must sell 100 widgets each month if his business is to break-even. If he sells more than 100, he makes a profit; if he sells less he makes a loss. Costing And Pricing Costs Although accountants define costs in several different ways, there are, effectively, just two types of cost. The first cost is that which is directly attributable to the product or service. Direct costs include, for example, raw materials and sub-contract work. If you make desks, for example, the cost of wood will be a direct cost. Within reason, the cost will be the same for each desk, no matter how many desks you make. When you make a sale the income first has to cover the direct costs relating to that sale. Whatever is left is called gross profit or contribution. All other costs are overheads. These include, for example, staff salaries, marketing, rent, rates and insurance. They also include depreciation; that is, an allowance for wear and tear on capital equipment. Overheads are often called fixed costs because, generally, they are fixed for the business. Interest is often regarded as a deduction from net profit rather than an overhead cost. You need to include it as an overhead in your costing calculations, even though it varies with the size of your overdraft or loan. If you are self-employed, you will take drawings from the business. Whilst, strictly speaking, drawings are an advance against profit, include them (and an allowance for income tax) as an overhead when calculating total costs. The contribution is so-called because it contributes towards covering the overhead costs. Each sale generates a contribution. When enough contributions have been made, and all the overhead costs are covered, they start to contribute to net profit. Price The price at which you sell your product or service clearly needs to exceed the total costs of providing it. But the price should also reflect what the market can stand. If you are selling a differentiated product or have  adopted a strategy of market focus then you may also be able to charge a premium price. If you are pursuing a cost leadership strategy you will need to be ruthless in keeping your costs down and under control. In calculating your price you will need to follow a number of steps: †¢Estimate your likely sales for a period, say, one year; †¢Calculate the total direct costs and divide by the sales volume to give direct costs per unit (say per product or per hour of service); †¢Calculate your total overhead costs and divide by the sales volume to give overhead costs per unit; †¢Add direct costs per unit and overhead costs per unit to give total cost per unit; and, †¢Add a further profit margin (to allow for reinvestment, etc). If necessary, add VAT as well. You now have a first stab price. How does that compare with your competitors? Will customers buy at that price? Do you need to reduce costs? Can you achieve a higher profit margin? What happens if you fail to achieve sales at the determined price? Remember that the overhead costs are fixed, so if sales fall the overheads will be spread over fewer items and the unit cost effectively increases. The converse is also true. Increasing the volume of sales means that the overheads are spread over more units, so the unit cost falls. This means that you can, if you choose, reduce the price. And reducing the price might increase your level of sales. It’s a fine balancing act. Depreciation Depreciation is an allowance for wear and tear on the equipment used in your business. As time passes, your equipment will usually lose value, and this can be considered a cost to your business. You need to think about how long you expect your assets to last. For example, if you purchase a computer system, you may forecast that in 5 years it will be obsolete. That means the depreciation rate is 20% per year. If you determine it to be 2 years, then it will be 50% per year. This does not have any effect on cash flow, just on how profits are calculated. Deprecation is an accounting cost that must be included to give a Profit & Loss account more relevance. Finance Action Planner (FAP) The Finance Action Planner (FAP) is a learning tool that will help you to: †¢Develop your all-round financial skills †¢Learn more about a range of financial issues †¢Identify suitable sources of finance †¢Create a set of financial forecasts †¢Test out different financial scenarios Financial forecasts Once you have an idea of your likely costs and an idea of how much you need to sell to make a profit you are in a position to prepare financial forecasts. There are three basic financial statements (the profit and loss account (P&L); the cash flow statement; and the balance sheet) that describe the activities and financial state of any business. These can be prepared on a historical basis – to show how a business performed during a defined period – or as forecasts – as estimates of how the business will perform in the future. 