Major factors in the social environment Essay

1.Identify and explain the Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. Provide several examples of each ‘layer’ of the pyramid. Identify and discuss some of the tensions among the layers or components. PELE 2. In your review, what is the single strongest argument against the idea of corporate social responsibility? What is the single strongest argument for corporate social responsibility? Briefly explain 3. Differentiate between corporate social responsibility and corporate social responsiveness. Give an example of each. How does corporate social performance relate to these terms? Where does corporate citizenship fit in? 4. Analyse how the triple bottom-line and the Pyramid of CSR are similar and different. Draw a schematic that shows how the two concepts relate to one another. Chapter 3 & 4 1. Explain the concepts of stake and stakeholder from your perspective as an individual. What kinds of stakes and stakeholders do you have? Discuss. 2. Explain in your own words the differences between the production, managerial and stakeholder views of the firm. 3. Differentiate between primary and secondary social and nonsocial stakeholders in a business situation. Give examples of each. 4. How is effective stakeholder management related to sustainability and sustainable development on the part of the companies? 5. How can a firm transition from Level 1 to Level 3 of stakeholder management capability (SMC)? Is the stakeholder corporation a realistic model for business firms? Will stakeholder corporations become more prevalent in the 21st century? Why or why not? 6. Explain the evolution of corporate governance. What problems developed? What are the current trends? 7. What are the major criticisms of boards of directors? Which single criticism do you find to be the most important? Why? 8. Explain how governance failures such as Enron could happen. How might they be avoided? 9. Outline the major suggestions that have been set forth for improving corporate governance. In your opinion, which suggestions are the most important? Why? 10. In what ways have companies taken the initiative in becoming more responsive to owners/stakeholders? Where would you like to see more improvement? Discuss. Chapter 5 1. Explain the relationship between corporate public policy and strategic management. 2. Which of the four strategy levels is most concerned with social, ethical, or public issues? Discuss the characteristics of this level. 3. Identify the steps involved in the strategic management process. 4. What is the difference between a social audit and a social performance report? Why are social performance reports increasing in popularity? 5. What is the difference between public relations and public affairs? Why has there been confusion regarding these two concepts? 6. Why do you think global public affairs is a major growth area? Give specific reasons for your answer. 7. Differentiate between a collaborative or problem-solving strategy and an individualistic or adversarial strategy. Which seems to be more effective in corporate public affairs? 8. What are the major ways in which public affairs might be incorporated into every manager’s job? Rank them in terms of what you think their impact might be. Chapter 6 1. Which of the major stages in the issues management process do you think is the most important? Why? 2. Following the approach indicated in Figure 6-1, identify a new issue category not listed in Figure 6-1. Identify several examples of â€Å"crises† that have occurred in recent years under each issue category. 3. Identify one example, other than those listed in Figure 6-4, of each of the leading force categories: events, authorities/advocates, literature, organizations, and political jurisdictions. 4. Identify a crisis that has occurred in your life or in the life of someone you know, and briefly explain it in terms of the four crisis stages: prodromal, acute, chronic, and resolution. 5. Do research on the impacts on business organizations of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the scandals of the early to mid-2000s. What have been successful and unsuccessful examples of crisis management that have come out of this research? Is terrorism a likely crisis for which business may prepare? How does preparation for terrorism (which comes from without) compare with preparation for ethical scandals (which come from within)? Chapter 7 1. Give a definition of ethical business behavior, explain the components involved in making ethical decisions, and give an example from your personal experience of the difficulties involved in making these determinations. 2. To demonstrate that you understand the three models of management ethics-moral, immoral, and amoral-give an example, from your personal experience, of each type. Do you agree that amorality is a serious problem? Explain. 3. Give examples, from your personal experience, of Kohlberg’s Levels 1, 2, and 3.If you do not think Chapter 7 Business Ethics Fundamentals 221 you have ever gotten to Level 3, give an example of what it might be like. 4. Compare your motivations to behave ethically with those listed in Figure 7-14. Do the reasons given in that figure agree with your personal assessment? Discuss the similarities and differences between Figure 7-14 and your personal assessment. 5. From your personal experience, give an example of a situation you have faced that would require one of the six elements of moral judgment. Chapter 15 1. What is sustainability? 2. What are several of the most important environmental issues now receiving worldwide attention? 3. What are some of the causes of environmental pollution and depletion? 4. What is the future outlook for the natural environment? 5. Who has responsibility for addressing environmental issues? 6. How can ethics be applied in response to environmental issues? 7. What are some examples of sustainable business and decision models for addressing environ_ mental concerns? 8. Should businesses and societies continue to focus on unlimited economic growth? Chapter 16 1. Outline the essential steps involved in developing a community action program.

Introductory to Organisational Behaviour Principles

Essay Title:Introductory to organisational behaviour principles Books, journals and articles on organisational behaviour (OB) can be found anywhere nowadays. Experts and professionals in this area have done a lot of research, coming up with theories, models, concepts, explanations and views on how a person will behave in an organisation. This paper argues that there are other resources to help us understand OB better. This paper will firstly define what OB is and discuss the similarities and differences found from other resources to our main textbook, ‘Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim’ written by Steven Mcshane and Tony Travaglione. It will then analyse the relevance and usefulness of information to people working in organisations and students of OB. So what does OB actually mean? Robbins and Judge (2007, P. ) defined that ‘OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organisations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organisation’s effectiveness. ’ While, Nahavandi and Malekzadeh (1999, P. 3) points out that ‘OB is the study of how people behave in organisations as individuals, teams and how the organisations structure human resources to achieve goals. ’ Comparing these two long definitions on OB, I would rather go along with the statement by Mcshane and Travaglione (2007, P. ), where it says that OB is the study of what people think, feel and do in and around organisations. It’s so much easier to grasp and understand the gist of OB especially to students like me. What all these experts are trying to say is actually the same and what they had done is only putting their own thoughts into words. This signifies that we humans have a lot of views on one issue, it can be either the same or different, there’s no right or wrong either, it’s just a matter of how we perceive things. Thus we need to look into other resources to tap into other peoples’ views and concepts to learn more about OB. So why do we study OB? As Mcshane and Travaglione (2007) had put it, we need to understand, predict and influence the behaviour of people, by doing so it will benefit the individual and the organisation. However, Tosi, Mero and Rizzo have a slightly different kind of say, they say that we study OB to understand, predict and improve the performance of people and ultimately to the organisation which they work (2000, P. 2). The latter statement seems to be more appropriate. Organisations are always trying to improve their employee’s performance, communication and decisions making ability by sending their employees for courses like team building. Mcshane and Travaglione (2007) have clearly identified and explained the five anchors on which OB is based on, which are the multidisciplinary anchor, systematic research anchor, contingency anchor, multiple levels of analysis anchor and lastly the open systems anchor. It appears that this is the only book that includes all five anchors in one book. These clearly explained concepts would help students to understand OB with ease and clarity than any other resources researched. With regards to the multidisciplinary anchor, Robbins and Judge (2007) only talks about the contributions to OB field from four behavioural disciplines which are psychology, social psychology, sociology and anthropology. Mcshane and Travaglione talks more than that, they even listed and discussed how emerging disciplines like communications and marketing contribute to the study of OB. Mcshane and Travaglione (2007) say that scholars have been depending on systematic research to form research questions, and apply test hypotheses against collected data. Mcshane and Travaglione also suggest that researchers are adopting grounded theory to understand the working environment. It’s a qualitative method whereby concepts and theories are formed by data collections like observations and interviews. For example, the Department for transport in the United Kingdom did a project to find out what factors affect the choice of transport of their citizens (Department for transport 2003). Maybe the Land Transport Authority in Singapore can refer to this article and find out the reason for the increasing number of people owning cars in Singapore. Mcshane and Travaglione (2007, P. 17) state that ‘no single solution is best in all circumstances. ’ What works in one situation may not be successful in a different situation (12Manage, 2008). This is a view shared by Nahavandi and Malekzadeh (1999) where they say for each situation a different kind of respond is required. An example can be money; money can be a motivator for some people but may not be that effective on others, it all depends on the person’s financial needs and status (Vries 2007). Therefore, OB experts and managers in organisations learn to understand factors of different situations in order to respond more appropriately and effectively (Nahavandi and Malekzadeh (1999). Similarly to our main text, Robbins and Judge (2007) states that there are three levels of analysis on OB, the micro which studies the individual, middle level which covers the small group and the macro level which looks into organisations. However, the latter book had included a model for visualisation, creating an image of importance on this classification will help students to understand topics area of concern later in the book. Now let’s look at the last anchor, the open system anchor. Similarly to our main text, Thomas (2005) points out that organisations are open systems that will receive input of information and resources from the environment and in turn transform them into goods or service before returning them back into the environment. Organisations are always restructuring and strategising to survive in the corporate world (Taplin 2005). This information will definitely be useful to top managements of organisations. They can apply this knowledge to strengthen their market share and strengthen their company image. This paper has argued that in order to understand OB principles more, a lot of reading and research had to be done. We have looked at what OB exactly is and due to the ever changing environment, peoples view and perceptions change, so we need to understand, predict and influence the changing needs of people. By using the five anchors we will be able to do that. Even though some information researched is the same, it still increases my knowledge on OB through the constant readings, some information may be irrelevant, but it is still useful even if only one percent of new knowledge is gained. Total word count (1060) References Cummings, TG 2005, ‘open systems’, Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior, viewed 2 August 2008, < http://web. ebscohost. com. libproxy. sim. edu. sg/ehost/detail? id=4&hid=120&sid=add89e44-3e79-4bf6-ac4d-7c90f405c030%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=lmh&AN=20986772> Department for Transport 2003, ‘Psychological Factors Affecting Transport Mode Choice’, viewed 2 August 2008, . Mcshane, S. & Travaglione, T. 2007, ‘Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim’, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd, NSW. Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A. R. 1999, ‘Organizational Behavior, The person-or ganization fit’, Prentice –Hall Inc, New Jersey. Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. 2007, ‘Organizational Behavior’, 12th edn, Pearson education Inc, USA. Taplin, I. M. 2005, ‘Strategic change and organisational restructuring: How managers negotiate change initiatives’, Journal of international management, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 284-301, viewed 4 August 2008, Science Direct. Tosi, H. L. , Mero, N. P. & Rizzo, J. R. 2000, ‘Managing Organizational Behavior’, 4th edn, Blackwell Publishers Inc, USA. Vries, M. K. D. 2007, ‘Money, Money, Money’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 231–243, viewed 29 July 2008, Science Direct. 12 Manage 2008, ‘Contingency Theory’, Bilthoven, viewed 2 August 2008,

