A Paper About Justice, Dignity, Torture, Headscarves: Can Durkheim’s Socioligy Clarify Legal Values?/ Roger Cotterrell

Task: Could you write a one to two page summary of what Cotterrell says can be learned from a sociological approach in thinking what to do about the famous problem of whether Muslim women should be allowed to dress in all -covering veil. Restrictions on the wearing of the Islamic head scarf and body covering gown – A legal-moral issue In his article – Justice, Dignity, Torture, Headscarves: Can Durkheim's Socioligy Clarify Legal Values? Roger Cotterrell attempts to find out what Emile Durkheim would say regarding two issues that stand out in present days – the acceptability of torture in defense of national security; and restrictions on the wearing of the Islamic headscarf. Cotterrell takes Derkheim's approach regarding the sociology of morality in order to examine moral and legal evaluation of contemporary legal studies – Cotterrell examines Durkheim's ‘Moral individualism' idea (‘the cult of the individual’ or ‘cult of the human person’) concerning those two issues. I would focus on the second issue and would try to summarize Cotterrell's arguments on what the Durkheimian approach would say regarding the famous problem of whether Muslim women should be allowed to dress in all-covering veil. Firstly, I will explain what â€Å"Moral individualism† is and Durkheim's justifications for it. Then, I will display Cotterrell's justifications to why this approach is relevant nowadays. Thirdly, I will examine the dilemma in hand in a sociological way and try and understand what Cotterrell and Durkheim would say on the matter. Moral Individualism': According to Cotterrell, the essential idea that stands on the basis of the ‘Moral Individualism' principle is â€Å"universal respect for the equal human dignity and autonomy of every member of society, whatever differences there may be in the outlook, position, life conditions or roles of society’s members†. Durkheim feels strongly about ensuring that societies will integrate, or rat her – will be able to integrate, and will be able to be cohesive. I. e. if individuals in a certain society grant equal and ultimate respect to other individuals and their autonomy – that society will be able to better integrate and be cohesive and will ultimately work better as a group/society. Current relevancy: Cotterrell argues that the ‘Moral individualism' idea provides an alternative to familiar current ideas about the subject of human dignity. Durkheim's ideas â€Å"on solidarity and the body suggests that prohibiting certain forms of this, but not others, contravenes values of human dignity†. For example, if society does not respect the choice of Muslim women to dress in a certain way – society, de facto, does not respect these women's right for human dignity. Durkheim does not claim that following an investigation according to the ‘Moral Individualism' principle will result in a global time-less conclusion, but a specific conclusion of practices needed in order to ensure stable, cohesive society. Another justification Cotterrell finds is in the demand law makes from citizens nowadays. Today, more than ever – law should be examined as an expression of morality as appose to an expression of power, not philosophically but in a way of finding the compatible terms and â€Å"conditions of co-existence of individuals and groups in a certain time and place†. Regulation of female Islamic dress: Cotterrell depicts what Durkheim sees as the problematic character of sexuality viewed in the light of the socio-logical necessity of ‘Moral Individualism': sexual relations, in Durkheim's view, causes a sacrifice of the dignity and autonomy of both sexes in this action, and women in particular. This sacrifice leads to an exception in a society where the values of dignity and autonomy are fundamental and necessary. This exception, which is part of â€Å"islands of exceptions† that can be found in Durkheim's idea, leads to an ambiguity in practicing rights protecting dignity and autonomy especially for women. Following this line of thought, Cotterrel argues that the practice of Muslim women wearing the headscarves or the body-covering gown is fitting to Durkheim's ‘Moral Individualism' principle. This argues that in order to protect this idea, which is fundamental, â€Å"we conceal our body as well as our inner life from prying eyes†. This concealment is possibly in order to desexualize public social space, to terminate that ‘island of exception'. Meaning, the women that are wearing these covering garments actually makes it easier to help the society be more cohesive and to be more of the same. In my opinion, this method of achieving ‘Moral Individualism' is not appropriate, because it takes away from the individual the ability to reveal her face, her facial expressions and it is probably very uncomfortable at certain times. I should add that ‘Moral Individualism' is supposed to celebrate diversity and individualism, but it does not in this example of the headscarf issue. Cotterrell argues the same notion but in a cultural integration way. He claims that these women are taken away from the public space because of the cultural differences these garments impose on non-Muslim society. To summarize, Durkheim offers a different approach to the discussion about â€Å"Islamic headscarves† and even bypasses much pre-existing debate on the matter as Cotterrell argues. Moral Individualism' justifies the wearing of all-covering garments since it helps avoiding sexual connotations when integrating within a multi-cultural society. However, this approach also suggests that women's choices of clothes should be connected to ‘Moral Individualism'. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Note that these women's relig ion is not the issue here, they could have believed in a Judaism or Buddhism, and the principle would have remained the same.

The Book of Genesis vs. the Epic of Gilgamesh

Two Different Books with Similar Stories The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh have many clear similarities. One major, noticeable similarity is that in both stories, there are flood legends. There is the legend of Noah and the Ark in The Book of Genesis and the story of Utnapishtim in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In both stories, a higher power wants to wipe out the human race and decides to save one person who is then assigned to build an ark to hold himself, his family, and one of each animal. There are also many specifics about this flood that the two stories have in common, not just the basis of the tale.For example, both stories tell of a long storm. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, it says: â€Å"Six days and seven nights the wind and storm† (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 127). In The Book of Genesis, it says: â€Å"rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights† (Gen. 7:12). In both cases, the story is specific about the number of days the storm lasted. Noah and Utnapishtim make sacrifices to their respective higher power– Noah to God and Utnapishtim to Enlil. In the story of Noah and the Ark, it says that he â€Å"†offered burnt offerings on the altar† (Gen. :20) which is a sacrifice to God. In the story of Utnapishtim, it says that he â€Å"offered a sacrifice† (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 155) by pouring a libation to Ea, which is a form of spiritual sacrifice. These stories do not exist for entertainment, they serve the purpose of teaching people lessons about humankind and God or the gods. These flood legends tell us about a couple of different religious beliefs of the ancient people, one being that people are instinctually bad. A higher power wanted to wipe out the human race in both legends because humans were doing wrong.If humans were good by nature, the higher powers would not have wanted to destroy them all. The stories of these floods also show flaws in the high powers. Usually the gods or God are considered to be perfect, bu t in this story we see that the higher powers do indeed make mistakes. They made the mistake of creating an earth populated by flawed people. This is important because it shows that not even God or gods can achieve perfection, and humans certainly cannot. Even though this still makes the gods better than humans, no one is perfect.These two stories are also very similar in their views of humans versus animals. In both stories, the higher power assigns a man to build this ark and lead a new world with his animals. This shows his authority over the animals. Since he and his family are intended to be the only humans after the flood kills everyone else, this makes the humans the leaders of the living beings. The stories send a clear message that humans are above animals and humans have power over all animals. This tells us that animals are not viewed as equals and certainly do not receive the same respect as humans in either culture.This explains why people eat meat, have pets, farm, or anything else humans do to control animals and establish a higher power over them. Although there are very major similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis, there are also many differences. One of the main differences is the attitudes about sex. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh sleeps with all of the women in the town that he rules. Also, after a successful journey with Enkidu, they reward themselves by having sex with prostitutes. Prostitutes are also seen as mystical and powerful.Even more different from the other story is that the gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh sleep with human beings. Sex is much more common and casual in this story. Also, because it is provided to the warriors as a reward for a successful journey, it makes sex almost a trophy. Overall, this tale makes sex out to be a spiritual, powerful, and pleasurable action. This is very different from The Book of Genesis. In The Book of Genesis, sex is not for pleasure. People are not supposed to h ave sex until marriage, and it is mainly for the purpose of procreation.This is very different from The Epic of Gilgamesh in which Gilgamesh sleeps with many women while unwed. The difference in sexual attitudes in the stories exemplifies how sex is viewed differently in different cultures. Some may see it as a form of pleasure, while others view it as a means for creating children. Another minor difference between the stories is the idea of immortality. In both stories, all humans are born mortal. Although Gilgamesh is 1/3 god and 2/3 human, he is still mortal because he can be killed. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is given immortality by the gods before flooding out the human race.However, in The Book of Genesis, God does not give anyone the gift of immortality. This shows how the Christian culture believes that humans are far less powerful than God and they can never be anywhere near as strong and wise as Him. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, humans can be granted special powers by the gods, and Gilgamesh himself is part god. This puts far less emphasis on the division between humans and gods than The Book of Genesis. The obvious similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis tell us that the people of the world coming from different cultures still have many mutual beliefs.The similarities in the stories also show how important these stories are to people, since the beliefs are so widespread that multiple different variations of the stories have been written. It is clear that the people of the ancient world believed that the world was created by a higher power in a number of days, that a higher power created the human race, humans are very flawed, and many other mutual beliefs that can be found in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis.

Food Scarcity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Food Scarcity - Essay Example Hundreds of thousand of families in the Middle East are having a hard time coping with hunger, malnutrition and safety risks because they are forced to increase their spending money on food with high prices. Hence, poor families are further plunged into poverty since they cannot make ends meet. It was also noted that there is a serious humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to rising food prices, failed crops and market access that is menacing thousands of poor families. Once considered as the â€Å"largest refugee-hosting region in the world (Colin, et al, n.d.),† the Middle East at present regard basic staples like milk or fruit as luxuries. The increases of food prices will continually destabilized the region and make it more vulnerable to current surges of unrests and political conflicts that have been present as long as history can remember. The probable way to solve mass food problem in the Middle East is to develop the agricultural industry and secure sufficient wate r supply by introducing new technology under the support of international organizations and aid.

