Ethics and Compliance of Starbucks free essay sample

Starbucks has grown to now 18,000 stores in 62 countries and has become the premier roaster and retailer of coffee in the world. The company has strived to purchase and roast high quality whole bean coffees and has become the beacon for all of coffee lovers everywhere. Starbucks company website states that it is their goal to â€Å"make a positive impact one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. † Starbucks has committed to a good corporate citizen; using their scale for good to catalyze change â€Å"across entire industries so that Starbucks and everyone we touch can endure and thrive. Starbucks 2012 Annual Global Responsibility report shows more than 9,400 company operated stores were open as of September 30, 2012. In the United Kingdom, 595 stores were open as of September 30, 2012. As a global corporate citizen, Starbucks is doing well in achieving their goals of ethically sourcing their coffee, getting the customers more involved in their communities and recycl ing; just a few of their global goals. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and Compliance of Starbucks or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, as a billion dollar global corporation, Starbucks has found legal ways to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. In October 2012, an article published by Daniel Johnson of the Daily Mail, stating that Starbucks had managed to avoid paying taxes on $1. 2 billion pounds in sales over the past three years. The company employs at least three legal ways of avoiding tax payments on profits. First, the company charges their own overseas subsidiaries royalties for the right to use its brand and products. Each time a citizen of the United Kingdom purchases a cup of coffee, six percent of the price is a royalty paid back the United States parent company branches. Some of the royalties are placed in tax havens. The royalties would have been counted as profits in the United Kingdom and taxed at 24 % but because the royalties are sent back to the United States the money cannot be taxed. Second way of avoiding tax payments is accomplished by requiring the UK subsidiaries to pay the Holland subsidiary to roast the beans and to buy beans from its Switzerland subsidiaries Holland and Switzerland end up reporting profits because of this. Starbucks used its supply chain to move its profits out of the UK. The profits earned in Holland are taxed at 25%. Swiss law does not require Starbucks to report its profits, which are taxed at only 5 percent. By moving its supply chain operations out of the UK, the company has managed to move its profits out of the UK also. Finally, the company avoids paying taxes by funding the United Kingdom operations through the use of borrowing high interest rate loans from another part of the firm. This action lowers the profits made in the United Kingdom. Starbucks actions are not illegal, but they are not the most ethical practices either. By not paying their corporate taxes, the company is contradicting itself when it states that it desires to make everyone â€Å"endure and thrive. † Instead of being a corporation that inspires change it follows the pattern of the rest of the large corporations who seek to earn a profit by legally avoiding tax payments. â€Å"The U. S. financial markets consist of many separate markets for diverse products offered on a range of trading platforms and exchanges. Among the many products traded are fixed-income securities, equities, foreign exchange and derivatives. (U. S. Department Of The Treasury, 2010). In the United States people rely on other companies to buy their stocks and bonds so the company selling these stocks and bond can to receive money to increase their business. One example of the most popular financial market is the stock markets. This here all types of companies can sell stocks and bonds. There are three types of stock markets in the United States, New York Sto ck Exchange, over-the-counter market, and American Stock Exchange. The New York Stock exchange usually consists of the larger business whereas the Over-the-counter market is mostly made of smaller businesses. The way businesses can earn extra money they loan to the borrower is by charging them interest on the funds they had borrowed. A SEC filing helps the government keep track of a company and make sure they are not breaking any laws but this SEC filing helps the investor as well. The SEC filing helps the investor by showing them how well or how bad the company has been doing in their financial statements. Starbucks relies on their employees as well to follow the SEC regulations, which means for the employees that the board can to come in at any time to a store to regulate the jobs and duties of the employees. The committee is also able to check the stores books to make sure they are putting in all financial information and keeping correct taps on items sold as well as materials used. â€Å"The primary purpose of the Audit and Compliance Committee (the â€Å"Committee†) is to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of Starbucks Corporation (the â€Å"Company†) and the internal and external audit processes. The Committee also assists the Board of Directors of the company in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities by reviewing the financial information that is provided to shareholders and others, the systems of internal control which management and the Board of Directors have established, the Company’s risk management practices, and compliance with the Companys Standards of Business Conduct, Code of Ethics for the CEO and Finance Leaders and the Policy for the Review and Approval of Related Person Transactions Required to be Disclosed in Proxy Statements. (Starbucks Corporation Audit and Compliance Committee Charter, 2012) According to the formula current ratio = current assets/current liabilities, the current ratio for Starbucks in 2011 was 1. 83. The formula debt ratio= total liabilities/total assets, the debt ratio was . 40. The formula return on equity ratio = net income/shareholders equity, the return on equity ratio was . 28. According to the formula days receivable ratio = accounts receivable/ (credit sales/365), the days receivable ratio was 164. 47 (Google, 2013). According to the same formulas, in 2012 the current ratio was 1. 90. The debt ratio was . 38. The return on equity ratio was . 27. Finally, the day’s receivable ratio was 197. 52. The financial health of Starbucks is trending upward. The higher current ratio in 2012 implies that it was easier in 2012 for the company to pay back short-term obligations. The lower debt ratio in 2012 implies that the company can manage assets and debt. The return on equity remained close both years, implying that the company generated almost equal profit both ears with the money that the shareholders have invested. The day’s receivable ratio did climb, which means that it is taking the company longer to collect. This could be an issue if the company was smaller, but the size of the company, it should not be a problem at this point. Starbucks has been a wealthy business for some time now. It is the place to get the best coffee around. They seek to find the best coffee beans to roast and brew up into a specialty coffee. As we have read in this paper Starbucks has found legal ways to get around avoiding paying taxes. By selling the coffee in Holland and Switzerland, Starbucks is allowed to not pay taxes on everything sold overseas then send to the United States. This is an unethical way of managing taxes, but it is legal in those areas. The businesses ratios are well in the successful range and are doing very well for themselves. They are certainly holding up to their motto of inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time(Starbucks Corporation, 2012). Works Cited: Google. (2013). Retrieved from http://www. oogle. com/finance? fstype=iiamp;q=NASDAQ:SBUX Johnson, D. (2012, Oct 17). Starbucks and the stench of hypocrisy. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/1112339262? accountid=35812 http://www. starbucks. com/responsibility/global-report STARBUCKS CORPORATION AUDIT AND COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE CHARTER. (2012). Retrieved from http://team. starbucks. net/sites/CORP U. S. Department of the Treasury. (2010). Retrieved from http://www. t reasury. gov/resource-center/faqs/Markets/Pages/finmarketsfaq. aspx

