Saturday, August 31, 2019

Organizational Behavior Assignment

Since this business has been around and owned by my family for over 40 years, we still have leadership harries from 40 years ago that has kept them going for so long. We have adapted new leadership theories from the times changing but most of them have stuck. The owner in our business it not really a leader, since she is retired from her other job, it is up to the manager to lead the employees in the right direction. Some of the aspects of leadership that has stuck with the business over the years would be, what the main focuses are (the customers), the training process and how the manager interacts with the employees.In this business it is like a family so there is a close relationship between the anger and the employees. I believe the theory that best goes along with this family business would be a combination of traditional and contemporary. We have many factors of the traditional but also contemporary because we are always trying to keep up with what is going around us but we als o are stuck with the old leadership from 40 years ago that has gotten us this far in the business. Overall, each leadership will work but for different businesses. You need to find the one that will work the best for you business.Working at a family business creates a lot of stress for not only the family UT the employees also. Since there is only five employees it is hard to get off or call in sick at times; this causes stress between the employees and we have been able to figure a way out to create less stress. We have a sheet where people can list when they need off and another list that people can sign up for the hours that are going to need to be filled. It is almost as if the employees have control but we just put the outline there. Next there is the job roles, each and every person does everything, not just one part.This causes stress sometimes because the employees are not sure what to do first hen there is so much work to get done. We recently fixed this problem, making a l ist of priorities. So when there are many tasks to get done they know what to do first and then they can work their way down the list Also we have made it so if they do not get something done, that list gets passed down to the next shift. I have noticed that this has lifted a lot Of stress Off of all the employees because they have some type of structure and order. The one good aspect that I have noticed in this business is that there are great working conditions.Customers and employees have mentioned that they love working here because of the working conditions and they feel safe and their moods are brought up. The next part of stresses would be within each worker themselves. This honestly has been a hard one to overcome with this business. The top one would be type of personality; the manager here has the type of personality that it is their way or no way. That is good that they have a strong head on their shoulders but that is not always good for a business. When she is around ev erything gets done but all the employees are extremely stressed out when she is here.We have tried to fix this problem but it has not been successful. This is why family business can be hard to work for sometimes, each family member has their own personality and sometimes it clashes and it would be hard on the family if you had to fire them. Other than the type of personality, the individual stresses are not really an aspect at this business. Overall, stresses are a huge part in a business and the faster you catch it the easier it is to fix the problem or work with it to work around it. Group work is a large part in any business.For Franks Beer Stein, it makes up the whole business; since there are no specific tasks dedicated to any specific person, it all takes teamwork to get everything done. We have many steps to make sure everyone is working together; the top one would be everyone's mood that day. We have a policy that you leave your problems at the door unless it deals with wor k itself. If you have a problem with work you can either call the manager or the owner to talk about the problem. This has seemed to work so far, and there has been a huge turn around while everyone is working together.Next would be make a list of what needs to get done and you assign people to do a certain task so everyone knows what each person is doing and does not get frustrated when you do not know where everyone is. Finally, like mentioned before, if the list is not completed by the time your shift is over, that is k, you hand it off to the next shift and so forth. This way it relieves the stress of having to get everything done and rushing instead of taking your time and doing it correctly. Overall, that is not many steps but being a small business it has seemed to work wonderful here ND could possibly work at other companies.There are many potential sources of conflict within a group; these link with the five conflict management styles. The first one is competing; this would be when the workers are competing to either finish first or do a better job. Either way the work is not going to be done the way it should on one of the sides. Also, this would not be working together in a group but working against each other, which from experience does not turn out to be good. Next there is compromising; this would be where to parties would not agree and end up owing to an agreement which they would fall short on each side because they had to come to an agreement.I have never experienced this at my work but if it came to that no one would be making progress so there would have to be changes. Then there is avoiding which I have seen many times and it always has ended horribly. When two or more people would avoid someone because of either they did not get along or they are avoiding a problem that is going on. This overall is not a good thing if you are avoiding something or someone that means something is not getting done at your job and it could urn out with someon e getting fired just because of not facing the problem but rather avoiding it.Next there is accommodating; when you are doing things the way someone else says and it could be working against your full potential. Finally there is collaborating this could be good and it could also be bad. This would be teamwork but two people coming together to work on both of your tasks. This could take up more time because you both are working on one task at a time but it also could make sure you are doing everything correctly because you have two eyes on what you are working on.Overall, most of these management styles are huge conflicts but some can also be good at times to. There are many barriers in communication but there is always a way to fix it. One barrier would be cultural; this is when Someone knows their own culture but not another persons, this could lead to them understanding something differently then one another. This could highly impact teamwork because if a task is said and they mea n one thing but the other person heard it differently, this could impact the relationship and business.The one person would think hat they did it wrong but they could have done exactly what they heard and understood. One way of addressing this would be writing things down and showing at the same time. This will make sure they understand because they will see what you said and physically see what to do, this will limit a lot of problems with cultural barrier. Another barrier would be biases; this would be if someone does not talk to another person because they think that they will not understand or agree with us. This aspect is very common and could effect the teamwork.If you are working with a couple people and you always talk to the same person because in your conscious you know that they are most likely to understand you the most, other employees could see this and it could cause a problem. I have personally seen this happen is my work, with different ages and different genders of the employees. Other employees might get mad or think that you do not like them which would create a whole different situation. A way to solve this would be try' to see who you talk to the most and try and talk to everyone else instead, equally.It would make everyone feel like they are involved and that you do not just favor one person over the rest. Overall, most businesses have these communication problems and there are many different ways to work around them and fix them. But if you do not fix them when they first start happening it could grow into a much larger problem and would be so much more stress on the whole company. Furthermore, there are many problems and conflicts that can come across in every business. Many people thin their lifetime will see most of them and might not even realize what the true problem is.

