Wednesday, July 31, 2019

One-Party State: Texas vs. Oklahoma Essay

Texas: For over a 100 years Texas was a one-party state of Democrats (Munisteri). Republicans did not have a chance until Abraham Lincoln who was against slavery and defended the Union during the Civil War. During this time before Republicans took over Texas was free-willed and won majority of seats in the race and had all seats in Legislature. One of the best ways to describe this era was best stated by Author Steven, â€Å"developed a free spirit, a pride in self-reliance and a work ethic that is still unmatched today â€Å"Early Texans lived, loved and died entirely by their own efforts without relying on government to fulfill their needs. Just like modern Texans, early settlers believed in families, churches and neighbors, not in bureaucracy† (Munisteri). Oklahoma: Just like the Texans, Oklahoma was always a one-party state of Democrats. It was secured in the Democratic Party and Republican did not have a chance. Even in 1964 Republicans won their first election, the Demo crats still held 81% of seats (Gaddie). In the 1990’s Republican took over and still run the show. Which party dominated Texas politics (for most of Texas’s history after the 1876 Constitution), and what are the historical origins behind this dominance? Texas: Democrats dominated Texas politics from 1863 to 1980. Still Democrats remained powerful, they gradually drowned. The Cause of this power was Texas did not vote in 1864 and 1868 due to the Civil War and Reconstruction and from 1902 through 1965, Texas had basically stopped most blacks and many Latinos and poor whites through the poll tax and white primaries by not allowing them to register to vote. Oklahoma: Oklahoma was dominated by Democrats almost their entire existence. From 1907 up until the 1990’s the Democratic Party ran Oklahoma as a state. The reason for this is stated in the article written by Gaddie, â€Å"For decades the bedrock of Democratic Party strength has been the southeastern part of the state, â€Å"Little Dixie.† This region imported not just people, but also local culture, place names, architecture, and political tradition directly from a variety of southern states, especially Mississippi† (Gaddie). In addition the most prominent people to support the Democrat Part come from Little Dixie as well. What were some of the ramifications of one-party  rule? After researching and reading articles on Texas and Oklahoma one-party states, I came to the conclusion that the consequences would be harsh, or were harsh. It would make these states communist. Meaning government control all even the way citizens live and operate. They became robotic. What caused the rise of a two-party system in Texas? The division of ideas led to the creation of the two-party system. The main issue between the two parties was how they believed the Constitution should be read and interpreted. When George Washington was president he assigned to people to his cabinet. Hamilton and Jefferson both which seen differences in the constitution. One believe that so of the constitution was good the other believe that some of it was inappropriate. This cause a rift and a split into a two-party system (AP U.S. History Notes). Why do some people (including your professor) believe that Texas is once again a one-party state? Texas: For many and many that sit down and speak on Texas and its politics see that Republicans run everything to see how everything that the President promotes they reject and are successful. The cost of living, the assistance giving to the needy diminishing and the way the rich and wealthy are catered to make me and others feel t is a one-sided situation and bring us to Texas being a one-pa rty state. Texas and Oklahoma both have 2% Democrats and 98% Republicans, it is very plain to see that both are a one-party state (538 Politics). Cite: Aboukhadijeh, Feross. â€Å"Development of the Two-party System – AP U.S. History Topic Outlines – Study Notes.† Development of the Two-party System – AP U.S. History Topic Outlines – Study Notes. StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, Inc., 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. . Gaddie, Ronald. â€Å"DEMOCRATIC PARTY.† DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Oklahoma Historical Society. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. . Munisteri, Steve. â€Å"Overview and History – Republican Party of Texas.† Republican Party of Texas RSS. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. . Silver, Nate. â€Å"FiveThirtyEight Senate Forecast: GOP Is Slight Favorite in Race for Senate Control.† FiveThirtyEight. 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. .

Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ Essay

Writing in a similar style to Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, Siegfried Sassoon also decided to attack figures of authority and those with no direct experience of trench warfare via ‘Base Details’. ‘Base Details’ is entirely speculative. The word ‘base’ in the title has two distinct meanings. It could be used as a noun, to mean ‘place’, as in a centre of operation; or you could interpret the word as an adjective meaning ‘morally low or unacceptable’. Sassoon has used play on words in the title so that the reader may more adequately perceive the irony and sarcasm expressed in this poem. The adjectives used in the first two lines of ‘Base Details’ reflect the author’s perception of his superiors: If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath, I’d live with Scarlet Majors at the Base, The first line indicates that Sassoon is contemptuous of these officers. He has classed the Majors as unpleasant stereotypes, to be criticised and jeered at. In the following line, the word ‘scarlet’ has a double meaning. On face value, it could be taken to mean that the officers have bright red cheeks. However, Sassoon has used the word as a metaphor, meaning that the Majors have been metaphorically splattered with the blood of the young men they had sent to the front line to die. The stanza continues: And speed glum heroes up the line to death. Here, ‘speed’ indicates haste. The Majors are unnecessarily rushing soldiers to their deaths. The soldiers are referred to as ‘glum heroes’ because that is exactly what they are. Their country is expecting them to be noble, intrepid and courageous. Instead they are despondent because they know that as soon as they are out of the trenches their grisly demise could come about at any second. All the hope, joy and energy that is a part of youth has vanished from these men. Sassoon then regales us with further speculation thus: You’d see me with my puffy petulant face Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel, The first thing we notice about these two lines is that Sassoon has used alliteration in order to make more of an impact on the reader, and to vary his writing style. Also worth noting is the fact that Sassoon uses rhyme throughout ‘Base Details’ to good and memorable effect. Saying that the Majors are ‘puffy and ‘petulant’ indicates incredulity on Sassoon’s part, similar to that conveyed in the first lines of the poem. The phrase ‘guzzling’ and ‘gulping’ indicates greed, and animal-like actions. The Majors are inhuman. Then, we are told that the Majors stay in ‘the best hotel’. This brings home the stark contrast between the lives of the soldiers in the vermin-infested trenches, and the sedentary lives of their superiors. Sassoon continues: Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap’, I’d say. ‘I used to know his father well: Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’ The Roll of Honour referred to here was an official list of those who died in the war. The Major’s words regarding one of the deceased are not at all heartfelt. They are meaningless, detached and emotionally void. He is unconcerned and he has placed himself above feelings of pity for those lost and their families. Each new death is just another name on the register and another letter to be dispatched. In the last line of the stanza, the Major refers to trench warfare as a ‘scrap’ or ‘game’, which is identical to Jessie Pope’s view of war. This is a direct reflection of how little the Major knows about the fighting going on outside his quarters; and similarly, how unequipped he is for his job of directing troops. ‘Base Details’ closes with the following: And when the war is done and youth stone dead, I’d toddle safely home and die – in bed. By using the words ‘stone dead’ to describe the deceased soldiers, Sassoon makes a brutal and graphic impression on the reader. It is a cold and unfeeling phrase, and seems to render those who died as useless and unimportant. The Major wishes to die peacefully, and in bed – unlike those he sends out to the front. The Major considers himself superior in all aspects, even in death. ‘Base Details’ attempted to show the ignorant public back in Britain the hypocritical attitudes of many of these Majors; and how soldiers in the trenches were being treated in comparison to those who had obtained top jobs merely on the basis of their public schooling. Whilst ‘Base Details’ depicts the life of a typical Major serving during World War One, another of Sassoon’s poems, ‘The Hero’, depicts the sequence of events on the home front following the death of a soldier. The poem ‘Base Details’ by Siegfried Sassoon is a sarcastic attack against the army generals who view the war as a game similar to checkers. It is therefore evidence of why Siegfried Sassoon is known as the â€Å"voice of protest†. The first noticeable thing about the text is the title. The word base is a pun for the fact that base means headquarters as well as dishonourable or cowardly, which implies that he will talk about the dishonourable activities at the Army headquarters. Secondly, Sassoon appeared to have blamed the officers for the purposeless deaths of his fellow men, while they were behind the front line and had no idea what it was like. Sassoon uses many adjectives to describe his generalisation of those at the top â€Å"fat and bald and short of breath† which shows the hatred that he has. In this poem, Sassoon writes â€Å"poor young chap†¦I used to know his father well.† This statement alone is typical of an army general. To show the fact that army generals can not comprehend what war is like he uses the phrase â€Å"we lost heavily in this last scrap†. The army generals are calling this a scrap like it’s a fight between boys at school. Sassoon calls the army generals â€Å"Finally, Sassoon rounds the poem of with a phrase by reinforcing that they are unfit and fat. He also shows that those at the front line could die any moment by saying â€Å"When the war is done and youth stone dead, Id toddle safely home and die, in bed† which is a good ending because it says that the generals will die in a nice warm peaceful place, while the soldiers will die among the rats. Sassoon’s feelings towards the officers are best described in the poem ‘Base Details’. In this poem, Sassoon shows his resentment towards the officers by describing them drinking in the best hotels, and reading the names of those who died, saying ‘poor young chap †¦ I used to know his father well’ and saying ‘yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap’. The poem is finished with the lines â€Å"and when the war is done and youth stone dead, I’d toddle safely home and die – in bed† This poem truly shows the bitterness and resentment Sassoon felt towards the officers. He felt that they didn’t really care about those who died, because they were safe themselves and had no idea of what was going on at the front line – calling the battle that was fought a ‘scrap’, like it was nothing more than a small fight. In the last two lines of the poem, Sassoon’s feelings are clearer than ever, the way he says that they’ll ‘toddle home and then die in bed shows that he thought that the officers were safe and living comfortably while the soldiers, who were actually fighting the war, were living in shocking conditions, where they would die at any moment. Sassoon uses many different ways to convey his feelings, and particularly his bitterness and resentment towards the war and the officers, but in all his poems, his true meanings are clear and he writes in such a way that shows us clearly what he thinks and feels about the war. BASE DETAILS – ESSAY In the poem, â€Å"Base Details†, SiegFried Sassoon expresses his great disgust towards the majors in the military. He is horrified and appalled at the way the majors act while men are dying out in the battle field. Mr. Sassoon is so furious towards the majors that it takes more than just one word to describe how indignified Sassoon is. These great feelings of anger are derived from the fact that the majors are living a life of luxury while sending young men â€Å"up the line† out into the battle field. This is all suggested in the title of the poem with the word â€Å"base† suggesting a military base, and/or a base person. And the word â€Å"details† suggesting a command, an assignment, and something or someone lowly. â€Å"Base Details† is a poem which expresses the feelings of the author towards military majors using differentiable types of imagery. The poem begins by Sassoon describing the majors as demanding, mean, and belligerent men. Bald, out-of-shape and full of gluttony. Sassoon categorizes the majors under the word scarlet signifying childless, bright redness from excessive drinking and yelling of anger. Sassoon presents to us the fact of the majors sending up the young men as soon as they are drafted â€Å"up the line to death.† This attitude taken from the majors is what angers Sassoon to the point of hatred. To convince the reader of such horrific truth, Sassoon describes how disrespectful the majors are with their â€Å"puffy petulant faces† from eating and drinking excessively. Sassoon states how the majors are stuffing their faces and â€Å"Reading the Roll of Honor† in safe luxurious hotels while men are dying out on the field