Astronomy and Quantum Physics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Astronomy and Quantum Physics - Essay Example The macrocosmic view of astrophysics posits billions of galaxies besides our own, innumerable stars, and planets, and this further points to the fact that we really know little about the universe in our limited, arrogant, ego states of consciousness. The religious view informs this understanding through â€Å"shamanic ecstasy† as Kessler calls it in â€Å"Studying Religion: An Introduction Through Cases,† where he describes the shaman travelling to the heavens and attaining a mystical unitive experience. (Kessler, 2007, p.143) In another way, Kessler suggests that the Buddhist conception of enlightenment may relate to a cosmic experience of being that is related directly to the universe of astrophysics. (Kessler, 2007, p.143-4) Knowing what we do of the nature of the cosmos, with many different possibilities of life, and also understanding Buddhist conceptions of re-incarnation, these two views can combine in a manner that merges the spiritual and physical to see life c ontinuing and developing in different forms across a variety of planets and star systems. The microcosmic view of quantum physics tends to infinite smallness where the astrophysics tends towards infinite expansion. That the two may merge in large cycles of time where the universe expands and then contracts to a single point over periods of billions of millennia or more is a massive concept of time cycles that accords with the Buddhist philosophical standpoint and modern physics.

Context and Meaning, Teaching Vocabulary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Context and Meaning, Teaching Vocabulary - Essay Example The students can be shown separate pieces of silverware, which they know (a fork, a spoon, a knife), and then told that all they are called silverware. That is the teacher goes from particular to general concepts when introducing the word. Using authentic materials can be of a great advantage to teach students word meaning, because they are the real examples of how the word is usually used. However, such materials can be inappropriate for beginners because they may not be ready to understand and comprehend the presented information. In addition, teaching meaning, I believe, should not be separated from teaching other concepts of the language, so it might be more useful to use materials specifically developed to meet the learning needs of the students. For example, if the students have just learnt Present Perfect Tense, it is good to use Perfect structures in the materials for teaching meaning in order for the students to both revise and strengthen the knowledge of Present Perfect, and learn the new vocabulary on the basis of already acquired knowledge. In addition, when authentic materials contain many unfamiliar or new grammatical structures, they are more difficult for the students to understand, and, as a result, t he meaning of the separate words may be more difficult to explain too. The following text can be used to teach vocabulary to beginners. The words to introduce would be the names of the house premises: living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom. The text is accompanied by illustrations: a layout of the house, or pictures of separate rooms. The teacher reads the text showing each room on the

MHE509 Module 2 - Case, Planning for Emergencies -- NIMS; Hazard and Essay

MHE509 Module 2 - Case, Planning for Emergencies -- NIMS; Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis - Essay Example In other words, the pattern of human environmental intervention is directly related to this growing frequency of small to medium scale disasters. The threat we face due to our own conditioning of our environment is to our very existence on this planet. The occurrences of hurricanes and floods along the west coast and the greenhouse effect are testimony to this. 2) Goals are defined when there are viable chances of achieving them. It is by all means a good thing to identify the risk posed in highly vulnerable regions among social groups with low institutional capacity for disaster management. But the issues involved are too deep and enmeshed to be resolved easily. The main reason for the ‘low institutional capacity’ is related to low incomes and being unskilled. Most people residing in the highly vulnerable regions or in close proximity to them, tend to be from social groups in which people are poor, unknowledgeable about the risks, and untrained to cope with any disasters. Their homes too are often poorly constructed and unlikely to be insured. The attachment to the place means that even after a disaster has occurred, they are unlikely to relocate elsewhere. Thus, any strategy to minimize this risk will need to address a host of related needs to do with raising awareness, education programs, social and medical training, giving financial assistance, implementing economic policies and establishing health and social welfare projects. 3) Mitigation should definitely be the primary component of disaster plans because if the measures are taken appropriately they can not only lead to minimizing the risk of a disaster but may even prevent a disaster from occurring. This does not mean that a naturally occurring disaster can be prevented but that we could save ourselves from a calamity. Being successful at preventing a disaster from occurring is better than having to deal with the after

Sauer's Cultural Landscape Geography Assignment

Sauer's Cultural Landscape Geography - Assignment Example Under the influence of Carl Sauer, cultural landscape geography developed as the main branch of geography.   â€Å"Sauer was explicitly concerned to counter an environmental determinism which had dominated the American geography of the previous generation, within which human agency was given scant autonomy in the shaping of the visible landscape ».He believed that culture is the main force in shaping all visible features of the physical environment of the earth’s surface and he calls it ‘human cultural activities.’ They provoke action, responses, and adaptation by humans. He touches the cultural traits imposed by Europeans during colonization on various parts of the world and says that this cultural imposition on pre-existing cultures, shaped these new cultures in a different way. â€Å"Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result. Under the influence of a given culture, itself changing through time, the landscap e undergoes development, passing through phases, and probably reaching ultimately the end of its cycle of development. With the introduction of a different – that is an alien – culture, a rejuvenation of the cultural landscape sets in, or a new landscape is superimposed on remnants of an older one,† Sauer (1925), The Morphology of Landscape.† University of California Publications.French regional geography was a model of what Sauer propagated. French seafarers were crowned with initial success and the French school of geography was highly influential. It ‘†¦became known for its descriptive regional monographs presented in a lucid and flowing manner, human and historical geography was its forte.’ Even though there were criticisms that the emphasis has shifted several times between the approaches and viewpoints, all geographers had recognized their interdependence and complimentary importance. There is no denying that French regional geograph y also reflected the historical and military developments of the country. Talking about a hundred years’ war between France and Britain, Sauer says (Northern Mists) that France lost most of her ports and her north and southwest regions were ravaged.

President Obama and the Financial Reform Research Paper

President Obama and the Financial Reform - Research Paper Example It has also enacted the Volcker Rule based on the advice of Paul Volcker a former Federal Bank’s Chairman and headed Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Although many are skeptical of the features and progress of the new Act, the law is understood to be more stringent on the unregulated trading and risk-taking by the financial corporations.   There have 3 major financial reforms in US history preceded by the recessionary phases and accounting scandals. First, the US economy faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in 1929 as a result of which the Glass Steagall Act came into existence in 1933 which legislated the separation of commercial banks from investment banks. Senator Carter Glass was responsible for bringing the Act who believed that the commercial bank’s direct involvement with dealing in corporate securities was a threat to the financial system stability. Since then it has been the topic of research for many economists (Clark, p.205). Second, in 2002 the Sarbanes Oxley Act was signed in the wake of global corporate and accounting scandals such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco International (Slander, p.1). The Act contains provisions of corporate governance and auditor’s independence and led to the creation of quasi-public agency Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which was responsible for regulating and overseeing the accounting firms as external auditors. Third, the most important reforms, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act has been enacted in 2010 by President Barack Obama and his administration. The law has led to the creation of two important oversight bodies- Financial Stability Oversight Council and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new Act is considered by many to be based on the Glass Steagall Act. Global Financial Crisis 2007-2010 The Global financial crisis started with the bankruptcy of investment bank Bearn Stearns Inc in 2007 due to heavy exposure to mortgage-backed securities, central to the subprime mortgage crisis. The bank was sold to JP Morgan Chase. Then the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest bank in America was followed, which unfolded the global financial crisis. All those financial institutions which had exposures to the collapsed bank’s short-term assets faced the liquidity crunch. The largest insurance firm AIG faced the liquidity crisis in 2008 because its credit ratings were downgraded.  Ã‚  

Corporate Social Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate Social - Essay Example This paper discusses the importance of CSR strategy for the organisations and the challenges faced by organisations when they implement such a strategy. The corporate social responsibility strategy is important for the organisations as this strategy takes into consideration the acceptability of the organisation by the consumers of the particular region. This strategy has to take into consideration the corporate governance factors; this strategy ensures that the organisation is conducting its operations in a responsible ways and will be accountable for all its business activities that are impacting the environment (Brooks, Williams, and Thomas, 2004). Implementing a corporate social responsibility strategy in the organisation is a strategic issue. This is so because this strategy allows organisations to conduct their business by maintaining strong and cordial relationship with their stakeholders and the community (Hemingway and Maclagan, 2004). The customers are important for the success of the organisation, when customers have in mind that the organisation is a socially responsible organisation, the reputation of the organisation further improves and so does the customer base. This positive image proves to be useful for the organisation in the long term. If organisations do not consider the community and their business operations harm the community then there stands a high chance of business failure in that community. Customers may get the message that this particular organisation is not concerned with the welfare and wellbeing of the people (Levy, 2007). Any negative message transmitted to the consumers by any business activity will cause the organisation to face heavy consequences. Therefore, keeping in view the shareholders and the community is important for organisation’s success. The shareholders or the organisation, the valuable customers and the workforce of the organisation, all these elements have expectations with the business and

