Circuit City Essay

1). Which of the three approaches to accounting for extended warranty and service contracts is most consistent with the actual substance of a sales transaction involving equipment and an extended warranty contract? Approach number one, the Full revenue recognition is the most consistent due to the reasons which are demonstrated on exhibit two according to the Financial Accounting concept No.5. As stated in this exhibit, Revenues must be both realized and earned prior to the recognition. In this case, after selling the goods and services Circuit city at that point of sale both revenue and earnings have been realized because goods have exchanged hands. At this point of time, even though the cost services haven’t been used, there is a clear agreement and assurance that the necessary services will be rendered during the period of the warranty Further in exhibit 2 it states four key components which justifies that the Full Revenue Approach is the best match of the sale of product a nd extended warranty because at the time of sale an entity will be considered to have substantially completed the earning process if: 1). It incurs the selling cost 2). It has established service network, which is there for the most part to provide the customers with the service associated with the manufacturer’s warranty. 3). Relatively few customers call for service during the extended period 4). Estimates can be made with relative certainty as to future costs to be incurred under the extended warranty. Under these facts, Circuit city had met all the qualifications to report their revenues as they did. The system was in place and the reporting of revenues didn’t seem to have any discrepancies. The information users (Share holders) seem to be happy with the results. Concurrently the profitability of the company as a whole appears to be fully maximized. 2).Why is this revenue reporting strategy is an issue to Circuit stores Inc? There is couple of reasons why senior vice president Michael Chalifoux is concerned: 1). He is concerned because if the proposed accounting reporting method goes to effect, there will be a delay on full rec ognition of revenue and income until the exhaustion of the warranty which will result lower income reported. Lower revenue reports do not reflect well on businesses especially when they had previously shown signs of growth. The reasons might be understood internally, but not externally. 2). Vice president is also concerned about the negative impact  on shareholder’s equity which would be significant in the merchandising industry. By showing low revenue earnings, some of the big companies who act as suppliers might be hesitant to do business with Circuit City because the chain might not be able to move their product as fast they anticipated. Such a change will cause a major loss of revenue which might cause the chain to gout of business. 3). If the company starts to show low income earnings, that change might cause second thought for the investors. Such suspicions cause investors not to invest in the business with confidence. Such a shift drives the stock market prices which may force the company to sell its shares at a lower cost. 3). What would be the effects on Circuit City stores financial statements if FASB requires them to change accounting for extended warranty and product maintenance contracts? 1). There will be definitely a change on reported revenue which is going to be lower that if the company had continued to report as previously. The change might cause a shake up within the company accounting department and the share holders, however it is my strong feeling that things will level out eventually. Even though sometimes change is difficult, Michael Chalifoux needs to have a very clear communication with the shareholders and the internal associates so they know what impact will the change bring. 4).What would Michael Chalifoux do? If the strategies of reporting are in place and there is no bleach of financial reporting in any way, shape or form, Michael does not have to change and adopt the new proposed reporting strategy. On the other side, if Circuit city is under the direction of FASB as a business entity, it is subject to the rules and regulations thereof. If it comes down to that FASB requires the reporting system to be changes, the vice president should do as proposed. In the long run it will be beneficial for the company public image. If the company goes to approach #2 which is full deferral of revenue, it will take couple years and things will level back again.

Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Have you read any Agatha Christie yet? Because she is extremely awesome and not boring and conventional like you might think. In fact, her 1926 novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was so controversial when it came out (due to a twist ending that I'm not going to reveal) that critics were divided and other mystery writers aghast. In this mystery a widow has apparently committed suicide one year after her husband's mysterious death. The town doctor confirms the death and later dines with a friend (and the wealthiest man in town), who was also close with the widow.After the doctor leaves the man's house for the evening, he is called back only to find his friend has been stabbed in the neck. And there we have the murder of Roger Ackroyd. Lucky for (almost) everyone, a strange foreigner has recently moved to the town for his retirement. He is none other than the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and after a little coaxing from Ackroyd's niece, he takes on the case and begins investi gating the murder with the good doctor as his sidekick. There are a whole household of intriguing suspects, each of which would benefit from Ackroyd's death and every one of them seems to be hiding something.In this book, as in the other Agatha Christie novels I've read, the strength lies in the balance between a great mystery (lots of clues, red herrings, and teasing hints) and a masterful sense of character and psychology. Truly a perfect mystery. This is the first Hercule Poirot book that I've read, and although I've seen some TV adaptations of Poirot stories and had a general familiarity with his character I've been told by a friend that I would get even more out of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd if I had a little more Poirot under my belt. Which is great because I can't wait to read some more†¦

Cheating and Taking Steroids in Sports

Cheating and Taking Steroids in Sports INTRODUCTION â€Å"Sports will either be a school of virtue or a school of vice, and that’s why the epidemic of cheating in professional sports is, and ought to be, a huge cultural concern. Sports, at every level, is supposed to be a training ground for virtue, to mould the character of athletes, coaches and supporters so that they may learn lessons that may help them to achieve off-the-field as much as on. In few other venues are people able to learn as effectively the good habits of perseverance through difficulties, teamwork, striving to overcome obstacles, the importance of preparation and practice, and the courtesy and class we call good sportsmanship. But the field, court, track, diamond, rink, pool and roadway can also cultivate vice, when results become more important than virtue, when winning becomes more important than winning fairly. It has been hard to open a sports page recently without reading something to do with cheating and its consequences. Recently encount ered readings include Bill Belichick and the clear contravention of the NFL’s videotaping policy; Patriots’ Safety Rodney Harrison and his suspension for taking an illegal substances; NBA referee Tim Donaghy and his expulsion for betting on games he was officiating; Barry Bonds and his tainted home run record, along with former heroes turned synthetic pseudo-supermen Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro; Floyd Landis’ suspect yellow jersey and the expulsion of what seemed to be half this year’s Tour de France participants for blood doping and other violations; WWE icon Chris Benoit and his steroid-induced murderous-suicidal rage; various college recruiting violations, Olympic scandals and much more. Professional boxing almost looks clean and honest by comparison. WHY DO THEY CHEAT Sports are a microcosm and stylization of life: goal-setting, preparation, effort, character, the integration of mind and body, competition, success and failu re. It’s all there in sports, distilled and intensified into a few hours’ experience. The usual answer is that cheaters have so strong a desire to win that they will strive to do so at all costs. Cheaters do have a desire to win, but by the time we are adults we know that a cheated victory is hollow. An adult cheater knows that he has not won through skill and effort, and he knows he will not experience the pride that comes from a genuine win. The only thing the cheater is left with is that he knows that other people will believe that he won and he will reap the value of their enhanced esteem. So here’s a hypothesis about the psychology of cheaters: Cheating is not motivated by a desire to win, but by wanting to be thought of by others as having won. Cheating is a kind of social metaphysics-what others believe is true is more important than what is actually true. Another possibility is that the cheater knows the above-that a cheated win is hollow-but in the shor t run his intense desire to win crowds out his knowledge. So cheating is a failure to hold the context of why one is playing sports: strong desire overwhelms the cheater’s knowledge, or through weakness of will the cheater ignores his knowledge to indulge the desire.

Social Networking Sites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Social Networking Sites - Essay Example With the increasing use of technology, it has become more acceptable for individuals across the globe who share common interests to interact online and discuss their subject of interest. I love collecting stamps, but most of the friends within my inner circle before I joined Facebook were not similarly inclined. Although they would pass on stamps to me to add to my collection, they were not in the least interested in discussing them. When I joined Facebook however, I was able to contact other people who were also interested in stamp collection and were as passionate about it as I was. My contact with them was not restricted by my geographical location, because the world wide web allowed me the opportunity to make contacts with people I would never have been able to connect with otherwise. The best part of it was that I could interact with these people free of cost, without needing to pay large sums of money to travel long distances for meetings. Facebook also provided me a forum to e xchange stamps and get new ones I did not have in my collection. My friends on Facebook were quite willing to send me their extra stamps in exchange for some of mine and this was a mutually beneficial arrangement. Entering into new relationships on social networking sites however, also has its negative aspects. One example of this is online dating sites. They provide the opportunity to make lots of contacts, hence there is an excellent chance to connect with a love interest, but there are also some significant disadvantages. At the outset, most dating sites are paid ones, therefore they are expensive to use. Secondly, there are also safety concerns that are associated with using such social networking sites. The online interaction with the individual in question occurs on the basis of photographs exchanged over the web, which might not necessarily represent what

Roman and Mongol Conquests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roman and Mongol Conquests - Essay Example The leaders crafted policies that ensured continued survival and expansion through ruthless crusades and strategic treaties. It may also have been their dogged determination and ability to rise from the ashes of defeat on to victory as was the case for Rome (Livy, 1905). Monarchies and ruling hierarchies were established along either blood or loyalty lines depending on which strategy served best. At times, it included both cases, for instance, in the case of Genghis Khan. In each case, the subjugation of conquered territories through force, surrender or the brokering of peace treaties fortified the might of the Empire and gave strength and momentum for expansion. During their various conquests and expansion under various rulers, initial wars were fought with neighboring nations or tribes. Campaigns were sent out in all directions to conquer new lands for the Empire. The rise of the Mongol Empire began at a time when the usually dry and cold steppes of Central Asia got their most favorable conditions for over a hundred years. Thus, the rapid growth in numbers of battle horses, other livestock and food supplies (Burgan, 2005). The growth may have enhanced the military ability of the Mongols. The strategic placement of Rome gave it unrivaled dominance of the Mediterranean Sea and allowed it to encompass peripheral lands was its greatest advantage (Livy, 1905). Won wars always led to subjugation of conquered peoples. While Rome imposed measures such as payment of taxes and tributes to Rome, Mongols approached matters from a platform of unification by making conditions more favorable for the People. Genghis Khan united rival tribes by banning fighting among Mongols, successfully ending civil strife. He also forbade trading of women, pilfering of other’s property and desiccation of animal populations during the breeding season. According to Burgan, He shared his bounty among all crusaders and their