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Review Questions Essay

Answer the following questions (you may use MS Project Help): 1) What are the three base calendars included in MS Project and what are the default values of each? Standard – Default base calendar, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5, lunch noon to 1. This is the default base calendar used for the project, for tasks and for resources. Night Shift – Usually for graveyard shift, 11 PM to 8 AM, five days a week, lunch 3 AM to 4AM. 24 Hours – Work never stops here. Typically used for projects in a manufacturing situation, midnight until midnight 7 days a week. 2) What is the difference between a base calendar and a resource calendar? Resource Calendars apply to only specific resources. 3) Why schedule one project meeting after completion of the last task, Test System? We should – as a final meeting to discuss how the project went as a whole. 4) Give an example of when you would assign a 24-hour calendar to a resource. 24-Hour calendars would be used in situations where a consultant is being used to complete a fixed-cost task 5) If you were doing a senior project, what would be the base calendar you would use for students working on the project and what adjustments would you make to it? The base calendar I would use would probably be the 24-hour calendar because there would not be a set time each task will be worked on. Turn in this sheet with your MS Project file to the Weekly iLab Dropbox.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Formal Report or proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Formal Report or proposal - Essay Example Analysis leads to the conclusion that our company needs to adopt socially responsible practices. Every business venture aims at flourishing in the modern marketplace. There are several methods of achieving including the application of marketing strategies for sales increase, manufacturing and production concepts for cost-effectiveness and organizational management for over-all company harmony. However, the concept of an ethically-run business as necessary for the company to succeed is becoming more and more recognized. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a by word for many business professionals. Although it is generally observing ethics and morals in business dealings, CSR is thought to comprise of activities such as supporting charities is CSR, funding anti-crime and poverty programs, exceeding legal or regulatory obligations in areas of business operation such as health and safety and consumer rights, managing the supply chain to ensure that suppliers respect human rights is CSR and taking measures to ensure that products do not harm the environment. (Kotler and Nancy 2004, p. 3) Our concern is not so much in defining CSR but in determining whether the observance of business ethics is optional or not. This paper will argue that business ethics is necessary and beneficial for the business firm. ... Increased Job Performance Quality The reason why a field in business called Human Resources Management (HRM) exists is that it was long recognized that there is a need to ensure that employee issues are properly addressed. One of the secrets of successful business companies is that they were able to derive extra commitment from all employees resulting to unprecedented quality and responsiveness in products and services along with heroic frugality, incredible levels of integration and collaboration within and without the organizations, and especially to pull off continuous, brilliant, and cheap innovation. According to Kotler and Lee (2004) the only way one can "manage" high level human output is to set the conditions for everyone doing their best: including support of the core competencies of people, their ability to self-organize, their ability to change and grow. A company can achieve this if it fosters trust and build organizational cultures in which freedom and personal initiative can cohabit with cooperation, caring and a highly integrated harmony. Only thru a sincere observance of business ethics can the company assure that its employees do not stage rallies, release negative public statements regarding the company, resign and reveal company trade secrets. Being ethical also helps in attracting excellent and skilled professionals to work for the company. The Industrial Society for the US (in Price 2002) reports that "82% of US professionals claimed that they would not work for an organisation whose values they did not believe in" and that "among smaller businesses, the survey showed that 62% of owner managers were influenced by their employees to be more socially active." Consumer

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Citizen Kane (Movie) Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Citizen Kane ( ) - Movie Review Example but miserable person who has accomplished nothing; in fact, his political dream does not come true and at his death he cannot avoid to remember the only time in his childhood when he received true joy from riding a sled with a ‘Rosebud tag’ on it. Most critics have figured out Kane as a man who had no political ideology, but only a man guided by greed for power in the society. This seems to explain his misery despite being a rich politician at the time he finally loses his last breath. This article seeks to examine the relationship between Kane’s political ambitions and the media influence on the public that was evident during his time. Through flashbacks that cover the political life of Kane, it is noticeable that he lacks a political ideology while pursuing his political ambition, but uses the media to pursue his own personal goals. After starting a journalist firm, he employs a captivated writer, Thompson, who is proficient in writing sensitive material. He is featured on every cover page of the magazines and newspapers that Thompson produces for the public (Carringer 42). The aim of this kind of media coverage is to keep Kane a relevant political icon throughout the state by making him famous and popular among the people. The newspaper portrays him as prominent owner of newspaper producing firm, radio stations and much more wealth. He seems to bear the opinion that political success is based on personal wealth, rather than political ideology. Consequently, he does not have any public interest at heart or any political goal that would impact on the population he expects to serve. By failing to devise any politic al goal or even strategy, it is possible to regard Kane as a man who lack all the dimensions of an ideologist in his political war. Secondly, Kane is prompt to influence the minds of the people by using media power as a platform to campaign for his election. In a conversation with his mistress, Susan, he boasts on his authority to control and

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Lab report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Lab Report Example However, severe malfunction of the heart and the nervous system can be caused by significant excess of the elements in the body. Abnormally high or low levels of sodium or potassium can be caused by excess use of diuretic drugs, poor diet or impaired kidney function. These conditions may lead to nausea, seizures, lethargy, irregular heartbeat, coma and even death in severe cases. Although cases of deliberate poisoning using sodium and potassium, they are readily and widely available in a salt form. Potassium chloride solution can be administered through intravenous injection and have been used in euthanasia and political assassinations. Sodium and potassium levels can be monitored using flame photometry. The analytical technique is a simple form of atomic spectroscopy that depends on the atomic emission process. The solution of the sample is drawn into a flame which is sufficiently hot to cause atomization and electronic excitation of certain elements. They emit visible radiation at wavelengths that are specific to that element as the atoms return to their ground state. The radiation is isolated by an appropriate filter and converted to an electrical current that is proportional to the intensity of the emitted radiation therefore determining the concentration of the element. Flame photometers are relatively cheap and portable but can only determine alkaline and alkaline earth metals such as sodium, potassium, lithium barium and lithium (Chawla, 2003). This experiment is aimed to measure the concentrations of sodium and potassium by use of flame photometry in a range of samples in connection to fictitious criminal investigation. An 18 month old infant, Master Nathaniel Carbuncle, was admitted to a hospital intensive care unit suffering from nausea and fatigue, a slow heartbeat and weak pulse. The child was found to have an abnormal blood electrolyte

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Prophecy of the Witches and the Plot to murder a King Essay

The Prophecy of the Witches and the Plot to murder a King - Essay Example The groundlings, who have paid a penny each, a day's wage for some of them, to stand at the pit under the open portion of the Globe, are totally thrilled. The middle class who can afford to pay a penny more to sit in the galleries jostle with each other taking care not to crush their best clothes. Having paid a penny more than them to sit on a cushion in the gallery, at a separate door, I settle down to watch the play. The rich and the titled sit at the Lords' rooms and Ladies rooms in the covered galleries, having paid as much as half a crown each and enjoying the privilege of being spotted by their peers at the theatre. The groundlings are largely from the working class and you can see butchers and tanners, millers and iron workers, seamen and servants, glovers and shopkeepers, bakers and wig-makers- in short tradesmen of every description along with their families. So boisterous is their conduct that you anticipate their throaty shouting, smiling and winking in scenes that cater to their taste. The shoving and fighting amongst them even as the play is staged form another interesting sight from the higher level at which I sit, having paid twice as much as they have done. The hissing and mewing noise from the groundlings at totally unpredictable moments of the play add colour to the atmosphere.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The effect of economic growth on health care in developed countries Essay