The Value of Educational Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Value of Educational Research - Essay Example Educational research could be related to scientific analysis or could also be on teacher's role in setting and changing curricula, and on the extent to which individuals have access to high quality education. Educational research thus encompasses general issues on education as well as specific issues on scientific discovery and use of new and advanced technology in education. The value of educational research would be directly related to what lessons are drawn from analysis of general and specific issues on education, both in terms of scientific advancement and administrative policies related to education. A recent debate on educational systems and the evaluation of the national curriculum in the UK has moved from general discussions to specific standards of education along with highlighting the role and status of the teacher in promoting education. The teacher is considered a professional and an innovator and reducing them to followers or implementers of certain educational curricula is seen as a mistake. Osborne et al (1988) pointed out to the centralisation of the educational system and the rigidity of the curriculum, funding and assessment against the projected freedom of choice and parental involvement in education planning. Osborne et al suggest that curricula do not develop according to a set of objectives and procedures and behavioural sequences, but that educational objectives are set in accordance with what has already been done and the decisions made on the curricula. Schooling has been criticised as being too focused on offering teacher proof knowledge and packaged rather than what it should be. Of course what education should project is debatable and some have considered it as a moral and ethical activity that would prepare moral agents of society and developing value systems would be one of the important aspects of education. The role of education is to prepare a morally responsible society although it is also true that its effects cannot be predicted. Educational change could be described as an objective planning procedure although issues of morality and ethics would make it less objective and that is how educational systems become loaded with values and is not exactly value free. Osborne et al (1988) suggest that it is important for curricula of schools to be different as all kinds of educational standardisation would make the system too rigid although the value systems and ethical standards followed will have to be similar between schools. However this essay is not particularly focused on value systems within education but the inherent value of research on education. Value systems in education are related to issues of planning and objectives although any research in education would go beyond value systems and ethics or morality to include training, technology, innovation, teacher's role, educational st andards, socioeconomic activity, cultural factors and theoretical models of educational change and development. This essay being focused on the values of educational research, the mission or objectives of any educational research institute could be understood in terms of the following conditions laid down by the National Centre for Educational Research in the US MISSION.-The mission of the Research Center is- (1) to sponsor sustained research that will lead to the accumulation of knowledge and understanding of education, to- (A)

David Fletcher Case Essay Example for Free

David Fletcher Case Essay Jenkins, Fletcher Partners (JFP) has the potential to thrive and succeed in the financial service industry with stimulated, productive, and satisfied employees. However, there are small and large issues to be addressed in order to carry that in action. In this specific case analysis, we analyze the issues hindering JFP from further development, and suggest respective and appropriate suggestions to resolve those problems. First, a thorough evaluation of JFP shed light on a number of issues: The inconsistency with JFP’s differentiated and key organizational structure: wide, flat, informal structure for quick decisions. Struggles for autonomy within the company and the pending decision to hire a new research analyst. Anti-cohesiveness and lack of appropriate human resource management. Low team productivity and insufficient and inaccurate incentives within the work teams Although these issues present obstacles for further growth and potential of the firm, JFP is able to resolve these issues and consequently differentiate itself from its competitors in the industry with the following suggested resolutions: Further emphasize the informal and quick information sharing in between all the employees. Convince Stephanie to remain with the firm with a larger responsibility to enhance the structure under the assumption that her requirements are met. Hire Robinson based on her qualifications and acceptance by current JFP employees, and develop further evaluation of Fiske’s. Maintain a balance of young and senior analysts to achieve a productive and conducive learning environment. Implement regular and functional meetings at which every employee has an input. Develop performance management instead of performance reviews. Maintain the organizational restructures through work team productivity and implementation of appropriate incentivizing system. With these critical resolutions, JFP will become the unique, successful, and differentiated financial service firm that the founders originally dreamed of. One of the points of differentiation that JFP has from other financial service firms on Wall Street is its unique structure of small, flat, and wide for effective and efficient communication and decision making process. But Fletcher made a mistake to contradict that very principle of JFP. By not communicating with Stephanie and other salient members of the firm with regard to hiring process of Doyle, David Fletcher put more workload on himself, slowed the  decision making process, and disregarded other employees’ opinions and thoughts on Doyle, and practically created the silo effect. Fletcher explains, â€Å"I figured that Stephanie would do the health care and environmental stocks as well as the retail stocks while Brian would focus on his specialty, high-tech†, as he reveals his own â€Å"thought process† without the actual confirmation from Stephanie. Furthermore, Fletcher admits, â€Å"hiring Brian wasn’t coming from her pocket, it was coming from mine†, and demonstrates the contradiction to shared ideas and smooth flow of information he so desperately pursued himself. The employees at JFP are meant to communicate and share information with each other fluidly without any excluded members. However, Fletcher contradicted the ideal environment he desired to create by not communicating with Stephanie throughout the hiring process of Brian Doyle and thus deteriorated the structure he wanted. Although a desire for autonomy and greater success are contributing factors in Stephanie wanting to leave the firm, this significant incident has l ed to her feeling alienated and secluded from Fletcher and the work they used to do together. Another issue that Fletcher faces, looking forward, is whether or not to hire Fiske and/or Robinson. As previously mentioned, Fletcher makes the hiring process ineffective and inconsistent. When hiring Kindred, Fletcher learned from the conflict that had already risen between Doyle and Whitney, and makes sure to receive feedback from Whitney and other employees before moving forward with Kindred. Fletcher also maintains an incredibly packed schedule and the hiring process is overly crucial and overwhelming for him to do by himself. Moreover, because of his overwhelming schedule, Fletcher cannot possibly to train all the new hires on how evaluate stocks and consider the investment strategy. On a greater scale, throughout JFP there is an extreme lack of group cohesiveness and issues with conflict management. Members of the company compete to achieve the identical goal to become portfolio managers. Members of JFP have a power struggle to achieve their own individual goals; consequently, pay compensation directly associates with individual accomplishments. The very structure of Wall Street that Lodge dislikes includes silos with high departmentalization, and members with their own agendas. JFP requires a group cohesion for an effective decision making, yet the firm rewards for self-fulfilling achievements. Therefore, presented is a â€Å"Rewarding A while hoping for B†Ã‚  issue. Also, a clear relationship conflict versus task conflict is evident. There are personal and social disagreements that hinder employees to expend effort and resource on discussing vital company tasks and objectives. There are also many interpersonal and organizational conflicts that arise through peripheral transactions within JFP. One simple example includes Stephanie’s concern about where her desk is located. And yet, there are no company procedures to address and resolve these conflicts in a systematic way. Another example is lack of employees’ input about new hires. Unrest and social disturbances are within an organization present obstacles for employees to work efficiently and to be creative which affects their performance and in turn JFP’s success. The final issue to be address is JFP’s lack of effectiveness in work teams and motivation on both the individual and group le vels. More attention can increase productivity and motivation according to the Hawthorne Effect. Fletcher’s decreased attention toward Stephanie, demonstrated in Doyle’s hiring process, reduces her motivation and attachment to the firm and develops negative feelings about Doyle. Because Doyle and Stephanie have relationship conflicts, they cannot properly address task, including feedbacks for investment choices, which leads to decreased productivity and creativity within the firm. When Stephanie finds personal fulfillment and interest in her work, intrinsic motivation, Doyle’s hiring process situation diminishes it significantly. Because she is less secure and satisfied, Whitney is less motivated, which falls in line with Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory: hygiene factors, including security and working conditions, â€Å"operate primarily as de-motivators if they are insufficient† (175). Stephanie also has extrinsic motivation—Fletcher’s attention, praise, and guidance—which increases her intrinsic motivation as well as job satisfaction and a sense of purpose at JFP. Whitney’s lower job satisfaction results in a poor job performance and her attachment to JFP. In order to better achieve the wide, flat structu re for efficient and effective decision making, Fletcher should attempt to keep Stephanie Whitney with the firm because she has already gained expertise within the industry, and training and molding another new employee in place of Whitney bears immense opportunity cost for the culture and productivity of the firm. Additionally, Whitney has consistently performed at a high level, and the success she’s attained transitioning from  an administrative assistant to a portfolio manager can be leveraged as an effective tool to inspire others to work. Since Whitney has expressed a desire to leave, Fletcher needs to intrinsically and extrinsically motivate her to. In order to keep Stephanie motivated at JFP, Fletcher should have Stephanie with a team of her to delve into an industry that she is curious and enthusiastic about, so long as that industry has an investment potential for the firm. Since monetary incentives can be sufficiently satisfied with firms other than JFP, Stephanie needs to have the extrinsic motivator of autonomy. This reward for staying would be unprecedented in a firm where most decisions come down to David, and would be an indication that she is incredibly valued and essential to the organization. Permitting Stephanie to recruit her own team will also serve to widen the st ructure of the firm and delegate more tasks. Fletcher also needs to highlight the tie that they have shared in the past, apologize for not being transparent with her completely, and express respect towards her career development. Despite the possibility that Whitney will decide to pursue other opportunities, Fletcher needs to convince her to stay because of her credibility and the value lost from the firm’s perspective. There is an argument to be made that Whitney was at the root of personal issues in the past, but Whitney’s conflict was task-oriented, not personal. Her disagreement with many of Doyle’s investment strategies causes problems when Fletcher failed to address her concerns. In the end, Whitney ends up being right about Doyle, and it is not to be understated that she gets along very well with everyone else in the organization. Building a strong culture is a key for JFP in hiring new employees. Whitney, who already gets along with Robinson, can help to develop the environment in which portfolio managers work creatively and get along on a personal level as well. By treating Whitney as more of a thought partner than protege, Fletcher should keep Whitney for the benefit of JFP. As Kindred’s case reflect, new hires are more effective in their roles in hiring them. Therefore, the hiring process should be structured in a way that all existing employees get to meet the candidate before the decision is made. Organization’s small scale will allow such procedure that will result in more effective hiring process. More attention should also be paid to the current employees, not only to ensure new employees’ transition, but also to deal with the hiring process more  effectively. Whitney’s insistence upon leaving can be circumvented entirely had Fletcher heeded her concerns and addressed the issue earlier. JFP should also aim to balance between experienced and new hires, and encourage the experienced portfolio managers to act as mentors. Fletcher cannot possibly serve as a mentor for everyone; but forging mentor/mentee roles amongst the portfolio managers will lead to more cohesiveness in the organization, experienced employees leading by example and contribute to the flat structure of the organization with reduced risk of employees’ uneasiness. Fletcher has already taken a step in the right direction by seeking the approval of other employees for hiring Robinson, but needs to continue with evaluating Fiske. Moreover, JFP should feel confident about hiring Robinson because the other employees think highly of her and Robinson offers a unique background and valuable expertise. Despite Fiske’s experience, his ability to collaborate with his colleagues is the critical point to evaluate in the hiring decision. And thus Fletcher must turn to the rest of JFP for advice. In terms of cohesiveness and people management, JFP should implement work teams to emphasize the outcome is greater than the sum of individual ’s effort. Also, work groups can be particularly utilized in the new research analyst candidates’ environment because their primary task is to share information. Cohesiveness can be developed by rewarding employees as groups, increasing the time that employees spend with each other, stimulating competition amongst groups, benchmarking JFP’s performance to that of a competitor firm, and by increasing the exclusivity. Furthermore, JFP requires regular meetings at which everyone is involved and present to facilitate increasing the time employees spend together and resolving conflicts within the organization. Group successes and failures can be discussed and evaluated. In order to successfully restructure JRP, performance management is essential because it is another method for conflict resolution. Performance management will also bring a continuous flow of feedback so the employee can adjust his or her performance. An increase in employee satisfaction within the workplace will follow. Additionally, the Hawthorn Study states that non-financial incentives are more effective than financial incentives; also, attention from leaders has been pr oven to be 63% effective, praise from managers 67% effective, opportunities to lead projects 62% effective. â€Å"†¦(P)eople will  feel competent if they obtain feedback that indicates progress in their work or suggests ways that can increase their competence†. (176) The delegation of autonomy within JFP can also be addressed because autonomy is easily assessed and provided to employees if management constantly evaluates employee’s performance. Lastly, Fletcher needs to address work team productivity and motivation within JFP. As an example, Stephanie demonstrates enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment in her job, and Fletcher needs to develop these motivations further. He also needs to ensure a good team dynamic. Intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity and result in more unique, productive and creative analysts. According to â€Å"scientific management†, extrinsic motivation is strictly positive; however managers often create undesired behaviors in their employees by utilizing this incorrect statement. (181) Therefore, Fletcher has to give critical feedback and attention to his analysts to provide them with some continuing extrinsic motivation. In addition, Fletcher should foster an environment in which analysts develop enjoyment and attachment, that will contribute to intrinsic motivation as well. Hackman and Oldham’s model of job enrichment (1976) suggests different ways to increase employee motivation. For example, task identity, task significance, and feedback are a number of them. Developing task identity means to increase an analyst’s sense of meaningfulness in one’s work and growing task significance means to increase the sense of importance of their work. Additionally, ongoing feedback will also contribute positively to the analysts’ motivation. Fletcher should focus on these methods, as well as an appealing work environment and good group dynamic, to increase his analysts’ motivation. With these constructive resolutions—further consolidating the unique organizational structure, effectively recruiting new employees, critically addressing conflicts and cohesiveness within the group, and appropriately maintaining the balance of motivation—JFP is assured to thrive as a differentiated, outperforming, and attractive financial service firm.