Auditing - Assurance - and Compliance Services

The present study sheds light on the relevant accounting theory and the auditing and assurance services. This particular study is based on a case study that illustrates the operations of the BSF Ltd., an Australian bioresearch organization that is listed in the Australian stock exchange. This particular organization carries out research for the purpose of utilization of the bacteria for the manufacture of fish. However, the corporation BSF Ltd also undertakes diverse research operations that orients around bioresearch for discovery of the sustainable aqua cultural feeds. The study also reflects the challenges faced by the research organization that encompasses the failure of research on the plant-based feed that could solve the concerns of the fish based feed along with the cost borne by the organization due to the unsuccessful projects. The unsuccessful research also drew criticisms from the environmentalists and faced the allegation of diversion of the high worth food crops into lu xurious fish. This led to the new research on the bacteria based research for the generation of the feeds that ultimately met with success. The current study therefore deals with the steps that need to be taken into consideration before the auditing and application of the same into the operations of the BSF Ltd. Thereafter, the present report deals with the evaluation of the risk of the audit, process of application of different functions. Furthermore, the current study discusses the entire audit program for the company and discusses the accounting treatment of the research as well as development transactions. Besides this, the present study also discusses the accounting treatment of the government grant received by the corporation from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Federal Government of Australia). Consequently, the study deals with the evaluation of the research as being socially as well as environmentally friendly. Finally, the present assignment carries out analysis of the reasonableness of the assertion regarding the patent value as the exclusive control over the advanced technolo gy used by the research organization. The audit process necessarily needs to adhere to the auditing standards stipulated under the section 336 of the Corporations Act 2001. The process of conduction of the auditing needs to comply to the auditing standards namely, the â€Å"ASA 100 (Preamble to AUASB Standards)†, â€Å"ASA 101 (Preamble To Australian Auditing Standards)†, â€Å"ASA 102 (Compliance with Ethical Requirements when Performing Audits, Reviews and Other Assurance Engagements)† among many others (Christensen et al., 2012). The process of the evaluation of the audit comprises of the inspection of the prospective clients of the accounting firm, allied activities of the business together with the owners. The sequential process of the audit also comprises of evaluation of diverse objectionable risk associated to the client that includes enquiry of the overall reliability of the corporation (Duncan & Whittington, 2014). However, as a result the procedure of the audit follow the due diligence p rocedure and verify the overall ethical threats associated to the confidentiality or else the contradictory advantages. In addition to this, the BSF Ltd also needs to have the adequate competence for executing the business activity, as this organization is mainly a bioresearch organization. However, diverse circumstances for the purpose of the performance of the audit embrace the process of determination of different suitable framework for the financial as well as account of the corporation (Homb et al., 2014). Furthermore, the process of audit also includes the examination of the legitimacy of the presented information concerning the client along with the conformation with the diverse accounting standards. Besides this, the auditor also needs to examine the overall ethical requirements and maintain the overall quality of the activity (Ahmed Haji & Anifowose, 2016). Over and above this, the management of the corporation also needs to be in agreement with the one another as regards t he preparation of the financial statement. Therefore, the evaluators need to ensure that the financial statements of the company are also free from the material error that might be owing to fraudulent activities if not unintentional mistakes. As rightly indicated by Shah & Nair (2013), the assessor can disallow the overall engagement with the client firm if the management implements constraints on diverse activities of the audit. In addition to this, the assessors can in turn refuse certain suggestions of audit when the financial records are not prepared according to the acceptable regulations. Nevertheless, the assessors assume confirmation from the preceding auditor as regards the execution of the legal and at the same time the process of implementation (Simpson et al., 2016). In addition to this, the assessors also need to make it certain that the choice of the proposed assessor according to different statutory obligations. Ultimately, the auditor has the need to submit the requi site letter of engagement with the client.   The process of evaluation of the audit risk needs to adhere to the Australian Auditing Standards that institutes different requirements and at the same time offer the process of implementation of the standards. The assessor can abide by the rules such as the AUASB ED 7/08 ( the â€Å"Proposed Auditing Standard ASA 315†) that helps in the process of identification as well as assessment of the risk of materiality. In addition to this, many other standards are laid down as a guideline for carrying out the entire audit. The primary intention of the assessor is to identify and at the same time reduce the overall risk to a significantly low level (Hegazy & Farghaly, 2016). The analysis of the present case study reveals the fact that the inherent risk of BSF Ltd is 90% and on the other hand the control risk stands at 5%. In addition to this, the risk of detection is recorded to be 80%. The audit risk in the present case can be evaluated by utilization of the Audit Risk   Model in which the assessor can take into consideration both the control as well as inherent risk (Chambers & Odar, 2015). Therefore, the audit risk can therefore be calculated by implementation of the formula that states that the risk of the audit is necessarily the multiplication of all the registered inherent risk, detection risk as well as the control risk. Therefore, the formula for the calculation of the audit risk can be put across as â€Å"(Audit Risk = Inherent Risk*Detection Risk*Control Risk)†. As mentioned in the case study, the audit risk is therefore equivalent to 0.36 â€Å"(0.36=0.8*0.9*0.05)†. Thus, the audit risk is registered to be 36%. However, the audit risk in this case is under 10% that is regarded as the standard for the audit risk, therefore, there is a need to have audit risk within the limit of 10%. This reflects the fact that the assessors can execute the role of audit for the client company BSF Limited. As rightly indicated by Pitt. (2014), the auditors have the need to devise and at the same time create audit program in a bid to make it certain that the business functions as well as control of the organization can be evaluated for the purpose of rectification. In addition to this, the assessors can also get hold of adequate information as well as requisite substantiation by conduction of diverse audit programs that includes list of different functions that are essentially involved in the process of assessment and audit process. Again, the suitable individual audit procedure are primarily designed with the intention of the development of accounting methods and at the same time accounting strategies (Graham, 2015). Nevertheless, the audit process also takes in different substantiated tests as well as other methods of control. For the purpose of the substantiation of the audit opinion, the assessors need to comply with diverse performance requirements according to the specific require ments of the audit regulations (Australian Auditing Standards) for the particular audit program and thereby build up the important working papers of the assessors (Lowell, 2016). Again, the assessor also needs to record different features that in turn can aid the entire procedure of the validation of the audit (Auasb.gov.au., 2016). The important factors of the audit program also need to integrate the process of the preparation of the working papers that can essentially facilitate the overall process of retention of the union with the presentation of the audit. In addition to this, the auditors also need to arrange the working papers and keep account of the business functionalities in both the current as well as the permanent audit directory. As rightly indicated by Chambers & Odar (2015), the permanent audit paper therefore includes diverse substances that can persistently exert impact on the entire performance that comprises of the â€Å"Document of the Copy of Memorandum of Asso ciation† of the company BSF Ltd. In addition to this, the permanent audit paper also comprises of extracts of different important legal documents significant minutes in addition to the documents of agreements of the organization BSF Ltd. In addition to this, the documents of the audit also need to include important information concerning the internal control and at the same time the process of the accounting that the management of the organization BSF follows (Christensen et al., 2014). In addition to this, the audit documents also comprises of the structure of the company, information offered by the legal advisors as well as the bankers of the particular business entity along with the letter of the engagement. The document also replicates the evaluation of diverse accounts of balance of the corporation BSF Ltd, illustration of the process of evaluation of the financial statements at the time of audit by other auditors along with the perspectives of the assessor. The auditor presents the points of view regarding the overall internal control procedure, procedure for accounting, adherence to different ethical requirements along with the quality of the financial declarations (Chychyla et al., 2015). In addition to this, the important performance indicators together with the important ratio can assist in the process of detection of the specific trends of the business as well as the evaluation of the process of assessment. Moreover, the working paper of the audit also comprises of the constitutional documents of the BSF Ltd that replicates the entire business structure. The Journal entries for the research and development expenditures are as follows The journal entries for the Year 2013 Cr. Unearned grant revenue $400,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2014 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 100,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 100,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2015 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 100,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 100,000,000† The journal entries for the Year 2016 Dr. Unearned grant revenue 60,000,000 Cr. Research grant revenue 60,000,000† In keeping with the accounting directions established under the standard â€Å"AASB 120† that yet again congregates with the conditions stipulated under the â€Å"IAS 20†, the dealings of accounting for ascertainment of the government grants can be carried out properly (Aasb.gov.au. 2016). Again, as mentioned in the accounting stipulations, the set of laws established under relevant principles of accounting, the government grants can be registered as profit or else loss and in a systematic way during the course in which the business entity identifies the expenses as the connected costs (Cohen et al., 2013). In addition to this, the process of recognition in addition to documentation of varied government grants similar to profit if not loss is not according to the specific assumption of accrual accounting as revealed under the standard â€Å"AASB 101 Presentation of Financial Statements† (Aasb.gov.au. 2016). Nevertheless, the method by which the government grant c an be recorded does not convince the complete technique of book-keeping that can essentially be executed on the subject of the grant. Nonetheless, the government grant can be regarded as a receivable and can be treated as a reimbursement for offering the instant financial preservation to the entire business unit with no probable allied costs that can be documented in profit if not loss throughout the particular time (Cohen et al., 2013).   As rightly put forward by Shah & Nair (2013), the research process carried out by the BSF Ltd also have the need to be socially responsible and at the same time environmental friendly. As mentioned in the case, the research work conducted by the company BSF Limited on the plant based feed faced criticisms from the environmentalists that alleged that the process of diversion of the human quality food crops into the lavish fish is almost identical to the process of diversion of the low valued fish into the course of production. Therefore, this business practice can also affect the poor people and in turn escalate the risk associated to malnutrition. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the development of a socially responsible and at the same time environment friendly research activity. This practice also reflects the fact that the business units have the need to adhere to different set of rules as well as regulations that are essentially stipulated under both the social as well as environmental evaluations in the process of carrying out daily business operations (Christensen et al., 2012). Again, there is also an obligation on the part of the corporation regarding the implementation of the regular tracking of diverse environmental issues in the entire business unit. In addition to this, the brand also has the need to abide by various severe regulation regarding the operational policies that can assist the process of deliverance of the operation (Ahmed Haji & Anifowose, 2016). Again, the human resource segment of the company also need to hold fair as well as transparent view that in turn can avoid the partialities to a particular party in a bid to maintain social accountability (Chambers & Odar, 2015). Again, the research process also need to abide by the rules of the administration of the company BSF Limited. As rightly indicated by Chambers & Odar (2015), the process of functioning of control over basically an intangible asset can direct and help in the commencement of forthcoming economic growth (Lowell, 2016). Nonetheless, the capability of a particular corporation to deal with the impending economic refund from a specific intangible asset can occur out of various legal associations that efficiently can be considered as obligatory under necessities of pertinent law. On the other hand, the special control of the company over certain intangible assets that in turn can support the entire course of improvement in common technical aspects. This can facilitate the process of acquirement advantages in the forthcoming phase (Cohen et al., 2013). According to Cohen et al. (2013), the â€Å"AASB138 paragraph 13 -16†, the association   BSF Ltd also have the need to be accustomed to the level of expertise as well as potential of the members of the staff that sequentially can generate the step up of economic rewards in the forthcoming time (Aasb.gov.au. 2016).  Ã‚   Yet, owing to lack of various lawful manipulations, the corporation BSF Limited can defend the future rewards through substitute actions or trials. Christensen, B.E., Glover, S.M. and Wood, D.A., 2012. Extreme estimation uncertainty in fair value estimates: Implications for audit assurance.Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  31(1), pp.127-146. Homb, N. M., Sheybani, S., Derby, D., & Wood, K. (2014). Audit and feedback intervention: An examination of differences in chiropractic record-keeping compliance.  The Journal of chiropractic education,  28(2), 123. Ahmed Haji, A., & Anifowose, M. (2016). Audit Committee and Integrated Reporting Practice: Does Internal Assurance Matter?.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  31(8/9). Shah, M., & Nair, C. S. (Eds.). (2013).  External Quality Audit: Has it Improved Quality Assurance in Universities?. Elsevier. Simpson, S. N. Y., Aboagye-Otchere, F., & Lovi, R. (2016). Internal auditing and assurance of corporate social responsibility reports and disclosures: perspectives of some internal auditors in Ghana.  Social Responsibility Journal,  12(4). Chambers, A. D., & Odar, M. (2015). A new vision for internal audit.Managerial Auditing Journal,  30(1), 34-55. Pitt, S. A. (2014).  Internal Audit Quality: Developing a Quality Assurance and Improvement Program. John Wiley & Sons. Graham, L. (2015).  Internal Control Audit and Compliance: Documentation and Testing Under the New COSO Framework. John Wiley & Sons. Lowell, R. (2016). COMPLIANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT.  Managing the Long-Term Care Facility: Practical Approaches to Providing Quality Care, 199. Chambers, A. D., & Odar, M. (2015). A new vision for internal audit.Managerial Auditing Journal,  30(1), 34-55. Christensen, T.E., Baker, R.E. & Cottrell, D.M., (2014). Advanced Financial Accounting. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Chychyla, R., Leone, A.J. & Minutti-Meza, M., (2015). Financial Reporting Complexity and Accounting Expertise. Cohen, J.R., Krishnamoorthy, G., Peytcheva, M. & Wright, A.M., (2013). How does the strength of the financial regulatory regime influence auditors' judgments to constrain aggressive reporting in a principles-based versus rules-based accounting environment?. Accounting Horizons, 27(3), pp.579-601. Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) - Home. (2016).  Aasb.gov.au. Retrieved 14 September 2016, from https://www.aasb.gov.au Auasb.gov.au. (2016).  Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) - Home. [online] Available at: https://www.auasb.gov.au [Accessed 22 Sep. 2016]. Duncan, B., & Whittington, M. (2014, September). Compliance with standards, assurance and audit: does this equal security?. In  Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Security of Information and Networks  (p. 77). ACM.   Hegazy, M. A., & Farghaly, M. (2016, August). Internal audit practices and standards: external and internal auditors' perceptions on Compliance in an Emerging Economy. In  American Accounting Association Annual Meeting.