The effect of economic growth on health care in developed countries The case of the United States - Essay Example The discussion are mainly focused on health care services in United States of America, however a comparison is drawn with other developed states where appropriate. 2. Historical Background The absence of a universal health care insurance plan is felt since long in America. The efforts were made to formulate a comprehensive health policy that can satisfy the public and patients, physicians, employers and the insurance providers. However, these efforts seem to be mistimed because the government could not utilized the economic growth in the period of 1990 to materialize its long public demands towards the provisioning of better health care facilities. â€Å"The decade of 1990s was characterized by unprecedented economic growth and creation of wealth in United States.† (Shi & Douglas, 2008, p.63). The President Clinton in 1993 presents his national health care initiative, but it could not gain the public acceptance at large scale. The major reason was the slow economic growth and rise in the costs of services and medicine as observed by Shi & Douglas, â€Å"However, medical cost escalation and cost of health insurance premium continues to outpace both general inflation and general economic growth† and this degradation of economy has caused reduced health care services offered by the government and private employers, â€Å"The percentage of firms offering health insurance has fallen from 69% in 2000 to 61% in 2006.† (Shi & Douglas, 2008, p.562). 3. Recent Shift of Focus In recent years this trend is changed and health care has got more policy focus as compared to the 1990s decade. Health care is budgeted heavily and more research work is being...The essay presents a comprehensive review of some basic problems, that the United States are is currently facing in the system of health care. It is shown in the paper, that quality health care services can only be provided, if country is enjoying sustainable economic growth. Business should be given a freehand to concentrate on the growth of business instead of provisioning of insurance coverage and other packages because more business means better and secured economic growth. This does not mean the government controlled services, rather it should only act as a facilitator and guarantor. The absence of a universal health care insurance plan is felt since long in America. The efforts were made to formulate a comprehensive health policy that can satisfy the public and patients, physicians, employers and the insurance providers. However, these efforts seem to be mistimed because the government could not utilized the economic growth in the period of 1990 to materialize its long public demands towards the provisioning of better health care facilities. The aim should be the availability of insurance coverage to those 17% of Americans who are still all time uninsured. This petty figure has immense effect on the image of the US that is still far behind other industrial states on the globe in the field of health care services. The ever increasing costs in health care sector know no end, Medicare and Medicaid failed to control the cost at any level in health care sector and costs have never gone down.

Louisanna State Board of Nursing Practice Act Assignment

Louisanna State Board of Nursing Practice Act - Assignment Example In the guideline there is a clear illustration of the associated penalty with each violation of a particular rule. There are also some exceptions included in the act. Other important medical issues are also briefly discussed, and these include the use of certain medicaments such as anaesthetics and the way in which medications are distributed. The aim of the speech is to illustrate the main aspects of the act and show the importance of such protocols in the nursing field. The role of the board is to protect the integrity of nursing and ensure that the practice of public health is not harmful to the community. The individuals in the community are dependent on the healthcare system, hence all the necessary measures must be taken to ensure its efficiency. There are three main principles of the legislation which include ensuring that the staff is well qualified for provision of public health, the regulation of practice of advanced practice registered nurses and registered nurses and the protection, promotion and preservation of safety of the public. The act also defines the different professional roles in the nursing field. It recognizes any individual possessing a license from a nationally recognized licensing body and possessing the appropriate qualifications as an advanced practice registered nurse. Some positions that are occupied by advanced nurses include certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner. Other posts that are also defined in the act include advanced practice registered nurse students, and different factors associated with practice. The quality of the board is largely affected by the members, hence there is a strict selection process of the members. The board should consist of eight registered nurses, whose selection is suggested through a list compiled by the

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The situation in Sonoco, a consumer packaging company reflected inept Essay

The situation in Sonoco, a consumer packaging company reflected inept human resource management activities - Essay Example This essay explores the situation in Sonoco, a consumer packaging company reflected inept human resource management activities. The ineptness of the human resource management activities owes to its mismatching with the operational activities of the company. Sonoco as a consumer packaging company was found to gain a high amount of growth rate both in terms of market and financial value. The situation of the company turned grave after the period of 1990s when national crisis like decline in export volume or financial crisis in the Asian market made its sales to decline by around 6 percent during the period 1995 to 1999. This decline in sales volume from $2.7 to $2.5 billion resulted in the company revising its operational structure to reduce the amount of expenditure. Thus the operational strategy devised by the company management was required to focus upon generation of increased sales volume while effectively managing the cost structure of the concern to evade undue rise of expenditu re. Sonoco in the previous periods acquired huge amount of growth by acting on strategies like acquisitions where it is recorded that in the period pertaining to 1990s around 60 companies were acquired on a global basis. Large consumer product companies like Nestle, Gillette, Kraft and Procter and Gamble belonged to the consumer profile of Sonoco. The company also worked in the development and rendering of growth opportunities of the employees of the company. This helped in the development of team work in the company.... This concealment of the underperformers in the company is considered to be one of the important factors that triggered the decline of business for the company after the 1990 period. Diagnosis of the Problems The problem being identified in the above segment this part calls for a steady diagnosis of the same. The diagnosis or analysis of the problems can be made based on the analysis based by Cindy Hartley, the newly appointed Vice President of Human Resources operations. It was noted by Cindy that the existing human resources management practices of the company were set on a very decentralised and traditional note. This decentralisation of human resources functioning in the company failed to effectively address the needs of the concern pertaining to the different departments. Further the role played by the human resources managers pertaining to different departments were found to operate based on a tactical note and thus failed to render any type of strategic decisions. These human r esources managers cooperated largely with the general managers pertaining to the different divisions by means of direct reporting activities. However in that responding to the calls of the corporate manager pertaining to the human resources department the same is reflected to be conducted in an indirect fashion. Human resources functioning in the company were considered as back end process with no such relation to the operational activities. Thereby no such planning was made to enhance the potential of the human resources working in the concern. Again in regards to the corporate manager of human resources in the concern it was found that the manager

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

In terms of Human Rights, how revolutionary was the French Revolution Essay

In terms of Human Rights, how revolutionary was the French Revolution - Essay Example Most of these events have had momentous effects on human rights, especially as most of these events have involved bloodshed and violence. One of these events is the French Revolution. The French Revolution from 1789 to 1799 was a period of political and social change in France and in the rest of Europe. Its causes and its eventual results became a turning point in the clamour for better human rights in France and Europe. This paper shall now discuss the statement: in terms of human rights, how revolutionary was the French Revolution. It shall start with an overview of the French Revolution, and then it shall specifically discuss the impact of the war in terms of securing and protecting human rights. It will end with summary and concluding remarks. This essay is being carried out in order to establish a clear and comprehensive discussion of human rights evolution and how events in history have impacted on its formulation. Body Overview of the French Revolution The French Revolution wa s launched in 1789 after the convocation of the Estates-General. Initially, members of the Third Estate proclaimed the Tennis Court Oath in June of 1789; this was followed by the assault on the Bastille, later, by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and then, the march on Versailles which pushed the royal court into Paris by October 1789 (Doyle, 2003). In the years that followed, tensions rose between the liberal assemblies and the right wing monarchy; these were parties which were bent on preventing any major reforms from being passed (Doyle, 2003). In 1792, a republic was established and a year later King Louis XVI was executed. The French Revolutionary Wars were initiated in 1792; and it led to French victories which ensured the domination of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and some of the western territories of the Rhine (Doyle, 2003). For a long while, these territories were elusive to the previous French regimes. Various causes and complaints led to the revolution, eventually leading to the rise of Robespierre and the Jacobins, as well as the dominance of the Committee of Public Safety in their Reign of Terror from 1793 to 1793 where thousands were killed (Doyle, 2001). As the Jacobins lost their power and Robespierre was executed, the Directory gained control of France in 1795 until 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte took over. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars and his First Empire, an absolute monarchy was established; two smaller revolutions were later successfully launched and in the years following, France was again governed by regime changes (Doyle, 2001). The modern age followed in the wake of the French Revolution, and the emergence of the republics, as well as the liberal governments, the birth of secularism, the establishment of modern ideals, and the launching of total war were events which dominated the era of the French revolution (Doyle, 2001). Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The French Revolutio n also eventually led to the establishment of various human rights laws and policies; specifically, it led to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Censer and Hunt, 2001). This declaration specified as universal the individual and the general rights of the realm estates. It is based on the concept of natural right, as well as universal rights which are valid at all times based on human nature and inherent human