Corporate Governance Essay Example for Free

Corporate Governance Essay ABSTRACT This paper examines whether the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer position in Hong Kong public firms is affected by board composition, given the influence of family control on the boards of many Hong Kong companies. It is hypothesized that I) in family-controlled boards, Chief Executive Officers receiver higher compensation and II) Chief Executive Officers in family-controlled boards serve as Chief Executive Officer positions longer. In family-controlled boards, corporate governance is of very high importance as the independent non-executive directors can exert less influence over the board, compared to non-family-controlled boards (â€Å"dispersed boards†). Keywords: Board composition, Remuneration, Corporate Governance. 1.INTRODUCTION The economic turmoil in Asia in 1997 has led to a wider recognition of the importance of corporate governance. In line with global trends towards higher standards of corporate governance, the duties and liabilities of the directors of the listed companies have therefore become more stringent. It follows that many corporate governance mechanisms designed to monitor board members may be less effective for family-owned and family-controlled firms. However, to attract outside investors, family-owned and family-controlled firms tend to encourage greater independence and monitoring from the board. For the purposes of the study, family-owned and family-controlled are used interchangeably. The reason is that actual family ownership is difficult to ascertain due to various shareholdings and special purpose vehicles that are used, and cannot be deduced from annual reports. Thus, in this study we classify family-control and family-ownership when the board is made of a majority of related family members as a â€Å"family-controlled board†. When it is not, we classify it as a â€Å"dispersed board†. In practice, there are instances where the family owns the majority of a company but comprise of a minority of the board, and it is possible that the family is able to exert influence via other avenues, however, this study will not be examining such. Family-owned firms are common throughout Asia. Studies show that, family-owned firms hold more than 20 percent of the equity of listed companies in Asia, and more than 60 percent of the listed companies have connections with family-owned groups (Bebchuk Fried, 2006). Family-owned businesses represent the predominant form of listed companies in Hong Kong (Standard Poor’s, 2002). Such family ownership structure implies the strong influence of dominant shareholders and provides limited voice for minority shareholders. Compared to the Anglo-American environment, where ownership blocks are less concentrated but institutional investors are more prevalent, in Hong Kong, there is less of a culture for non-executive directors or minority shareholder activists to challenge. Variations in ownership structure may lead to differences in the nature of agency conflicts, the roles of directors may vary in accordance to the ownership structure. For family-owned firms, Shleifer and Vishny (1997) argue that the primary agency conflict is between a family owner and non-family owners. Meanwhile, for widely held firms, Berle and Means (1932), and, Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that the primary agency conflict is between executives and shareholders. As a consequence, tying remuneration to performance of executives may prove the most efficient way to mitigate this agency conflict. To date, a vast of literatures published in recent years show the growing recognition of influences of family-owned firms and executive remuneration on corporate governance. Many studies have tended to focus on the use of remuneration contracts to align interests of executives with owners in family-owned firms. The rise in executive remuneration in recent years has been the subject of public criticism, which further intensified corporate governance scandals. Therefore, the question whether a correlation exists between remuneration and family-control in board composition at Hong Kong-listed companies. 2.OBJECTIVES In 1994, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited introduced rules that require listed firms to disclose the remuneration of directors. Before 2004, there was no requirement to disclose the names and remuneration of directors (Cheng Firth, 2005). The Disclosure of Financial Information rule under Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s Listing Rules was amended on 31 March 2004 to require full disclosure, on an individual and named basis, of directors’ fees and any other reimbursement or emolument payable to a director. In addition, Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard 2 requires listed firms to disclose directors’ share-based remuneration. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices forms part of the Listing Rules and came into effect on 1 January 2005. According to the Code on Corporate Governance Practices, Hong Kong’s listed firms should be overseen by an effective board, which should assume responsibility for the leadership and control of the listed firm, and the members of which should be collectively responsible for promoting the success of the firm by directing and supervising its affairs. Directors should make decisions objectively in the best interests of the firm. In regards of remuneration policy for firms’ directors, the Code on Corporate Governance Practices requires the disclosure of information related to the firm’s directors’ remuneration policy and other remuneration-related matters. There should be a formal and transparent procedure for setting policy on executive directors’ remuneration. The Chief Executive Officer, a director in the board of company, will hence have his/her full remuneration disclosed. It is recommended that remuneration should be set at a level sufficient to attract and retain directors of the caliber required to run the company successfully, but companies should avoid paying more than is necessary. However, it is argued that many corporate governance mechanisms designed to monitor board members may be less effective for family-owned firms. However, to attract outside investors, family-owned firms tend to encourage greater independence and monitoring from the board. In Hong Kong, there are quite a number of listed companies have a high concentration of family ownership. It is common for the top executives of family-owned firms in Hong Kong to be family members. The rise of remuneration of family executives in family-owned firms has been the subject of public criticism. Recognizing this, the purpose of this research is to find out whether there is any relationship between family-board-control of firms and remuneration of Chief Executive Officers. To summarize, this study revolves around the following major objectives. †¢ To test whether there are significant differences in Chief Executive Officers’ remuneration for family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms (specifically firms with family-controlled boards and firms without family-controlled boards); †¢ To find out whether â€Å"Family Chief Executive Offices† (cases where the Chief Executive Officer are family members of the family-controlled boards) are awarded excessive compensation, compromising standards of corporate governance; †¢ To examine the tenure of Chief Executive Officers for family-controlled firms vs non-family-controlled firms, given that there may be differences in the board’s ongoing approval and demand of the results delivered by the Chief Executive Office; and †¢ To test whether there are significant differences in corporate governance structure of family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms. 3.LITERATURES REVIEW, HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Agency theory It is commonly acknowledged that ownership structure, the basis of corporate governance, is important to the overall performance of firms. While there are a large number of literatures discussing ownership structure, agency theory is frequently cited as a foundation. In modern corporations, the separation of ownership and control leads to agency conflicts that can be alleviated through various corporate governance mechanisms (Fama and Jensen, 1983). As one such mechanism, compensation schemes are designed to provide incentives that align the behavior of agents to act on behalf of principles (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). This relationship between executive compensation and firm performance has received considerable attention from the general public and academics. One of the issues in the field of management is the impact of family influence (Mishra et. al., 2001; McConaughy et. al., 1998) and corporate governance on the value of a firm (Khatri et al., 2001; Kwak, 2003; Black et al., 2003). There are various studies in diverse areas like accounting, economics, finance, law and management have been conducted to study such impact (Mishra et al., 2001; Kwak, 2003; Blacket al., 2003; Andersen and Reeb, 2003). These studies have resulted in interesting and useful observations. According to Alchian and Demsetz (1972), the principal agent problem comes from hidden action due to asymmetric information. The essence of a firm is that, it permits people to work as a team. It is the cooperation of a team that leads to a firm’s output. Thus, the agency problem inevitably arises in corporate governance. According to Jensen and Meckling (1976), agent problem arises from the conflict of interests between shareholders as the principals and the executives as the agents. Consequently, residual control rights fall into the hands of management instead of the residual cash flow claimants. As a result, the sum of monitoring expenditures be incurred by the principal, bonding expenditures incurred by the agent, and the value of the lost residual borne by the principal are included as the cost of agency. In general, when ownership of a firm becomes more dispersed, the agency problem will be deteriorated due to the inability of the relatively small shareholders to monitor the behavior of management. The monitoring of managers by shareholders is also weakened by free-rider problem. To mitigate the problem of agency, Ang (2000) and Denis and Sarin (1999) suggested the shareholding of management to be increased in order to make the executive a significant claimant. An inverse correlation exists between the dispersed ownership and firm performance (Berle and Means, 1932), because executives’ interests do not coincide with the interest of shareholders so that corporate resources are not used for the maximization of shareholders’ wealth. This view has been supported by many scholars. Shleifer and Vishny (1986), McConnell and Servaes (1990), and Zingales (1995) found a strong positive relationship between ownership concentration and corporate performance. In transitional economies, Xu and Wang (1999) and Chen (2001) found a positive relationship between actual firm performance and ownership concentration for a sample of listed Chinese companies. 3.2Ownership Structure It is common in Hong Kong, that ownership structure is characterized by single dominant owners (Chau Leung, 2006). A report of the Corporate Governance Working Group of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants in 1995 indicated that a high concentration on family-controlled listed firms is highly entrepreneurial and opportunistic in their business strategies, however, the report also indicate that these firms with single dominant owners lack resources and corporate culture to maintain strong internal corporate control. The 2001 Review on Corporate Governance by the Hong Kong Standing Committee for Corporate Law Reform, as well as a report from Standard Poor’s, indicated that family ownership structures present particular challenges. Theoretically, there is a major puzzle regarding the role of family in large firms (Bertrand Schoar, 2006; Villalonga Amit, 2006). In family-controlled firms, threatening factors may negatively influence the firms’ value (Demstez, 1983; Demstez and Lehn, 1985). Table 1 as below lists positive and negative factors affecting the relationship between family control and firm value. It shows that there is still difference of opinion among researchers on this topic of importance. 