Project management as a process of planning, arranging, motivating, Essay

Project management as a process of planning, arranging, motivating, and controlling resources - Essay Example Change management takes into consideration the critical analysis on dimensions of change, Kotter 8 stages model, psychology of change, personal and structural power, need of planning and what are the reasons for the failure of the change management. Risk management deals with managing the risk which is associated with project. This paper will mainly focus on identifying different types of risk and the key factors in managing risk, different ways to manage risk and describing the risk management process. In terms of team building, the main focus will be on the process of team building, identifying the different roles required in a team and identifying the methods of team management. All these approaches will lead to project management in order to accomplish a successful project and therefore to produce a specific result in the organisation. Change Management Organisational change management is a framework for administrating the effect of new business processes and the change in the or ganizational structure within an enterprise. It is an approach to shift teams and individuals from present to required future state. It refers to part of project management process where project changes are formally introduced and accepted. The goal change management is maximisation of benefits and minimisation of impact of change on workforce without distraction (Sharma, 2006, pp.23-30). The process of change management can be summarised from the following change management diagram, (Source: Sourcingmag, 2012) Critical Analysis of Dimensions of Change There are two dimensions of change management namely organisational dimensions and individual dimensions. Organisational change is motivated by business survival, potential competitive advantage, improved efficiency and external factors. The external factor like introduction of new policies or economic downturn might compel a company to change from existing state. Most of the organisational changes are created internally. All level of managers can initiate change. For instance, middle level manager can plan to reduce cost, frontline managers may apply new technology and senior managers may amalgamate the company with other organisation. Individual resistance to change depends on the organisational culture, security, economic factors and individual characteristics such as personalities, perceptions and needs. People with high need for security resist change because it intimidates secured feeling. Changes in job tasks create fear in workers when their pay is linked to productivity. They also have fear of not being able to learn a particular task. Such fear is known as the fear of the unknown (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2007, p.459). Kotter’s 8 Stage Model Kotter eight stage model provides eight processes to evade common problems that trouble even simple change efforts in an organization. Skipping a step or making a crucial mistake within the step can have a crippling effect on the success of change initiative. The eight stages can be summarised as follows: (Source: Ivey Business Journal, 2008) Establishing a

Government Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Government Taxation - Essay Example Property taxes are collected by home and business owners to pay city governments. Each one of these forms of collections plays a part in adequacy of revenue production, equity, economic effects, collectability and transparency. It is important to understand how these taxes are received and used through government spending. The government can predict the amount received based on the economy. Income tax is a large part of the receivable taxes that the government receives. Income taxes are collected from every individual who receives income. Even out of state residents are taxed. (Wildasin2010) All income made is reported to the IRS and taxed. Economic effects play a role in how much income tax is being received by the government. When individuals are not working and receiving income, the government is affected. The more income floating thorough the economy means more collectability for the government. The collectability is achieved when individuals and business file their tax returns. The filing of federal and state income tax returns allows for payment or the amount of income tax owed or is directly withdrawn from the payer’s income. The government has equity in the income that is made by individuals. The equity is in the form of taxes. This is true because individuals owe taxes. Owing the taxes is what allows the government equity.

Small Group Written Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Small Group Written Assignment - Essay Example This was evident with the incident at the loading dock where two employees (Ed Williams and Buddy Jones) were engaged in heavy altercation over the type of music that should played on the loading dock sound systems while hurling racial slur at each other. The new Operations Manager Bob Jackson must assert leadership on the distribution center of Hayward Healthcare Systems to deter and discourage belligerent and hostile attitude of employees. It is strongly advised that Mr. Bob Jackson must intervene when conflict arises in the distribution center because it is his area of responsibility. The employees in the floor being highly aggressive can only respect a strong leadership which Mr. Bob Jackson must exercise. A policy also needs to be draft and implemented that will bring about the desired behavior in the distribution center. This will include but not limited to, conflict handling and resolution, decorum on music (i.e. no more music to be played on the loading dock sound system but employees are allowed to use headsets). Conflict, fistfights must also be deterred by a heavy penalty such as suspension that could lead to termination from the company. Implement a new hiring policy that will screen the background of the applicants where management can participate in the selection process. Promotion and appointment to positions of responsibility must be done according to merit and this must expressed in a policy. This policy must also be communicated properly to the employees to promote professionalism and to convey policy changes in the management. The company must also implement a zero tolerance policy against racial slur because it is not only unhealthy on the work floor but could also invite discrimination charges which are costly in terms of litigation and settlement not to mention its cost on the company’s image of being implicated in a discrimination charge. Foster

Discuss Issues Related with the Police and Use Force Policies Essay

Discuss Issues Related with the Police and Use Force Policies - Essay Example As per the City of Edmonds Police Policy Manual section 1.3.1 use of force should be reasonable and needed to either arrest a person or control a situation. Officers should follow the rules and regulations of the department while using force. The manual differentiates between the words â€Å"force†, and â€Å"deadly force†. Force is â€Å"Physical action taken by an officer to assist that officer in controlling a situation or the behavior of others†, while deadly force is â€Å"The intentional application of force through the use of firearms or any other means reasonably likely to cause death or serious bodily injury† (MRSC). According to the Seattle Police Department Directives (2005) the use of force is applied as per the provisions of the RCW 9A. 16.010 and 9A16.020, depending on the overall situation emerging out of the circumstances. Types of situations demanding the use of force can be identified but upcoming scenarios cannot be guessed prior to their happening compelling the police officers to use force (Seattle Police Department). Police use of force, according to Engel (2008) has been an issue of research by different methods and statistical techniques that include not only official data sources but data from keen social observations, ethnographic research, officer surveys, citizen surveys and their analysis. Yet the scholarly research has not produced a comprehensive picture of the use force policies, leave alone the regular monitoring of the police use of force. Scholars like Garner, Maxwell, and Heraux, 2002; Hickman et al., 2008; Terrill and Mastrofski, 2002, have acknowledged the different parameters of monitoring the use of force. As a result it becomes difficult to explain the differences in results on the studies made on these subjects. The issue of monitoring the use of force is related to use force policies. Although these differences in the concept and monitoring of use of force have been identified by the

Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage Essay The vast majority of economists believe the minimum wage law costs the economy thousands of jobs. The most fundamental principle of economics is supply and demand. In the case of labor, this means that the supply of workers goes up as wage goes up, and the demand for workers by employers goes down as the wage goes up. For example, imagine a janitorial job was advertised for hire. If the wage were $100 per hour, thousands of people would want the job. If the wage were $1 per hour, you probably wouldnt find anyone to do it. So if the government forced the employer to pay at least $7 per hour, the employer might decide not to hire a janitor at all, instead opting to have other staff member to pick up the duties. In this case a job would be lost because of the minimum wage. Another example is restaurant employment. A manager might have $10,000 in her monthly budget to hire bus persons. If the wage is set at $7 per hour, the manager may only be able to hire 10 bus people instead of 15. Setting a mandated wage limit disrupts market forces of supply and demand. Just because there is no minimum wage doesnt mean companies can pay whatever they want. Would you work a dishwashing job that paid 25 cents per hour? Would anyone? If they raised the wage to $4 per hour, they might be able to hire a high school student. Consider some highly skilled jobs such as accountant, lawyer, and engineer. Do these people make $5.15 an hour? Obviously, the answer is no. Market factors of supply and demand determine how many jobs are available and what each job would pay. In summary, as the minimum wage goes up, the number of people employed goes down. When the minimum wage goes down, the number of people employed goes up. Keep in mind: the minimum wage only applies if someone is employed. Workers need a minimum amount of income from their work to survive and pay the bills. Someone working 40 hours per week at $5.15 an hour will make about $800 per month after taxes. Rent alone can take almost the whole paycheck, especially in high-cost areas of the country like New York and Los Angeles (some states have higher minimum wages than the federal one specifically for this reason). Then, you add in utilities, food, insurance, car payments, credit cards, and on and on. How can a person possibly survive on less? Businesses can better afford the money than citizens scratching to make ends meet. American businesses take in trillions  of dollars every year. Is it too much to ask that they share a portion of it with the people responsible to bringing it to them? Weve all read or heard stories of executives with multi-million dollar bonuses, even with companies that lose money. A few dollars extra per hour for the poorest of the poor shouldnt hurt that much. History shows that businesses left unchecked will abuse their power. Why do you think labor organizations like the Teamsters, United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO, etc. have come into existence? A tight job market, especially during recessions, gives citizens the choice of accepting the terms of business or starving. A minimum wage gives business a reasonable rate that should be paid for the labor of others, whether skilled or unskilled.