3 steps to forecasting 1. Businesses often start by forecasting their cash flow and then aim to derive other forecasts from it. It makes more sense, however, to start by forecasting the income and expenditure of the business, which will indicate whether you will make a profit, then worry about when money will be received or paid out – to discover if you will have enough cash when it is needed. Income and expenditure is summarised in a profit and loss account. 2. You will also need to look at your likely sales for, say, the year ahead. This needs to relate back to your market research and, if you are already in business, to previous performance. The direct costs can then be estimated (usually as a percentage of sales) to give gross profit. 3. The next step is to estimate the likely overheads. Deducting these gives an operating profit forecast. If the net profit is too low you will either need to assess whether you can achieve higher sales or whether you can reduce the overheads. When preparing your forecasts, remember to allow for increased costs, for instance, due to inflation or future pay awards. If you do need a loan, then you will also need to allow an amount for loan interest. If you use equipment, remember to allow for depreciation. Whilst depreciation is  not included in the P&L, you may need to allow for the replacement or repairs of machinery, so you may wish to include a contingency. The P&L forecast will show whether you are likely to achieve your first key financial requirement: making a profit. Preparing cash flow forecasts In preparing your forecasts, you will need to think carefully about all your costs, about your price and likely sales at that price and about the timing of both receipts and payments. As mentioned above, the first forecast that you set out should ideally be a P&L, summarizing income and expenditure for, say, the year ahead. You might do this monthly or annually. The P&L is important for demonstrating profitability; over the very short term, however, the key requirement is to generate cash and know the business’s working capital requirements. This can best be done by preparing cash flow forecast which should set out all the information, month by month, regarding cash inflows and outflows. The cash flow forecast should include: †¢Receipts of cash from customers; †¢Payments for raw materials; †¢Payments for all other expenses; †¢Drawings and wages; †¢Capital expenditure; †¢Capital, loans or grants introduced; †¢Loan repayments; †¢VAT receipts and payments (if VAT registered); and, †¢Tax payments. All of these items should normally be shown separately and in the month into which the money will be received, or paid by, your business. For businesses with a modest turnover and that demonstrate profitability in the year, it is normal only to forecast one year ahead, with a monthly cash flow. Larger businesses, especially those seeking equity investments and/or which do not show profitability in the year, may need to prepare forecasts  for two or three years. The first year cash flow is usually shown monthly, the second year quarterly and the third year just a single annual figure. It is often helpful when preparing cash flow forecasts initially to ignore any finance that is available from the bank or other lenders. The cash flow forecast then shows the true position of the business. It can then be used to decide if the budget is viable and can be adjusted to reflect the true position and to assess the total funding requirement. If you do not have sufficient money of your own, then you will need to seek loan finance or an equity investor. Most small businesses simply look for loan finance. Aim to match the term of the loan to the life of the asset for which it is required. It would be normal to look for a short-term loan, for example, to purchase equipment, or a long-term loan to purchase premises. You will also need to buy stock and pay overheads whilst awaiting payment from your customers. The money required is called working capital and is typically funded by an overdraft. When preparing your cash flow forecast, you may like initially only to include personal investment or loan finance for fixed assets and to ignore funds for working capital. The worst cumulative deficit will then give an indication of your total working capital requirement. Of course, the amount that you need to borrow can be reduced if you have more available to invest yourself. If you have a term loan, the capital repayments will not figure in your profit and loss account – they are not a business expense – although the interest portion of the repayments will be charged as an expense. However, the repayments do need to be included in your cash flow forecast. Balance sheet The money in a business can only come from three sources: capital introduced by the owner(s); loans (whether from the bank or, effectively, from creditors); and, retained earnings; that is, profit which has been generated by, and retained within, the business. That money is used to finance the fixed and current assets of the business. Current liabilities include: †¢Creditors †¢Overdrafts †¢Loans due within one year †¢Money owed under hire purchase agreements †¢Any amounts owed in VAT or tax, etc. In larger businesses, loans falling due in more than one year are usually shown