Architectural education today: Cross-cultural perspectives Essay

Architecture is the process by which buildings and other physical structures are planned, constructed and designed through consideration of environmental, cultural and social factors. Architecture also encompasses the issues of cost assessment, construction management and scheduling which an architect have to consider in order for it to be successful. The process of architecture involves a series of steps whereby the architect present a documentation of plans and technical specifications, typical drawings, which represents or defines the structure of the building to be constructed (Cowlishaw, 1999). This professional discipline represents all creative fields regarding the design of our physical environment whether cultural, industrial and residential. However the relationship between dependable mishandlings of the surroundings and building structures has resulted to the considerations of responses to all factors in the environment including culture, climate, and location. This is ref erred as the built environment and currently, many researchers have been looking at what environmental burdens has an effects on human physical characters and application to the physical and cultural environment (Dovey and Kim, 2010). Consequently, every environmental factor has contributed significantly in the evolution of man’s architecture and until recently cultural factors in the man’s physical evolution (architecture) has acknowledged basically no consideration (Alamo et al, 2002). Environmentally, sensible design of any structure should be essential in the creative process from the commencement, considering at the current structure that there is probability of energy consumption which is one of the environmental factors leading to a maintainable construction and structure, which can be applied in the redesigning stage of the development. Consideration of the environmental factors in the architecture process ensures that there is easily adaptation of the structures designed to any environmental condition. Cultural factors are also main essentials o consider when designing and planning any structure since they are connected to the human behavior (David, 1993). Culture can be defined as the devel opment that not only regulate the pressures of natural assortment of any design or plan but also assist in the changes of pressures. Evident on this aspect is when we witness the growth and improvement of human tools, social selection and migration. Through consideration of cultural factors, human nature is transformed in one way or the other and this have contributed development of intellects which increase the response of biological mechanisms. Precisely, in this essay I have tried to discuss in details on how environmental and cultural factors influence the process of architecture as well as the built environment. Built environment can be referred as those surroundings created by humans, for humans and can be applied in human activity. Such built environment includes cities, buildings, and roads and also supports infrastructure, such as supply of water or networks of energy. However, built environment relates so much with architecture since it involves spaces and places modified or generated by people in the society comprising transportation systems, constructions and parks. But recently research from the public health have described built environment as inclusion of healthy food admittance in the process of ensuring maintainable environment with an aim of smart growth. The built environment offers the situation and background by which we live our lives and effects on our emotions, senses, contribution in physical action a nd the life and sense of community and universal welfare (David, 1993). Cultural factors             Cultural factors that influence architecture as well as the built environment, explains more on the style of the architecture which will really fit the surrounding, they determine whether the architecture is traditional or modern and also determines whether the architecture have integrated local design components. The consequence of culture on the architectural design appears to be the crucial factor in shaping any structure. The widespread variety of shapes, techniques of constructing walls and roofs of houses has resulted to the current aspirations of advancement towards modernity. In many parts this inspiration of architectural heritage of texture and color of the building components have been attained while suggesting new architectural design that can boost cultural endurance. In addition, the considerations on culture are mostly stressed in any architecture process because that architectural section that do not consider the cultural elements of its surroundin gs stand the risk of being forbidden by the existing people (Dovey and Kim, 2010). The features of culture that mostly affect architecture as well as built environment include religious, economic and social activities. One of the main cultural factors influencing architecture and the built environment as well is sensory assessment of decorations. Decorations makes a building or any structure to have attractive and clear visual appearance to the observers plus the occupants. Therefore before even designing and planning an architectural design, decoration of that structure must be highly considered. This decoration must highly relates with the flexibility of the culture so that it cannot interfere with the existing culture thus the visual simplicity can go hand on hand with the noticeable differences. The influence of building components comes out as an effective and important factor in determining the complication of architectural design. Mostly, the repetition, orientation, similarity, common inclusion and balance of the building components play a measure in conveying building structures such as houses. Furthermore, the characteristics magnitudes of the windows, their relationship with the compact areas and their locations in the wall inclines a sense of consistency in architecture. Therefore, the effective architectural shape, material, style and decoration explains the most important components for constructing structures without much consideration on the texture and color (Noschis, 2002). Considerably, we have stated above that social activities are one of the cultural factors and they influence highly on any architectural design and its development. As we all know, the traditional styles of generating and creating architectural designs started to shrink due to emergency of western civilization thus resulting to modification from numerous unit system of extended families houses to current single unit system of apartments and flats. The current architects must consider a complete deviance from enclosure system even if the inhabitants of that house are more than one family. This is because there have been a stead