3.3â€Å"Family† Chief Executive Officers In this study, whether a person belonging to the family acts as a Chief Executive Officer is taken into account. We classify family-control and family-ownership when the board is made of a majority of related family members (â€Å"family-controlled board†). When it is not, we classify it as a â€Å"dispersed board†. Family Chief Executive Officers have substantial stockholdings of 5 percent or more (Daily Dollinger, 1993), with such given bargaining power, can be expected to influence the size and structure of their remuneration packages to their own benefit. Thus, for the purposes of this study, Chief Executive Officers with stockholdings of less than 5 percent are not counted as â€Å"Family Chief Executive Officers†. There are differing opinions on whether such Family Chief Executive Officers have higher or lower remunerations at such family-controlled firms. Some believe that such Family Chief Executive Officers are receiving above-average compensation due to the family-controlled board, as well as their strong ability to influence remuneration committee. Oh the other hand, others take the opposite view and see that Family Chief Executive Officers should be receiving below-average compensation. There is several reasons for this expectation. First of all, both anecdotal (Applegate, 1994; Kets de Vries, 1993) and empirical (Allen Pamian, 1982; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001; Schulze et al., 2001) evidence suggest that incumbents with family ties to owners enjoy high employment security. As argued by Beehr (1997), the Family Chief Executive Officer inherently plays two overlapping and interdependent roles: a work role as steward of the company, and a non-work role as fulfillment of family obligations. In reciprocity for this role duality, the Family Chief Executive Officer is rewarded with a relatively assured job (Allen Pamian, 1982; Kets de Vries, 1993; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001). Moreover, some literatures suggested that evaluators are more likely to make positive performance attributions to employees when there are emotional ties between monitoring and those being judged (Cardy Dobbins, 1993). It is expected that in family-controlled firms, board members in their role as monitors may be less inclined to attribute disappointing results to the Family Chief Executive Officer, giving the benefit of the doubt to the incumbent when interpreting ambiguous performance data. Agency theory suggests that there are inherent conflicts between shareholders and executives. Applying agency theory’s logic, the above scenario suggests that in family-controlled firms, risk adverse agents would trade higher job security for lower earnings if they are related to principals. Family Chief Executive Officers mitigate usual agency costs because of their aligned interests with the owners (Anderson Reeb, 2003). The information asymmetry problem in agency relationships may also be reduced given the close ties between Family Chief Executive Officers and the owners. Since they hold high ownership stakes, Family Chief Executive Officers have sufficient incentives to place family welfare ahead of personal interests, thus may perform better than firms with non-family Chief Executive Officers. Barney (2001) suggested that appointing family members as Chief Executive Officers may be beneficial. Tradition, loyalty, and bonding relationships determine how resources are deployed in family firms. Family Chief Executive Officers build common interests and identities (Habbershon Williams, 1999) and play a dual role by being both owners and executives (Chang, 2003; Yiu, Bruton, Lu, 2005). Through social relationships with managers and employees, Family Chief Executive Officers may help to obtain intangible resources such as goal congruence, trust, and social interactions, providing valuable, unique, and hard-to-imitate competitive advantage (Chu, 2011; Liu et al., 2011; Luo Chung, 2005). The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends remuneration committee to seek advice from the Chief Executive Officer on the matter of directors’ remuneration. Executives in firms controlled by a large shareholder receive more compensation for performance, than executives in firms lacking a controlling owner (Gomez-Mejia et al., 1987). Mehran (1995) examined the relationship between executive remuneration, ownership structure and firm performance. The results indicate that firms, which have more outside directors, have a higher percentage of executive remuneration in equity-based form. Moreover, the percentage of equity-based remuneration is inversely related to the outside directors’ equity ownership, i.e., the executive’s equity-based remuneration rose if the outside directors’ owned less of the company, and vice-versa. Next, Mehran (1995) turned to firm performance, and its relationship to executive remuneration and ownership structure. He used Tobin’s Q and return on assets as measures of firm performance. He found firm performance to be positively related to the percentage of executive remuneration that is equity-based. However, Mehran (1995) no relationship between firm performance and ownership structure. He concluded that the results support the notion that executive remuneration should be tied to firm performance. There is a vast amount of literature on turnover of the Chief Executive Officer position (Furtado and Karan, 1990; Kesner and Sebora, 1994; Finkelstein and Hambrick, 1996; Pitcher et al., 2000). However, according to Finkelstein and Hambrick (1996), the relationship between remuneration and turnover has not been subjected to rigorous empirical examination, even given the emphasis on retention as a justification for high remuneration of Chief Executive Officer. The following hypotheses are framed: Hypothesis 1: In family-controlled boards, Chief Executive Officers receive higher compensation. Hypothesis 2: Chief Executive Officers in family-controlled boards serve as Chief Executive Officer positions longer. 3.4Board Composition The role of the board is expected to represent shareholders, provide strategic guidance to and effective oversight of management, foster a culture of good governance, and promote a safe and healthy working environment within the company. In accordance to Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Rule 3.10, the board of directors is required to have at least three independent non-executive directors. The presence of â€Å"truly† independent non-executive directors in the corporate governance regime is seen as one way of mitigating agency problem associated with concentrated family ownership. In family-owned firms, given the influence of family control on the remuneration and performance relationships exists, where the majority of shares are in the hands of family members, under this circumstance, the executive and risk-bearer functions are merged and more of the wealth consequences of the executives’ decisions are internalized. In other words, there is less separation of ownership and control and thus lowering agency costs, which in turn leads to less cost for monitoring by outside directors. Therefore, firms closely controlled and managed by family members are expected to use lower proportion of outside directors compared with firms with disperse ownership. In widely held firms, with ownership dispersed among many investors, investors are often small and poorly informed to exercise even the control rights they actually have. Moreover, the free-rider problem faced by individual investors makes them uninterested in expending effort to learn about the firms they have financed, or even to participate in the governance (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). As a result, the larger degree of separation of ownership and control in widely held firms leads to greater conflicts. The use of outside directors by widely held firms is expected to be more. 3.5Remuneration Committee In 1999, remuneration committees were uncommon in Hong Kong, with only few firms reporting their existence (Cheng Firth, 2005). Since 2006, Hong Kong Stock Exchange proposes a rule to require issuers to set up a remuneration committee, with the committee chairman and a majority of the members being Independent Non-executive Directors. In family-owned firms, the positions of the Chief Executive Officer are usually held by family members, who can influence the level of remuneration paid to directors. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends remuneration committee to seek advice from the Chief Executive Officer on the matter of directors’ remuneration. The Code on Corporate Governance Practices recommends that the majority of remuneration committee members be Independent Non-executive Directors. The presence of Independent Non-executive Directors on the remuneration committee is supposed to be used as monitoring mechanism that prevents excessive remuneration for executive directors (Basu et al., 2007), including that of the Chief Executive Officer. The role of independent non-executive directors and large institutional shareholders becomes crucial to curtailing the possible self-serving behavior of top managers (HKSA, 2001). Studies of firms in other countries show conflicting results on the relationship between remuneration and remuneration committee. Some findings show that remuneration committees tend to reduce remuneration, whereas others report the opposite (Conyon Peck, 1998; Ezzamel Watson, 1998). However, in practice it is highly likely that the Chief Executive Officer has some influence over the compensation decision (Murphy, 1999). An important question relating to the composition of remuneration committee concerns the ideal combination of outsiders and insiders. Insiders may face distorted incentives due to their lack of independence from the Family Chief Executive Officer (Bushman et al., 2004). 3.6 Components of Remuneration The basic components of remuneration of Chief Executive Officer are similar, however, the relative level and weights on the components differ (Abowd and Kaplan, 1999, and Bryan et al., 2006). Generally, remuneration of Chief Executive Officer can be divided into four basic parts: a base salary, an annual bonus which is tied to some accounting measure of company performance, stock options, and long-term incentive plans, such as restricted stock plans and multi-year accounting-based performance plans. †¢ Base salary: is the fixed part of remuneration of Chief Executive Officer, causing risk-averse executives to prefer an increase in base salary rather than an increase in bonuses. Most components of remuneration are specified relative to base salary. †¢ Bonus: in addition to the base salary, most companies offer their executives an annual bonus plan based on a single year’s performance. The purpose of such bonuses, as well as options, is to align the incentives of the Chief Executive Officer with that of the shareholders. †¢ Stock options: are contracts, which give the owner the right to buy shares at a pre-specified exercise price. Stock options reward stock price appreciation, not total shareholder return, which includes dividends. In this study, stock options are excluded, as full details of such information would not be retrievable from annual reports. †¢ Other forms of compensation: restricted stock to be received by executives, it is restricted in the sense that shares are forfeited under certain conditions, which usually have to do with the longevity of employment. Many companies also have long-term incentive plans in addition to the bonus plans, which are based on annual performance. Top executives routinely participate in supplemental executive retirement plans in addition to the company-wide retirement plans. Most executives have some sort of severance arrangement. Finally, executives often receive benefits in the form of free use of company cars, housing, etc. Based on the various conceptual and empirical evidences presented above, this study aims to understand whether the remuneration of a Family Chief Executive Officer is influenced by the board composition, i.e. whether it is family-controlled or not. This ties into the original Hypothesis 1, thus, the further hypotheses is framed as follows: Hypothesis 3: The higher the proportion of independent non-executive members on the board of directors at family-board-controlled firms, the lower the Chief Executive Officer remuneration.