separately. You will, however, have a better idea of your business’s performance if you show all loans as current liabilities. Current assets less current liabilities show your working capital requirement. Since the balance sheet is merely a snapshot, however, it may be better to deduce your working capital requirement from the cash flow forecast. The net assets are always equal to the capital introduced plus reserves; that is, the net finance, sometimes known as net worth or the equity of the business. The net finance, together with any long-term loans, is called the capital employed. All borrowing should be included when calculating capital employed. Pricing strategies The greatest danger when setting a price for the first time is to pitch it too low. Raising a price is always more difficult than lowering one, yet there are great temptations to undercut the competition. It is clearly important to compare your prices to your competitors’, but it is essential that your price covers all your costs. There are a number of possible pricing strategies from which you might choose. These include: 1. Cost based pricing – total costs are calculated and a mark up is added to give the required profit. 2. Skimming – you charge a relatively high price to recover set up costs quickly if the product is good or new. As more competitors enter the market, you lower the price. 3. Individual – you negotiate prices individually with customers based on how much they are prepared to buy. 4. Loss leaders – if you wish to sell to a particular market then you might sell one product or service cheaper to gain market entry. You balance this by selling other products or services at a higher price. This can be risky as the danger is that everything becomes a loss leader. 5. Expected price – what does the customer expect to pay? If you are selling a quality product, do not under price. Often the customer expects to pay a lot as the product or service has a certain ‘snob’ value and this may be diminished if you under price. 6. Differential pricing – you charge different segments of your market different prices for the same service. For example, offering discounts to certain people like pensioners or the unemployed, or charging lower rates for quiet periods. If, after working out your costs, the price you charge is much greater than your competitors’ then you will have to look at ways of reducing costs. Sensitivity analysis It is important to know how sensitive your forecast is to changes. Sensitivity analysis looks at ‘what if?’ scenarios. What happens to your cash position, for example, if sales fall by 10%? What happens if your main supplier increases raw material prices by 12%? Financial institutions when considering propositions for a loan particularly use sensitivity analysis. If your business is particularly susceptible to small changes, then you probably do not have a sufficiently large profit margin. You will thus be less likely to receive the loan required. You may find it difficult to cut costs. You may not be able simply to increase prices to improve your margins – that might deter customers. Are there other ways in which you can push up the margins, e.g. by increasing output? Having undertaken your sensitivity analysis, you may need to review elements of your forecast. Sensitivity analysis can help in making decisions. You may want to consider, for example, the effect of increased raw material, labour or overhead costs; of reducing prices, with constant volumes, to counteract competitors; or reducing volumes, with constant prices, due to over optimistic forecasts. Furthermore, if you are about to spend a large sum of money on equipment, you may want to look ahead several years, if at all possible. Including a sensitivity analysis in your business plan will demonstrate that  you have thought about some of the potential risks – and that is half way to avoiding them. VAT (Value Added Tax) VAT is tax paid on the value added at each stage of delivery of a product or service. It is a method whereby businesses act as tax collectors for the Government. If you are registered for VAT, by submitting a VAT return you can claim back what you have paid in VAT, and hand over what you have collected. Not all goods are taxable – for example, insurance, some education and training, and postal services are exempt. If items are VAT-able, then, ignoring VAT on fuel, there are two rates – standard (currently 17.5%), and zero-rated. Zero rated items are different from exempt items. It is only necessary to register if your output is taxable. If you do register, you will be able to recover VAT on your purchases including materials, capital equipment and overheads. You will, however, have to charge VAT on your sales. The difference between what you collect and what you pay out in VAT is passed on in due course to Customs & Excise. There is more paperwork involved if you are VAT registered – you need tax invoices showing your VAT number, an analyzed VAT account, and VAT return forms. It may, however, be advantageous to register voluntarily if your sales are below the turnover limit, because