Eurasian Energy Politics and Security Research Paper

Eurasian Energy Politics and Security - Research Paper Example The existing projects and pipelines between Russia and the EU, including the issues in these projects shall be discussed. Alternatives to Russia, especially South Caucasus and Central Asia will also be considered. The proposed pipelines, Nabucco, Transcaspian pipeline, and BP’s new project for natural gas shall be included in this discussion. Finally, China’s entrance to Eurasian energy politics shall also be considered under this discussion. This paper is being discussed in order to conceptualize a clear understanding of energy politics, including its significant points of interest which now impact on the current relations between Eurasian nations. States in the Caspian and Central Asian region have proven oil reserves numbering about 38 billion barrels and this does not include possibly undiscovered barrels of crude oil in the region (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). Kazakhstan is considered to be the largest oil producer in the region with onshore fields in the northern Caspian Sea and other regions. Turkmenistan is the largest natural gas producer in the Caspian region and is serving the energy needs of the region well. Since the Caspian oil reserves were discovered, most energy exports from the Caspian and Central Asia came from the Caspian and Central Asia came from the Russian Empire, supplying consumers in Europe and Soviet Union (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). Significant exports from the Caspian started with the establishment of the 1997 100,000 Baku-Novorossiysk pipelines transporting oil to Georgia’s Black Sea Coast (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5). In 2001, Kazakhstan started pumping oil from its Tengiz oil fi eld into Novorossiysk via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium or the CPC. The CPC is shared by various oil companies from different countries. Russia lost its control of the Caspian oil exports in 2005 when the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was opened (Cohen and DeCarlo-Souza, p. 5).  