News Is Nothing More Than A Strategic Ritual Media Essay

News Is Nothing More Than A Strategic Ritual Media Essay From my opinion, to be objective, it is to illustrate both sides of a particular point of view without being subjective. This means that what is being portrayed should be value free. The journalist illustrates the whole truth about an event without including his or her own opinion in a subjective manner. There has been an ongoing discourse about objectivity. Objectivity in the news being nothing more than a strategic ritual. Firstly, objectivity can be hard to define as illustrated by Schudson â€Å"Objectivity might be a professional idea, but it is one that seemed to disintegrate as soon as it was formulated. It became an ideal in journalism, after all, precisely when the impossibility of overcoming the subjectivities of presenting the news was widely accepted. Criticism of the â€Å"myth† of objectivity has been a contrapuntal accompaniment to the enunciation of objectivity as an ideal from the beginning† (Schudson, 1990: 269). â€Å"To a sociologist, the word â€Å"Objectivity† is fraught with meaning. It invokes philosophy, notions of science, and ideas of professionalism. It conjures up the ghost of Durkheim and Weber, recalling disputes in scholarly journals concerning the nature of â€Å"social facts† and the term â€Å"value free†Ã¢â‚¬  (Tuchman 1972: 660). This therefore suggests that the term objectivity is burdened with different meaning, thus very difficult to define as any definition of such word can easily be obsolete. However Schudson on the other hand argues that â€Å"A commitment to objectivity in journalism can be defined as meaning that â€Å"a persons statement about the world can be trusted if they are submitted to established rules deemed legitimate by a professional community† (Schudson 1978: 294 cited in Harcup 2009: 82) According to Bennet, â€Å"there are reasons to be dissatisfied with the news these days. Yet, news remains the primary source of information about society, politics, and government†. These problems could be said to be related to the term objectivity. In the sense that so many factors affect the news, thus the news cannot be seen as the whole truth, as it could be argued that it is fragmented. Furthermore the publics perception about society and all other events are distorted. In relating it back to the question, it can be argued that objectivity in the news is not a strategic ritual because there are factors beyond the newsmans power that cannot be controlled, as other individuals are involved in the production of the news, such as the gate keeper who decides what news is and is not presented. Thus the news is subjective. â€Å"Perhaps the most unsettling thought of all is that the electronic media, the principal source of political information for many if not many American citizens (Robinson and Levy 1985), might be biased in the presentation of public affair† (Kuklinsk 1992: 810). This can be said to be related to objectivity because there is always the question about selection of news. How journalist select news would determine whether the news they produce would have bias included, thus the selection of news would be considered in further paragraphs. Bearing in mind that they previously hold a certain view about a topic. This would then create bias in the news report. News is the only source in which individuals find out events happening in society. However like it was previously reiterated, the news is always biased, one way or the other, thus the public is not fully aware of what is going on around them. â€Å"More than one public official has made this very claim.when every president- liberal or conservative, democrat or republican-has complained bitterly about the inaccurate and unfair picture the networks were presenting†(Kuklinsk 1992: 811)â€Å"Reagans secretary of state, George Shult, was heard to protest that â€Å"it seems as though the reporters are against us. Theyre always seeking to report something thats going to screw things up† (quoted by Karp 1985, 63). With this, it can be illustrated that the newsmen may actually do it on purpose, so that they could attract increasing audiences. This could be said to be objectivity in the news to be a strategic ritual, in the sense that journalist would go any length just to entertain the public at the expense of politicians profile. Thus getting increased audience because relating it to news values, the public would like to hear more on bad news and unexpectedness. The more the news is unexpected, the more it would attract increased audiences. There are two questions which confront us when we deal with the problems of how news is selected from the multitude of events which occur in the world. The first is: what is selected?the second is that of objectivity: namely, how accurately does such a selection reflect the real world? (Cohen and Young 1973: 17). The idea that journalist have the choice to select the news they want to report on, it means that they are already being subjective about the particular topic they want to report on. Thus, objectivity in the news could be said to be a strategic ritual. This could be so, because they might already hold a particular perspective on the topic. Hence would unavoidably be able to neglect their point of view in reporting the news, so the news becomes biased in the sense that they are selling their opinion to the public about a particular topic. Consequently, they give biased news to the public; therefore the public gets a distorted view about what the journalist is writing about. â€Å"According to Gaye Tuchman, objectivity can be seen as a strategic ritual that journalist use as a defence mechanism. She identified four routine procedures that allow journalist claim objectivity for their work: the presentation of conflicting possibilities, the presentation of supporting evidence, the judicious use of quotation marks, the structuring of information in an appropriate sequence† (Tuchman, 299-301 cited in Harcup 2009) The word objectivity can be affected by several factors of only some would be discussed, which in turn affects the report in which the journalist produces. This can be illustrated by Tuchman 1972, who explained that â€Å"there are three types of factors which influence the newsmans notion of objectivity: form, inter organization relationships, and content. By form, I mean those attributes of news stories and newspapers which exemplify news procedures such as the use of quotation marks†(Tuchman 1972: 661) This is to show that by using such quotation marks, it would mark the objectivity of the event. Individuals who must have witnessed whatever event would be able to give a full account about what happened. Thus, the journalists report would be objective and free from bias thus exemplifying him from problems if he produced inaccurate news. â€Å"By content I mean notions of social reality which the news paper man takes for granted. Content is also related to the newsmans orga nisational relationships, for his experiences with these organisations lead him to take for granted certain things about them† (Tuchman 1972: 661). Everett Hughes (1964) cited in Tuchman 1972: 661 â€Å"suggests that procedures that serve this purposes may be seen as â€Å"rituals†inasmuch as newspapermen invoke ritualistic procedures in order to deflect potential criticism and to follow routines bounded by the â€Å"cognitive limits of rationality†, they are also performance â€Å"strategies† (March and Simon 1967, pp.137, 142)Objectivity as strategic ritual may be used by professionals to defend themselves from critical onslaught†. Overall, these factors/ procedures help protect the journalist and the organisations integrity in the sense that they would not get accused of producing inaccurate news and they would not get sued unnecessarily. All these factors explained by Tuchman, it can be argued that objectivity in the news is a strategic ritual i n the fact that, they are trying to protect their back and save the organisations reputation. It can be argued that objectivity in the news is a strategic ritual because it can be said that the newspaper and writers are trying to get an increase audience. With them publishing the news, it would actually help increase their organisational revenue in the sense that they would experience high circulation. Also with the increased audience, it means that they would be at the top of the competition list, therefore giving them the competitive edge against other news providers. Thus giving them a unique selling point, which means they would be able to differentiate themselves from other news organisations. as a result stand out. This could be illustrated further, according to Young â€Å"the market model then maintains that the responsible journalist selects these events which are in the public interest to know and objectively portray reality within the format and genre of the particular media concerned†(Young 1973: 17). The public would like to know that they are being provi ded with objective news, thus the journalist would try their best to provide the news, so by making sure they get objective news, and they increase their readership and circulation. This would benefit them because it would allow them to be popular against their competitors. However, for the fact journalist select the news they think the public would be interested and present it as objectively as they can, this could be said to be a strategic ritual. The selection of news would further be illustrated later in this essay. This may be so, in the fact that they dont want to get themselves into trouble for providing biased news, thus affecting their integrity in the organisation they work and publicly soiling the organisations reputation. This means that the public would not trust the news they produce, thus, they would continually get negative criticism. This could be illustrated by Tuchman 1977b cited in Shoemaker 1996 who â€Å"argues that objectivity is a ritual that objectivity is a ritual that serves primarily to defend the organisational product from critics. Because newsworkers have little time to reflect on whether they have gotten at the â€Å"truth† in their stories, the need a set of procedure, or strategies, that if followed will protect them from occupational hazards such as libel suit and reprimands from superior†. Consequently, journalists follow a set of guidelines to avoid critics so that they dont get into unnecessary trouble and to be able to protect themselves from disgrace. Like it was previously said, journalist get chance to select the news they want to write about. The idea that they are allowed to do that shows that the news they are going to write about is already biased on the fact that they might already have a subjected view about it. Thus, the news would be value laden as well as hardly value free. Also for the fact that journalist use different sources to make up their news, Even though they are supposedly trusted sources of theirs, the question is how can they be so sure that the news the trusted sources provide is objective. Thus, it shows that they cannot be sure if the news is 100% objective. â€Å"Calling into the question of validity of representational knowledge about the world- arguing that news is as much a bureaucratic product as it is a reflection of external reality and that ‘objectivity is essentially a strategic ritual- is at bottom incompatible with journalisms self legitimating discourses. Pointing out that the subjects (i.e. the journalists) perception are not just the product of individual autonomy, showing that journalist (like all of us) are inexorably entangled with and in part constituted by language us, serve to erode the foundations of the conventional wisdom†(Dahlgren 1992: 11). Consequently, this shows that, it is not only the journalist who influences the news they write, as all other people are involved..This can also be reiterated by Shoemaker 1996: 112 â€Å"objectivity, although a cornerstone of journalist ideology, is rooted in practical organisational requirements. In this sense, objectivity is less a core belief of journalist t han a set of procedures to which journalist willingly conform in other to protect themselves from attack†. Consequently, this shows that the organisations also have an influence on the new. With the organisation involved there would be less chance of the company endangering their integrity and shame on their organizational image. Both of these sources show that the firm in which these journalists work for, has an influence on the type of news they produce in the sense that they always have a say. This is done so as to protect their image. Thus a set of gu are provided for the journalist to follow, so that they do not drift off the organisations rules and regulation about reporting news. This therefore means that journalists have no choice but to follow the set guidelines or they lose their job. According to Michael Schudson (1978) cited in shoemaker 1996: 112 â€Å"notes that at the turn of the century, newspapers in competing for circulation, tried to conform to the publics standards of truth, decency, and good taste. Reporters believed they had to be lively and entertaining while factual at the same time. Indeed, editors and reporters were pre-occupied with facts to avoid public criticism and embarrassment for the newspaper†. This could be said to be spin and twisting, for the fact that journalist thought that they had to be entertaining and lively. The idea of being entertaining would mean that they are trying to reach audiences they never actually reached out to. This can also be related to the idea that objectivity in the news is not an objective idea, for the fact that the news would most probably be shortened thus audiences would not get the full picture. This could be illustrated by Shoemaker who argued that â€Å"the objectivity routine also leads to omitt ing seemingly harmless information† (Shoemaker 1996: 113). Consequently, it means that audiences are not receiving the whole story of an event. The thought that journalist are omitting some of the information may be good, in the sense that the public would get an idea and grasp a bit about a complicated story about events in society. As illustrated in Bennets Book in a case study, â€Å"news stories often oversimplify larger and more complex realities. In many ways it is goodHowever, the news may radically simplify realities to the point of distortion or omission of important information for various reasons†(Bennett 2007: 211)† This therefore suggests that objectivity in the news could be omitted for good reason; however, it should not necessarily be said to be a strategic ritual, because it is being done for a good cause. However on the other hand, it can be argued that objectivity in the news is strategic ritual in the sense that important information would be h idden an omitted from the public thus making the public naÃÆ' ¯ve to events happening in society. It can also be argued otherwise that objectivity in the news is not a strategic ritual on the fact that journalist right from the start have the obligation to report the truth and try as much as possible to be objective so as to avoid libel suits but for the fact that they have deadlines to reach. This means they would actually be time conscious. Thus having less spare time to check over their report therefore it might be difficult to have totally objective news as illustrated by Tuchman 1972 â€Å"unlike social scientists, newsmen have a limited repertoire with which to define and defend their objectivity. He must make immediate decisions concerning validity, reliability, and â€Å"truth† in other to meet the problems imposed by the nature of his taskthe newsmen need some working notion of objectivity to minimize the risk imposed by deadline, libel suits, and superiors reprimands† (Tuchman 1972: 662) â€Å"Objectivity is defined as a matter of intent, it includes the freedom to disregard the implications of the news. Indeed, objectivity could not long exist without this freedom, for the moment journalists are required to consider the effects of news on sources and others they would have to begin assessing their own intent and to relinquish their detachment, especially if they wanted to prevent injury to someone (Gans, 1979: 188). Overall, it can be argued from a perspective that objectivity in the news is a strategic ritual, down to the idea that organisations train their potential journalist and give them guidelines on how to report news in an objective manner without being biased. This is done so as to protect the organisations integrity and the journalist status. Thus, it would help them avoid libel suits. This could be illustrated by Tuchman 1972: 678 who concluded that â€Å"objectivity used defensively as a strategic ritual. Objectivity refers to routine procedures which may be exemplified as formal attributes and to protect the professional from mistakes and from his critics†. And for the fact that journalist have to follow these set guidelines means objectivity in the news is a strategic ritual, as it means that these journalist have no choice, thus they cannot go against it as they would most probably lose their job Furthermore, if journalists do not provide objective news as they could, then the public would most probably not think journalism is a serious and professional job. Thus no one would see them as trustworthy. Thus it is their duty to provide the public with objective news. This can then be said that objectivity in the news is not a strategic ritual, as they have no choice but to provide non biased news so as to inform the public. Bibliography Bennet, W. L. (2007) News: The Politics of Illusion, New York: Longman, Pearson Cohen, S. Young, J. ( ) The Manufacture of News, London: Macmillan. Dahlgren, P. Sparks, C. (1992) Journalism and Popular Culture: London, SAGE Publications. Galtung, J. Ruge, M. (1981) ‘Structuring and Selecting News, in S. Cohen J. Young (eds) The Manufacture of News, London: Macmillan Gans, H. (1979) Deciding whats News. A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nigthly News, Newsweek and Time. New York: Random House Harcup, T. (2009) Journalism: Principles and Practice. London, SAGE Publications Kuklinski, J. H. Sigelman, L. (1992) ‘When Objectivity is not objective: Network T.V News Coverage of US Senators and the â€Å"Paradox of Objectivity† in Journal of Politics, 54 (3) Shoemaker, P. Reese, S. (1996) Mediating The message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content. (2nd ed.), London: Longman. Schudson, M. (2003) The Sociology of News. New York: United States of America. Tuchman, G. (1972) Objectivity as Strategic Ritual: An examination of Newsmens notion of Objectivity in American Journal of Sociology, 77: 660-67