Free Essays on Developmental Progression

The developmental progression is different for everyone whether you are a male or a female. Humans start to develop at all different ages. Girls tend to start about two years earlier than boys. Girl’s bodies also go through a more difficult process than the male body does. When a human is born, they are classified as either a boy or a girl. Little girls are usually dressed in pink and white lacy clothing with head bands or ribbons in their hair. Boys are usually dressed in blue. Girls’toys also differ from the boys. Girls are supposed to play with dolls while boys play with trucks. When I was growing up; I had two older brothers and I received the hand-me-downs. I played in the dirt with my GI-Joes just like my brothers did. Girls are taught to be proper and to do all those â€Å"girlie† things. Right when they think they’ve known all to be known about being a girl, puberty comes and smacks them in the face. As early as the age of eight, the female body starts to go through some changes. Breasts start to develop, hair begins to grow and then menstruation begins. The school systems makes you watch that movie thinking that it’s going to prepare you for it all, but it makes the children more confused than before. Puberty for females is more noticeable then it is for males. I never had the problem of having my breast develop too young, but I know girls that went through all the teasing because they had these odd shapes poking out of her shirt. Eventually as the years go on, all the females go through puberty and start to menstruate. Through this time I can assure you that there was a lot of teasing going on. Every time I would get into an argument with my brothers they would automatically assume that I was â€Å"on the rag† or â€Å"aunt flow was in town†. Because of all the teasing and name calling, I can say from experience, I was taught to keep my menstruation a secret. I was almost embarrassed about it. When growing up, it ... Free Essays on Developmental Progression Free Essays on Developmental Progression The developmental progression is different for everyone whether you are a male or a female. Humans start to develop at all different ages. Girls tend to start about two years earlier than boys. Girl’s bodies also go through a more difficult process than the male body does. When a human is born, they are classified as either a boy or a girl. Little girls are usually dressed in pink and white lacy clothing with head bands or ribbons in their hair. Boys are usually dressed in blue. Girls’toys also differ from the boys. Girls are supposed to play with dolls while boys play with trucks. When I was growing up; I had two older brothers and I received the hand-me-downs. I played in the dirt with my GI-Joes just like my brothers did. Girls are taught to be proper and to do all those â€Å"girlie† things. Right when they think they’ve known all to be known about being a girl, puberty comes and smacks them in the face. As early as the age of eight, the female body starts to go through some changes. Breasts start to develop, hair begins to grow and then menstruation begins. The school systems makes you watch that movie thinking that it’s going to prepare you for it all, but it makes the children more confused than before. Puberty for females is more noticeable then it is for males. I never had the problem of having my breast develop too young, but I know girls that went through all the teasing because they had these odd shapes poking out of her shirt. Eventually as the years go on, all the females go through puberty and start to menstruate. Through this time I can assure you that there was a lot of teasing going on. Every time I would get into an argument with my brothers they would automatically assume that I was â€Å"on the rag† or â€Å"aunt flow was in town†. Because of all the teasing and name calling, I can say from experience, I was taught to keep my menstruation a secret. I was almost embarrassed about it. When growing up, it ...

Department of Homeland Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Department of Homeland Security - Essay Example The DHS uses the outdated security controls and the Internet connections that are unverified and untrustworthy (Hicks). This finding has been reported by the Inspector General’s latest report in 2013. In other words, the DHS itself is violating the mandate it has received from the government in which it is authorized to use possible and reliable resources and methods for carrying out the process of security surveillance. If it continues to use such non-verified methods, it will not be able to perform its critical role and without appropriately satisfying its role, it will instead of decreasing the cyber security threat.The reason for choosing this weakness is that the cyber security becomes more serious and grave threat than the scourge of extremism and terrorism. It s devastating impact is so severe that within a span of few minutes it can disrupt the functioning of critical infrastructure which could bring serious financial and infrastructural loss to the United States of Am erica.Using verified and trustworthy security controls and the Internet connections offer the best solution for the weakness. Before going to implement any new security protocol, it must always be ensured that it is trustworthy and authentic and has been appropriately approved by the relevant department within the DHS. In addition, if any problem occurs while operating the security controls, it must be timely reported to the concerned authority and any subsequent changes must also be duly informed to the related authorities.

Maintain a General Ledger Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Maintain a General Ledger - Research Paper Example These kinds of assets are known as 'fixed assets'. Current assets represent the stock of business assets held by the company, the debtors and cash and bank balances. There are intangible assets like goodwill also. Liabilities represent the amounts payable by the company to different constituents of the business like banks, creditors or other agencies. Liabilities may be classified as 'long term liabilities' representing the loans obtained by the company from banks or other financial institutions for running the business and 'current liabilities' representing the amounts payable to The Revenues are the income being earned by any business. Revenues include sales and other earnings from investments of the business. Rental income and interests from investments are also considered as revenues. The revenues are the cash inflows for the business and determine the profits of the company. Expenses are the cash outflows from the business in connection with the running of the business. Expenses may be of capital in nature representing purchase of additional assets or machinery. Revenue expenses are those incurred on a day to day basis for running of the business. The revenue expenses are charged against the income of the business and the profits determined. In the double entry book keeping principle every accounting entry should have a corresponding debit or credit entry reflected in another account. These entries are known as contra entries. Contra entries are passed through general journal and mostly represent non-cash transaction entries like accounting for depreciation. Writing off a bad debt In the course of business sales are done on a credit basis and the parties to whom the credit sales are made sometimes may not be able to make payment for the goods or services bought or availed due to their financial difficulties or bankruptcy. In those cases the amount due to the business is termed as a 'bad debt'. Usually these bad debts are charged off against revenue of the company as expense. This is known as 'writing off a bad debt'. Debtors also known as Accounts Receivables In the process of doing business many a times sales are being made to different parties on credit terms implying that the party instead of making the payment on cash basis will make the payment after a certain agreed period of time. These parties to whom sales are made on credit terms are known as 'Debtors' also known as 'Accounts Receivable' Creditors also known as Accounts Payable Just as the sales are being made on credit terms the business may procure the goods and services on credit terms with the payment to be made within definite periods mutually agreed between the suppliers and the business. These parties who supply the goods or services are known as 'Creditors' also known as 'Accounts Payable'. General Journal General Journal Sales Journal Sales Returns and Allowances Journal Purchase Journal General Ledger - Capital Account General Ledger -

Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans presented at Essay

Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans presented at the Constitutional Convention - Essay Example equitable ratio of white and other free citizens of every age, sex and condition and 3/5th of rest of the persons except Indians who do not pay taxes in each state. However New Jersey plan is more specific about confederation and states about diminishing or increasing number of states as well. According to Virginia Plan, the national legislature may have the power of legislation by confederation in all cases where individual states are incompetent or harmony of the country may be at stake. It may have the right to negate all laws that are passed by states found contravening to articles of Union. New Jersey Plan offers the same power in addition to the authority to promote commerce, impose levy and raise revenues in the states. According to both plans, executive may negate any legislation that may not be passed by 2/3rd of national legislature. Executive may have powers to execute national laws to appoint to offices or impeach for certain reasons. New Jersey Plan states the same powers for executive in addition to directing military operations without taking any command over troops. Comparing both the plans, it is specifically found that New Jersey plan offers more power to the new federal government because it focuses to revisit and enlarge articles of confederation and gives executive authority to direct military operations as

General Motors (GM) Case Study: Porters Five

General Motors (GM) Case Study: Porters Five In this given case-study is explained in bits and pieces about how the GM lost its market share owing to a number of factors.GM is an American based company concentrating on a lot of Brands,models and having a large spread of price-bands.So the market focus failure in GM can be related to its portfolio proliferation and replication, which in return has given the company a set of negative effects on cash flow. On the other hand its competitor companies like Toyota and Honda have acquired a huge market share with a limited portfolio and a large acquisition of the market share. So the purpose of this report is to critically analyse the different strategic levels of GM motors with respect to the coroporate, business and operational level. Also to analyse and identify the capabilities that would allow GM to achieve the lost competitive advantage and regain the market focus. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GM MOTORS CASE-STUDY On critically analysing the given case-study, GM lost $30.9 billion for the year 2008 and around $38.7 billion in the year 2007. So far , GMs market share has fallen to 24 percent from 31 percent last year, while Fords has risen to 18 percent from 15.5 percent. Chryslers Northeast Ohio market share has slipped to 9.8 percent from 10.3 percent a year ago. GMs national market share is about 20 percent, down from 22.5 percent a year ago. Fords national share is about 16 percent so far this year, up from 14.5 percent. A diagrammatic presentation of the financial performance of these automobile companies is as given below: WHERE F-FORD MOTORS DCX- DAIMLER AND CHRYSLER GM- GENERAL MOTORS HMC- HONDA MOTORS COMPANY NSANY- NISSAN TM- TOYOTA MOTORS Business Level Strategy The key elements to be highlighted at the business strategic level are as follows: Integrated BLS [business level strategy] Failed application Trade-off between cost and differentiation Implications of united labour force and legal costs. Corporate Level Strategy They process have a multilayer structure and the key process are all centralised that in turn is having a lot of impact on the company, they do not have any regional head and so there is no one who look are each regain in specify terms they only listen to the manager and then decide what is right and is wrong. From the given data, we can come to a conclusion that the major reason behind the market loss was the lack of entrepreneurial spirit. The important this is that they do not have a specific structure as well, what they need to concentrate is that as different companies such as its competitors concentrate on a specific segment and get there profits, the spirits are low and they are not going in the right direction, they will have to work hard and promote the right segment to the right consumer needs, they are not even sure of what environment they are using the other problem that they are facing is that they are not concentrating on the right consumer product for the right enviro nment and so resulting in dip of the sales and in turn loss for the company. STRENGTHS OF GM TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE EDGE The following are the capabilities that are exhibited by GM motors in order to revive back its position and achieve a competitive advantage in the market: 1. Large Market Share Though the General Motors is been struggling to make profits in the past few years and it is running out of cash flow still it hold a very high sales market in japan and United states, the problem is that it is not making profits as it is not allowing a lot of cash flow to occur but still it is one of the largest automobile company in the world and it hold a large amount of market share. 2. Global Experience The company being one of the largest company in the manufacturer of automobiles it has a get a global name for itself as it has a lot of brands, as it has got a lot of brands and thought it all may not be successful it has made a mark in the global market and it has got a global experience and that is again a very big advantage that the company has. 3. Wide range of brands General motors has the highest number of cars it has already got 95 different types of cars and as aware there are around 18 segments in automobile industry and it has got 3 cars for each segments, that is one thing that only General Motors have been able to achieve, thought it has been criticized by lot for not able to concentrate on any specific segment, but if they concentrate each segment properly and put the hard work in right direction they are bound to succeed. PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL The competitive structure of an industry is another important component of identifying factors that are a threat to diminish profitability. One of the most efficient ways to assess competitive issues is to consider Michael Porters five-force analysis. Porter (1980, 1985) has highlighted five such factors: (1) rivalry between existing competitors, (2) threat of entry by new competitors, (3) price pressure from substitute or complementary products, (4) bargaining power of buyers, and (5) bargaining power of suppliers http://www.themarketers.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Porter_Five_Forces1.jpg Rivalry between existing competitors: There is always rivalry with other the competitors and that it needs to give a lot of importance, and it is the competitors with a better product that succeed in the todays market, so general motors but give a lot of importance to its competitors and always try and be ahead of them, in the present situation they are lacking being them in a lot of ways, the rivals have got a lot of products which is more competent and that is more of the requirement that the customers are looking for and they are also getting that important as they are quite important that they thing what the rivals are dont and what they are not doing. Threat of entry by new competitors: In the present days market there, in any industry there is a lot of threat of new entrants in the market, s you should always think out of the box and try and be innovative as much as you can so that you have an advantage over your competitors and even if there are any new entrants into the market, The another threat of the entry on a new company or competitors is that they might give you a thought price in the price and so you might need to cut on the prices of your products and this will indeed lead to less profits, Thought an automobile market is not a small market and there are a lot of hurdles for a new entrant into this sort of market that might lead them to trouble and this in turn will not let the new entrant to enter the market as this is require a lot of investment , moreover the new entering will have to capture a large amount of market share to have a good hold of the market. Price pressure from substitute or complementary products For instance the demand will never come directly in play for this section but it will have an impact with a lot of factors that influence it and it will generally be the substitute and the complements. For example in the U.K. when you want to travel to Central London you even though you have a car you will still not consider going with your own car, there are few reasons for not taking your car along with you and firstly you have a substitute that is available as taking a transportation in a form of tube is much easier it will save your time, money and you will not have the hassles of going through all he traffic this a substitute a lot of people use in London, the reason behind this is that firstly the transportation by your own car will be expensive and other thing is that in Central London there are a lot of parking problem and they will charge you congestion, so traveling by the tube will save all this hassles. So that is more beneficial for you, and this days a lot of people fee l that the fuel prices or in other terms the gas prices are rising and so it will be better to find an alternative or substitute to car as so this is reduce the sales of car not directly but indirectly. 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power of the buyer here means that the power of the consumers who are will to buy a car, in this form of bargaining if a consumer who is not aware of the prices and goes for a bargain for a car if the dealer doesnt agree to sell the car on that bargain then the impact will come directly on to the dealer and not to the manufacturer directly, the consumer might go to some other dealer to get his deal done. So it is the consumers who will benefit from that and this will lead the deals to give the customers a good deal and in this form the consumers are not dealing directly with the customers and so the dealers will suffer a less profit and not the manufacturer, so it will not always but might have an impact on the manufacturer. 5. Bargaining power of the suppliers The bargaining power of the suppliers means, the cost of raw material that is being used in the manufacturer, the labour function and the services that is being provided to them, and so in an auto manufacturer the labourer and the raw material, along with the the technology services are being used are playing a very important role, for instance we can go back into the case of General Motors and know that they had serious issues with the powers of the suppliers that is the labour that they had and that a lot of demands and that had to be fulfilled and that they were claiming a lot of pension, medical and seek leave and also wanted their wages to be increase so that was all the troubles of that they were facing in the past and the reason that they lost a lot of business was the reason behind it. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF GM- 2011 Shanghai   Shanghai GMs Drive to Green strategy, which was launched in January 2008, is aimed at introducing products that offer better performance, consume less energy and generate lower emissions than vehicles currently on the road. The success of the green strategy didnt work out they. They are trying to work on the environment issues that a lot of cars this are using a lot of fuel and this generates a lot of smoke in the air leading to air pollution and so the amount of oxygen in the air throughout the word is decreasing with the increase in carbon-monoxide will lead to a lot of environmental problems, they are there for trying to drive people towards the direction of hybrid cars and they have named the project as green strategy and they are really promoting it, those it has not been a hit it has just been a flop they are still working on different strategies and they and conclude on a high node.