How do Reality TV shows like Geordie Shore construct Reality and why Essay

How do Reality TV shows like Geordie Shore construct Reality and why is this genre so popular - Essay Example In the reality shows, so much about it is real and anyone who is watching it is able to see the real life of the person and not a real person portraying an imaginary person. The Shows are usually much cheaper for the whole crew and performers because most of the equipment used including dressing does not have to be produced by the owners of the shows (Faller, 2009). This is because mostly the housemates may use some of their own clothing and make ups, which is an advantage as it reduces the expenses. It is not so easy for many people to understand Reality shows and its names mean it is real yet there are few parts of the shows, which may portray a sense of fiction. A show such as the Geordie Shore portrays real people in real life using their real names, unlike for instance, a show such as Big Brother where the setting could be called fiction because in real life, these group of people does not normally spend their times together, and whatever happens during their times together may not have happened if it was not for the purpose of the show being aired for people to view and get entertained. However, I would not hesitate to comment on how much this show is extremely entertaining. So much of the activities in the show are attention catchers hence, this reason could score the show more marks if it was to be compared with other shows. The reality about a show such as Geordie shore is the fact that the people in it are using the real identity and leading a normal kind of life in their homes and wherever else they go, the feelings which develop between them in the process could be viewed as real among other things going on in the show. Expenses are also reduced due to the fact that the performers of the shows do not need to go and work in front of the cameras away from their home towns neither are they needed to go to holy wood for instance but all they have

Leadership management of multicultural team through changes Essay

Leadership management of multicultural team through changes - Essay Example A patent is an exclusive right granted by the government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years (Dictionary, 2014). A patent can provide a company up to 20 years of exclusivity in the marketplace. To complete this project the firm has formed team of six professionals. The composition of the team that is going to be working on the project is made up of people from different cultures. In the work environment of the 21st century it is common for firm to formulate multicultural teams. For companies multicultural teams present challenges, but the also present a unique opportunity. Three advantages of workforce diversity are increased adaptability, broader service range, and variety of viewpoints (Greenberg, 2009). Another advantage of forming a multicultural team is increased creativity. Diversity carries a special significance in todays workplace (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2003). Despite the advantage of multicultural teams there are also often issues associated with its utilization. The team that was formed to complete this project is composed of six members. Their names are John, Julie, Jinsoo, Tom, Darious, Harpreet. The six members are all from different cultural backgrounds. The different countries the members are from are United States, India, Iran, China, and South Korea. Even the two American members of the team are from different ethnicity. When a team is composed of a wide variety of cultural backgrounds often these cultures crash with each other and it causes the team to display inefficiencies that hurt the ability of the members of the group to comply with the requirements of a project. Problems such as not being able to meet the deadline can occur in such dysfunctional groups. â€Å"Just as likely as the positive affects of integrating people from diverse backgrounds are the inevitable cultural clashes that test the validity of the company ethics policies and the

Human Sexuality Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Sexuality - Coursework Example Media does not only have the power to gain support for a particular issue, it even has the ability to alter the current perception about an issue. Media has even impacted human being’s perception of sexual harassment and rape related issues, they have been able to alter cases and opinions from favoring one individual to another. For example: Several newspaper articles reported that Kobe Bryant was not responsible for the charge of rape and those individuals who have gone through these articles clearly reflected same position through their perception. 3. The sexual offenders in US have almost a zero right to privacy, as soon as they are evacuated form the prisons and are allowed to live back in the community, their information is posted online so people can access this information and keep an eye on those who have been previously prosecuted as sexual offenders. Providing of information of sexual offenders to the common public is absolutely correct and lawful because sexual offences are cognitive in nature and an offender can commit the same crime. So in order to save the society from such offenders, transparency of information of the offenders is very

Onset Ventures Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Onset Ventures - Case Study Example Early-stage ventures are very young firms with limited operational resources and are usually in the development, startup or survival stages. The seasoned firms are usually in rapid-growth or maturity stages (Leach & Melicher, p.21-22). Seed financing is represented by the funds required to determine if an idea can be a viable business opportunity. This is usually necessary at the development stage of a venture. Other sources of financing are startup financing, first-round, second-round, liquidity stage, mezzanine and seasoned financing, depending upon the ventures life cycle stage. Onset Ventures is a top-tier seed investor which has raised three funds till now. The partners at Onset have analyzed and set six principles, based on which they provide seed financing to a startup venture. The principles address the skill set and experience of the entrepreneur, continuously evolving business model, validation of business model followed by hiring the CEO, the funds spent only to add value perceived by the capital providers, product’s Unique Selling Proposition and the skills of personnel hired. These principles have been refined over time and lead to the development of incubation process through which the company develops, refines and pursues or rejects business ideas. During the first phase, pre-seed phase of incubation process, Onset analyzes if the business concept can be an attractive investment. Based on the outcome of the pre-seed phase, it proceeds to the seed phase and provides seed financing to the business. Onset analyzes the possible risks and tries to address those risks during this phase. The five risks are market, technical, operating, pricing risks, as well as the risk related to the operational capability of the business team. Onset has a comprehensive process of screening the ideas and identifying profitable ventures but it has lost the opportunities of making more profits due to tight funding of the ventures and by being too careful and risk- averse. II. Facts of the Case A. Stated Facts Onset Ventures was set-up with an initial $5 million fund in 1984 and subsequently raised $30m (Onset I) and $67m funds (Onset II). Out of these funds, two-thirds have been invested in seed and follow-on investments, and the rest is kept as reserves in Onset II. In 1996-97, the size of an average VC fund increased by 40% to $71 billion. The company plans to raise $80m-$95m fund, it’s the largest fund till now. Onset has provided seed financing of $1m for the company TallyUp to develop a viable software product. Onset operates on a model of five business principles and a specific incubation process of pre-seed phase and seed phase to screen the business ideas. The company’s minimum target IRR of a fund is 30% over 12 year cycle. Onset puts in a company around $1m in seed round, $1.5m in the next round, and $2m in the third round. Onset I gave positive IRR within 4 years of its inception (appendix 1) and Onset II took only th ree years to give positive IRR (appendix 2). The average number of investment has increased in subsequent funds, i.e. $2.5m in Onset I, $3.5m to $4m in Onset II and expected $4.5m to $5m in Onset III. B. Implied Facts Over the last 13 years, Onset has invested mainly in seed-stage and early-stage financing. Onset II has performed better than Onset I (appendix 3). III. Problem Definition A. Source Problem How many funds must be raised for Onset III? Whether Onset should invest an additional $1m into TallyUp for

Managerial and Professional Development Assignment - 1

Managerial and Professional Development - Assignment Example ussion presented will be based on the evaluation of policies, practices and approaches of learning and development by British Airways, in particular, the examination of the learning approach will focus on the double loop learning mechanism. Secondly, the essay will present a personal reflection in relation to studying an MBA and further connect the learning approach with personal experiences. Double loop learning has been central to the subject of learning and development programs by organisations. Chris Argyris first proposed the concept of double loop learning in the 1970s and it has consequently become a pertinent component of strategic management in the 21st century. According to Argyris and SchoN (1978), double loop learning refers to a learning model in which the predominant assumptions regarding goals and objectives of an organisation are assessed to determine whether the ongoing pursuit of objectives and goals are justified. Double loop learning approach principally underpins the prudence of error detection and correction in the management of an organisation. According to Argyris (1999),  it focuses on the theory of action by strategically examining the potential effects of changes on values, behaviours, and leadership of an organization. British Airways, the largest international airline in the UK has successfully integrated double loop learning approach in th e training and development of its employees (British Airways, 2014). Incorporating double loop learning and continually exhibiting generative learning strategies, British Airways has been labelled as a learning organisation. Dierkes (2001), defined learning organisation as learning model whereby employees continually enhance their capacity to achieve set objective in an environment where new concepts and expansive ways of thinking are developed and individuals are further encouraged to learn from each other. Consequently Argyris (1982) identified five disciplines as essential components of

The mystical body of Christ in Catherine de Hueck Doherty's Vision for Thesis Proposal

The mystical body of Christ in Catherine de Hueck Doherty's Vision for Lay Apostolate - Thesis Proposal Example Third, Doherty had been a prolific writer and her works continue to influence many people, lay and religious. The lay apostolates she founded, the Madonna House and the Friendship House, continue to publish her writings, articulate her views, venerate her life, and propagate her writings. Finally or fourth, a number of non-famous and famous lay workers—like Dorothy Day—have expressed that they have been inspired by Doherty. Through the identification of the key perspectives espoused by Doherty, it is possible to explore central theological themes or theme through which the lay apostolates of the pre-Vatican II Catholic Action era were built and how the laity implemented the papal encyclicals of pre-Vatican II. Doherty has been known as a refugee from the Russian Revolution who had possessed nothing more than the clothes she was wearing and the deep religious faith she embraced since childhood. She had lived as a Russian Baroness and as a beggar. She avoided death during her escape from the Bolsheviks and walked in the shoes of both the rich and the poor.1 During the 1920s, her first years in the United States and Canada, she made her living in temporary jobs. While working at a department store, she was overheard talking about her experiences as a member of the Russian nobility, and was offered an opportunity to travel and deliver speeches on the subject. Later, after having lived in poverty for many years, she earned back the wealth she held in Russia. However, following her successful years in the Chautauqua circuit,2 she eventually abandoned material possessions and committed herself to a simple life and lay apostolate. Inspired by Rerum novarum, 3Quadragesimo anno,4 and Pope Pius XI’s letters on the subject of Catholic Action,5 she established Friendship House in the slums of Toronto with the goal of forming a non-segregated residential home for the city’s poor. Beginning her initial apostolate, Doherty lived in community with th e poor of Canada. In 1936, she set up two more houses in Ottawa and Hamilton, Ontario. By 1938, priests in New York City asked her to open a fourth in Harlem. Eventually, Doherty—through support of the Catholic Interracial Council6—was able to open a Friendship House in Chicago, Illinois (1942).7 Three years after marrying journalist Eddie Doherty,8 she moved to Combermere, Ontario, and together the Dohertys founded in 1947 a second apostolate—the Madonna House. According to Julie Leininger Pycior, Doherty’s Friendship House â€Å"†¦championed living out the Gospels through opposition to racial injustice and solidarity with the poor; at the height of its influence in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Harlem Friendship House served as a pioneering center of Catholic lay activism for social justice.†9 In her early years as a lay founder, she sought to remedy social problems by reaching out to the most impoverished individuals and providing educati on on Catholic Social Teaching. Her goal was to address both the spiritual and immediate physical needs of those she served, and to encourage others to recognize the dignity of every human being made in the image of God. During the late 1940s and into her Madonna House period, Doherty’s vision of the lay apostolate broadened considerably as she began to view Catholic Action as multidimensional, extending far beyond protests of social injustices: she viewed the lay apostolate as the fruit of an intimate relationship with Christ in the sacraments, particularly the