Effect of Positive Emotions Induced by Music

Effect of Positive Emotions Induced by Music Do positive emotions induced by music broaden thought-action repertoires? Music has the potential to communicate emotions, and this presence can be considered to be part of our everyday experience. Music psychologist believes that it has the capability to invoke specific emotions when listeners tune in to a specific type of music. For example, a faster toned and pitch music will indicate a lighter and happier mood, whereas a slow tone and pitch will indicate a sad emotion. On the scale of mood, Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory suggests that positive emotions builds up our thought-action repertoire, explains that we should harness positive emotions into our daily lives in effort to enhance our coping skills. The fusion of music with the broaden-and-build theory is an attempt to prove that positive emotions do indeed broaden our momentary thought-action repertoire as proven in Fredrickson’s theory, but on a different scale. Such fusion can be proven to be worth of research as music exists in our everyday lives and if we incorporate and fo ster positive emotions into individual’s daily lives, most, if not everyone, would have increased thought-action repertoire, which would then lead to better coping skills in situations. The broaden-and-build theory suggests the function of a subset of positive emotions such as joy, love and contentment. Fredrickson (2004) proposed that positive emotions produce optimal functioning over time, which includes psychological well-being, as well as physical well-being. These positive emotions, where individuals experience joy, which in turn creates the urge to play, or interactions with a stranger which will in turn create a supportive relationship, will broaden an individual’s thought-action repertoire. This broaden mindset is in contrast with negative emotions, where it prompts immediate and narrow action tendencies such as fight or flight. Fredrickson also proposed that with broadening of an individual’s thought-action repertoire, it would in turn create and build into the individual’s personal resources, and these personal resources are thought to be long term which can help individuals cope with situations in future. For the support of her theori es, Fredrickson reviewed some of other researchers who worked on the effects of positive affect and cognition and pointed out that Kahn and Isen (1993) found that individuals experiencing positive affect report having increased preference for variety and accept a broader array of behavioural options. Subsequently, Ashby, Isen, and Turken (1999) found that positive affect produces effects linked to increases in brain dopamine levels, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate, which are thought to underlie better cognitive performance. However, Isen’s work did not target specific positive emotions or thought-action repertoires per se, but it provides the strongest evidence that positive affect broadens cognition. As Fredrickson builds up on her theory which eventually became the broaden-and-build theory, Fredrickson and Joiner (2002) propose that positive emotions will elicit an upward spiral in the direction of enhanced emotional well-being. They assessed their prediction by testing whether positive affect and broad-minded coping reciprocally and prospectively predict one another. They made a conclusion that positive affect from a particular time will lead to enhancement of broad-minded coping at a later stipulated timing, and vice versa. It was also mentioned that positive affect at one particular time is able to predict the positive affect at a later time when changes in the broad-minded coping were controlled, and vice versa. Hence, it can be said that from this particular review, it has been found that positive affect and broad-minded coping are correlated and they mutually build on one another. However, later studies done by researchers such as Nickerson (2007) suggested that Fredrickso n and Joiner (2002)’s analysis tested within-occasion, across persons hypotheses, which are incoherent with Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory of emotions that is within person, across occasions. Nickerson changed their hypotheses so that the edited hypotheses would align with the broaden-and-build theory, in which Fredrickson subsequently tested the momentary broaden hypothesis, in which the efficacy was proven. Fredrickson (2005) made use of a Twenty Statement Test as a measure of thought-action repertoire when her participants were randomly assigned and exposed to videos which will induce a specific emotion. For example, participant A would be exposed to a video of some penguins, which would supposedly elicit the amusement emotion. The participant would then be required to fill in the Twenty Statement Test in which a higher number of statements filled in would indicate a larger thought-action repertoire, and this finding was consistent with their hypotheses. On another scale, Fredrickson conducted a qualitative analysis using the same data collected, and classified the responses collected from the participants into some categories. They found similar findings, for example, participants who viewed the amusement video are reported to have more frequent urges to play, have positive feelings or thoughts, and fewer urges to sleep or rest. Thus, the data presented by Fredrickson support 2 central aspects of the broaden hypothesis positive emotion broadens thought-action repertoires, as well as broadening effects emerge for 2 distinct types of positive emotion, namely amusement and contentment. Music can be thought to be a powerful tool in inducing specific mood states (Marin and Bhattacharya, 2010), and these moods refer to the states which feature a lower intensity than emotions, and this state tend to last much longer than emotions; these emotions denote the affective response that generally encompass some subcomponents – action tendency, as well as regulation. Although it is believed that there could be some correspondence between music induced emotion and mood, the two distinctions can be said as: music induced emotions are short lived, whereas music induced mood generally last longer. Various psychophysiological and psychological experiments such as emotion perception to emotion experiences have been proven by Thomas Baumgartner, Michaela Esslen, Lutz Ja ¨ncke (2006), where it was elucidated by their psychometric results that emotions can be evoked by pictures and classical music. There are a large number of empirical studies that reveal systematic relationsh ips between musical structures and emotional responses (Gabrielsson Lindstro ¨m, 2010). Lundqvist, Carlsson, Hilmersson and Juslin (2009) concluded in their study that self-composed music is effective in inducing specific emotions. For example, they explained that for a happy emotion to be induced, the happy music needs to feature fast tempo, high sound level, and major mode, while the sad music featuring slow tempo, low sound level, and minor mode. This was also proven in their research, as well as previous works, which gives the conclusion that music is able to produce specific emotions without contamination. Hence, it is of interest to study the interaction between how music is capable of inducing the emotions as required, and how the induced emotion can help in enhancing an individual’s coping skills, as well as building up their personal resources. The nature of the study is discovering whether positive emotions induced by music will broaden thought-action repertoire in a sample of Singaporean participants. The rationale of the hypothesis is to find out if the differences of cultures may pose a significant contributor to the difference in thought-action repertoire. Secondly, inspection can be done to see if cross-cultural differences may produce different results as compared to what Fredrickson originally done in her study, and lastly, findings may have possible implications of music to enhance psychological and physical well-being. Thus, the first hypothesis is that positive emotions will broaden momentary thought-action repertoire. Secondly, the emotion experienced in amusement will broaden momentary thought-action repertoire to a greater extent when compared to contentment. The third hypothesis is that negative emotions will narrow thought-action repertoire, and the last hypothesis is that object-focused negative emotions (e .g. anger) will narrow momentary thought-action repertoire to a greater extent when compared to object-less negative emotions (e.g. anxiety). This study is considered to be an advance over previous works; in the original broaden-and-build theory, Fredrickson made use of videos to induce emotions, and for modifications, the new experiment will use audio materials, which consists of self-composed audio clips; the rationale here is to identify if the usage of video and music clips will yield the same kind of findings. Additionally, two additional steps will be administered; before starting the experiment (measuring skin conductance level), and at the end of the experiment (performing relaxation techniques on participants). The first step ensures that each participant is at neutral emotional state (baseline) before we induce a particular emotion with the music clip. The second step ensures the momentary emotional well-being of participants as they do not leave the experiment with induce d emotions, but with neutral emotions (baseline). Method Participants 100 university students enrolled in an introductory psychology course received course credit for their participation. Only students who spoke English as their first language were eligible to participate. Some ethical issues to be considered are the initial screening before participation. It is required that the participants are mentally healthy, and it is essential to exclude those with history of mental and physical illnesses because of the emotional manipulation involved in the experiment; the confidentiality of the information provided by the participants will be ensured. Another ethical issue is that of informed consent: Participants will be informed of experimental procedure, the materials that will be used, and the rights to withdraw before the start of experiment; they also have the option of counselling services and exit interview at point of withdrawal. Questions from participants will be answered at all times of experiment. Finally, participants can be sure that their answe rs remain anonymous as the forms and tests that they filled in during the experiment do not require them to fill in their names, as well as undergoing a debrief of the original intent of the research. Design The nature of this research is considered to be a quasi-experiment, where the independent variable (IV) is emotions, which are induced by the respective music clips (Amusement, contentment, anger, anxiety, neutral), and the dependent variable (DV) is the thought-action repertoire, in which will be measured via two methods: quantitative and qualitative. Materials Participants will be selected at random to be exposed to audio clips which are intended to induce emotions. The audio clips that are exposed to the participants are: Amusement, contentment, anger, anxiety, as well as neutral. Skin conductance level (SCL). To ensure that the participants will not contaminate the data being collected, the SCL will be used to ensure that the participants will start off the experiment in a neutral state. This is done by attaching a node onto the participants’ hands, followed by measuring the skin resistance, which will be varied with the state of the sweat glands on the skin of their hands. Emotion Report Form. Ekman, Friesen, and Ancoli (1980) made use of the emotion report form to identify and test if the emotions induced by the experimenter are successfully manipulated by music clips. This is done by participants giving a rating of emotions felt on a Likert scale. Participants who rated the greatest amount felt of the emotions above on a 9-point Likert scale (0 = none, 8 = a great deal). Twenty Statements Test. Kuhn and McPartland (1954) constructed the Twenty Statements Test to measure the thought-action repertoire of individuals after they are exposed to audio clips. They are required to fill in 20 blank lines which began with â€Å"I would like to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to their greatest extent possible after listening to the audio clip. A higher score is thought to indicate a larger thought-action repertoire. Procedure Before the participants begin the official experiment, they would be required to be put under the SCL test, which is to ensure that they start off the experiment on a neutral state. Participants would then be randomly exposed to one particular audio clip which elicits a single emotion, i.e. a faster tone and pitch audio clip would indicate the participants listening to a happy music. The next step would require the participants to describe the strongest emotion that they felt in a few words, and subsequently asked to complete the Twenty Statements Test. Before the participants finish the experiment, they would be required to complete the Emotion Report Form so that there is consistency in their emotions felt and the emotions written down onto the Twenty Statements Test. Lastly, participants would be given a mandatory relaxation session so that they can fall back to their baseline (neutral state). Results Statistical analysis can be done on various scales, which includes quantitative level, as well as qualitative level. For the quantitative level, analysis can be done for the self-reported emotions from the Emotion Report Form, where a 1-way ANOVA and Tukey pairwise comparisons to test if music clips altered emotional experiences as intended. Positive emotion music groups/Negative emotion music groups will be compared with neutral emotion music group to produce a less ambiguous result. Secondly, a 1-way ANOVA and Tukey pairwise comparisons can be conducted for the number of responses from Twenty Statements Test, and for the group differences in repertoire size, a 5 x 2 ANOVA, where the 5 groups are the audio clips exposed, and the two groups are the culture, which in this case is the Singaporean Culture compared with Foreign culture. On the qualitative level, analysis can be done via coding, where participants who responded in a certain manner will be classified into a category, and f or each participant, proportion scores for each activity was determined by dividing the tally for that activity by the total number of statements the participant generated. Discussion The expected results are that all hypotheses proposed are significant, that is to say that positive emotion will broaden momentary thought-action repertoire, and the amusement emotion will broaden momentary thought action repertoire to a greater degree when compared to contentment. Some of the limitations include the possibility of the individual’s desire to be socially desirable may cause contamination of the data as participants may not write their intended behaviours or thoughts as per the emotions they experience in the music clips. For instance, an individual may not write that he or she will hit someone even though he or she wants to. Future researchers can look into exploring the usage of recording the participants’ response instead of doing the Twenty Statements Test, as there is a possibility of identifying the emotions of the participants through the way they speak.