The Interaction of Culture and Technology throughout History :: World History

The Interaction of Culture and Technology throughout History Throughout human history, the expansion of technology has been dependent on the cultural environment into which it was introduced. Intricacies in social and cultural beliefs are among the reasons Europe’s technological dominance and expansion from the 15-1600’s to the early twentieth century. In addition, isolation and cultural conservatism are among the main reasons that Chinese culture, whose inventions range from paper to the wheelbarrow, never capitalized on their large technological advantage to expand their Empire. This and other examples demonstrate the need of our society to create a society that promotes not only the innovation but the adoption of new technologies. Before delving into the diverse examples of technologies constrained by culture, we should consider the example which has become the poster child for social control of both technology and environment. According to the first chapter of Clive Ponting’s Green History of the World Easter Island flourished as a society for a thousand years starting from approximately the fifth century. Hallmarked by the large stone heads that are scattered across the island, Easter Island collapsed as a society because of the mass deforestation and destruction carried out by the islanders. The large trees that were present on Easter Island were used by the islanders for a large number of traditional applications. Large canoes were fashioned for sea fishing, bark was used for creating nets, and timber was used for building houses. The most significant technology that the trees of Easter Island were employed for was the transportation of the totemic heads that represented tribal status in the Islandà ¢â‚¬â„¢s culture. Easter Island, like so many other early and modern civilizations, went about employing the environmental resources of the island around them. Within about a thousand years they had almost completely deforested Easter Island and their complex society and large population had collapsed. What is most important about Easter Island is not that a society overused its environment and collapsed; many different cultures have in the past overextended their environment and many do so today. No doubt we shall continue to do so into the future. What is prevalent about Easter Island is the reason the islanders deforested their environment. The large stone heads that the Easter Islanders employed as symbols of status in their society require trees for their transportation. More than 600 of the heads dot the landscape today and there are others left incomplete in the Easter Island quarries.

Why Has Audience Positioning Towards Gangster Films and Their Main Characters Changed Throughout the Evolution of Film?