Hemingway Code Hero Essay -- essays papers

Hemingway Code Hero In this novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway brings about the evolution of Frederick Henry being converted into a code hero in realistic ways. Frederick Henry achieved the six code hero characteristics by the end of the novel with the help of Catherine, a code hero herself. All the characteristics seem to follow the path of a manly person who is continuously striving to live his/her life to the fullest. Throughout this novel, Frederick Henry's behavior matures to the code hero in which Hemingway desires to be. In the start of the novel, Frederick Henry was into over- sensual pleasures and could not control himself until he had spent much time with Catherine and learned how to discipline himself. Henry "had drunk much wine" and roamed from whore house to whore house near the beginning of the novel. He had no control over himself nor could hold his liquor or contain himself from easy women during this time. Henry finally disciplined himself near the end of his stay at the Ospidale Maggoire. The nada concept had been a part of Henry's life from the beginning. Henry stood up nights because the night is a representation of evil and death to him. If he is not asleep, he can avoid having to deal with it. Henry also is accompanied by Catherine during nights at the Ospidale Maggoire. To Henry there "was almost no difference in the night except that is was an even better time" with Catherine. Catherine, who is already a code hero...

Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase Impairs a Distinct Form of Long-Ter

Introduction Nitric oxide (NO), which has demonstrated plasticity regarding processes of learning and memory, has revealed its specific function in memory formation for the honeybee. The predominant amount of NO synthase (NOS) activity has been shown to participate in the processing of olfactory information of a honeybee. A honeybee's antenna (*- Application of appetitive stimuli to the antennae of honeybees elicits extension of the proboscis (PER)) lobes are the primary centers of olfactory processing that exhibit highest NOS activity, which takes place in the brain. The lip of the mushroom body, which is involved in this process, calyces and the lateral protocerebral lobe receives input from the antennal lobs via a median and a lateral pathway; this indicates strong labeling. Neuropils of the central brain exhibited intermediate labeling. The effects of NOS activity on honeybees were revealed injecting a hemoglobin assay. The hemoglobin assay is able to detect NO and other substances (CO, etc.), therefore, these assays reveal at least two signals. By adding NOS inhibitors to the assay mixture, the first signal can be inhibited, but the second signal cannot be inhibited. The second signal includes enzymes other than NOS. Total NOS activity (*- NOS activity: defined as that part of the signal which is sensitive to NOS inhibitors added to the assay mixture) is divided into a major Ca2+ and a minor Ca2+ independent NOS activity which suggested that the existence of at least two NOS isoforms in the honeybee brain. Applying only 1 (l of 100 (l N-nitro-L-arginine or N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) 20 minutes inhibits total NOS by 80% (*-show figure 2A). Maximal inhibition of NOS was attained at an approximate conc... ...at MTM (medium term memory) is not affected by the inhibition of NOS, but that blocking the NOS in regards to LTM reduces the LTM to the "level of the single trial-induced memory," (Muller 5). It was further speculated that the NOS activity depends on a sequence of conditioning trials. It was concluded that "the initial conditioning trial leads to an amnesia-resistant LTM, independently of NOS activity, formation of amnesia-resistant LTM by the subsequent conditioning trials requires NOS activity," (Muller 5). NOS plays an important part in the retention of memory, and these findings in honeybees can be used to understand how memory works in other organisms such as vertebrates. References Journal Article Muller, Uli. "Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase Impairs a Distinct Form of Long-Term Memory in the Honeybee, Apis mellifera." Neuron 1996; 16: 541-549.