Monday, July 22, 2019

The Rising Costs of the Iraq War Essay Example for Free

The Rising Costs of the Iraq War Essay In the 2003 Budget the government set aside ? 3 billion to cover â€Å"the full costs of the UK’s military obligations† in Iraq [1]. In the past four years the amount allocated to this ‘Special Reserve’ has steadily increased, and with an extra ? 400 million in this year’s Budget the total is now over ? 7. 4 billion. This is in addition to recent increases in general military spending. This briefing investigates the financial costs of the Iraq conflict to the UK taxpayer. It notes a significant opaqueness in the budgeting process as well as the potential for costs to continue to escalate. The financial costs of a war may not be the first consideration. War brings many costs, foremost in lives lost and damaged. However, the decision to involve the UK in the invasion of Iraq had substantial implications for UK public spending. Money spent on the Iraq war and wider ‘war on terror’ represents significant diversions from other government budgets. The lack of transparency in the UK finances is in contrast to the US, where all budgetary proposals must be scrutinised by Congress. Comprehensive information about US military spending is available and has contributed to considerable public debate. The sums spent by the US government are many times those of the UK, and there are a number of projects aimed at publicising the scale of US war spending (e. g. http://costofwar. com). The Special Reserve The 2002 Pre-Budget Report set aside ? 1 billion to enable the armed forces to prepare for the coming invasion of Iraq[2]. By the time of the Budget in March 2003, UK forces were in Iraq. The Chancellor increased the amount to ? 3 billion and it became known as ‘the Special Reserve’[3]. In the 2003 Pre-Budget Report another ? 500 million was added for financial year 2003-04 and a further ? 300 million for 2004-05; bringing the total up to ? 3. 8 billion[4]. While there was no increase in the 2004 Budget Report, another ? 520 million for 2004-05 was announced in the Pre-Budget Report of December that year[5]. The 2005 Budget Report included a further ? 340 million added for 2004-05 and ? 400 million for 2005-06[6], whilst the 2005 Pre-Budget Report included another ? 580 million . The 2006 Budget report allocated ? 800 million for operations in 2006-07 and this was followed by ? 600 million in the 2006 Pre-Budget Report. Most recently, the 2007 Budget allocated a further 400million for 2007-08. Thus, to date, the total amount allocated to the Special Reserve is ? 7. 44 billion. The Special Reserve is not only set aside for costs in Iraq, but also for â€Å"the UK’s other international obligations†[7]. However, nowhere in the public domain has the Treasury published how much of the Special Reserve has been spent, nor how much of it has been spent on Iraq. Table 2 (please see pdf file above). , which gives a breakdown of the spending of the Special Reserve, was obtained through a Freedom of Information request solicited by the Iraq Analysis Group. Of the ? 6. 44bn set aside at various times to the Special reserve by March 2006, at least ? 6. 3bn had been allocated to departments, almost the total amount possible. About ? 4. 4bn of the Reserve had been spent by the Ministry of Defence in Iraq[8] between 2002 and 2006, with at least an additional ? 156 million allocated to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. Furthermore, the forecasted outturn for the financial year 2005-06 is larger than that of 2004-05, suggesting that costs in Iraq are still far from settling down to something approaching the spending in Afghanistan. How Much is ? 4. 4 Billion? The ? 4. 4 billion already allocated to operations in Iraq has been raised through the pre-existing tax structure, borrowing and other government revenue and consequently there exists some trade-off between the additional defence spending and other public spending options. ?3. 2 billion spent on education, for example, would be sufficient to fund the recruitment and retention of over 10,300 new teachers for ten years. In health, it would allow the building of around 44 new hospitals. The ? 6. 44 billion Special Reserve represents the entire annual budget of the Department of International Development and would allow a five-fold increase in bilateral aid to Africa[9]. According to UNICEF estimates, ? 5 billion would fund two years of full immunization for every child in the developing world[10]. Oil Prices Any sort of uncertainty in the Middle East is serious because of the possible effects on oil prices and, in turn, the possible effects on the economies of the rest of the world. Iraq is particularly significant because its proven oil reserves are 112 billion barrels or about 10 per cent of the worlds total. Iraqs reserves are second only to its neighbour Saudi Arabia. Further exploration is likely to significantly increase Iraqs proven reserves. Iraqs oil is also said to be very attractive because it is easy to recover and so production costs are among the lowest in the world. (2) Iraqs sustainable production is around 2. 8 2. 9 million barrels per day, with a net export potential of around 2. 3 2. 5 million barrels per day. Those figures compare with total world oil production of 68 million barrels per day and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production of 29 million barrels per day, or 42 per cent of the total. (3) The US is by far the biggest consumer of petroleum consuming 19. 6 million barrels per day of which net imports are 10. 9 million barrels per day. (4) Iraqs production potential is limited by aging infrastructure in poor repair. UN sanctions prevent the importation of spare parts and other necessary equipment. The volume of Iraqi exports permitted under UN sanctions (the oil-for-food program) is much lower at around 1. 6 million barrels per day; however, some additional oil is smuggled out of Iraq. According to the US Energy Information Agency some oil experts think that Iraqs oil production could double in the next few years provided sufficient investment were to be made and the UN sanctions lifted. (5) The prospect of continued and possibly expanded Iraqi production is behind some of the optimistic scenarios examined below. Also important have been statements by the OPEC to the effect that they would be able to cover any reduction in supplies from Iraq, despite suggestions that OPEC is producing near full capacity. (6) Any increase in non-OPEC production would also help moderate oil prices. In the longer term supplies from non-traditional sources, including Central Asian members of the former Soviet Union, could put downward pressure on prices. Oil prices have increased throughout most of 2002 and into 2003 from about US$20 per barrel in mid 2002 to around US$35 per barrel in early March 2003. There have been many commentators willing to suggest that oil prices may peak at much higher values. Bad case scenarios have been published that estimate oil prices increasing to US$75 per barrel by George Perry from the Brookings Institute and US$80 per barrel by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. (7) While such figures tend to be reported by the press, it needs to be kept in mind that these are only worst case scenarios. Large sudden price increases cannot be ruled out. However, it is important to note that war with Iraq has been widely anticipated and we would expect that the effects of war would be anticipated in the markets and already be reflected in prices. Against that, some observers suggest that a quick war without damage to Iraqs oil wells would eliminate the war premium and reduce prices to figures around US$20 per barrel. (8) Effects of Higher Oil Prices Oil price increases act like a tax on fuel that is collected by oil producers and transfers income from users to producers. It increases the burdens on users, and when the users are businesses, it increases the costs that they are likely to pass on to the consumer. The oil tax also involves major changes to international trade and investment flows. The 1970s oil price increases were associated with major disruptions to economic activity sparking international recession as well as inflation. The term stagflation was introduced to refer to the unusual combination of both higher inflation and unemployment that began during this period. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has done some work on the specific effects of higher world oil prices. Modelling the effect of a permanent US$5 per barrel increase in oil prices the IMF finds that world GDP would fall by 0. 2 per cent in year one and 0. 3 per cent in years two and three. There would be a roughly equal transfer of GDP (also around 0. 2 per cent) to oil producing countries from oil importing countries with additional transfers within countries. Other Macroeconomic Implications Oil prices will play a large part in the eventual outcomes of the war with Iraq. However, there are more than just the direct effects of oil prices involved. The world economy is going through a period of volatility and uncertainty partly associated with geo-political concerns. All economic commentators refer to the present uncertainty and its effects on both investors and consumers. In the case of Iraq, political uncertainty also has a direct impact on the rest of the world through oil prices. A common view seems to be that the uncertainty relates to the immediate future and that, once the Iraq problem is out of the way, everything will be clearer. For example, in his testimony to the US Congress, the chair of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, anticipates the removal of the Iraq-related uncertainties'(17) that seem to be complicating the present view of the world economy. Another observer has said: The common, hopeful view on Wall Street is that a short, decisive victory in a war with Iraq wouldnt cost much and would lead to a big stock market rally, which would be good for investor and consumer confidence. (18) While a war would obviously put pressure on the budget balance that in turn can have other implications for the economy as a whole. War is not necessarily bad for the economy. It is now well known that the rearmament of the major powers in the late 1930s and 1940s, before and during the Second World War, was associated with the end of the great depression of the 1930s. As one student of this period puts it: The Second World War brought the era of the Depression to a sudden and dramatic end, as the entire resources of the major countries were absorbed in the military struggle. With the outbreak of hostilities, full employment was fairly swiftly achieved everywhere. (19) Obviously there is nothing on the horizon that looks anything like the Second World War, but there is likely to be some fiscal stimulus nevertheless. The 200203 budget papers note that fiscal stimulus generally has the effect of supporting the aggregate level of economic activity. As the 200203 budget papers put it: Expansionary fiscal policy settings in 200001 and 200102 helped Australia maintain solid economic growth relative to other developed countries during a period of weakness in the international economy A large part of the stimulus in 200102 was unavoidable given the impact of high priority defence and domestic security expenditure. This outcome is appropriate given Australias recent economic circumstances and international developments. (20) To the extent that there are under-utilised resources in Australia, government spending can lead to an increase economic activity and employment. However, the fiscal stimulus must be put in the context of the damaging effects of the uncertainty facing the world economy. The uncertainty surrounding the war is undoubtably having a negative effect on investment and consumption decisions all around the world. Given that the fiscal stimulus is rather small even in the US, it might be expected that the uncertainty will more than offset any stimulus. However, a short quick war would remove uncertainty allowing the fiscal stimulus to dominate. In this context there are some forecasts that suggest the outcome could be positive for the UK economy, for example. Oxford Economic Forecasting made such a forecast showing modest GDP increases of around 0. 2 per cent in the UK as a result of the stimulus from military spending. (21) Newsletter Economic Scenarios has attempted to model the economic effects of a hypothetical Iraqi war on the Australian economy. (22) The outcome of the Economic Scenarios modelling is that, over the period 200310, Australia would experience a loss in GDP equivalent to US$18 billion in the short war scenario (war is over in 2003 and rebuilding takes two years) or US$69 billion in the long war scenario (conflict and occupation of five years and five years of rebuilding). Using exchange rates at close of business 26 February 2003 puts the loss in GDP at $30 billion (short) to $114 billion (long). These results suggest a very significant adverse impact on Australia. However, those results reflect the nature of the economic model and some possibly extreme assumptions, including that: * Australian government defence outlays increase by one per cent of GDP in 2003 and either 1 or 0. 5 per cent for the next few years depending on the scenario * oil prices jump immediately to US$80 per barrel and then either slowly return to near normal or return quickly depending on the scenario, and * uncertainty has an effect equivalent to investors demanding 5 per cent in greater returns on their investments causing investment outlays to fall. That premium on investments fades away either slowly or quickly depending on the scenario. The first assumption is just a guess based on Congressional Budget Office estimates that the US will spend something of that order and that small countries involved will likely spend similar amounts as a share of GDP. One percent of Australias GDP is around $7 billion. Access Economics puts the likely costs of war at around $700 million for a three month engagementa tenth of the Economic Scenarios assumption. Access Economics also estimates that over $200 million has already been spent in pre-deployment. (23) Even then, reallocating resources within the Defence Department could absorb a good deal of the $700 million. The Economic Scenarios study received headlines because it purported to show a massive cost to the Australian economy as a result of war in Iraq. However, those models are only as good as the assumptions on which they rest, and if the assumptions are extreme then results will be unrealistic.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Main economic case in favour of globalisation