Genetic Engineering - Genetics and the Future of Medicine Essay

Genetics and the Future of Medicine Around the world and all through time that man-kind has walked the earth, medicines have been used to cure a variety of diseases and disorders. The field of medicine has made astonishing advancements from the times of Voo Doo and â€Å"medicines† simply being successful due to the placebo effect, to the current studies of medicine that physically cure. Today’s pharmaceutical industry is said to be â€Å"one size fits all†, in the belief that one kind of medication for a certain problem, is the right medicine for everyone. This idea could be part of the distant past. Using genetics, a certain kind of medicine could be prescribed so that there are no gene inducing side effects, and to receive the best results. On the other hand, genetics in the future will be able to prevent genetic disorders far before symptoms arise. Research and advancements in genetics will be the â€Å"new wave† of medicine. DNA varies from person to person, and these tiny variations could mean different effects of medication. According to an article titled â€Å"Medicine Gets Personal† by Marc Wortman, published in Technology Review, this could play a big role of medicines of the future. Eventually, knowledge of one’s personal genome will help one’s doctor decide which medication could be the best for him/her. With this genetic information, the doctor will know whether or not the prescription will have any hazardous side affects. The tiny variations of DNA are called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In order to be able to decipher how certain medications will interact with DNA, scientists must first identify as many variations as possible and figure out which ones have a significance in the effects of medicines. ... ...be the answer to solving many medical mysteries that have remained unsolved for centuries. People will have to make a decision that will affect life dramatically. Though there are the drawbacks, an individual will have to choose what is more important to them. Should one get the genetic treatment and live a full life, but possibly be discriminated against? As opposed to choosing to not choosing to receive the genetic treatment and know that they are insured and employed, though the person might suffer. The decision should be up to the patient. Genetic therapy will be the new wave in the field of medicine, and it could save lives. Works Cited Boyle, Philip J. â€Å"Shaping Priorities in Genetic Medicine.† The Hastings Center Report v. 25 (May/June 1995) p. S2-S8 Wortman, Marc. â€Å"Medicine Gets Personal.† Technology Review v.104 no1 (Jan/Feb 2001) p. 72-78

Essay on the American Dream Revised in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon

The American Dream Revised in Song of Solomon      Ã‚   America was founded on the belief that "all men are created equal." However, a question must be posed which asks who constitutes "men" and what is "equal"?   Africans were taken from their country and enslaved in America. They had to fight to retain dignity and grace in circumstances that were deplorable. Even slaves who were well taken care of were not able to realize the dream of being free again.    In her work, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison relates a story of the dream of Milkman.   Although he is not a slave, Milkman is enslaved by the fact that as a child, he was forced to participate in a shameful act that he wanted no part of. Even his nickname was derived from this horrific act:      When he came into the little room she unbuttoned her blouse and smiled. He was too young to be dazzled by her nipples, but he was old enough to be bored by the flat taste of mother's milk, so he came reluctantly, as to a chore, and lay as he had at least once each day of his life in his mother's arms, and tried to pull the thin, faintly sweet mild from her flesh without hurting her with his teeth. (13)    This act embarrassed Ruth and Macon Jr. because he was never able to shake the nickname and it did not improve either one's relationship with his father. Milkman could not control the whims of his mother though he suspected the act was wrong. Macon did not respect his son's voice as seen when Milkman strikes his father for striking his mother. Milkman does not want to hear Macon's explanations for his behavior and is appalled that Macon insists on describing the indiscriminant nature of Ruth's attachment to her father as the excuse for Milkman's father's treatment... ...m is not an open invitation to Africans like it is to other immigrant groups. They are not voluntary participants in American society; therefore, they must settle for less than others have to. They must fight twice as hard to have half as much as others.    Works Cited: De Arman, Charles. "Milkman as the Archetypal Hero." Obsidian: Black Literature in Review 6.3 (1980): 56-59. Moraru, Christian. "Reading the Onomastic Text: 'The politics of the Proper Name' in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon." Names: A Journal of Onomastics. 44.3 (1996): 189-204. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977. Peterson, Nancy J. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Storhoff, Gary. "'Anaconda Love': Parental Enmeshment in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon." Style 31.2 (1997): 290-309.   

Essay --

CHAPTER 1 PROJECT OVERVIEW 1.1 Background Duke, an acronym for The Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway, structures the key missing connection in the Kuala Lumpur Road Master Plan, joining Duta in the west to Ampang in the east, and to Karak in the north. Duke finishes the Intermediate Ring Roads (Int Rr) of Kuala Lumpur, spanning the North Klang Valley Expressway (Nkve), Sprint (at Penchala Link) and Ulu Kelang area of the Middle Ring Road Ii, permitting drivers to make a trip from finish to end in only 9 minutes. More than simply enhancing connectivity, Duke likewise scatters activity from the city towards different suburban ranges through various entrance and retreat focuses at major spiral convergences. With Duke, you have the capacity to go from one end of Kl to different parts in minutes, bypassing high movement territories, for example, Lebuhraya Mahameru, Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Ampang. No upsetting driving, no packed in slither and no unmoving motor blazing valuable petrol. 1.2 Parties involved The development, principles, administration and use of freeways in Malaysia are liable to Federal Roads Act (Private Management) 1984. In Malaysia, expressways are characterized as fast tracks with no less than four paths (two in every course) and might as well have full access control or fractional access control. Most freeways in Malaysia are regulated access roads. Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd, or KESTURI, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuzen Corporation Sdn Bhd, which is a joint venture company between Wira Kristal Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad. KESTURI was awarded the Concession Agreement to design, construct, finance, manage, operate and maintain the Exp... ...s. This is lead to cause the slowdown of traffic around the construction area. CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, the environmental issue will inevitably arise in the construction of a project. The impact of construction on the environment can be addressed through the establishment of effective prevention and follow the environmental impact assessment. This is because in order to develop our country the development and construction is very necessary. The construction of DUKE highway ( Lebuhraya Duta Ulu Kelang) has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages from this highway construction are able to provide efficient and effective transportation and communication systems between highways in Klang area. For the disadvantage of this highway construction is environment pollution. However, various measures can be taken to reduce and prevent this problem.