VAT paid on purchases can be reclaimed. You may also reclaim VAT on capital equipment, raw materials and stocks bought before registration, provided the business still owns them. If you are selling to VAT registered businesses, it is likely to be more attractive for you to register. If you are selling to the general public, it probably will not be. This is, however, an area where you should seek professional advice. CASE STUDY Brian’s Book-keeping Business Brian runs a book-keeping service for several small businesses. His overheads are as follows: Costs £ Per year ( £1 = Rs.84) Office costs5,000 Advertising 1,100 Insurance550 Telephone650 Vehicle running costs900 Other3,000 Brian works 40 hours per week. He spends 8 hours per week on administration, marketing, etc. He works 45 weeks each year allowing for holidays and illness. Brian draws  £200 out of the business each week. Brian has been asked to undertake a specific task and estimates he will need to spend 12 hours on it. What is the cost of providing the service? How much should he charge? Solution: What is the cost of providing the service? 1. Total hours worked per annum = 32 hours per week x 45 = 1,440 hours 2. Total drawings = 200 x 52 =  £10,400 3. Total fixed costs =  £11,200 4. Total costs =  £21,600 5. Costs per hour = 21,600/1,440 =  £15 6. For a job lasting 12 hours, the cost is  £ 180 ( £1 = Rs.84) How much should he charge? Brian has decided that he should also add a further 20% profit margin in case his costs go up and to make a little extra for reinvestment. 180 + 20% = 216 He is also registered for VAT and needs, therefore, to add VAT at the standard rate (17.5%) 216 + 17.5% =  £253.80 So the price he charges to his customer is  £ 253.80 Useful tips: 1. Some readers of your business plan will regard the financial forecasts as the most important component. It is where you summarise the expected income, dependent on your market research, and where you set out your expected costs. 2. The forecasts need to demonstrate that the business is viable and that there is a sufficient margin of comfort to allow for fall in demand or increase in costs. 3. Take care to prepare your financial forecasts as accurately as you can. Then compare your actual results with your forecasts and, if necessary, take corrective action at an early stage to keep yourself on course.

Christmas Time

Christmas Time Everyone knows that there’s no better feeling than the night before Christmas, as you gather around at Grandma’s house and exchange gifts with the family. The warm smell of a freshly baked batch of sugar cookies flowing through your nose, and the excitement inside as you stare at your gift trying to guess what’s inside. I can hear the sharp ripping of wrapping paper as all the children around me rush through the paper to find what they have received and the laughter of the adults around as the child forms a giant grin of their face after seeing what they’ve gotten.I can feel the heat coming from the fire place as the fire crackles and sparks. After everyone finishes opening their gifts and visiting with family, we all go our separate ways on our way home to get to bed. I can feel the excitement rushing through me as I hug everyone goodbye and hear the words â€Å"Merry Christmas† in my ear. On the drive home I observe the bright color ful Christmas lights draped over every house we pass, and the creative snowmen and snow angels made by small children. The sound of cheerful Christmas songs playing on the radio while we all sing along travels through my ears.When I get home I hurry up and put my pajamas on so I can help my mom frost and decorate the cookies before heading to bed. The taste of the leftover frosting melts on my tongue when I lick it off of my fingers. I can hear the sprinkle of the various colors of sprinkles hit the counter as I sprinkle them on the cookie. When finishing the cookies, the warm feeling inside grows rapidly and I take the next step towards Christmas morning, pouring the glass of milk and leaving a few cookies out on the counter on a plate for ‘Santa’.I take a leap into my bed and pull the covers up to my neck as the excitement is hard to bare. The next morning I wake up bright and early and jump out of bed running to every room waking up the family to open the gifts. I qu ickly run into the living room, and take a glance at the tree to see a large amount of presents of all different sizes under it. My parents drag themselves out of bed, grab the video camera and take a seat on the couch. My sister and I rush through the presents, screaming and laughing at what we find inside.As you sit next to the tree and take a better look at everything you’ve opened, you catch a quick whiff of the pine. You look up and stare at the tree, its lights, and the many ornaments of all shapes and sizes. I give hugs and kisses to my parents and thank them for everything they’ve bought me this Christmas. I take a look out the window and see the big white fluffy snowflakes falling and I get one last spark of excitement as I think about how Christmas really is the happiest time of the year.