World War II: Pearl Harbor & The Pacific War Essay -- history, world w

Chaos and continual disorder encompassed the people across the globe in the years prior to the declaration of war between the Axis and Allied powers in 1939. The Great Depression that had struck soon after the First World War left much of the world unemployed and desperate for relief. Nationalism swept through Germany in response to the terms of the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I. China and Japan had been at war since Japanese troops invaded Manchuria in 1931. Germany, Italy, and Japan began multiple invasions and occupations of nearby countries. When they received no meaningful consequences for their aggressive actions, they felt emboldened and World War II began. In the midst of war and the growing totalitarian aggression, the United States passed several Neutrality Acts in an attempt to avoid involvement in another global war. Efforts to stay isolated from global conflict would lead to growing tensions between the main powers resulting in a rather inclusive war. After a vicious attack on their own home front staged by the Japanese, the United States catapulted into World War II. Over the course of the next six years the United States engage in continuous battles with Germany, Japan, and Italy on various fronts in Europe and the Pacific which necessitated a larger fighting force. Men like Raymond Barron Chavez courageously served as a naval serviceman during the war. Through his accounts on the Pearl Harbor attack and battles in the Pacific, we learn the first hand details of World War II. World War II reveals that leaving particular issues unresolved in terms of war will most likely lead to another one. The seeds of World War II in Europe began to sprout due to the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. A... ...ieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/110309756?accountid=6579 Bay, M. (Director). (2001). Pearl Harbor [Motion picture]. United States: Touchstone Home Video ;. Balsam, M. (Director). (20061970). Tora! Tora! Tora! [Motion picture]. United States: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Calvocoressi, P., & Wint, G. (1999). The Penguin history of the Second World War. London: Penguin. Griffith, S. B. (1963). The battle for Guadalcanal ([1st ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott. Leckie, R. (1995). Okinawa: the last battle of World War II. New York: Viking. Prange, G. W., Goldstein, D. M., & Dillon, K. V. (1988). December 7, 1941: the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill. Smith, R. A., & Meehl, G. A. (2002). Pacific legacy: image and memory from World War II in the Pacific. New York: Abbeville Press.

Natural Disaster and the Decisions That Follow Essay

In the hurricanes’ wake, Nationwide received more than 119,000 claims collectively worth $850 million. Although dealing with those claims was difficult, even more difficult was Rommel’s later decision to cancel approximately 40,000 homeowners’ policies. Nationwide received a huge amount of mediaattention as a result, almost all negative. In reflecting on the decision, Rommel said, ―Pulling out was a soundbusiness decision. Was it good for the individual customer? No, I can’t say it was. But the rationale wassound.â€â€"Hurricanes aren’t the only weapons in nature’s arsenal, and the insurance industry is hardly the onlyindustry affected by nature. Consider the airline industry. American Airlines has 80,000 employees, 4 of whommake decisions to cancel flights. One of them is Danny Burgin. When weather systems approach, Burgin needs toconsider a host of factors in deciding which flights to cancel and how to reroute affected passengers. He arguesthat of two major weather factors, winter snowstorms andsummer thunderstorms, snowstorms are easier to handle because they are more predictable. Don’t tell tha t toJetBlue, however. On February 14, 2007, JetBlue wasunprepared for a snowstorm that hit the East Coast. Dueto the lack of planning, JetBlue held hundreds ofpassengers on its planes, at JFK, in some cases for aslong as 10 hours (with bathrooms closed!). To the stranded travelers, JetBlue’s tepid offer of a refund was just as outrageous.