El Presidente Essay Example for Free

El Presidente Essay El Presidente tells the story of the Philippines very first president Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the deliverance of the Philippines from the hands of its colonists and the establishment of our first republic. Jeorge ER Estregan plays the lead role with Cesar Montano as Andres Bonifacio. The entire movie did not disappoint me as it was able to deliver what I was expecting based on the theatrical trailer they released. I am no expert when it comes to the Philippine History but I have some knowledge about our past so this films plot is not that new to me but this movie still gave me some new things about this particular matter of which I do not know if those were really part of our history or just an additional spice to the film to make it a little bit entertaining and that maybe because what director Meily described the movie as fiction film based on a historical figure according Abs-cbnnews. com. For example if my memory serves me correctly, I never read nor heard during my school days that the katipuneros used bow and arrows. In the movie especially during the ambush scenes, they use this kind of weapon to attack their enemies. Another thing is where Aguinaldo cut a small portion of skin on his arm and use his blood as an ink to sign a paper confirming his membership to the katipunan, in history I was taught that their would make that small cut in their arm but near their wrist and not on the other side of their arm just like what was done in the movie. One las last thing I noticed I which also impressed me is that both Bonifacio and Aguinaldo, in this film, know how to do a hand combat. The hand combat scenes were shown in the trailers and its nice to see them doing it not just fighting the Spaniards nor Americans their with swords, pistols and riffles. Performance of Jeorge Estregan as Aguinaldo is good but not great. He acted better in the Manila Kingpin than in this one. It was the performance of Cesar Montano as the Supremo that stole the scene, though those scenes of him is not that much, he was still able to portray the character of Bonifacio its great and he deserved to get the Best Supporting Actor Award for this one. Christopher De Leons portrayal of Gen. Antonio Luna is also a scene-stealer, I only knew Antonio Luna by name and nothing much of him until I saw this movie. While watching the movie, I thought they would not even mention Dr. Jose Rizal who was in prison and about to get executed during the time in the film as it was almost half of the entire movie has been shown and still no mention of Rizal until there was a meeting and the leaders of the Katipunan decided to have an election to establish the democratic government. In this kind of film especially a Filipino movie I am always expecting to see a feast or a simple gatherings where the characters would join and find time to relax while the conflict is at hand and again I thought I would never see this happens in this movie. I liked the entire rendition of the film and this is a kind of history-based movie that I would introduce to next generations of Filipinos to see not just to entertain them but also to educate them. Now I start to wonder what the Scenema Concept International and Viva Films to offer us in the next Metro Manila Film Festival.

The Roles Media Plays In Contemporary Society

The Roles Media Plays In Contemporary Society Media communication is full of contradictions, nevertheless one cannot deny the important part it plays in social life, part which has kept and will maintain its importance along time. In this essay, I will analyze the importance and the impact of mass media in contemporary society, presenting both their positive and negative effects, in terms of the roles they play. I will start by presenting the advantages of the informative and interpretative functions (which are essential in a society dependant on mass media for information), while also mentioning their negative effects, by referring to the manipulation of public opinion and the using of media as a medium of propaganda. I will continue by discussing the presence of infotainment and its benefits, but also the educative role of mass media, nevertheless without ignoring the negative aspects which come with access to information for a population segment which does not have the ability to select and process it. I will not miss the opp ortunity of speaking about the social binder (between people or civilizations) function, and also about the tendency of the population of aligning to opinion streams; I will close by presenting some limiting factors for the mass media power. Most people get informed by means of press and television, these channels satisfying, by the information they provide, a fundamental need of the modern man information. Furthermore, by their dimensions, mass media facilitate spreading the information and increase the speed by which a message is relayed. The continuous worldwide information flow helps individuals find the latest news which may influence their decisions, coordinate their businesses, help them know which areas are or will be affected by natural disasters or conflicts in order to avoid them and so on. Still, many times, the media offer more than information. By means of media, one can influence, orient and direct public opinion, interests and motivations, consciences, even beyond ones own will. Mass media may lead even unto the destruction of the discernment and the creation of an apathy, it may destroy the will to understand and act. American mass media theorists, Lazarsfeld and Merton (1948), have argued that we may b e guilty of paying such close attention to the information with which the media bombard us, thus getting to confuse knowing about social problems with doing something about them. They called this confusion the narcotizing dysfunction, linking it to the social consequences of mass media. Individuals replace reality with a surrogate of reality. Furthermore, people can be misinformed through mass media. Many times, we read untrue articles in newspapers and magazines, whether these articles are about what is happening around the world or about important persons in social life. The media build but also destroy reputations, which happens most of the times in politics. A good example, according to Layborn (2002), are the scandals surrounding the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo (1963) and the Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe (1970s). Politicians are presented, launched to the public with the same techniques used in launching a new brand of toothpaste or soap. Pop stars, as a clas s, are the creation of media. Remaining in the area of negative aspects, I can also include the fact that mass media create cognitive, affective and behavioural addictions. These addictions lead to a certain level of defiance which aggravates the cognitive gulf. Those who are informed become more and more informed and those who are misinformed remain misinformed. As to the interpretative function, this is somewhat related to the informative role, because it supposes the acceptance of the information by the individual without processing it through ones own reason. The contents of communications are generated by the publics needs, so the information will be processed enough to satisfy these needs. Information consumers may also receive direct help in interpreting some events by the means of editorials or comments in newspapers and magazines. Thus, the reader or viewer not only received the information in the state it was conceived, they are also given the manner in which they should regard and understand that information. The press relies on the authority of the written word, while television relies on the fact that images seem authentic and the citizen tends to say, most of the times I have seen it with my own eyes, not realizing that they have actually only seen what others wanted them to see. The media cease to be a news organ and become an instrument of propaganda. In all societies and in whoevers service it may be, propaganda aims to shape certain attitudes and impose social stereotypes, it tends to impose conditions on the individual, by creating automate mechanisms with the purpose of controlling and manipulating behaviour or society (voting for a certain political party, purchasing certain goods, etc). Great leaders of all times have used manipulation techniques, some of them to keep their power, others to control population. Even Napoleon had paid attention to the means of information at that time, which have offered him advantages before his enemies. His statements remained famous: Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. World War I is considered to have been a propagandist battle between the English and the Germans and that the American audience was the target of messages in pamphlets, posters and other means of communication. Durin g World War II, the Nazi have developed an elaborate propaganda system in order to obtain regime support both in Germany and abroad. It is one of the convictions of Media Lens that the corporate mass media constitute a propaganda system for elite interests (Edwards and Cromwell, 2006). Those who have high social positions, govern or lead large institutions have control on the media (or even own it, as it is the case for the Italian prime-minister Berlusconi), using them to manipulate population with the purpose of meeting their own interests. The renowned professor Chomsky (2003) implements The Propaganda Model in the case of the Iraq war as well. Large corporations, among which Haliburton or British Petroleum, have used the mass media in order to internationally spread false information on Saddam Hussein, such as him producing mass destruction weapons and supporting terrorism, information which later proved to be untrue. The population, being scared by the artificially created real ity, has eventually joined in, by sustaining the war in Iraq and, indirectly, the interests of the great moguls. New York Times revealed (1st December, 2005) that the USA had used black propaganda by paying Iraqi journalists to translate and publish in local newspapers articles written in the US by a public relations company financed by the Pentagon. Furthermore, after investigations were lead, false journalists providing news articled to the BBC were discovered. False information was broadcast by television, while the journalists were secretly working for organizations sustained by the British Ministry of Defence in a propaganda operation (Media Lens, 2005). As to its entertainment function, the mass media, especially television, offer the cheapest and most accessible means of entertainment, compared to attending concerts and shows. A few minutes of ones favourite show can relax, make one forget the hard time they are going through. The internet is a good mean of entertainment through its multitude of online games, music, the possibility of interactive communication with friends. One of the researchers of the contemporary phenomenon of media, Claude-Jean Bertrand (2000), notes that most of consumers search for entertainment in the mass media. Thus, most means of communications provide it, even newspapers. This function plays a particularly important part in todays society, even more that it combines extremely efficiently with the others. Vicky Hay (1990) considers that the challenge of infotainment development in television, with its various kinds and media formats (talk-shows, contests, games, interactive transmissions, etc) represent t he main cause of cultivating this tendency in the written press as well. The second cause is money, respectively in an industry such as the media one, which operates on a competitive market, where it is all about maintaining/gaining/regaining a larger audience segment, which brings in itself publicity, money that is. But there is also a negative aspect in the entertainment function of mass media, which is the risk of relaying obscene or negative messages through music or violent movies, or by (even involuntarily) creating false, bad models for the public which is exposed, but has no ability to select or process information, such as children. The audiovisual channel continuously dimensions the knowledge universe of the receivers, by influencing and inducing them values, conceptions, convictions, stereotypes, etc. That is why the educative role that the media have in society has an importance that should not be underestimated; the large spectrum of TV channels, from the most various domains, constitutes an important source of broadening ones knowledge horizon. Also, television can be a culture broadcaster, thus concerts/theatre plays gathering more viewers than spectators. Documentaries, homage evocations of personalities, flashbacks have more power than books do in refreshing the publics awareness on a personality or even on history, in general. But, as a negative effect of the educative function, we must mention that television, as a time devourer, has brought a real reading crisis, television shows meeting the cultural needs of a mankind too rushed to be able to focus on traditional means. Also, in countries with a redu ced cinematographic production, flooding the market with foreign commercial productions may lead to the cultural denationalization of the audience. Studies lead by American psychologists regarding the impact of American serial movies with youth as their main audience indicate that 45% of teenagers shape and complete their sexual knowledge based on these movies and also learn how to communicate with their parents from them. (Van Evra, J., 1990) The negative side of this aspect is that, by having access to adult subjects, children lose the naivety and innocence specific to their age and are a lot more prone to yielding to various temptations (from smoking and drugs to delinquencies). Live broadcasting of an event makes the latter dilate, and public (national or international) opinion becomes a resonance box where the echoes of the event ensure its amplification. Thus, television has the role of ensuring the social bond in individualist mass society (any person being able to connect when and how they want from home, being able to freely participate, in their privacy, in a fundamentally collective activity). Thereby, mass media may generate a social solidarity mechanism in case of natural disasters or special personal situation which requires help from the other members of society. By analyzing the effects of mass media, one can define the term of consonance as aligning to opinion streams. The Spiral of Silence (Schweigespirale) theory describes this phenomenon starting from the dependence of individual opinion on the dominant opinion expressed by the mass media. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (1993) synthesises this theory as follows: society threatens the deviant with isolation, individuals are more afraid of isolation than of error, individuals evaluate the favourable or unfavourable climate of their own opinion, evaluation leads to taking an attitude (expressing ones opinion or keeping ones opinions secret). Individuals who share the dominant point of view easily share it, while individuals who do not share this opinion enclose themselves in silence, for fear of isolation. Thus, public opinion represents, from this perspective, the opinion that can be expressed publicly without the risk of isolation. A secondary function of mass media, that of reinforcing social norms, is achieved through the fact that television exposes any deviation from these norms to the judgment of public opinion. According to DeFleur (1989), the individual behaviour is guided by ones perception on cultural norms. Thus, by the means of presentation, underscoring and selection, television reinforces the viewers opinions on these cultural norms. Television also has a massive impact in imposing fashion and the feminine or masculine beauty type. One of the moments which brought glory to the mass media is the Watergate Process, journalists being the ones who caused the resignation of the American president Nixon on August 8th, 1974, thus gaining the fame of fourth power in the state. The death of princess Diana has again given television the opportunity of showing its advantages in catching public interest and transforming an event into an international tragedy. Still, there are limits to the power the mass media has, opponent forces whether political, institutional, or representing the private business environment which, at their turn, manipulate the information the press offers. Also, the commercial pressure of profit and competition, as well as direct pressure from political institutions or even peoples scepticism limit the power of mass media. What are the conclusions that can be drawn from these aspects we have presented? The mass media are a double-edged tool. On the one hand, they form and on the other they deform. In a post-industrial society where information reaches the same value as capital or resources, using means of information and communication such as mass media becomes a necessity. Nevertheless, I consider that the mass media are both a positive image and a negative image creator, a source of information as well as a tool of propaganda, a sine qua non of modern society.