â€Å"Why has audience positioning towards Gangster films and their main characters Changed throughout the evolution of film? † â€Å"The crime ? lm is the most enduringly popular of all Hollywood genres, the only kind of ? lm that has never once been out of fashion since the dawn of the sound era seventy years ago. †-Thomas Leitch The central theme of the gangster film has always revolved around law and order and essentially boils down to the Criminal institutions fighting one another or fighting a corrupt authority.Movies such as ‘The Godfather’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Public enemies’ follow the same plot of organised crime. That is what the films are about, seeing as though the central characters operate under their own premise of law, the narratives involve their relationship with the authorities and agencies of law enforcement while the plots are usually structured around the process by which they are brought to justice. But throug hout the evolution of the gangster genre is a central argument reflecting a fundamental difference in audience stance towards the gangster hero.This plays on an Active audience theory as the audience take in the information they are given and pick sides. The contrast of audience opinion is displayed in a variety of different ways. In the film The Godfather, Sterling Hayden (Captain McCluskey) is the official figure, he is quickly revealed to be very brutal and corrupt, being a key person on the Tattaglia's payroll. When some enforcers of the Corleone family protect Don Vito Corleone, McCluskey has them taken away. Michael arrives soon after and realizes this.Soon after, while Michael is guarding the entrance of the hospital with Enzo the baker, McCluskey and his guys drive up and harrass the two, ordering that they be taken in. When the officer refuses, McCluskey hits Michael across the face, badly bruising his face and breaking his jaw. Gangster movies frequently demonstrate that s ociety’s official institutions are as corrupt as the criminals they oppose (politicians in The Untouchables, multi-national corporations in Scarface. this positions the audience on the side of the gangsters in the film and against the authoritative figure. Gangster films dictate audience positioning by setting the Gangsters in the role of the hero in Propp’s Character theory and the official figures as the villains, an example of this being used is. â€Å"The dynamic of every crime film focuses on the relationship between three sets of characters: the perpetrator, the victim and the avenger, but typically gangster narratives seek to undermine and blur the boundaries between the typological figures. †-Thomas Leitch.This quote from Thomas Leicht perfectly illustrates how the narratives of Gangster movies dictate audience positioning by â€Å"blurring the boundaries† between the institutions of the characters. A dominant and largely widespread basis on which Hollywood’s depiction of the underworld is fabricated is the domineering moral view that crime does not pay this may have resulted from early fears of audience reception through out-dated theories such as the hypodermic needle theory in which producers and political figures feared that an audience seeing a life of crime pay would be tempted to stray into the life of organised crime.An example of an early gangster film that shows a ‘Crime doesn’t pay’ attitude is Little Caesar 1931. The main charecters, Caesar Enrico â€Å"Rico† Bandello and Joe Massara follow different paths with Rico following a life of crime and Joe, against Rico’s persuasion, follows a life without crime. Ultimately Joe lives the better life with Rico ending up dead and alone.Modern films such as ‘Lawless’2012 follow a the opposite narrative with crime paying out at the end of the film with the three Bondurant brothers-Forrest, Howard and Jack ultimately beat ing a corrupt authority and saving their money from their bootlegging and settling down to family life although the film still shows that maybe the payoff of crime is not worth it as the consequences for their action s does result in the near death of Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy) on two occasions along with injuries sustained by all three brothers and the death of Cricket Pate (Dane DeHanne).Narratives such as these can now exist as the hypodermic needle theory is now recognised as invalid after â€Å"the research movement, led by Paul Lazarsfeld and Herta Herzog, that would disprove the magic bullet or hypodermic needle theory, as Hadley Cantril managed to show that reactions to the broadcast were, in fact, diverse, and were largely determined by situational and attitudinal attributes of the listeners. Showing thataudiences do not just absorb the information they see on screen, such as in the BoBo doll experiment, but rather actively receive the information and choose between a D ominant, negotiated or oppositional reading of the film, this invalidation of the hypodermic needle theory would add greatly to thr rise of the gangster film as films were no longer limited to the â€Å"crime does not pay† narrative set by state censors. This assessment provides the moral foundation to the ‘rise and fall’ narrative that is the central theme for numerous gangster movies.But it is a view that has frequently been respected, reluctantly, and at critical points in the development of the gangster film, only after external intervention. Particularly in that subset of the gangster film that focuses on the Prohibition era, audiences’ positioning echoes that of society more generally: ‘law-abiding’ members of the community started to associate with the gangster who has become a preferred supplier. The 2012 film â€Å"Lawless† is a good example of this with the Bondurant Brothers being more respected and idolised than the authorit ies.These contrasts in audience opinion spread further to the gangsters’ own attitude toward the law and its enforcement. Although in various gangster movies the gang leader is ,himself, a basis of law enforcement inside a closed gangster society (Don Coreleon-Marlon Brando The Godfather), a dominant theme running through much of the sub-genre explores the gangsters’ desire for acceptance in the straight and official world, particularly in those films which locate gangster activity within immigrant communities.Although the gangster film dates back to the early days of the silent era, it wasn’t until the advent of sound that the genre fully came into its own, when real-life gangsters like Al Capone were at the height of their own notoriety the public thirsted for seeing charismatic criminals on screen. Because of the relentless violence and unmerciful nature of the central characters, the gangster film helped to form Hollywood’s Production Code, which mean t that no criminal deeds went without repercussions, even though it was obvious that this was untrue in the real world.Throughout the evolution of film as the Code was ignored by grittier and more realistic films, the gangster movie was an always popular genre that gave rise to some of cinema’s greatest stars and directors i. e. Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola. When gangster movies first started being produced in the 1920’s, audiences were attracted to crime and gangster films because of the way these films were shot, and the images they saw on screen. Audiences started to enjoy these Gangster movies because of the reality they offered about the corrupt political and authoritative figures of the time (prohibition era).The organised crime, violence, and drug use in gangster films made the audience more aware of the government and authorities’ attitude towards the three main problems of organized crime, violence and drug use of the prohibition era. This is one of the main reasons crime and gangster films have continued to remain popular. Organised crime and gangster films have continued help to fill societies need for reality. By using violent male characters and romantic female characters, two main stereotypes of gangster films, both sexes are attracted to this genre of film.Films like Bonnie and Clyde and The Godfather represented a gangster character that was no longer a savage, relentless criminal, rather, a gangster that had become humanized. A study into this genre shift explored earlier film representations and the more classical view of the gangster as a monster such as in the 1932 Scarface, while DePalmas Scarface presents the gangster Tony Montana (Al Pachino) is a psychopathic murderer but through certain scenes in the audience is positioned on the side of Tony.An example of this is the scene where Tony is carrying out a hit on a journalist with a hitman. They are to blow his car up with the explosives in front of the Unite d Nations building, but are surprised to see the man's wife and two daughters enter the car with him at his hotel. Tony, now extremely reluctant to continue with the hit, becomes increasingly agitated with the hitman, who refuses to deviate from Sosa's orders, until Tony completely snaps.In a cocaine-induced rage, he murders the hitman, who was supposed to kill the journalist, screaming at his dead body deliriously. This scene, although portraying Tony as drugged up and about to execute a murder, shows Tony’s conscience and still shows a salvageable character which positions the audience on his side through a negotiated reading of the scene. The audience of this scene broadly accept the preferred reading but use prior scenes in the film to reach the positioning on the character Tony Montana .A study of the plot, setting, characters, themes, motifs, and props found in both films present a different view of the gangster . Many gangster films have remained popular and still cont inue to gather audiences due to them achieving a cult status such as the 1932 film Scarface The plot of the crime and gangster movie has not tended to deviated from the same standard plot throughout the evolution of film: the male character is striving to live the American dream and he does so by getting involved in illegal and often violent activities.This plot leads to the common theme in gangster films which is a male character who wants to live the American dream and that the only way to do so is to become involved in organised crime and becomes deceitful. He begins to lie, steal and kill in order to make money, which is the fuel for their dream. While he is living this lifestyle he falls in love with the female character that is good and wants the male to get out of the illegal mess he is in. He promises her he will, after he does one last job.This last job he does will either land him in jail or in a coffin. Examples of these plots and characters can be seen in movies such asà ‚  Donnie Brasco The early 1930s produced many of the iconic classics like Little Caesar and Scarface (1932) that became the template for other gangster films that followed, usually a poor immigrant who in a pursuit of the American dream and has a quick rise to the top through becoming involved with organised crime, only to fall prey to an even faster fall that ends in a violent death. See paragraph above) although gangster films did suffer shortly after Little Ceasar’s relase in 1932 as public opnion turned sharply against the gangster genre with vast influence from state censors and â€Å"moral guardians† who thought the films unfit to be seen. Newspaper smear campaigns against the gangster genre were launched and even the extremely popular magazine ‘variety’ stated that â€Å"the major industry quit gangster themes because the public just tired of them†.Not until the application of the Production code administration did the Gangster genre effecti vely die out in the 1930’s, although the public opinion had been turned against the gangster genre through popular culture, the justice department who believed that the genre â€Å"encouraged general disrespect for police and a lenient attitude towards thugs† still maintained that the genre opened with an exculpatory preface and closed with a crime-does-not-pay warning.Few critics paid attention to the crime genre before the 1970’s critics were more interested in films that were the very antithesis of the crime film. The crime genre suffered neglect against the westerns which enjoyed renaissance on the big screen. The low budgets of the early crime films resulted in the absence of Technicolor where westerns like â€Å"Shane† 1953 continued to be popular.Not until Alfred Hitchcock gained predominance in the suspense genre which resulted in academic critics paying attention to the crime genre which ultimately resulted in the resurgence of the gangster genre into the public eye. Crime and gangster films will continue to be produced as audiences want a film that gives them a sense of reality. This is an example of Blulmer and katz uses and gratification theory. Since people tend to feel that government officials are corrupt these films will most likely continue to show corrupt law officers and government officials, who are deceiving and lying to the public.Gangster films have become and will remain iconic because they offer audiences escapism and show an audience a glorified life of gangster who are presented as being charismatic character’s that the audience like to imagine they could be The grandeur that is presented in the Characters life also makes the audience believe that maybe crime does pay, but the gangster genre will continue to remain popular down to one of the most basic sides of human nature, greed.As corporate capitalism promoted consumerism the gap between the classes widened, Americans became infatuated with the g angster whose stylish dress and expensive cars yet humble origins defied the boundaries separating social class. As long as a gangster films presents a life of grandeur audiences will use them as a source of escapism. Leitch, Thomas, Crime Films (CUP, Cambridge, 2002) ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Thomas Leitch, Crime films- Cambridge press [ 2 ]. Audience Theory-Litnotes. co. uk [ 3 ].Thomas Leitch, Crime films- Cambridge press. [ 4 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model [ 5 ]. Ultimate book of Gangster movies [ 6 ]. Humanizing the gangster [ 7 ]. The gangster film: emergence, variation, and decay of a genre, 1930-1940 [ 8 ]. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934 page-155-156 [ 9 ]. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934page-156 [ 10 ]. Mafia stories and the American gangster by Fred L. Gardaphe. Ch. 10: pages 110-120.