E-Commerce Infrastructure Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Globalization has primarily made it possible for international trade and business connection between neighboring countries as a trend of the present society exist. Certainly, the aim of the human society to remain within the scope of economic progress and continue aiming for better results for the sake of profitable advancements in the society, the emergence of different types of businesses has been much possible to occur. Business enthusiasts became braver than they usually are in facing the challenges of establishing new wave business entities, which they believe, would bring change to the human society and how they view the modern living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hence, business organizations who are particularly trying to make it within the industry of the global trade must be able to realize that the idea of globalization is affecting the major companies worldwide. To be able to implement the changes needed by a certain organization with regards the implementation of the new progressive procedures towards a more technologically-coping organization; the company wanting the change needs to attend to several areas of consideration. As for this matter, it is first important to discuss several elemental factors that could actually affect a certain organization’s capability of facing the changes that it ought to engage with within the global scene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The growing developments that technology and communications have taken so far have been an essential part of the growing system of technological applications. Along with the technological advancements, the social living of humans also is further enhanced. Both economic and social lifestyles were advancing but there was no rest in incurring the best possible progress that the developers of technological systems wanted. With the introduction of computers to the society, the easier way of living and completing everyday tasks has become a trend for many industrial workers. (Deitel, et al, 2004, 15)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, as mentioned earlier, the development in the eyes of the ones who are in charge of the enhancement of the operating systems is never ending. Hence, although there were already some great achievements in terms of the developed operating systems, things got better each time there are new innovations introduced (Warford, 2005, 41). Most of the sectors of the entire society actually depended on technology ever since the time it was first introduced to the human civilization. It could not be denied then that among the said sectors are business entities.    The internet and World Wide Web: E-commerce infrastructure Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The e-marketing system is practically an approach that is developed using the present technological advancement particularly in the information technology field. This strategy utilizes primarily the communication elements of the information technology such as through interactive advertising, search engine marketing, blog marketing, display advertising, viral marketing, web postings, and others to promote the products, services and image of the business organization towards the public. In analyzing the e-marketing strategy of an online organization, it is important to intricately study the primarily the website of the said organization and the marketing principles embedded on it. By looking into their main website, one can critically know the structure, goals, operational approach, and other relevant facts of the organization, which are relevant facts for the development of the personal perception and image of the business for the public awareness. This website offers vast informations about the organization from their ideal goals, organizational nature, and even their business conditions, which can be derived from their downloadable annual and social responsibility report. In addition, the e-marketing approach of this website not only caters to the sale nature but also to the information campaign and human capital sourcing of the organization as offered by their options of fact sheets, employment opportunity awareness, and other services. In general, this website primarily becomes an effective marketing tool for the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The e-marketing approach of the different organizations range from various strategies such as through their main website which promotes display advertising of their products, interactive marketing where the consumers can contact the organization for significant sales and business concerns, search engine marketing which offer the service of easing the browsing activity of the viewing public. As such, the website becomes both a promotional approach and a business related interactive medium for the business organizations wherein the latter can relate further to the needs and concerns of their target consumers. With regards the issue being noted herein, the questions that could be considered are as follows: How important is e-marketing and online shopping when it comes to the convenience of the consumers today? How effective are the approaches of the current e-marketing systems to the people of the current society? Are there possible ways to further the comfort of the people being serviced through online shopping? BUSINESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Everything starts with a vision. From a vision comes plans, and from plans come fulfillment of the vision. Vision and plans are the primary elements for starting any business. An entrepreneur must posses the vision and determination needed for an individual to become successful within the business industry; however, these elements are not solely the needed requirements. Vision and plans are the abstract elements that contribute to business proceedings hence empowering the entrepreneur to continue whatever it is that he has started. The other elements include capital, land [place of business headquarters] and the people force.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The elements that were mentioned primarily give essence to the business itself. The capital is more on the monetary resource needed to start the business. At times, this particular resource comes from a group of entrepreneurs who decide to work together for a certain organization, or on the other hand, it is sourced out from loaning or from the pocket of the entrepreneur himself. At some point, the capital actually determines the scale of the business. Land or the area intended for the business headquarters is depending on what type of business is planned to be established. If the business is supposed to cater to several clients, there should be a place intended for them that would be much convenient for business transactions. However, if the business is online [which is at trend right now] or other home based businesses, the area of business branch would not be much of a problem since the transactions are to be done at any convenient place possible. The people force also depends on the scale of business that is being established.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whatever type of business is being established, it is necessary that the entrepreneurs see to it that the different sections of the business, especially that of the people force are well taken care of. The success of the business naturally depends on the ability of the entrepreneurs to balance the idealistic mission as well as the activities of the organization as a business entity. This as well includes the legalities of the organization and its close connection with the existing laws for business organizations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It could be noted that opening or establishing a business organization is not that easy to deal with. The first months of operation towards the first year usually deals with the different challenges of effective strategies created to put the organization within the existing competition. Entering a certain business organization and trying to make it within the business industry is a great challenge to everyone wanting to create a considerable reputation in the society. However, once these particular challenges have been successfully met by the new entrepreneurs, the continuous progress of the said new established organization could be assured. This though does not mean that developments are already to stop once the business has been established. As for a fact, the establishment should simply mark the beginning of the progressive developments intended to help the whole organization remain within competition as long as it exists within the business industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this particular section of the study, it could be observed that the primary reasons for establishing a business should not only be lead by the need or the want of the entrepreneurs in gaining profitable results form the business. It should be clear to the business entrepreneurs that the said operational act needs to receive ample time for planning and attention on the pros and cons of the situation. From this particular assessment of business opportunities, the possibility of creating a successful source of profit could be identified in a positive point of view.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been certainly stressed out that the different elements of business should be given careful attention within the planning procedures. Carefully giving the said elements ample time of observation shall give the entrepreneurs to make amends on the possible weak links that could cause the failure of the business in the future. Identifying the Marketing Approach to be Used Marketing is one particular branch of business that deals with all the promotional aspects of a certain business organization. At some point, this particular sector of the organization is perceived to have a certain group of experts attending to the said needs of the organization with regards promotion and advertising. Every kind of organization have their own marketing branch. This is specifically because of the fact that the incoming profit that the company expects from its clients is particularly empowered by the marketing strategies created by the marketing group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whatever it is that the Marketing group plans shall determine the organization’s success in the industry. The ability of the said in-charged group in making amends for the organization’s ability to make it within the industrial competition in the business world shall make it possible for the business to make a considerable reputation that could attract the clients who are being targeted by the said organization. This is particularly the reason why business organizations both large-scale and small-scale make it a point that the marketing procedures that they carry on for the sake of business progression is given careful attention and as well as an ample amount of investment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Particularly, marketing is a business branch that sets the path for the organization as to how they are supposed to trod the journey of success in the industry that they are dealing with. The intensity of the procedures taken by marketing experts particularly pertains to the quality of the advertising procedures that the organization ought to take into consideration for actual operational purposes. It is in this particular sector of the organization that the fast release or distribution of the services or the products offered by the organization towards the clients could be determined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today, the level of competition that each business organization deals with in the human society is clearly identified by the progressive procedures taken by the marketing team of each business company. According to Website Marketing: â€Å"Marketing is a broad topic that covers a range of aspects, including advertising, public relations, sales, and promotions. People often confuse sales with marketing, when in fact the two are very different. The former involves getting a product or service into the market, promoting it, influencing behavior, and encouraging sales. Sales are the actual transaction of getting a product or service into the hands of your customers.† (http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Marketing/Importance-of-Marketing/). The strategies of marketing that each organization adapts into is primarily defined by the financial capabilities of the said business entity t o provide the services need by the clients that pertain to promotional operations. The strong impact of the marketing strategies also usually brings about the thought that the main target of the promotional presentations is the group of people in the society who are assumed by the organization to be the primary clients of the organization. It is their interest that should be the focus of the promotional interpretations and presentations. The strategies are indeed strongly differed through the identification of the target consumers or clients of the organization. The Website Marketing also adds: â€Å"Strategies in marketing have changed enormously since Jay Conrad Levinson introduced the guerrilla concept over 20 years ago. Tactics that were considered radical then are almost main stream now. With so many messages bombarding the consumer in the marketplace today, it is now more difficult than ever to get your product noticed, so marketers have learned to be creative.† (http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Marketing/Importance-of-Marketing/). Overall, marketing could then be noted as a source of established foundation for every business organization. The impact that it has on every established business group is a primary concern that brings about possible profitable sources to the different business organizations. Indeed, marketing and the operations that are made under this particular sector of the organization assure the whole business entity of the competitive standing of the entire organization within the business industries.   This is particularly the reason why it has been commented that: â€Å"Companies without a marketing mindset are at a disadvantage in today’s business world. Those who are still centered around their products, rather than their customers, are doomed to fail.† The clients are the main target of marketing procedures, companies who are still starting and those who are already established who give lesser care in this aspect of business operations are indeed assured to have a hard time coping up with the existing competition within the industry. Getting through with all the RISKS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Planning the business and setting the marketing strategy to be used by the organization are simply the basic elements needed to create an organization that is intended to set sail in the journey towards global business engagements. TO be able to completely scale the capability of the organization to face the different challenges of dealing with the international market, it is necessary that the business entrepreneurs become aware of the impending issues needed to be dealt with during international business operations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the risks being referred to herein? According to Fredrick Wilcox â€Å"Progress always involves risk; you cannot steal second base and keep your foot on the first base†. This primarily implies the fact that there are several elements of success in business, especially concerning international relations that could not be met unless the entrepreneur meets the risks that come along with the primary developments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The elements of risks could be discussed as follows: Business Risks: Cost of Structure- The establishment of a certain business entity especially one that is made to face international transactions should and must be based on the financial capabilities of the owner. This particularly pertains to the available capital that is supposed to be the basis of how large or how small the scale of the business would be. It could be observed that through several organizations’ ability of identifying the costs that may affect their operations in the new venture of business that they would want to engage with would naturally identify the possible progress that they are hoping to meet in the future. Competition- Being ready for the already existing companies within the country that goes with the same industry is necessary for an international entrepreneur to be prepared about. In the internet technology, it could not be denied that there are already companies who are able to meet the challenges that are needed to have the needed and expected success on the said business venture. It is indeed necessary that several business organizations face the said competition with ample reputation and business strength that would allow them to undergo the challenges of the new business venture that they aim to engage with. Product Liability- the procedures of getting through with the laws in placing the products within the boarders of the other country should be one of the primary concerns of business entrepreneurs. Human Resource Management- Since the business would involve international engagements; it is simply reasonable to expect that the employees would be coming form international races as well. Managing this type of human resource group should then be carefully given attention by the organizational authorities. Clients or Customers- The demographics of the consumers, their interests and their product preferences should be among the main concerns of the business organization. Their culture and their wants basing on their traditions should be carefully noted by entrepreneurs to ensure their products of the market appreciation that it needs to be able to remain in business. Environmental Risks Economic- The economic situation of the neighboring country where a branch or a trade engagement is prepared to be conducted should be set in balance with the economic status of the original branch of the business. The balance shall help the business operators to set some standard procedures in dealing with the finances of the organization. Weather- The weather that is currently controlling the activities of the civilians of a certain country should be carefully given attention. This shall also determine the activities that are supposed to be taken in consideration by the business organization. Legalities and the Government- this particular element should be closely given clear attention as it is among the most important factors as well as the most crucial one as it primarily determines if the organization is to remain in a certain country or not, based on the ability of the organization to become connected with the laws of the said neighboring country. Considering all these elements of risk and being able to understand on how each one affects the business engagements of a certain organization in an International picture shall then help the entrepreneurs create the possibilities and the probabilities of the organization’s success in the multicultural market of consumers. The Internet Service Provision’s Business ABC’s   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company that is to be observed at this point is the organization of Info Inc. which is a start up company wanting to venture in providing its major clients with internet based services that could be used as a source of informative materials in terms of accounting procedures, medical assistance and budget-wise programs that both business enthusiasts and the general public could use in their daily business and household needs and activities. As a company that is still starting in venturing within the said field, it is necessary for Info Inc to carry on the informations that were further discussed in this paper earlier. It could be noticed that the discussions point out the fact that establishing a new business operation for a certain existing business organization is indeed challenging especially when the business is supposed to handle a global market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the organization aims to venture in a new business operation that they have not been used to in engaging, it is much beneficial to take notice of the fact that the organization needs to take into consideration several factors that would involve the adjustments of the whole body of employee of the said company. The shifting of the priority and the opening of the new arena of service that the company would provide its clients should then be identified as a primary factor that should be carried in constant addressing during the whole procedure of adjusting the organization’s focus. First to consider then is the type of internet servicing that the company should be involved into. This shall be discussed within the paragraphs that follow. Choosing the Type of Service   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be able to reach the widest scope of market, Info Inc should invest in creating internet networked branches from different areas of the world. The company may not be required in creating an actual physical branch in the different parts of the world, but it is required to subscribe at a certain internet website host such as Google or yahoo, that would make their company much more accessible by the target market that they ought to serve. Choosing the right type of server or website support is very important. This is the reason why ample research on this matter should be carefully considered by the ones who are to establish the company’s website. The scope of the network should also be closely attended to as this would indicate the expected scope of audience or market that the company could reach out to. As mentioned earlier, marketing is an important way of regenerating a prospect market to get involved within a certain business company; however, lacking the needed access to reach the said clients may make this particular procedure of business operation impossible. Hence, being able to scale on which type of website support could give the best services to the company basing from its mission in connection with the market that it targets is very important to take into consideration. By doing so, the creators of the said business service-provision branch does not only introduces the company to a wider scope of market, but it also gives it a chance in gaining the peak rate of revenue that it could reach in an annual calculation. Creating the Website   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the organization aims to attract business enthusiasts and household members, the presentation of the website should cater to what they are actually interested in. This is where the art of marketing begins o enter the scene. Moat likely, it could be observed that the more attractive and interesting the website looks like, the more it is being viewed by Internet surfers. This is [particularly the reason why the website of the company should highlight the strength of the company and the idealisms that it has that may attract the concerns of the market. Constant attendance to what the target market wants to know about the company and about their services shall help the creators and programmers of the website have an idea on what they should actually set as features to the said website.