Main economic case in favour of globalisation 1. Introduction The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defined globalisation as,The geographical dispersion of industrial and service activities for example, research and development, sourcing of inputs, production and distribution and the cross border networking of companies through joint ventures and the sharing of assets. According to Bhagwati and Jagdish (2004)economic globalization is the integration of national economies into the international economy throughtrade, for examples such as foreign direct investment, migration, and the technology transfer from one country to another. Despite, globalization recognised as combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural, political, and biological factors (Sheila, 2004). The term can also refer to the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, orpopular culturethroughacculturation. Economic activity is becoming organised on a global scale giving a new international division of labour, with production, investment patternsand movements and technology transfers all becoming global. In thisstrategy, activities are established in many sites spread over theworld, based on a countrys comparative advantage. 2. Factors that have led to the process of increased globalisation The rapid effects of globalisation can be linked to the growth of multi-national firms, since products and services have been increasingly internationalised, seen in the development of globalised supply chains. In addition to this, the deregulation of capital markets also makes it easier to achieve acquisitions and mergers. This has resulted in the expansion of the trans-national activities of multi-national firms, and particularly in motor cars, oil, pharmaceuticals, airlines and financial services. There has been an accompanying integration and fusion of national markets, in part through free trade zones such as NAFTA and AFTA, and often reflected in the escalation of foreign direct investment, including in the less developed world. Reference should also be made to cross-border connectivity in other words, the development of new information technologies, and the accompanying new ways of buying and selling goods and services. The process of globalisation is mainly motivated by the desire of corporations to increase profits and by governments intent upon tapping into the potential economic and social benefits that come from increased trade in goods, services and the free flow of financial capital. Among the factors, this essay has divided main drivers that accelerated the production and market globalization into two aspects which are static aspects and dynamic aspects. 3. Static trade globalisation 3.1. Technology Modern artefact and technological are a static aspects which accelerated global economies. In 1980s, the world communication has experienced a fundamental change in the perception of the world and one of the reaching transformations has been the economic structural changes on the global scale. The fundamental of these changes is seen to lie on the technological information revolution for example the intranet in US army base commercialise to market. The innovation of the new technologies has made many countries to grow and a good example in this case is e-marketing. The change in Technological have reducing the cost of transmitting information in other word new technologies presence death of distance. The internet has allowedinformation and communication technology to flourish for example E-business. Internet communications with branches, suppliers, plants, distributors andcustomers generally do not require a physical presence in another country, while much can be achieved through lic ensing and franchising. As a result administration costs have fallen as firms from different parts of the globe can trade efficiently and effectively. 3.2. Trade Liberlisation Another influential factor is the desire to circumvent tariff and non-tariff barriers by regional trading blocs. For example, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which replaced the former GATT, was set up to help promote free trade by persuading countries to abolish tariffs and other barriers to open markets. The full benefits of trade liberalization are difficult to quantify. Studies evaluating the effects of trade liberalization under the Uruguay Round completed in 1994 estimate that the increase in annual global income could reach US$200 billion once the reduction in tariffs, export subsidies and quotas negotiated are fully implemented. A similarly positive outlook is provided by the Doha Round. With a 50 percent reduction in tariffs, the World Bank model suggests a real income gain for developing countries of US$ 83 billion or 1 percent, and an exports lift of 14.6 percent. High-income countries see a 0.3 percent real income gain of US$ 67 billion and a 2.8 percent increase in ex ports (Garrett and Goldin and Rodrik, 2003). 3.3. Comparative Advantage Supporters of the WTO argued that there could be substantial economic welfare gains if there was integration of the worlds economy into a single international market. Based upon Ricardos Theory of Comparative Advantage, it was argued that free trade was likely to benefit countries. By allowing each country to specialise in full orpart production would be concentrated in locations which will enjoy the comparative advantage. It was further argued that specialisation in one type of export was likely to improve its quality and perhaps reduce production costs. For example, Belgian chocolates are exported worldwide. Their high quality is due to expert skills that their producers developed, a process known as learning by doing. Their average costs have also been lowered, by the use of specialised labour and capital; through specialised knowledge and research and development and also perhaps through economies of scale. 3.4. Growth of Multi-National Enterprise (MNE) The growth of multi-national firms has contributed to the rapid increase in globalisation. Firstly, a multi-national firm can bedefined as a company that produces in more than one country. Inpractice, globalisation has involved MNEs because the scale of their investment is such that the sales of the largest MNEs exceed the entire GDP of many countries. Many MNEs have moved their production from the west to developing countries because they want to benefit from that countrys comparative advantage, usually access to much lower labour costs. Due to the low standard of living in many developing economies and lack of government legislation MNEs often locate in areas of high unemployment. Therefore they are likely to benefit from a continuous cheap supply of labour. In theory, this has led to the international division of labour. 3.5. Deregulation National economies have become increasingly integrated, leading to a growth in the number of trading blocs and economic unions. The process has been facilitated by the increased mobility of both physical and financial capital, the latter reflecting the trend towards the abolition of capital controls, the deregulation of financial markets, and the opening up of capital markets in LDCs and in the former Soviet bloc. 4. Dynamic trade of globalisation The European continent has seen a lot of dramatic changes over the past decades. Two world wars have been fought here and new countries have evolved every decade. With such a dynamic place as Europe one would think that trade would be a significantly contributing factor to the globalization of the continent. Taking this one step further it is most likely that other factors such as trade affinities are believed to facilitate trade flows between the trading parties which in turn have yielded a higher state of globalization. In order to be able to determine the effects that trade affinities have had on globalization through time one must first start by determining the meaning of the word globalization. Harris (1993) states in his article Globalization, trade, and income To economists globalization is generally thought of as the increasing internationalization of the production, distribution, and marketing of goods and services. (Harris, 1993, p755). By taking this one step further one can look at globalization as the term use when define the process, or evolution, of the welfare around the world. Although, Harris argues that the definition of globalization alters between subjects but that its importance remains the same no matter the discussion. However one defines globalization it is surely a development that is having a profound impact on the subject of economics as a whole and ought to have on the field of international economics in particular. (Harris, 1993, p. 756) To understand and describe globalization it is not enough to concentrate on the static aspect and the primary phenomena. Not less important for the globalization dynamic are the consequences and rebound effects. 4.1. Improve poverty Poverty reduction has remained the central challenge to majority of the countries especially the developing countries. It is with the help of globalization that majority of the countries have been in a position to reduce their poverty levels. There is great evidence that with the introduction of globalization, it has been in a position to eradicate poverty levels and eventually accelerating growth in most of the countries. It is an important catalytic role in both accelerating growth and also at the same time reducing poverty levels. A good example in this case can be explained by analyzing the developing countries. The developing countries have been in a position to grow out of globalization especially in agriculture sector. This is because with globalization, it means that there is a common market for goods and services and at the same time there are no restrictions to trade. It means that the developing countries that are not in a position to compete with the already developed countries can now compete well with them since you find that with globalization, it means free trade that is a trade which is free from trade restriction. Most of the developing countries found it hard to trade globally due to the introduction of tariffs which were usually high for the infant industries to meet. They had limited exports since the tariffs which were imposed when exporting these goods and services were high hence leading to the increased costs of production. It is out of the increased costs of production that the infant industries from the developing countries could not realize their competitive advantage hence leading to increased poverty levels to these countries. As a result, the countries which are still underg oing development can now benefit from globalization since it means that they are in a position to export their products freely and hence can compete effectively with the other developed countries. As a result, it means that globalization has done so much in eradicating poverty levels especially in the developing countries (Boswell, and Dimitris, 1997). 4.2. Increase employment Globalization accelerated growth from opening, an accelerated creation of private companies or MNEs and trade expansion have substantially accelerated the pace of job creation. During 1982-1999, the number of new jobs created in manufacturing and services almost doubled from 1965-1982 (Hauser and OberhÃÆ'Â ¤nsli, 2002). Source: adopted from Hauser and OberhÃÆ'Â ¤nsli in WTO news creates additional jobs (2002) According to Eurostat statistic data, in the 17 years from 1982 to 1999, 34 million jobs were created on average every year in manufacturing and services worldwide. From 1991 to 1999, 30.6 million new jobs were created worldwide, slightly less than during the period 1982-1991. This slowdown in job creation is the result of the restructuring of the formerly socialist economies in Europe (CEE/CIS), as the result of earlier mistakes and misallocations during the communist period. Another event was the 1997 Asian crisis that, according to ILO estimates, destroyed approximately 10 million jobs (ILO, 2000). But this latter event came after a period of very high job creation; for the whole period 1991-1999 it is the job losses in Eastern Europe that practically explain the difference, both in absolute and relative terms, in job creation vis-ÃÆ'Â  -vis the 1982-1991 period. Between 1982 and 1999, employment growth was mainly in emerging economies, plus about 80 percent in Latin America and in Africa/Middle East, close to 120% in developing Asia. The very high pace of employment creation in emerging economies has not been a zero-sum game; all regions in the industrialized world participated in the employment gains, both in absolute terms and also relative to total population. The only area with unsatisfactorily low growth in employment was the European Union, but this was clearly not a consequence of globalizationbut of the excessive rigidities that constitute an obstacle to markets adjustments. 4.3. Enhanced economic interdependence The sharp rise in trade has been accompanied by an even faster increase in foreign investment flows, as industries and companies relocate production processes throughout the world. During 1980-1997, world foreign direct investment flows increased at an annual average rate close to 15 percent, almost twice as fast as trade growth and considerably faster than world output. In particular, during the 1993-1998 periods, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows rose at an even faster rate, from US$219 billion to US$692 billion (UN, 2001). Developing countries for long only receivers of FDI have now also become investors abroad. Trueglobalization does not mean one-way flows, but it means true interdependence. Economic interdependence can be taken to mean the economic corporation of many countries. Many countries are thought to have increased their economic interdependence. These countries are seen to come together for the trade purposes. A good example in this case can be seen in the formation of NAFTA, WTO, and UNACTAD among other bodies which are said to have increased the production and the market globalization. A good example in this case is NAFTA (North American free Trade association). It is with the formation of NAFTA the member countries have been in a position to expand in growth. This is because it is a free trade association between the member countries whereby there are reduced tariffs to the members of the association. So, the infant industries in these countries can be protected hence leading to their increased production. These countries will be in a position to produce more goods and services and sale them globally hence leading to the growth of the economy. So, it can be argued that the increased economic interdependence has led to the increased production of goods and services and also the globalization market. This is because these countries have made trade agreements so that they can promote trade (Boswell, and Dimitris, 1997). It is also with the increased economic integration that economies have been in a position to improve on infrastructure. The communication process in this case has been made easy since the communication travel for these goods are made easy. With a good infrastructure, the production of these goods and services have increased since they can be transported quickly and marketed so quickly. The integrated labour force is also another area which has led to the increased production of goods. This is because the integrated labour ensures that people from other countries can work in a given country as long as they have the skills. As result, more expertise in the production hence lead to the increased production and the globalization market (Boswell, and Dimitris, 1997). Conclusion Globalization is one of the areas that led to most economies to improve. A good can be explained by analyzing the developing countries that they have benefited from the technologies developed by the rich countries. Without globalization that most of the developing countries that could not compete effectively with the developed countries are seen to benefit a lot from the issue of globalization. The rich countries are not better off because they have taken prosperity away from the poor ones; rather, the poor countries are better off because, but situation would have further improved had they been better prepared to capture the benefits of globalization. In additional, globalization is seen to have so many advantages in term of social, economical, and political aspects. It is seen to have increased production hence leading to the economic growth of countries especially in the developing countries. REFERENCES: Bhagwati, Jagdish (2004).In Defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Pres Boswell, T and Dimitris, S. 1997. Globalization and International Labor Organizing: A World-system Perspective.Work and Occupations,24(3), pp.288-308. Garrett, Michael; Goldin, Ian A.; Rodrik, Dani (2003); Scenarios International Trade and Doha Development Agenda; World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos January 2003. Harris, G. R. (1993). Globalization, trade, and income. Retrieved Febuary 7th , 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=00084085(199311)26%3A4%3C755%3AGTAI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 Hauser, H and OberhÃÆ'Â ¤nsli, H. (2002). Globalization creates additional jobs; in: WTO-News; University St. Gallen February; www.wto-news.ch. ILO (2000). World Labour Report 2000. Income security and social protection in a changing world. Geneva: ILO. Martin, Will- Winters, Alan (Eds.) (1996). The Uruguay Round and the Developing Countries. World Bank and Cambridge University Press. London, U.K. Sheila L. C (2004).Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a Changing World. United Nations (2001).World Investment Report 2001: Promoting Linkages. UNCTAD. New York, U.S.A. and Geneva, Switzerland.