Corporate Social Responsiblity and Wal-Mart

Corporate Social Responsibility and Wal-Mart Corporations deal with a wide variety of social issues and problems; some directly related to their operations, some are not. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as â€Å"the actions of an organization that are targeted toward achieving a social benefit over and above maximizing profits for its shareholders and meeting all its legal obligations† (Ghillyer 78). If this is the case, establishing appropriate and practical ethical guidelines in the workplace seems to be a reasonable request as a basis for corporate operations. Wal-Mart should be an example in determining what constitutes the values associated with its fundamental purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility. The four components of CSR are financial, legal, ethical, and philanthropic (Barnett). These areas of CSR ought to exist within every company’s infrastructure; however, the organization’s primary focus is usually on performance and profit not on social conscientiousness. Financial being the first component of CSR is often the major factor in a company’s consideration of ethical standards. The main goal of any business is to keep its costs low and to earn a profit. Financial responsibilities in regards to CSR means that society expects that a corporation will produce needed goods and services that are desired by customers and sell those goods and services at a reasonable price while still earning a profit. The organization strives to be efficient and profitable along with keeping the best interest of the shareholders in mind (Barnett). Financially, the Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar industry with close to two million employees worldwide. On the positive side, Wal-Mart’s motto is â€Å"Always low prices. Always! They uphold this motto by providing low prices to consumers with a high return on investment to satisfy stockholders. On the negative side, with jobs currently being scarce, Wal-Mart seems to manage keeping costs low by demanding high productivity from their associates (employees) with seemingly low compensation. In addition, most associates cannot afford to be covered by health insurance. The consequence of this treatment of personnel is a high employee turnover rate, which seems to question management’s view that the organization is a family (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). The second component of CSR, which is representative of the legal standards and obligations, refers to the expectation that a corporation will follow the rules set down by society. This means the organization is to comply with government laws used to protect employees’, stakeholders, customers, suppliers, the community, and other competition in the marketplace. An individual business could have thousands of legal responsibilities governing almost every aspect of their operations, including consumer and product laws, environmental laws, and employment laws (Barnett). The legal challenges that face Wal-Mart are numerous. Before Wal-Mart decides to build a new store, it researches and visits specific site locations in conjunction with considering the neighborhood. It does so discretely as not attract attention attempting to protect against opposition to the development of a new store. Defenders of Wal-Mart propose the overall advantages to the community, which includes economic benefits and consumer choice. Opponents to a new Wal-Mart have concerns over traffic congestion, public safety, and competition to small business. Often there can be protests from labor unions, environmental groups, and other wary citizens (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Ethics is the third component of Corporate Social Responsibility. The ethical responsibilities concern societal expectations that go beyond the law, such as the expectation that organizations will conduct their affairs in a fair and just way. This means that organization are expected to do more than just comply with the law, they are to do what is considered right by society’s standards. Organizations should make proactive efforts to anticipate and meet the norms of society even if the law does not formally enact those norms. Ethics are a necessary and critical ingredient in any business that wants to be successful (Barnett). Wal-Mart seems to address the fact that there should be a code of ethics. The application of corporate ethical behavior needs to be dealt with on a personal and professional level. The key for Wal-Mart is to help their associates indentify if their actions are right or wrong. They rely on a system of training and business practices started by its founder, Sam Walton (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Lastly, one of the most overlooked areas of CSR is the fourth component of philanthropic and discretionary responsibilities. In other words, this means society expects that corporations be good citizens that they will show concern for humanity. It may involve such things as performing charitable actions, supporting programs that benefit a community or nation, and donating expertise time and/or services to worthy causes (Barnett). In this area, the future of Wal-Mart looks promising if it is willing to recognize their duty to society. With its tremendous size, the organization is faced with being an example to other corporations. It is trying to make efforts such as supporting the environment, but they have just begun to scrap the surface. It will require balance between profit and social responsibility (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Works Cited Barnett, Tim. â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility. † 2010. Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed. Web. 27 Dec. 2010. . Ghillyer, Andrew W. Business Ethics: A Real World Approach, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2010. Print. â€Å"The NEW Age Of Walmart. † CNBC Originals. 23 Sept. 2009. Video. 27 Dec. 2010. .