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It must also occur among the creators that the insistence of the website’s becoming a user-friendly system is an important part of the feature of the said internet address. This would certainly allow the users, whether they are computer literate or not to have an easy access on what is actually being offered by the organization through their online network. Counting the Benefits   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having a company’s own website in the internet is like having a legitimate virtual address that would cater to mostly different people from around the world. As globalization opens its doorways to major new waves of business engagements, it could be observed that there are different benefits that the Internet operations bring the different business organizations that use the services provided by the said virtual community. Most of the company’s which do not even have physical establishments are already known because o their internet-based operations. This fact shall help Info Inc in realizing the fact that opening their doors to a more liberated procedure of operating within the business transactions that they want to offer their clients is an important part of their company’s growth as a major business entity. Counting the Costs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be able to understand the plan further, it is important to lay the finances and budgeting procedures needed to support that project that is being proposed for Info Inc to take into consideration. What are the particular elements of financing that needs to be considered? Creating the Website   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a need to hire an expert to at least program the website. The fact that there are different features of presentations that are planned to be embedded within the presentation of the website primarily to attract the clients, there needs to be the existence of professional help for this matter. This then requires a minimal yet reasonable payment for labor. Funding the Website   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Usually, the fees for website maintenance are paid annually. The company should then prepare itself in facing responsibilities such as this. Advertising through Search Engines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The more exposure the site gets, the more surfers it could invite. From this particular fact, it could be noted that funding the site’s fees is indeed worthwhile, as that particular fee shall allow the link to the website to appear several times with the utilization of several key words encoded by the internet surfers when they are seeking the help of major search engines in the internet. Training the Operators of the Web   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There should always be a standing support specialist that is ready to assist customers in their issues about the services offered by the company. Once the company ventures to this particular type of business operation, it should then occur to them that the importance of placing expert support technicians as well as product or service specialists should constantly be available incase interested client needs assistance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If the values of the cost-causing elements mentioned herein shall be examined, it could be observed that the fees are all reasonable enough of paying on the part of the company’s financing group. Most likely, this is because of the much reasonable returns that the said fees are expected to return to the entire company’s business system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Handling such responsibilities in a much more positive outlook shall indeed help the administration of the organization realize of their importance as major player within the worldwide economy. The operations that they are expected to handle through inline communications shall not only increase their capabilities of handling challenges but could also help them grow as a business entity that is able to face the challenges of the globalization era. CLIENTS AND ONLINE CONSUMERISM Online consumerism is one of today’s major innovative leaps in terms of commercialism. The use of the Internet as a major medium for trading and monetary transactions has been among the major advancements of technology and real life in the human society. Each business organization relies on their respective aspects to promote their services and products in the market. Each marketing aspect range from various strategies and approaches to entice, promote and imply an ideal nature of their products and services to the consuming public to generate a business transaction between the two parties. Each business transaction in turn will generate the desire income by the organization, which is relevant for their operation development and profit generation. As such, each organization must create an effective and efficient marketing tool towards their target public, which will address the important communication and business elements in their economic transaction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most effective marketing approaches in the present are the strategies that address the key communication elements of the public. These strategies manifests to be reliable marketing medium that inform, relates and considers the consuming public to be significant part of the organizational structure and their subsequent operations. On the practical sense, these strategies are characterized to be publicly open for the society wherein they are easily and readily accessible for the interesting consumers. In part, these marketing strategies not only cater to the marketing nature but also to the other relevant part of the organizational structure such as human resources, customer service and public relations. On this field of effective marketing approaches, the e-marketing system manifests to be both an effective and efficient strategy for contemporary business organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the analysis of the e-marketing strategies, it is strongly concluded that marketing and promotional activities utilizing the advancement of the field of information technology is an effective approach for contemporary business organization. Through the use of this significant medium, organization can promote further their products and services and developing their ideal business nature in the social aspect which in turn, has a significant impact upon the organization’s success. Indeed, marketing using online or internet technology relates further the business organization to the global audience for more effective and efficient business operation for the economic success of the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the past have already placed a strong impact on how the people viewed business operations done through the Internet, several business enthusiasts never ceased finding ways by which they would be able to attain success within the said industry. Many among the business owners around the world still believe in the benefits that investing in online business ventures would naturally bring their organizations. As for a fact, the said situation is quickly becoming a trend both among organizations that are already established and the business and even those business entities that are just starting to join the said competitive industry. Most of the benefits that the said system of business transacting has mainly attracted investors as well as stockholders in making a great decision of joining in the process of industrial change though the innovative integration of technology within the system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To understand this claim further, a diagrammatic presentation shall be shown herein:    Diagram 1: Efects of Information Technology in the relationship between clients and business organizations Diagram Analysis:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the presentation made above, it could be observed that the reason behind the business entities joining the band wagon of taking advantage of the provisions of science and technology in the modern society is indeed worthwhile. As it could be seen, the five major effects that have been presented through the diagram actually directly affect the growth rate of the organizations in a modern society. This is indeed an attractive provision that IT could ever offer business entities.    Chapter 5:DISCUSSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today many people once bewildered by the stock market are investing in stocks. Why? For one thing, the Internet has enabled investors to access in moment’s financial news, investment advice, and stockbrokers. Paul Farrell, editor in chief of Wall Street News, writes: â€Å"For [individual investors], cyberspace investing is the new frontier, the new gold rush, the freedom to be yourself, with the opportunity to become financially independent while working at home.† Along with the blooming of the Internet systems, commerce also took the chance to be a part of a very promising source of profit for many business firms. To do this, there existed a birth to the Dot.com business arena. Many people who would rather invest on a business than to be employed in a company took chances on investing in this kind of business. But as years passed, the hoped to be â€Å"tiger† market that would hit sky high revenues for the firms taking part on it fell apart. How is this possible? And how could this kind of market have been saved? The following paragraphs shall discuss the said topic further.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the earlier times of the introduction of Internet, it was seen that this kind of communication could enable many people to connect to each other from far places in the world. The said idea on worldwide interconnection gave many businessmen the thought that using the worldwide web would help their companies and other business firms to reach their potential revenues and income at a very minimal time or better yet, even double or triple the income they have expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With this, the dot.com business arena was given birth. It is more likely that the investors who invested in this kind of economic environment were the ones who realized that new business models would soon arise based on the possibilities of Internet commerce or more popularly known as E-commerce. As a result of wanting to be the first ones to gain profit from the said provisions of this new technology, they risked thousands of dollars to invest in the said Internet market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first years of the operation of the dot.com market paved way to many sellers of products and services to be connected to many consumers worldwide. Obviously though, among the three major gainers of profit in this kind of market are several internet-help companies. The said technology groups are the Internet and Network Infrastructure which hosts the construction of official websites posted through the net, the Internet Tools such as Netsacape which assists on the navigation process in the Internet, and the Internet-direct consumer websites such as Yahoo! which allows numerous ads to be posted through their website.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Between the years 1998-1999, the interest rates on putting up e-commerce firms were way affordable for many investors. This is the reason why many inexperienced businessmen chose to loin this market as a beginning of joining the business industry. Although many of the said investors had concrete and realistic plans regarding a business, most of them lacked administrative abilities. On the other hand, inviting investors to join the Internet market had been easier through the use of offering great promises and benefits that the web hosts post to attract the prospect businessmen (Warford, 2005, 45). True, this way of luring investors worked pretty well. As proved by the many growing e-commerce members during the years 1998-1999, the dot.com industry continued to flourish. To recognize the best Internet websites that are present in the e-commerce industry, there had been an annual awarding of the top websites of the year. It started on the year 1995, which was characterized by extravagant programs and undeniably expensive presentations. It was annually held in San Francisco California near the heart of the Silicon Valley. The said event has peaked during the year 2001 when thousands of attendance joined the lucrative awarding. When the year 2003 came in, the celebration became somber due to lower attendance not to mention that some of the nominees are not able to attend the event because of company belt-tightening and the fear of loosing their jobs. This is more likely because of the high interest rates that the Internet web hosts are already putting on the investors to continuously operate in the system (Silberschatz, 2004, 15). This event showed that the dot.com industry is not as productive as it was before anymore. As a fact, many of its members already lost on the investments they preempted to be bringing them great profits. Chapter 6: Conclusion and Summary Entering the arena of international business venture is indeed not an easy task for business entrepreneurs. However, because of the main focus of globalization in empowering dreamers of the said industry helps much in assisting entrepreneurs in seeing the possibilities of enlarging the scope of their territories of profitable areas through stretching their business activities towards the other countries around the globe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It could not be denied though that the procedure of international business looks much inviting, it should not be forgotten that the risks are highly challenging, hence encouraging the entrepreneurs to apply clear control of the situation through applying the needed skills to face the challenges of the international business transactions. Expanding the business in this procedure is indeed promising; however, careful consideration on the elements of risk should be given clear attention by the hopeful business entrepreneurs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the discussion and the presentations made in this paper, it could be observed that there is indeed a need for business entities to take the risks in making it within the industry of virtual business. Making their business services and products available through the Internet for the sake of advertising or even selling as it is would surely offer the organizations a progressive future in the fields that they are joined with. Certainly, the innovations brought about by information technology actually radically changed the economic trade of the entire global state of business industries. This is the reason why a particular entrepreneur trying to make the business scene in the current era of globalization needs to know the basic of computer applications and internet system operations for their business organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certainly, because of the more improved system of consumerism featured through online business operations, click businesses become highly effective in affecting the human society today. It could still not be denied though that there are still some satisfactions that brick or physically established systems of business today give its consumers. Through this conclusion, it should be understood that both brick and click businesses should exist in balance to allow consumer satisfaction all over the world in accordance with the different elements contributing to modern globalization. References: Internet Sources: BBC News. (2000). Dot.com to Dot.bomb.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2000/review/1069169.stm. (May 31, 2008) Bock, Wally. (2001). From Dot-Com to Dot-Bomb.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.mondaymemo.net/010409feature.htm. (May 31, 2008). Msdn. Microsoft Corporation. (2007). Technology Overview. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa497336.aspx. (May 31, 2008). Nut, Gary. (2004). Operating Systems: A Modern Perspective, Third Edition. http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~nutt/osamp.html. (May 31, 2008). Website Marketing. (2001). Importance of Marketing. http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Marketing/Importance-of-Marketing/. (May 31, 2008) Books: Brown, Stephen (1993), „Postmodern Marketing?â€Å", European Journal of Marketing Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 19-34 Brown, Stephen (1998), „Post-Modern Marketing 2 – Telling Talesâ€Å", Thomson Business Press. Deitel, Harvey M.; Deitel, Paul; Choffnes, David (2004). Operating Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-182827-4. Ensor, Jim . (2006). Future Net: The Essential Guide to Internet and Technology Megatrends. Trafford Publishing; 1st edition. ISBN-10: 1553957245. Folsom, Ralph H. . (2005). Principles of International Business Transactions (The Concise Hornbook Series). West Publishing. Fitzgerald, Peter L. . (2005). International Business Transactions: A Problem-oriented Coursebook. West Publishing. Harris, J. Archer. (2001).  Ã‚   Schaum’s Outline of Operating Systems. McGraw-Hill; 1 edition. ISBN-10: 0071364358. Hanson, Ward & Kalyanam, Kirthi (2006). Internet Marketing and e-Commerce. South-Western College Publication. 1st Edition. ISBN-10: 0324074778. Rajagopal, Raj . (1999). Multi-Operating System Networking: Living with UNIX, NetWare, and NT. AUERBACH; 1 edition. ISBN-10: 0849398312. Silberschatz, Abraham . (2004). Operating System Concepts. John Wiley & Sons; 7 edition. ISBN-10: 0471694665. Strauss, Judy & El-Ansary, Adel & Frost, Raymond (2005). E-Marketing.   Prentice Hall Publication. 4th Edition. ISBN-10: 0131485199. Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Woodhull, Albert S. (2006). Operating Systems. Design and Implementation. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-142938-8. Warford, J. Stanley. (2005).  Ã‚   Computer Systems. Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 3rd edition. ISBN-10: 0763732397.   