Small farmers

Small farmers Small farmers produce most of the food that we consume globally. But North and South, smallholder producers are leaving the land and food production is becoming increasingly the concern of big business. Does it matter? On 31 March fourteen international panelists considered the most salient issues confronting small farmers today in the IFAD-supported debate Failing the farmer? on BBC World. How important is small scale farming? How can development of small scale farming contribute to poverty reduction? Why should we care about small scale farming? What problems are encountered in implementing effective policies that should support small scale farmers? How important is global market access? The global discussion about poverty reduction is usually strictly related with farmers with small land holdings because the majority of the worlds poor belong to such households. Secondly, it has been estimated that about 70 percent of worlds poor are concentrated in rural areas where two out of three billion rural people reside in about 450 million small farms. Furthermore, the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger estimates that in small scale farms reside about half of worlds hungry people including three quarters of Africas malnourished children (WDR, 2008). Improvement in the situation of the small scale farmers will likely result in a decreasing of the population living in poverty. Therefore in order to reduce rural poverty, policies are needed to support small-scale farming and have to be addressed in particular to women and children. The concept of Food Sovereignty provides an important framework for policy makers to design such measures. The association Via Campesina defines Food Sovereignty as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation. It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers. Food sovereignty prioritizes local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environment al, social and economic sustainability. Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just income to all peoples and the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition. It ensures that the rights to use and manage our lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food. Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social classes and generations (Via Campesina, 2008). The idea of Food Sovereignty points out the fundamental right of the human being to be able to consume and produce food locally, according to the local environment conditions and cultures. The agro food industry and the rapid globalization of markets are the main drivers of these changes in the food-chain structure: the production strategies in the agro food business are defined mainly by economic terms; moreover, a long-term view in food and agricultural sy stems is needed and has to keep in count the efficiency, quality and sustainability of the production. Nowadays the international society is aware of the damage caused by industrial farming system all over the planet: it is a major contributor to global warming through intensive use of fossil fuels for fertilizers, agrochemicals, production, transport, processing, refrigeration and retailing; crop and livestock genetic diversity has been lost through the spread of industrial monocultures reducing resilience in the face of climate; agrochemical nutrient pollution causes biological dead zones and other relevant environmental problems; human activity produces more nitrogen than all natural processes combined (FAO, 2008). According to the stated reasons the current model of industrialized food production appears to be not sustainable. It makes farmers increasingly dependent on external inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, veterinary support, hormones, etc.) and big amount of external capita l. This industrialized production system is usually intensive and not linked to a correct soil management or conservation strategy. The export oriented production systems are not created to respect local ecological conditions or to meet local food needs and farmers lose control over production decisions. The National Commission on Small Farms reported the following, Small farms contribute more than farm production to our society. Small farms embody a diversity of ownership, cropping systems, landscapes, biological organization, culture, and traditions. Since the majority of farmland is managed by a large number of small farm operators, the responsible management of soil, water, and wildlife encompassed by these farms produce significant environmental benefits. Decentralized land ownership produces more equitable economic opportunity for people in rural communities, and offers self employment and business management opportunities (National Commission on Small Farms, 1998). The survival of small scale farming it is a crucial issue because small farming system often permits an higher differentiation of the production, relies on a long historic experience with local resources (water, soil, climate, plant and animal varieties) and farmers are capable to produce the optimal quantity and q uality of food with less external inputs. Products are mainly grown for their own families and consumers of the same region and tend to meet local food needs. This model, based on small scale farms, is also labour intensive, a resource that is available in abundance in most regions of the world, instead of capital intensive like the extensive farms production system. Moreover, the outputs of production are deeply linked to the soil and therefore its correct management in a long term perspective will be more likely pursued. Smallholders face significant challenges that obstacle their participation in new marketing opportunities. Markets in the developing world are characterized by imperfections such as lack of information on prices and technologies, high transaction costs, and credit constraints. Moreover, the modern production systems often expect larger supply volumes, favoring larger farmers. With the increasing number of free trade agreements affecting both national and international commodity markets, smallholder farmers are forced to compete not only with their local producers, but also with farmers from other countries as well as domestic and international agribusinesses. Sharpen marketing skills are also needed by small scale farmers: the opportunity for smallholders to raise their incomes from agricultural production, natural resource management, and related rural enterprises increasingly depends on their ability to sell their goods not just at local, but also regional and even international ma rkets. Nowadays, technological advances require investments in human and physical capital, as well as advanced relationships with a wide network of suppliers and traders of inputs and services. In this environment, small scale farmers are difficult to locate the required financial resources and integrate. Seems to be hard to point out the reasons why effective policies are not being implemented: many economic interests are involved and usually in the society small scale farmers are stakeholders with limited power. One possible solution could come from changes in the demand in the agro food market: we assist in a raise of the demand of high quality local product from the consumers, in particular in Europe; secondly, the value for rural services (rural tourism, social farming and other activities) is rapidly increasing, bringing more opportunities for small scale farmers. These changes can be the drivers for the implementation of sound policies directed in particular to rural areas and to small scale farmers. List of participants in the debate Kevin Cleaver Assistant President, IFAD and farmer Working to enable small farmers, we can slow down the migration from rural to urban areas. Pedro Sanchez Director of Tropical Agriculture, Earth Institute, Columbia University The crucial factor is to fertilize the soil and manage water supplies. GM is a political issue, with no proven risk. Paul Nicholson European co-coordinator, La Via Campesina Via Campesina coined the expression and is working to promote food sovereignty (national food security). Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria and farmer Smallholder farmers labour on their farms, not merely to feed their beleaguered families but entire nations, despite the great obstacles placed in their way at all levels. Simeon Greene Relationship Director, Windward Banana Development Without Fair Trade, the Windward Islands would be out of the banana market. Theyre able to survive because consumers in the UK have taken the decision to buy Fair Trade Produce. Esther Penunia Secretary General, Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) Farmers tend to be poorly organized only 10 per cent are organized into farmers groups. So, although they represent a large constituency, they have little influence politically. This must change! Peter Robbins Ex-commodities trader, author and activist Liberalization and the collapse of international commodity agreements has led to the impoverishment of farmers in producing countries. We need to reinstate international commodity agreements. Duncan Green Head of Policy, Oxfam Oxfam is now looking to develop policy on the wider agricultural debate not just on trade. Specifically were looking at how to support and empower farmers. Norah Olembo Executive Director, Africa Biotech Stakeholders Forum The big issue is acceptance. Worldwide this type of science has been seen as humans tampering with Gods work. Science becomes hard for ordinary people to comprehend, but one can move a gene from one plant to the other. Its all about education. We have not seen any harm to humans. Andrew Bennett Biotechnology Marketing Lead, Europe-Africa, Monsanto Each year the global population grows by more than 70 million and agriculture is required to produce more food with limited land and water resources. But biotechnology can help. Over the next decade biotechnology promises to deliver products that address land and resource limitations, with qualities such as drought tolerance, as well as deliver products with direct consumer benefits. Crawford Falconer Agriculture Chairman, World Trade Organization (WTO) International trade works if you have the right social and economic policies in place within countries already. Countries cant isolate themselves forever. Louise Fresco Professor, Sustainable Development, University of Amsterdam Small farmers around the world are leaving the land because life is too hard and they need other sources of income as well. Globalization brings opportunities for the developing world, but markets will not take care of poor people. Catherine Kainja Kaluluma Minister for Education, Government of Malawi Anthony Gooch Head, Media and Public Diplomacy, European Commission