Africa Since 1940

The colonization of the African nation has played an important part on the world and how blacks were treated. What they endured as a people, showed the high element of inequality and injustice brought on by a group of people on to another. This period in time brought a change in a nation rocked with pain and anguish. Intervention and invasion from other countries saw the decline in the wealth that Africa once possessed. The notion that Africans were uncivilized was the mindset of the Europeans as they made their presence known. What they did was to manipulate the minds of the African people to gain what they set out to attain. Their goal has always been to rob them of their livelihood, to destroy and steal what were rightly the Africans. Ignorance and defiance became the downfall of many, as they trusted the words of the whites. The destruction and atrocities that Africans faced was indicative of the cruel way in which European invaded the nation and took control in the name of colonization. Many books made note of the colonizing of the African nation. Three of those great books are: African Since 1940 The Past of the present by Frederick Cooper, The Nigerian Civil war by John de ST. Jorre and African Perspectives on Colonialism by A. ADU Boahen. However, of the three books Boahen provides more supplemental materials that support my thesis. The most important economic change that occurred in Africa was during the period 1880-1960. This period marked the colonization and the scramble for African colonies. Boahen writes â€Å"The first and the most important of the economic changes that had occurred in Africa by 1880 were the abolition and suppression of that most inhuman and abominable of all trading activities- namely, the slave trade-and its replacement by trade in natural products, which has become known in typical Euro- centric terms as legitimate trade† (Boahen pg. 1). Slave trade exemplified the harsh cruelty that Africans faced. They were sold into slavery and beaten and many die during that time. The middle passage journey of slaves that were sold across the world to work on plantations proved to be the worst journey in history. Slave trade only profited the European as slaves were an aspect of making money for their masters. Not only were the African people forced to leave most of the power countries’ economies weak and on the brink of collapse. They needed new ways to generated money which they did by overflowing Africa and retaining most of the Natural resource such as ivory, diamond, and gold. The scramble for Africa open door to a new way of thinking: the county did not just change economically but socially. According to Cooper by the 1700s the era in, â€Å"Pan- Africanist was at its highest point of mobilization in African political history†. (Cooper 24) . For the first time westerners such as Marcus Garvey from African decedent who was captives of slavery, began to challenge imperialism. They launch organizations: International African Service Bureau based out of London. Regional linkages were established between countries and hybrid culture was form. People of western African coast began referring to themselves as nations. Black influential understood the gravity of slavery and knew that the change has to begin with them. The 1880 was a better time period in Africa because Slavery was abolished and therefore, the old African country way of life have been abolish to some degree in that now people were no longer under bondage. These individuals were free to live a life in less fear and with a more renew sense of hope for the future. It was good that a new Africa was emerging because this means that individuals will be more incline to want to strive for a better life for themselves and their families and to make a better future for their children. Moreover, after the abolition of slavery the formation of legitimate trade means that individuals could have a source of gaining employment to help to support their family. Boahen mentioned that in the 1880 (African had become more deeply integrated into the capitalist world-economy than before, a development which the ensuing colonial system was to intensify,) which exemplify the fact that Africa was become more stabilize as an economy in of itself where job can be provided for its citizen. (Boahen pg 5). The economy development of Africa in the 1880 meant that the qualities of life for the people were going to improve over time. With the economy improving this would open up individual access to job opportunities. The invasion of European forces into Africa brought a division among the African people. Elements that were formulated such as governmental, educational and their religious system were imposed in a cruel manner as many Africans throughout that time in history were brutally harmed by the Europeans. This abuse was due to the fact Different language religion and other aspects of life were enforced by the Europeans colonization. So, with the abolishment of slavery individuals learn both the language of their ormer ruling countries and the original language of their ancestors through parents teaching of their children. Language plays a crucial part in an individual culture as it is the mean through which communication took place. Cooper mentioned that â€Å"At any one moment, Africa appears as a mixture of diverse languages and diverse culture; indeed, linguistically alone, it is the most varied continent on earth† (Cooper pg11). This mean linguistically speaking Africa came out of the slave trade become a more diverse country. This diversity is obvious in more than one language that which is spoken by individuals from the continent of Africa. The African people depended on their cultural languages to bind them together. This help them to confuse their colonizers in their intent and goal of enforcing slavery. African understood the importance of language and how they could use it to their advantage. Additionally, the 1880 was a period in which the Christian missionary was also experiencing dramatic change. The change in the Christian missionary mean that individuals where having a renew view of religion and how it should be practice. Boahen also mentioned that change in the religion in African societies resulted in stratification, which means that there were different groups of individuals in the African society; therefore, the further stratification of African societies into a relatively small Christian educated elite, particularly in western and southern Africa, and a large traditional and illiterate group† (Boahen, 17). So, it is obvious that as people were becoming more educated they were more able to view religion from a different perspective. The 1880 was also a period in which there was changing political trends that were towards a sense of greater centralization. Boahen mentioned that even though there was a change in some of the empires in terms of disintegration such as empires such as Asante and Oye empires some empires became even stronger (Boahen, 2008). So, there were the emerging of new empires such as the Sokoto empire and the Tukulor empire of Masina that were in much larger existence especially in certain area state as the century in West Africa begins to emerge. New political change in Africa was evident in Nigeria such as constitutional experimentation (Boahen, pg 12). So, the constitution help to lay out the foundation for how individuals in the new African, societies wanted to be treatment by their government in making sure those individuals in the societies was educate. So, with modernization there came a renew way of engaging in political activities as it will benefit the country of Africa. However the prosperity and flourishing of the countries of economy depended on the mobilization of African leaders yet this did not come forth. Cooper writes â€Å"The development effort of late colonial regimes never did provide the basis for a strong national economy; economies remained externally originated and the state’s economic power remained concentrated at the gate† (Cooper 5). He was also concern about where the blame for the wars lie cooper writes â€Å"By looking at the post-war era as a whole, one can begin to explain the succession of crises that colonial and postcolonial states faced, without getting into a sterile debate over whether a colonial legacy or the incompetence of African governments is to blame† (Cooper 6). The African nation had many crises to deal with mainly poverty that resulted from the war. Colonization of the African people drove them deeper into poverty many regions had to sell their labor. Cooper writes â€Å"In parts of African, colonization drove rural dwellers into deepening poverty, sometimes as a deliberate policy to create labor reserves where people had little alternative to selling their labor cheaply, sometimes as a result of actions which made difficult ecosystems worse† (21). Poverty is one of the worst elements of people’s lives and this epidemic led the African people to seek for help. War is the most dreaded and the resulting effect of break-down of laws and orders in a civilized society. The Nigerian civil war which is known as the â€Å"Biafra War† took place on July 16th 1967 to January 15th 1970, political conflict was caused by the attempted secession of the southern providence of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed republic of Biafra. The conflicts accrued when Great Britain invaded Africa and divided up the some of it colonies causing a great separation among the African people; where people in the north were Muslims and in the south were Christian. However due to the division it ended in economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tension among the various peoples of Nigeria. During the war millions died and many were displaced leaving the colony in a state of distress. Due to the war hunger and starvation arose in Biafra many young children died; soldiers were out raged and they decided to take matters into the own hands St. Jorre writes â€Å"hungry soldiers tried to hijack a food convoy, and he beat them to a pulp† (St. Jorre pg. 251) this provided the severity and level of starvation that was felt in Biafra that even those responsible for aintaining the law put their needs above the people. Starvation does not respect anyone and during this period it evident that hunger claimed many lives. The depth and continuance of the war resulted in more deaths as starvation continued and no help was evident. As the Biafra’s people would look for help from the western world it was eminent that something needed to be done. The starvation was not ending and if they could only receive a little help it could go a long way this could be attain by pricking the conscience of the western world. ST.  Jorre writes â€Å"By striking at the heart of the Western world’s moral conscience with the real threat of millions starving to death if the war continued, backed up the imagined one of genocide if they surrendered, they succeeded where all their other tactics intensive lobbying, signing the oil away repeated appeals to the religious, ideological and the political sensibilities of the outside world had failed† (ST. Jorre pg. 241). This sad way of life was the start of new recognition for other African countries that had to deal with the epidemic of starvation. ST. Jorre writes â€Å"The immediate benefits of such concern were useful enough, especially the money, the lobbying publicity and public support that followed each new starvation newspaper story or television film† (ST. Jorre pg. 242). Even in such distraught moment in history something good came of it as the Western nation would become aware of it and help to prevent an occurrence elsewhere. African people endured the worst life possible due to greed from their European colonizers. Their lands were invaded and lives were destroyed as many were taken as slaves to work on plantations to make money for them. What the Europeans did not only hurt the African people physically but emotionally too they have never recovered. This led to war on the Continent as poverty took over and the means of survival was as the height in the minds of all Africans. Many aspect of their lives were taken away their culture, their language and their believe were destroyed. The European brainwashed the African people and took over and kill many in the process.