Human Resources as an important asset for companies

Human Resources as an important asset for companies The human resources are the most important assets of an organization. The success or failure of an organization is largely dependent on the caliber of the people working therein. Without positive and creative contributions from people, organizations cannot progress and prosper. In order to achieve the goals or the activities of an organization, therefore, they need to recruit people with requisite skills, qualifications and experience. While doing so, they have to keep the present as well as the future requirements of the organization in mind. Recruitment and selection, as a part of effective Human Resource Management is the key to achieving a competitive advantage for an organization. Nowadays, one of the most important concerns for all the business is that of people. The emphasis is on having the right people in the right place at the right time (Lanz, 1988). Seeking new employees is an essential element for each employer, not only in organisations where particular emphasis is placed on the companys human resources policy. Each employer wants to hire the most appropriate candidate for the job who not only has the right qualifications but whose personality will blend in well with the companys structure. The choice of the right people to form a team in organization is one of the most important factors leading to its success. Hence, to achieve this, a company has to pay a huge attention on the recruitment and selection process. Effective recruitment and selection procedures are vital in attracting and retaining high quality staff so every company should take them deeply into consideration. Moreover, human errors are much more expensive in comparison to such assets as land and capital, and often result in serious irreversible consequences. Here I need to add what are the goals of this dissertation I thinkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.and what Ive included in a first chapter, secondà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Definitions of recruitment and selection Conducting business activities and competition between companies in developing international markets show, that Human Resource Management is the source of permanent competitiveness in contemporary business. This domain is not a single, simplified function, but a group of plans, systems, tools, processes and services. Each of these elements provides huge possibilities for profit, provided that one can use effective solutions in exploiting them. As the field of Human Resource Management has strongly changed in recent years, organizations were obligated to become more dynamics and complex. John Storey (2001, p.6) says that It is human capability and commitment, which in the find analysis distinguish successful organization from the rest. This sentence is essential to understand the fundamental tensions and ambiguities associated with Human Resource Management. People are non-material assets of a company and due to their importance have a strategic function. For that reason, recruitment and selection process should be permanent implicated and developed in company structures. According to Pilbeam Corbridge (2006) recruitment and selection process is based on action between applicant and job, which is dependent on stating a need by an organization, using the most appropriate recruitment and selection techniques and on reviewing, evaluating and modifying the recruitment and selection system in the light of experience. Bratton Gold (2003) defined recruitment like a process of generating a pool of capable people to apply for employment to an organization. Furthermore recruitment is a process of attracting individuals on a timely basis, in sufficient numbers and with appropriate qualifications, developing their interest in an organization and encouraging them to apply for jobs within it (Mondy Noe, 1993; Crawford, 2004). During this process, efforts are made to inform the applicants fully about the selection criteria of the required competencies that will lead to effective performance, as well as career opportunities the organization can provide the employee. Whether or not a particular job vacancy will be filled by someone from within, or outside, the organization depends on the organizations human resource policies, the requirements of the job to be filled, the talent to be found and, often, the organizational politics surrounding the decision (Nankervis et al., 2002). Beardwell (1994, p.192) als o indicates that the process of recruitment has two important purposes. Firstly, recruitment should focus on both attraction and retention of the interest of applicants suitable for a given job. Secondly, it should create a positive image of the organization in the eyes of people who come in contact with it. Newell and Shackleton (2000, p.113) define recruitment as the process of attracting people who might make a contribution to the particular organization. The importance of the recruitment function is clear when one realizes that by hiring the most competent applicants the firms performance can be significantly enhanced. In the course of this stage, it is the employer who must encourage the best candidates to apply for a position in the company. Selection is the process of selecting candidates who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in a company (Mathis, R., 1991, p. 209). For the employer it is a stage during which decisions are made on who is the most appropriate of all the job applicants. The key point of selection is how to make fair and relevant assessment, which indicates strengths and weaknesses of applicant (Boxall P., Purcell J., 2003, p.141). Conversely, the quotation by Townley (1999, p.97) defines the notion of selection in that (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) by definition, it involves a process of discrimination, and the opportunity for managers to emphasize employee acceptability or the good bloke syndrome, rather than suitability residing in task-based criteria. It is a much diversified process: it may be short and simply boil down to reviewing and closely reading job application documents, and hiring a person. Or it may be a longer process also including a job interview and other techniques aimed at finding the best people. Pilbeam Cordbridge (2006) assert that good recruitment and selection is important element of the HR strategy, its forecasting requirements and a key to getting the appropriate people to attain a business goals. Moreover, recruitment and selection is a necessary element of people resourcing strategy, due to communicated policies, procedures and practices can considerably play a part in effective organizational performance, (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) to good employee relations and to a positive public image (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2002). Both the activities are directed towards obtaining suitably qualified employees. Recruitment activities lay the groundwork for the selection process by providing the pool of applicants from whom the selectors may choose. Although, the two activities are closely connected, each requires a separate range of skills and expertise, and may in practice be fulfilled by different staff members. Recruitment and selection are the most important activities in an ongoing cir cle (shown in Fig.1.1) of an organisation as a whole. Figure 1. Recruitment and selection in an organization (Pilbeam Corbridge 2006, p.143) Inappropriate selection and recruitment decisions can have a range of undesirable consequences for the organization and the recruit, including: reduced organizational effectiveness, invalidate reward and development strategies, unfair for the person applying for job and higher rates of turnover. Recruitment and selection are one of the most fundamental elements of the strategy of human resources managing. A wise choice of employees plays a key role in the functioning of an organization. Framework: Recruitment Selection Recruitment and selection are works of the same system and they are so closely connected, although as Foot Hook (cited in Rayner Smith, 2005 p.121) suggest that each requires a separate range of skills and expertise, and each function may in practice be fulfilled by different staff members, or indeed the recruitment function, but not normally the selection decision, may be outsourced to an agency, so it makes sense to treat each function separately, but Pilbeam Corbridge (2006) note that they are not mutually exclusive functions. Hence is many approaches to recruitment and selection tend, however they distinguish that a system has inputs, which are the candidates, a processing unit, which consists of various methods and techniques and outputs, which are also effective employees or candidates, who go back to the labour market and are or eliminate by the recruiters or choose to exit from the process. As Figure 1.2 shows, the recruitment and selection process and techniques are influ enced by the external factors like legal framework, economic situation, social and demographic changes, competitor activity, labour market characteristics and has some sub-systems to it which are interdependent to each other, changes in one will effects the others and also the quality of output. According to Pilbeam Corbridge (2006) theory the systems approach gives an analytical skeleton and allow diffusion through the selection and recruitment sub systems, which are: attraction, reduction, selection and transition. Whereas Kochan Barocci model (cited in Beardwell, Holden Claydon, 2004) point out that organizations have life cycles, and that recruitment, selection and staffing policies vary according to an organizations perceived stage in the cycle. While Goold and Campbell conclude that human resource strategies depend on management profile, whether is it strategic planning, financial control or strategic control (ibid.). Furthermore Anderson and Shackleton (1998, p.15) notice that recruitment and selection as a system is (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) comprised of a series of inter-related components. Important observation about the maxim of chronological dependency, says that it can only be as accurate as decision made in early stage to pre-screen down number of applicants. They emphasize that assessment techniques should predict and also affect on the future performance of employee. It is important here, to say that Human Resource Planning (HRP) is connection between strategic business planning and strategic Human Resource Management. This connection is the most visible in the recruitment and selection of specific numbers of employees with particular abilities, which match to companys requirements. This view made by Paul Iles (2001, p.139) shows why employees, as the most valuable assets in company, should be align to strategic business plan. Nowadays is a lot of variations in recruitment and selection practices, reflecting an organizations strategy and philosophy towards the management of people. That is why many organizations developed frameworks, which allowed them approve a variety of selection and recruitment techniques in order to identify and confess the right people (Bratton, J. Gold, J., 2003, p. 223). Figure 2. The System Approach to recruitment and selection (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2002), p. 115. Process of recruitment and selection Recruiting is an extremely complicated process consisting of many phases. Before recruiting, the company needs to proceed with planning phase. Each organization thus must consider a number of important steps in the planning phase. Firstly it should forecast human resource needs, than specifies job requirements as well as identifies and uses appropriate recruitment channels (Beaumont, P., 1994, p. 57). When planning to recruit one should also include: discussions with clients to predict future hiring needs; maintenance of a contacts network (candidates, employees, competitors); development and maintenance of a strong employee referral program; investment in recruiter training and development; cooperation with management to ensure adequate budget (American Management Association International, Aug 2006, p.10). The command to start the recruitment process comes from senior managers and should be based on a review of the situation to determine that recruitment actually exists. It means, that it should be made recognition of the needs for new human resource. To minimize the risk of wasted money, job analysis should be well done. For the first, job description should be written very carefully. A job description makes it possible for the recruiter to outline what duties, responsibilities and the reason behind the vacancy i.e. expansion, member of staff retires, and the position within th e structure of the organization (Beardwell, I., 1994, p. 195). The first step in the development of a job description is to establish the purpose and general objectives of the post, and then to analyse the requirements of the job. This process is called job analysis, and is particularly important in circumstances where you are preparing a job description for a new or significantly changed post. Job analysis helps to clarify the duties, responsibilities and other job demands. It also helps to identify the skills, abilities and experiences that someone would need to possess to be able to perform satisfactorily in the role (UCD Staff Manual, August 2005, p. II). The process of writing a job description can be very time consuming, especially if company dont provide any system for job analysis. This involves other co-worker from department in context to collect essential information about business nature and actual duties. To accurately recruit candidates, the second part of job analysis personnel specification is required (Beardwell J., 1994, p.195). Person specification is amongst one of the important factor of recruitment and selection that comes after the job analysis and job description as it relates to the person doing the job. Job analysis is the first stage of the whole recruitment and selection process and everything else is built upon