criminal justice Essay examples -- essays research papers

Denzel Washington plays veteran L.A.P.D. Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris. For thirteen years this highly decorated cop has been on the front lines in the war against narcotics. He's pledged to protect and serve the citizens of Los Angeles, but his optimism about police work has long since been chipped away by the reality of life on the streets. He and the tight-knit group of officers that report to him have crossed the line between legality and corruption. They find themselves breaking the laws they're supposed to enforce. Alonzo's ethics and his logic are in complete opposition to the "book" which most cops must follow. "It takes a thief to catch a thief," Hoyt is a young naive cop that is given twenty-four hours to train with Harris. Before the day is done, the young cop is asked to take drugs, accept drug money as a payoff, invent evidence, and even commit murder. Before he knows it, he's in so deep that there seems to be no way out. As Alonzo tells him "There is no justice, no law. It all boils down to what you can and cannot prove." Alonzo’s abusiveness and carelessness become a problem and the Police Chief orders him to see a Psychologist concerning his behavior. During the first visit, the police department provided a copy of his personal information file, which reveals the typical schemata of a person with an antisocial personality disorder. He lacked a superego; he has little remorse for his abusive, impulse-driven and dangerous behavior. He also saw himself as almost being superior and smarter than everyone else; by planning the training day with Hoyt, he believed this made him superior. He hid behind his Los Angeles Police Department badge and broke the laws that he was supposed to enforce. Individuals with Anti-Social disorder think that when they are caught committing the crime—their problem is getting caught not committing the crime. The goal for the future is to become a better criminal, rather than obeying the law. Throughout the movie his thought processes would include some of the following: 1. Rules are meant for others 2. Only fools follow all the rules 3. Rules are meant to be broken 4. Look out for #1 5. My pleasure comes first 6. If others are hurt, offended, or... ...nt/helper relationship this is known as transference. This allows the client to re-experience a variety of feelings that would otherwise be inaccessible. During my sessions with Alonzo his behavior toward me is very shifty, careful, guarded, apprehensive, and distrustful. This causes me to become uneasy, withdrawn from the client and blaming the client for the tension between us. Counter transference is the reaction or a reflection of a past or present relationship of the therapist toward the client that could interfere with objectivity. Because Alonzo is so aggressive and forward with his angry behavior, I find myself fearing him and avoiding conflict. Since I am a new therapist, I will need ongoing supervision to monitor my reactions to the sessions. The Psychoanalytic approach is very simplistic and client-oriented, which is very important to Alonzo’s breakdown. I did not want to be too aggressive; I want him to establish his own goals and path to different lifestyle. When Alonzo is able to accept that he could get even more from holding the LAPD badge by becoming a part of the system, rather than trying to always fool the system, he (hopefully) begin to act more adaptively.

Ball Bearings :: essays research papers

The object of ball bearings (and roller bearings) is the substitution of pure rolling motion for plain sliding friction. Ball Bearings rely on the rolling motion of hardened steel balls to absorb loads. This rolling motion produces far less friction than the sliding motion. These steel balls are held in circular rows between an outer and inner ring, which have raceways, or slots, grooved into them to guide the balls. Ball bearings are available in both filling-slot and no filling-slot types. Other types of bearings have developed from these basic designs, like double-row and deep groove bearings, to handle specific application. No filling-slot bearings have a deep uninterrupted raceway, which allows them to carry both high radial loads as well as moderate Thrust loads. Filling-slot bearings have more balls than no filling bearings of comparable size. This gives them a higher radial load capacity, but Thrust loads must be light. Types of Ball bearing systems: Rigid single row ball bearing. - Basic type of bearing widely used. The balls run in comparatively deep grooved tracks, which make the bearing suitable for both radial (journal) load and axial thrust load. The bearing provides location of the shaft in relation to the housing when provided with suitable means of clamping. Rigid single row bearing with filling slots for balls. - This bearing contains more balls than the standard type and can therefore take heavier radial loads but only limited thrust. Rigid double row bearing. - For heavy radial loads and to provide greater rigidity. Requires accurate location if used in conjunction with another bearing. Self-aligning double row bearing. - For applications in which slight deflections cannot be avoided when rotating. Aligning single row bearing. - This bearing will correct initial angular misalignment between shaft and housing but is not designed to accommodate shaft deflection or misalignment when rotating. Angular contact single row bearing. - Gives precise axial location under thrust load. May be used in pairs to accommodate thrust in either direction. Duplex bearing. - Used to take heavy thrust in either direction or some radial load.

Coping with Change in My Kinsman, Major Molineux :: Kinsman Molineux

Coping with Change in My Kinsman, Major Molineux My Kinsman, Major Molineux is about Robin a young and sheltered youth. This story opens with Robin trying to find his kinsman Major Molineux. He approaches many people trying to find his kinsman. Of all the people he approaches none are helpful in locating his kinsman. Finally he gets an answer and finds his kinsman to have been tarred and feathered. This is a shock to him, however, he deals with that surprise and goes on with his life. This story is about change and coping with the fact that change is inevitable. The first man, that Robin asks about his kinsman, was gruff and unhelpful. Even though Robin asked the whereabouts of his kinsman in a polite way "Good evening to you honored sir, I pray you tell me whereabouts is the dwelling of my kinsman..." He received no answer from this man. Later in the story he meets with the same man again. At the second meeting Robin asserted himself differently and received an answer from the man. This time he was more confident "No, no, neighbor! No, no I am not the fool you take me for, nor do you pass till I have an answer to my question." This transformation in Robin shows that experience breeds change and that change is inevitable. This change in Robin can be paralleled to societies and governments. Drawing from change any sentient structure can learn that new measures are required in order to succeed. When Robin found his kinsman it was under less than desirable circumstances. Robin was in severe shock; "His knees shook and his hair bristled with a mixture of pity and terror." The crowd that followed his kinsman was overwhelming when it grasped Robin into it's clutches his shouts of laughter where the loudest there. This illustrates that each generation must make up its own mind on protocol for handling the situations that come its way. Each government and society must make new policies and rules for the unexpected situations that occur. Also the physical similarities between Robin and his kinsman show that change does not have to be a completely new beginning, but a "younger" way of looking at the world for that day's society, government or individual. At the very end Robin was getting ready to leave for his home in the country.