Free Essays on What Can We Learn About Hamlet Solely From The Speeches Of The Other Characters

What can we learn about Hamlet solely from the speeches of the other characters? We first start to learn about what others thought of Hamlet when in act 1 scene 3 Laertes warns Ophelia about getting too involved with Hamlet, because he toys with passion, saying that â€Å"perhaps he loves you now†(Ln 14) and that â€Å"his will is not his own. For he himself is subject to his birth† (Ln 17-18). As Hamlet is the prince, he does not have full control over his choice in marriage. Polonius also warns her off him unless he can offer more. Polonius thinks that Hamlet’s madness could be attributed to the love for his daughter Ophelia, after she came and told Polonius that Hamlet frightened her by his strange behaviour and appearance while she was in her closet sewing. Polonius thinks that â€Å"This is the very ecstasy of love† (Act 2 Sc1 Ln 102). He then feels bad because he instructed Ophelia to reject all Hamlet’s letters and to deny him access to her. Polonius subsequently comes to the conclusion â€Å"That hath made him mad.†(Ln 10) then goes off with Ophelia to tell the king of his findings. Gertrude doubts Polonius’s discovery and thinks the death of the King Hamlets father and her hasty marriage to his brother Claudius, is the cause of Hamlet’s â€Å"distemper†. In act 3 Claudius is talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who he has brought in to spy on Hamlet, to find out what the cause is of his disposition, and in Sc 1 Ln7 Guildenstern reveals that he thinks Hamlet is playing them all â€Å"with a crafty madness†. Claudius then seems happy with the knowledge that Hamlet is delighted that the players are coming, saying â€Å"and it doth much content me to hear him so inclined† (Sc 1 Ln 24-25) They then go on to put Polonius’s theory to the test by setting Ophelia up to meet with Hamlet, when Gertrude expresses to Ophelia â€Å"I do wish that your good beauties be the happy cause of Hamlets wildness; so shall I hope y... Free Essays on What Can We Learn About Hamlet Solely From The Speeches Of The Other Characters Free Essays on What Can We Learn About Hamlet Solely From The Speeches Of The Other Characters What can we learn about Hamlet solely from the speeches of the other characters? We first start to learn about what others thought of Hamlet when in act 1 scene 3 Laertes warns Ophelia about getting too involved with Hamlet, because he toys with passion, saying that â€Å"perhaps he loves you now†(Ln 14) and that â€Å"his will is not his own. For he himself is subject to his birth† (Ln 17-18). As Hamlet is the prince, he does not have full control over his choice in marriage. Polonius also warns her off him unless he can offer more. Polonius thinks that Hamlet’s madness could be attributed to the love for his daughter Ophelia, after she came and told Polonius that Hamlet frightened her by his strange behaviour and appearance while she was in her closet sewing. Polonius thinks that â€Å"This is the very ecstasy of love† (Act 2 Sc1 Ln 102). He then feels bad because he instructed Ophelia to reject all Hamlet’s letters and to deny him access to her. Polonius subsequently comes to the conclusion â€Å"That hath made him mad.†(Ln 10) then goes off with Ophelia to tell the king of his findings. Gertrude doubts Polonius’s discovery and thinks the death of the King Hamlets father and her hasty marriage to his brother Claudius, is the cause of Hamlet’s â€Å"distemper†. In act 3 Claudius is talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who he has brought in to spy on Hamlet, to find out what the cause is of his disposition, and in Sc 1 Ln7 Guildenstern reveals that he thinks Hamlet is playing them all â€Å"with a crafty madness†. Claudius then seems happy with the knowledge that Hamlet is delighted that the players are coming, saying â€Å"and it doth much content me to hear him so inclined† (Sc 1 Ln 24-25) They then go on to put Polonius’s theory to the test by setting Ophelia up to meet with Hamlet, when Gertrude expresses to Ophelia â€Å"I do wish that your good beauties be the happy cause of Hamlets wildness; so shall I hope y...

buy custom Raphael Lemkin essay

buy custom Raphael Lemkin essay Raphael Lemkin is the figure behind the start of the genocide conventions. He is the person behind the invention of the term genocide. This was well detailed in his book on the imperialism of the Nazis, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. The origin stretches far much back. He came up with three concepts -: the groupism social ontology most common in the Eastern Europe where he born and raised; the western legal tradition that covered the international law conquest, occupations that was exploitative, and wars that were aimed at the civilians. He was the supporter of what has been termed by many sociologists as groupism. This is the tendency to treat ethnic groups, nations, and races as substantial entities to which interests and agency can be attributed, that is to refer to them as internally homogenous, external bounded groups, even unitary, collective actors with common purposes. His commitment took the liberals from America with surprise. They him his strive as an elemental confusion. However his intention revealed how his ideas had a world focus. One would be tempted to ask where he got to have a world view to the matter. It is recorded that when he was a boy he was brought to close to the human cultural persecution by the story of the Christians who were to be exterminated by Nero the Roman emperor. His knowledge on the ethnic groups such as: the France Huguenots; the Japanese Catholics; the Spaniel Muslims led to conclude that the destruction of ethnic groups was a universal and a persistent problem. The Jews persecution was part of the things that he got knowledge on their suffering; the Jews that came from his area had been persecuted by the progroms. However his focus was beyond the boundaries of his home area. He grew up in the in the international world of Eastern Europe. He shared the Herders cosmopolitanism which recommended the sticking of individual principles; the Mazzini, which believed in the peoples unique role symphony of nations. The philosophy behind the conventions on genocide is based on the human cosmos formula. It consists of four primary tenets: racial, national, ethnic and religion. These groups are taken care of not just by human reasoning of compassion but also to ensure that the mankind spiritual resources are not drained. It is also worth noting that behind the protection of the above groups from extermination is the assumption of communitarian that nationhood and nations are inherently invaluable as compared to other collections of human for instance the political parties. Instead they gie meaning to life and are made up of human civilization. It therefore goes without saying that Lemkin was brought up as a religious Jew. He was an ecumenical cosmopolitan and a Polish patriot who championed for all the cultures and never turned his back on the Jewish culture or heritage. He constantly said the genocide that was undertaken by the Nazis on the Jews and the Polish Christians who were murdered by the Roma. His concepts were drawn from the spiritual nationality which its origin can be traced to the Herder and some sources of Jew. It is quite evident that culture is the center point of his genocide conception. Immediately the war ended he came up with the anthropology of Bronislaw and Sir James to rejuvenate his mode of thinking. Bronislaw was an influential anthropologist in Britain. It is from this that he ruled out that the human needs up to including culture can be expressed in social institutions or can be anthropologically termed as ethos of culture. If a group culture is by way of violence undermined, the group is made to break up the result is that members will be taken in by other cultures which is painful and wasteful process to the disorganization of a person subsequently destruction which is painful. He therefore concluded that the destruction of cultural symbols is genocide. As a result of his support for culture he also supported the treaty of national minority. This was under League of Nations. His struggle therefore for the human right on genocide will be remembered to have majorly stemmed from culture. Eleanor Roosevelt It should be noted that it is not only the Jews that were only persecuted by the Nazis. Many other people were persecuted because of what they believed in, and because of their originality. This also included the handicapped, the Gypsies, homosexual, social democrats, Jehovah witnesses and those who posed a threat to the Hitlers administration and his quest for lebensraum and the superiority of his race. Though Lemkin might have been the first to come up with word genocide it is deemed to precede Holocaust. The Japanese atrocities that led to lots of rape, razing down of cities and towns, and the looting are among the few unnecessary evils committed. Germany assumed responsibility for their evils, turkey and Japan denied. After the World War II lots of protests were witnessed regarding the atrocities that were committed against the Jews. The human rights activist and the Jews carried out the protest. This led to the indictment of the Nazis and the Japanese. They were later ttried as criminals of war by an international military tribunal. This also prepared a ground for international law which was to ensure that no one was going to be above the law irrespective of the position held in the society. This included any crimes against peace. It included- : initiating, planning, and violating of international agreements and treaties against humanity; deportations, extermination, and crimes of genocide war; namely, war law violation; and a common plan or conspiracy to commit acts of criminality. These tenets of law later became the foundation of the UN convention on the genocide crimes. It was first voted and unanimously accepted by the general assembly as the first human right treaty (Meade and Merry 92). Eleanor Roosevelt was the then the driving force behind the drafting of the Universal Declaration. This came in the wake of Carlos Rumulo the Filipino diplomat who was serving a court sentence for the crimes committed against humanity. In her address to the general assembly she declared that This Declaration may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the French people of 1789, the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the United States, and the adoptions of comparable at the different times in other countries It is also important to note that Roosevelt was the member and chairperson of the commission that represented the nations diversity which included-: Belgium, Australia, china, Byelorussia, France Egypt, Iran, India, Panama, Lebanon, Ukraine, Philippines, United States, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, and USSR (Meade and Wiesner-Hanks 27). Eleanor Roosevelt and other framers who were gifted who for long had been by her side shared her spirit of committee of UNESCO. For a span of one year she worked hard to draft the document. She was assisted by other gifted scholars. Despite lot of objections from political and philosophical rivalries, individual commissioner felt the need for it and in the end contributed by putting aside philosophical and personal differences. The ideological differences often stood on the way of the commission on human rights, and subsequently the sour relations between the west and the east made things hard for the commission (Fredrickson 72). It shall be remembered that Eleanor Roosevelt with a lot of determination managed to convince a number of government administration to adopt the Universal Declarations and incorporate it in their socioeconomics. Buy custom Raphael Lemkin essay