Can We Speak of a ‘Classless Society’

Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Stratification is a concept we are faced with on a daily basis, whether it is a conscious or subconscious element of our lives. Class has been a dominant form of stratification in traditional views of society, but man’s evolution in thought, behaviour, outlook, organization and culture has led to critical criticism questioning the very existence of class itself: Does class still exist? Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Analysing the role that class does or doesn’t play in modern society is interesting because we are our very own sources.Through first hand experiences of class we can determine the role it plays in our everyday lives. Class can be viewed both subjectively depending on how we think of ourselves, or objectively dealing with how we are structurally located in society. (Milner, 1999) Therefore, combining our subjective, micro-level understanding of class with a macro-level, objective analys is of class, we can determine the degree to which class persists in modern society. The idea of stratification and class will continuously persist as it provides a foundation for organization and identity in society.Although the word ‘class’ will never die, the traditional role class plays in society has certainly died. ‘Social Class’ is the class of today; it has followed the death of the rigid, traditional and intolerant class of yesterday. Today people are more empowered and can take control of their social standing, an idea supported with the current social mobility and emergence of the middle class. ‘Social class’ classifies people in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, age, culture etc. Naturally, economic class continues to play its role in society, but it does so in harmony with other aspects of ‘social class. Class is disintegrating because people are becoming more individualistic. What matters today is how people see themselves, a s opposed to how they are viewed by society. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). Traditionally, society consisted of inherited classifications between masters and slaves, and lords and peasants etc. , which constituted the ‘natural’ way of association. There are certain parts of the world where people still live by their inherited class. In India for example there is a Caste System, in which every individual is categorized into divisions (colour, ancestors, rank).There are four main castes with various sub-castes and each have a large amount sub castes within them, furthermore outside the caste system are the ‘Untouchables’ who are oppressed and viewed as impure all the time. The four main castes: Brahmins–priests Kshatryas–warriors Vaishyas–traders Shudras–laborers A significant classical view of class is that of Marx. His traditional view of class contained two distinct classes: Bourgeoisie or the capitalist class, who own their own mea ns of production, and the Proletariat or working class, who own their own labour. Marx, et al. , 1848) Exploitation between these two social groupings in the capitalist production process defined Marxist class (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). The Marxist view is ‘real’ and ‘objective, furthermore its concerned with the different strata as a whole rather than the individuals within them (Saunders, P. 1990). For Marx, social power was achieved purely through economic class. He viewed class as a rigid and positional aspect of society. Hence, his interpretations of class failed to account for the fluidity of modern class.Conversely, Weber’s view of class is much more synonymous with the role class plays in modern society. He looks at class in terms of the cultural and social roles it plays in society and focuses more on stratification through consumption rather than production. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996) He juxtaposes class as an economic relation with class as a soci al relation, unlike Marx who predominantly focused on economic class. Weber analysed class in terms of status and stratification in the light of: property, ownership, occupational skills, religion, legal rights, lifestyle and consumption.This view of class is still relevant in today’s society and therefore Weber’s view of class is not wholly classified under the ‘dead’ or dated outlook on class. Weber did also look at class in terms of economic relations and the possessions of economic goods, as well as market position. He believed that life chances are determined by how one is positioned in the market. (Weber, 1922) This relates to the Indian Caste systems where members of a high caste (Brahmans) enjoy more wealth and opportunities; members of a low caste (untouchables) perform unwanted menial jobs.The ‘Untouchables’ being the lowest stratum are regarded as underprivileged, demoralized and ‘backward’, hence given the jobs such as sweeping, garbage collector and regarded as impure individuals- the idea that once they touch another individual there needs to be a cleansing as the ‘untouchables’ are ‘dirty’. Individuals were relatively powerless, as they could not acquire wealth or status through changing position in a market place. Today, however, hard work and merit allows for social mobility and people have a stronger influence over their position in society. Milner, 1999) Having said that, some individuals do not get the opportunity of social mobility- due to the fact that they are either uneducated or the fact that they do not have the right social networks.Gandhi named the Untouchables â€Å"Harijians† (Children of God)- by doing this he tried upward mobility by trying to elevate their status through different means (befriending and eating with the impure). ‘Underclass’ in general tend to suffer multiple deprevisation, as they are dependent on state welfare (i f given) and have low levels of education hence making it harder for upward mobility (Saunders, P. 990) Social mobility and individual control over social standing has been greatly strengthened through the modern preoccupation with education. The increased priority given to exposing larger proportions of society to education has empowered individuals, allowing them to use their educations as a tool to overcome ‘class’ barriers. Overall, the ability to move up and down the social ladder in present day society makes class that is classified purely in an economic sense irrelevant. Economic’ class is no longer a steady, inherited, and ‘life-long’, concrete concept, as people can change their economic standing within their own life span or across generations. The concept of the ‘middle class’ has also arisen through the idea of social mobility and empowerment through education, and does not concur with Marx’s traditional view of class. Today, the ‘proletariat’ of traditional Marxism is being replaced by machinery as the advancement in technology has made some manual work redundant.Furthermore, the idea that many modern companies do not solely rely on legal ownership of a company, but instead hire people due to technical competence, gives people the opportunity to hold managerial positions that have a lot of power. This is the idea of recruitment via ‘meritocrality’ and hints at the death of classical conventions of class. Therefore, the idea of objective class being defined as the relationship between the ownership and non-ownership of productive resources has greatly dissolved (Lee, et al. , 1996).Having said that in India the opportunity of mobility is limited it all comes down to the status, power or class of the individual- this is due to the fact that India is still developing and full of politics, an individual would have to have the right connections in order to do or acquire anyt hing but most important factor in accomplishing anything in India would be money. Furthermore if an individual is a Shudras they would have less capital compared to the Brahmans, hence decreasing their chance of opportunities they can take.Within the Indian caste system most people remain in one caste their entire life and marry within their caste. Although class is viewed differently today, it does not necessarily mean that modern views of class are more ‘equitable. ’ In fact, there is still a strong lack of equity within the different classifications of gender, ethnicity, sexuality etc; furthermore there are parts of the world where class is a vital aspect in their everyday life and interaction. The difference being that in contemporary society people are more attached to individualist and consumerist forms of discrimination and inequality.It can be said that today consumption is more important than production, class is no longer a ‘lifetime experience’, but instead thought about as an ‘individual biography’, and exclusion from the labour market is the more appropriate way to think about poverty. Although the concept of class is ever-present, the objective and subjective role it plays in society has been greatly transformed within the western society, thereby accounting for the death of classical class theories.Having said that India could never be a classless society as people are not acting constructively to escape class divisions, this is due to the fact that most ‘underclass’ cannot undergo upward mobility, as they do not have the opportunity or resources. Class is a social relationship that invades each individual’s lives. There has been a death of traditional class within the western society as individuals are acting constructively to escape class divisions and go towards a classless society, however an evolved definition of class continues to dominate the 21st century.Bibliography Saunders, P. 1990. Social Class and Stratification, USA, Rutledge. Pakulski J and Malcolm W. (1996) The Death of Class. London: Sage. Milner, A. (1999) Class. London: Sage. Weber, M. [1922] ‘Class, Status and Party. ’ Extract from Economy and Society in W. G. Runciman [ed. ] (1978) Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 43-56. Giddens, A. (1994) Beyond Left and Right. Cambridge: Polity. Pp. 139-48 Marx, K. and Engels, F. [1848] ‘Bourgeois and proletarians’, section 1 of The Communist Manifesto, in D. McLellan [ed. ] (1977) Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 222-231. Prandy, K. 2002. Ideal Types, Stereotypes and Class. The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 53 number 4, page14. Brahman. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 06, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/77093/Brahman â€Å"Harijans. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, S ixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved October 06, 2010 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-Harijans. html