Book Report (the Titans Curse by Rick Rordan)

Percy Jackson The Titans Curse In this Percy Jackson and the Olympians book, it starts out when Thalia daughter of Zeus, Annabeth daughter or Athena, and Percy son of Poseidon set out to help Grover who found two really power full half bloods escort them back to camp have blood. But then they run into trouble when this really power monster shows up that works for Cronus try’s to take Bianca and Nico the two really powerful other half bloods. Before there group was about to be defeated Artemis goddess of the hunt and the moon sun of Apollo shows up and rescues them with her huntresses. Also Annabeth saved them but in the process she falls off the cliff and they could not find her, little do they no that she was really just captured by Luke and Cronus, Bianca joined the hunt with Artemis and left Nico at camp half blood to train to become stronger. Artemis left her huntresses to go find the one monster that could destroy Olympus, while trying to find the monster she was captured by Cronus and needs to be rescued before the winter solstice so that she can convince the council that they need to go to war to prevent the titans rise. So a quest was given to Zoe who was the leader of the huntresses that they should go save Artemis before the winter solstice and when she went to go consult the Delphi Oracle it said â€Å"five shall go west hunters and campers combined will not fail one shall be lost in the land without rain and another shall parish by a parents hand. † So since Zoe was the quest leader she got to choose who goes with her, she chose three hunters and two campers but one of the hunters got sick so she couldn’t go so only four of them left for the quest Zoe Bianca, Thalia and Grover but then Percy wanted to go save Annabeth so he snuck off to save her. He ends up meeting up with and saves them from the monster that tries to kill them early. When the got to New Mexico (which is a land with out rain) they go into the gods junk yard and this giant mechanical robot thing comes to life and then Bianca jumped into the robot and defeated it but she was lost and could not be found. They had to go all the way from camp half blood which is right out side New York all the way to California. When they finally go to California the had to go up the mountain of the titans so it is really dangerous also the general is back which is cronus’s number one warrior you no the guy who holds up the sky atlas. When they get up there they see Annabeth laying on the ground over where you hold up the sky and Artemis holding up the sky they also see Luke and Atlas and an army behind them Percy Jackson did the naturally stupid thing and charged Atlas but cause of this curse that was put on Percy his weapon riptide failed him and so he ran over to where Artemis was holding up the sky and took the sky for her so that she could fight Atlas, While that was happening Thalia was fighting Luke after he was defeated by her, he tried to jump at her but her reflexes was to fast and she kicked him off the cliff with was like a 30 foot drop so he should have died but didn’t when Artemis was fighting Atlas she was defeated and before she was about to get seriously hurt Zoe jumped in the way and saved her, which gave Artemis enough time to get up and ready to fight again. In the mean time Zoe was seriously hurt and was about to die and everyone else was about to get defeated but then Artemis kicked Atlas under the sky again and so Percy jumped out of the way and so Atlas was stuck once again under the sky, but there was still a giant army that was surrounding them but out of no where Annabeth’s dad which owned a plane came out and started shooting all the monsters with Celtic bronze bullets which gave Artemis enough time to call down a chariot and so they jumped in to get away. Zoe was still really injured and on her death bed. She ends up dieing and then they find out that Atlas was Zoe’s dad so she perished by a parents hand. When they get back to camp half blood Nico found out his sister died so he got really angry and ran off which on his way finds out he is the son of Hades. Up on mount Olympus on the winter solstice they end up finding the monster which was a harmless cow sea serpent and so if you sacrifice a harmless monster you g ain the power to over throw the gods, Artemis convinces the gods that they need to go to war with the titans.

Henrik Ibsen- A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen was one of the most popular poet and dramatist in his time. He is considered as the father of modern realistic drama because he is responsible for the transition of the Romantic style going to modern realistic style of writing a play. The Norwegian playwright was born on Skien from Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, a relatively well-to-do merchant family. The family of Ibsen was one of oldest and distinguished family in their country. But the fortune of his family was taken away when he is going to its adulthood.Her mother turned to religion for support while his father financial situation was ruined because his father’s friend broke all connections with him and forced to bankruptcy in 1836 (Bellinger). Ibsen was motivated to go into playwriting by his mother. His mother was an enthusiastic painter and she loves theater. But because of situation of their family which was made them in to poverty, Ibsen at the age of 15 decided to go to Grimstad to be a pharmacist (Bellinger).In 1850, Ibsen goes to Christiania which is now called Oslo where he earned his journalistic writings in Heltberg. In this year also when his first written work was made and these were Catiline, a tragedy, which reflected the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1848, and The Burial Mound, written under the pseudonym of Brynjolf Bjarme. In 1858, returned to Christiania to apply his education in writing plays at Christiania’s National Theater and the same year when he married Suzannah Thoresen.All of the plays that were written by Ibsen were based on poverty and family problems. This was because on his past experience on his family. One of the plays that were written by Ibsen was the A Doll’s House. The said play, after being published received many criticisms about the traditional Victorian marriage. A Doll’s House-Critical Essay A Doll’s House was the first play that was written by Ibsen that has sensational effect on the audiences because it tackles on the norms of Victorian marriage.It is the most popular works that was written by Ibsen. The center of the story is about on Nora Helmer, who is the mother of the three children and the wife of Torvald Helemer who is a banker. The story is about on the marriage of the two characters that was ruined because the wife did not do her role as the mother and that she made an action that broke a law. The main points of Isben in his play were the family structure on his time and the way society thinks on the role of the father and the mother.The society in his time, after reading the play was patriarchal. It is very obvious because the play gives more importance on the male rather than equal opportunities. Ibsen designed the play in such a way that the audience can see the inequality of men and women as well the breakage of the norms in a marriage between husband and wife. The first secession of Nora in the society was when she committed a crime just to save the life of her wi fe.He was forced to forge the signature of his father so that he can borrow money that will be used for her husband’s treatment. The incidence showed that women can also make decision on their family and not the husband only. This is one of the norms in a Victorian marriage, were work, politics and decision are left from men while the household chores are women. The second secession of Nora in the society was when she decided to divorce her husband. In that time, divorce in never allowed by the society because it breaks the relationship of husband and wife.From the two secessions, it can be seen that the society dictates the relationship of a husband and wife and favors men. Nora secessions are very deliberate and thought out. She knows what society expects of her and continues to do what she feels is right despite them. Her secessions are used by Ibsen to show faults of society. Reference: Bellinger, Martha Fletcher. â€Å"A Short History of the Drama. † (1927). Novem ber 14, 2007 .

Ethical Information and Communication Technologies for Development Solutions Essay

Question 1 Can ICTs be innovatively used in the absence of minimum literacy levels among the poor? Yes, I believe ICTs can be innovatively used in the absence of minimum literacy levels among the poor. ICTs enable societies to produce, access, adapt and apply information in greater amounts, more rapidly and at reduced costs and offer enormous opportunities for enhancing business and economic viability. ICTs can also contribute towards strengthening democracy, increasing social participation, competing in the global market place and removing barriers to modernization; making poor populations fuller agents in the sustainable developmental process. The minimum requirements of ICT facilities require a computer with connection (3G, Wi-Fi, etc.). Unfortunately above mentioned is expensive, the poorest of the poor would not be able to afford it. Connectivity of mobile phones is also limited. Thus in order for ICTs to be innovatively used in the absence of minimum literacy levels among the poor, the above mentioned obstacles must be overcome. While poor nations grapple with the problems of investing in these technologies, recent experiments show that convergence of new and traditional communication media is still relevant to poor communities who lack basic infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity and telephones. ICTs are not just about technologies, but more about information transfer and communication. My aunt, ninety-six years of age, and my uncle, ninety years of age, rely exclusively on verbal communications. They have learned at an early age, that to observe and to be able to accurately account what had happened was of outmost importance – therefore their reliance on verbal communication. The elderly in our community therefore rely on the radio, and if available the television, as the means of communication with the outside world. Here it must be stressed that the language of communication must be in their own native tongue. My little girl is more adapt than me handling my cell-phone or tablet, yet she is also able to communicate with the outside world at her level. The scenario above illustrate that there is a definite need to ensure that information reach the elderly as well as the young of heart. Using innovative ways of applying ICTs we will be able to address this dire need. To reach this goal, communities must pool together to establish the basic infrastructure needed to roll out the information highway. The combination of radio, television and internet must be utilize to improve the level of education. Our government has projects in place to assist communities to have access to internet, especially our youth. Schools offer computer classes to scholars from Grade 1, to name but a few. Question 2 How can the same ICTs be used for multiple purposes? What steps are needed to use, say the internet for meeting the educational and health needs of poor female farmers in an isolated rural community? The same ICTs can be used in a variety of communication fields, from education and healthcare, to agriculture and business. For example, a radio can broadcast important news, financial news, weather, even educational programs. Thus spanning one form of ICT into a variety of sectors. Poverty reduction ICTs are considered increasingly important in the effort to eradicate poverty. It is widely recognized that ICTs can provide access to information which can in turn create earning opportunities, improve access to basic services, increase the impact of education and health interventions, and give the poor a voice to demand government support and reforms. Despite these potential links between ICTs and poverty reduction, direct access by the poor to ICTs is extremely limited. Citizens of poor countries, especially women, have significantly less access to ICTs than those living in rich countries. Factors such as excessive domestic workload, illiteracy and lack of formal education prevent these groups from accessing information. Poverty reduction means focusing on particular groups within societies not on ‘poor countries’. Education It is generally believed that ICTs can empower teachers and learners, making significant contributions to learning and achievement. However, current research on the impacts of ICTs on student achievement yields few conclusive statements, pro or con, about the use of ICTs in education. ICTs do offer many beneficial opportunities for education, but they are no substitute for formal schooling. Teachers need to be empowered to use ICTs so that they can gain the confidence and skills to work in an ICT – driven environment. Health ICTs can play a critical role in improving health care for individuals and communities. By providing new and more efficient ways of accessing, communicating, and storing information, ICTs can help bridge the information divides that have emerged in the health sector in developing countries—between health professionals and the communities they serve and between the producers of health research and the practitioners who need it. Through the development of databases and other applications, ICTs also provide the capacity to improve health system efficiencies and prevent medical errors. Gender Women’s ability to take advantage of ICT is dependent on conductive policies, an enabling environment in their countries to extend communications infrastructure to where women live, and increased educational levels.