Managing People in British Petroleum Assignment - 1

Managing People in British Petroleum - Assignment Example First, it is crucial to gain a complete overview of the disaster – ‘Deep Water Horizon’. One of the largest marine oil accidents was seen on 20th April 2010. The oil spill went on to flow for a total of three months in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion claimed eleven lives and injured seventeen people. The oils spill started from the sea floor oil gusher. Methane gas was found to be released from the well with high pressures and this went up into the drill column (Cleveland, 2011). The methane gas expanded on the platform and led to the explosion. The fire was intense and was not doused which led to the Deep Water Horizon to sink after 36 hours. The Deep Water was built in 2001 and was managed by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill as a whole has caused extensive damage to the wildlife, as well as marine habitats and also damaged hundreds of miles of the seashore as well. The spill led to the close down of several small businesses in the fishing and tourism industry since tar balls were found to be present in the nets (Cleveland, 2011). Even after several months in February 2011, the ill effects of the spill were still being found. Dead Baby dolphins were found washed up along Alabama and Mississippi. Experts have also found oil on the seafloor which has not degraded. The image below provides a clear idea of the amount of oil that was found to be spilled due to the explosion. This provides a date-wise record of government and non-government estimates. The overall impact of the spill has been intense, and the impact will be felt for years to come. Although in the current times, the main issue being faced is the spill on the seashore and the dead marine and wildlife, this spill will have a major irreparable damage to the Gulf Stream and can cause global thermoregulation activities as well (Zangari, 2010). The damage has been caused to the environment as well as the company.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Research Proposal Example Thirty (30) women in the first trimester of gestation will be recruited from a local clinic to participate in this study. They will be randomly assigned to a control group and an experimental group. All the subjects will answer the Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory- II (BDI-II) before and after they give birth and the Mother-Infant Attachment Scale (MIAS) as an additional post test after they give birth. The only difference will be that the experimental group will undergo CBT session once a week. Results will be compared to validate if CBT has been instrumental in helping the experimental group manage their PPS and attachment issues or not. Introduction This study purports to answer the research question: To what extent does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) help women with postpartum depression and difficulty with attachment to their infant as compared to women who do not receive CBT? Postpartum depression (PPT) affects a growing number of new mothers and its consequences for both mother and infant can be damaging. It usually occurs within four weeks after the birth of the infant (O’Hara, 1997), and affects one in every seven new mothers, reflecting a prevalence rate of 13% (Wisner et al., 2006; O’Hara & Swain, 1996). The seriousness of the impact of PPD has been alarming, making it an important public health problem (Cuijpers et al., 2008). To prevent PPS, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been known to be an effective intervention. It is a psychotherapeutic approach of training an individual to think of positive things instead of dwelling on the negative. Thus, it may provide significant impact on women with postpartum depression and difficulties with attachment to their infants. CBT can help the new mothers to understand how their thinking and behaviour affect their emotional state and this in turn affects their feelings and ability to attach to their babies. Review of Literature Depression Depr ession is associated with â€Å"feelings of extreme sadness† which not only last for long periods of time, but it is also recurrent and may further develop into suicidal tendencies (NHS, 2010). It is usually manifested with negative behaviors stemming from negative emotions. Sometimes, the person experiencing it is not even aware that he or she is undergoing depression. Its concept as a serious and debilitating illness, one which has had great impact globally, has become recognised within general medicine and the public eye in more recent times (NHS, 2010). In 1996, the World Bank published a report on the global burden of disease implicating the importance for the realisation that the impact of depression worldwide is vast. In 1990, 11 million sufferers of depression were identified in the US alone (Scott et al, 2003) . Cognitive Behavior Therapy Aaron Beck, one of the proponents of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), agrees that much of our psychological problems are caused b y â€Å"cognitive distortions† due to our acknowledged human fallibility. Individuals who undergo depression have belief systems or assumptions that may have developed from their negative early experiences which were not resolved well. Thus the negative experiences may have lead to the development of dysfunctional beliefs about the world, which may easily be triggered certain events (Field, 2000). Beck (1987) came up with the concept of â€Å"negative cognitive triad† that describes the pattern that triggers depression. In the first component of the triad, the client exhibits a negative view of himself. He is convinced that he is to blame for whatever pathetic state he is currently in because of his personal inadequacies. Secondly, the client shows negative view of