it. It aims at finding out what is involved in the job that is now vacant. The effects of a mistake at this point are likely ricochet throughout all subsequent stages whereas job description involves the task and the scope of the job. The person specification profile is the people characteristics required to do the job effectively. The fact that an employer draws up a person specification demonstrates an attempt to introduce some objectivity into what can otherwise be very subjective process. Rather than relying on personal judgements about the knowledge, skills and qualities the successful candidate should possess, the emp loyer with a person specification is following much more methodical and reasoned process. The person specification can be included with the information sent to the candidates to give them more detail about the requirements. It is a good practice to design and send to candidates a form showing each requirement and how it will get assessed (Foot Hook, 2005). Two well-established systems of person specification frameworks discussed by Beardwell and Claydon (2004, p. 205) are (Roger, 1952) seven-point plan and (Munro Fraser, 1954) similar five point plan, illustrated in Table.1.1 and 1.2. It is important to be as precise as possible about the skills, knowledge, qualifications and attributes that are required for the job and about the experience and personal characteristics that are needed. It is good practice to specify what is essential or the minimum required to perform the job, as well as what is desirable. It is also necessary to think about the context of the job and the wider org anisational requirements to specify any elements of person-organisation fit that are important. Munro Fraser (1954) Impact on others: physical make up, appearance, speech, and manner Acquired qualifications: education, vocational training, work experience Innate abilities: quickness of comprehension and aptitude for learning Motivation: individual goals, consistency and determination in following them up, success rate Adjustment: emotional stability, ability to stand up to stress and ability to get on with people Table 1. Person specification framework (ACAS cited in Beardwell Claydon, 2004). Rodger (1952) Physical make-up: health, appearance, bearing and speech Attainments: education, qualification, experience General Intelligence: Intellectual capacity Special Aptitudes mechanical, manual dexterity, facility in use of words and figures Disposition: acceptability, influence over others, steadiness, dependability, self-reliance Circumstances: any special demand of the job, such as ability to work unsocial hours, travel abroad Table 2. Person specification framework (ACAS cited in Beardwell Claydon, 2004). When the process of job analysis has been completed and clearly identified, the next step in recruitment process is to attract quantity of suitable applicants with desired features. Company should consider some factors, like companys budget, level of vacancy, time and selection technique in order to choose the right way in recruitment process. Larger companies generally have a larger budget and are more able to find the best candidates for the job. Effective use of recruitment tools depends on the available budget. This due to the fact that recruiting is expensive and the more selection techniques used the higher the cost to the company, but in doing this the company has a better chance of finding the best candidate. The cost of recruitment and selection is not the only cost the company has to include in its calculation searching new candidates. The other costs the organization should take into consideration are costs of training selected candidates to undertake contributing role to the organization as well as the costs of recruiting and selecting the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾wrong person (Cornelius, N., 1999, p. 29). Every company should adapt recruitment and selection costs to its policy, capabilities and vacancy and on this basis consider if to recruit internally or externally. Furthermore the level of vacancy is another one of the factors a company should consider before choosing a specific method of recruitment and selection. The decision making process is stipulated by individual needs of a company. In order to start the process of recruitment a company should have free vacancies. In fact, managers should decide if a free capacity either proves to be a job opportunity for a potential employee or whether there is an alternative option to resolve the situation. Hence, recruitment and selection processes should not be taken, when there is another opportunity, like reassigning the task to other employees or automated task, so than human resource are no longer required. We need to notice, that the higher level of vacancy provides more sophisticated methods of recruitment (Newell, S., Shackleton V. 2001, p. 25). Another concerning question a company should frankly answer is what kind of selection technique they need to apply, i.e. the one which may facilitate effective employment. A company should frankly answer the question concerning the kind of selection technique they may need to apply, i.e. the one which may facilitate effective employment. Bratton (2003, p.227) notes that appropriate selection technique should recognize the way in which people differ and must be extended to a prediction of performance in the workplace. The twenty-first century organization of work has lost a variety of available methods which give credibility to techniques that attempt to measure peoples attitudes and overall personality. The literature on the subject of organization differentiates between many selection techniques. The basic methods like application form or curriculum vitae are rudimentary to employment interviews. This phase of recruitment process is called pre-screening candidates, which will help t o reduce the numbers of unsuitable candidates and to apply more detailed methods of assessment. After pre-screening is time for candidate assessment. An extensive range of assessment methods is currently available to the recruiter like : biodata, assessment centre, work sample, references are very useful and reliable. Nevertheless the use of interviews is still the most popular selection method in the world. Branine (2008) founds interviews to be the main part of the selection process and that there had been awareness of the danger of subjectivity in the conduct of interviews. To avoid such danger, Gabb (1997, p. 64) argued that companies often prefer an interview panel of two or sequential interviews with different people. A recent comparative study of six countries found that the interview was one of the most popular selection methods. Despite, interviews being reported very often to be subjective and unreliable. It seems that the face-to-face contact with the applicant and the po ssibility of assessing the candidates social and communication skills are the main advantages of the interview, and hence the main reason for using it. While the trio of application form, interview and references is still popular, there have been further developments in incorporating those with the use of assessment centers which has been reported to be in the increase (Branine, M., 2008). Assessment centers are described by Pilbeam Corbridge (2006, p. 157) as useful in penetrating behaviors relating to interpersonal relationships, leadership, influencing ability, sociability, competitiveness, self-motivation, tolerance, persuasiveness, and decisiveness. Assessment centers have become popular venues for the selection of candidates, the identification of their potentials and the assessment of their training and development needs. The number of multinational companies from the USA has increased, more and more large companies are using a variety of tests ranging from ability to aptitude, personality and intelligence, especially those companies who receive a large number of applications and those needing more skilled employees. But as Marchington Wilkinson (cited in Beardwell, I., Holden, L. Claydon, T., 2004) quote none of the techniques, irrespective of how well they are designed and administered, is capable of producing perfect selection decisions that predict with c ertainty who is or who is not bound to be a good performer in a particular role. Figure 1.3 shows the accuracy of selection methods. According to Beardwell et al. (2004) the enlargement in using assessment centers and selection testing like a more accurate methods, can help to improve the effectiveness of the selection process. Though, assessment centers are believed to be the most influential selection method in organizations, but still the higher percentage of the firms considering interviews to be the most important selection method. However, doubts about accuracy push employers to approve the interview formats or supplement the interview with the other selection methods such as tests or work simulation (Beardwell et al., 2004). Data about accuracy of various types of selection techniques covers large differences within each technique. It needs to be considered in that point reliability and validity, but the detailed aspects of these two key criteria, which are already mentioned, are going to be explained in the following part of this dissertation. Table1.3 The predictive accuracy of selection methods Source: Anderson and Shackleton cited in Beardwell et al. (2004, p. 216)) Selection methods concept of validity reliability Reliability and validity, as statistical concepts, are very important for selection methods. Reliability is a link to the extent to which a selection technique achieves consistency in measuring. The statistical analysis normally provides a coefficient reliability. In summary of results, the higher will be coefficient (that is, the closer it is to 1.0) the more dependable the technique (Bratton J., 2003, p.235). Figure 3 shows the validity, estimated by meta analyses, of many selection methods. Good selection methods must meet four basic requirements: practicality, sensitivity, reliability and validity (Price, A., 2000, pp. 148-149). Practicality of the selection method means that it should meet the constraints of cost and time, whereas sensitivity focuses on distinguishing one candidate from another. Reliability of the method can be considered in three aspects: test-retest reliability the duration should not have an impact on the score when doing the same tests; inter-rater reliability the same scores should be given by different interviewers; internal consistency different questions measuring the same competence should give comparable results. Equally, validity has also three aspects: face validity tests are more acceptable when candidates find relevant questions; construct validity and predictive validity how well the suitability of candidates for the position is predicted (Price A., 2000, p. 149). It is possible to make a credible selection decision when the requir ed criteria are clearly marked out. If the criteria are not made clear it will be difficult to make an appropriate decision and will also be difficult to validate the selection process (Torrington, D., 2005, p.142). According to the study of Levy-Leboyer mentioned in the Cornelius book (1999, p. 39), the validity of many selection methods is debatable and that is why they should be used with care. As the high validity the following selection methods are thought: work sample, aptitude test, assessment centre and cognitive test. Medium validity has bio data, and the low validity: references, interviews, personality tests, whereas graphology and astrology do not have any validity (Cornelius N., 1999, pp. 39-40). Moreover validity studies carried out by Taylor (1998) and referred to by Armstrong (2006) found conventional interview methods to be questionable and suggested that alternative selection methods such as biographical data, assessment centres and work tests are more accurate methods of selection. While many studies in recent years have raised concern about selection and validity, the most widely used methods remain the classic trio application form, interview, and references (Taylor 2001). Early research showed that unstructured interview did not have high validity, so as to improve its validity interview should be more structured. It means that all applicants are asked the same questions and the same dimensions are used to assess applicants. Structured interviews should potentially increase the quality of decisions made (Newell, S., 2001, p. 33). However, according to Heffcutt Arthur (1994, pp. 184-190) improving the structure of interview does not increase validity. The question remains therefore, that if these methods are among the least valid, why are they still so popular? Armstrong (2006) suggests it is the comfort factor and that recognition needs to be given to the fact that both interviewers and interviewees like them and have grown to expect them. This is also known as mentioned before face validity. He also suggests that most interviewers / organisations may not be aware of what the research suggests. When compared with other selection methods, the classic trio is relatively low-cost and provides the opportunity to have a face to face meeting. In examining selection methods, Armstrong (2006) further suggests that too much innovation in selection methods may turn prospective candidates off. While some organisations may see this as a form of de-selection, the danger is that potentially high calibre and not just the less suitable candidates may be turned off by lengthier and more drawn out selection processes; even if they are more valid. However, Cornelius argues that using different methods of selection can increase the certainty of selecting the right applicant in a fair way (1999, p. 40) Figure 3 is based on Schmidt and Hunters (1998) review and shows the validity, estimated by meta analyses, of many selection methods. Source: Schmidt, F. L., Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research .Findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262-274.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Irony, Symbolism, and Imagery Reveal the Emptiness of War in One Hundre

Irony, Symbolism, and Imagery Reveal the Emptiness of War in One Hundred Years of Solitude While most scholars have agreed that war is a real and significant part of human history, these same scholars have yet not reached a consensus on the characteristics of war. History books often lean toward glorifying war with stories of soldiers dying for their honor and homeland; novels, on the other hand, tend to point out the emptiness of war with stories of soldiers losing their youth and contact with the world. The selected passage from Gabriel Garcia Marquez' novel One Hundred Years of Solitude adds to the debate over war's characteristics. Through the literary techniques of irony, symbolism, and imagery, this text reveals the major theme that, in reality, war is not glorious but empty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By having Colonel Gerineldo Marquez conclude his telegraph with the slogan "Long Live the Liberal party," the author successfully creates a sense of irony in the reader at the end of the second paragraph. While the first two sentences of the passage present Colonel Marquez as the civil and military leader of Macondo who has realized the emptiness of war, this party slogan presents words that carry no weight when written by a man who believes his commanding officer to be a total stranger. Positioned high on the military chain of command, Colonel Marquez received the opportunity to witness the war's progression from an isolated conflict of clear definition and predictable course, to a widespread conflict of augmenting intensity and uncertainty. Therefore, his words "I understand, Aureliano,...Long Live the Liberal party" become ironic. Colonel Aureliano Buendia will consider these words to be a patriotic affirmation of orders, when th... ...magery, and irony, combine to create a successful introduction of one of the novel's major themes - the emptiness of war. By having Colonel Gerineldo Marquez realize the true nature of war and then referring to him as the first in line to make that realization, the author sets up the reader for a series of other witnesses whose testimonies should make the statement concerning war's characteristic emptiness even more valid. Later in the novel, Colonel Aureliano Buendia discovers the true nature of war only after twenty years of fighting along with a sad realization that the conservative regime he had been trying to topple all this time is good and in accordance with the people's wishes. Colonel Buendia then recognizes that war is not a conflict of ideologies, but an ugly and empty struggle for power, concluding a thematic thread started by Colonel Gerineldo Marquez.