evolution of architecture from traditional background. Approving the above point (Denyer, 1978) affirms that though the colonial controllers did not directly mediate in issues concerning indigenous culture, however, there were two major conditions in which obligation did happen. They were the isolation of land to accommodate emigrant settlers, and the hint of t rying to persuade people to live in settlements suitable for local development policies. There was serious intervention in the habitation schedules and many administration have not changed the existing development. When designing any architectural design currently, one must have idea that involvement of grouped people who in early times lived into large villages has left their family farmstead of scattered and small villages. Modern community services have also attracted most of people to the site where good architectural designed with modern facilities. The main reason why this evolution have occurred is because any traditional buildings were designed with the bases of width and not its height like what is done recently. Population is another social element which is under the cultural factors influencing the architectural designs and plans. Before setting up any architectural design, the architect must have the details of the number of people around that structure and determine whether this will affect the built environment in that location (Ferrigni, 2005). All social groups beginning from the aboriginal tribes to countries or nations have certain kind of art form. It is a certain character that man at all times attempts to show his feelings of his environment utmost the things which brings a great impact to his lifetime. Considering the number of people around that architectural design is very important because human being is a social being and at sometimes those people who are using it, or ordering it to be built or people designing and building it can influence all inner spaces. Environmental factors             Environment and architecture relates so much such that without an architect considering the environmental factors, architectural designs and plans end up failing. It is not possible to design any good structures (buildings) without considering their relationship to the national coordination. Moreover, it is not possible to interpret the normal environment without having knowledge on how human involvement in the environment affects it; either negatively or positively. The study of environment takes the entire meaning when nature and man start to identify their interdependence. However, the relationship of architecture and environment inspires students to sightsee from variety of perceptions (Dillion and Salvage,1998). In my opinion, environmentally friendly architecture should be a habitual practice to any firm in consideration of a good architectural design. The main environmental factors that influence the designing of architecture is climate with inclusion of it s variables and elements. In addition we must consider another factor on consideration of energy emissions that will that will be required and created during the process of architecture. This will ensure that the budget of the client whose the well-designed building concern to, that the amount of energy to control it daily does not require the usual amounts of energy plus the cost-effective resources. When the architectural design is friendly to the environment, then it means it can be effectively implemented right on time (Fantin, 2003). Climate in particular as an environmental factor influences architectural designs. For example, the hot humid regions or zones requires structures with wide openings for ventilation and lighting. Climate together with other physical components prescribe kind of geographical features and therefore influence the kind of construction and designs that can be established in a specific geographical region (Dillion and Salvage,2003). Consideration of these elements further assist the designer in developing the dimension linkages and form which is arranged in a discrete manner to satisfy the desired needs. The conditions of a place has to do with topography, microclimate, water basin, undergrowth and wind breaks in the form of bush and trees. Other situations are convenience, how near is that architectural design to the public infrastructure, entrance and the level of disturbances. Since traditional house building system did not think through most of the factors noted above, the only conside rations a house constructor or any planning house proprietor were vegetation with respect to economic crops, the appearance of the terrain, description of plot with respect to religious happenings, immediacy to head of instantaneous family and farm occupants (Ferrigni, 2005). Another importance of climate as an environmental factor is that it assist the architectural designers and planners to a large magnitude, what kind of natural resources can be afforded to local builders and architects. To those areas that do not have many trees or a lot of rainfall, but with a extensive area of grass where grazing of livestock can take place, cow strokes are often permitted to dry and then composed together, so that they can be applied as building elements for the walls of buildings and other residences (Konya,1980). These strokes serve a construction component and heat-proofing. However, heavily forested areas allow the builders to apply timber as a durable and strong building component. In areas where there is large leaves, such as palm leaves, they can be applied to make roofs that are effective in avoiding rainfall and other elements of climate from affecting the built structure. This will contribute a lot to the one who is implementing the work of the designer b ecause even the application of environment elements is easy to repair and it is a poor conductor of heat thus it facilitates to bearable interior temperature (Dillion and Salvage,1998). The alignment of locating the building on the location is done with special consideration being focused on the climatic components such as sun radiation, wind, topography, vegetation and precipitation. The level of disturbance and its view are also usually taken care of an effective architecture process. During times of excessive heat, solar radiation is mainly considered because there is need to know the difference in temperature of a construction between the best and worst alignment (Ferrigni, 2005). Good alignment assists to eliminate much of solar radiation from the internal region of the construction. However, alignment of houses is determined by bearing in mind access to the buildings and the point that the apartment of head of the family must be located almost at the end. If all these considerations are done, then the nature and kind of the houses assist in reducing the consequence of sun radiation to the occupants in that building. Moreover consideration of mud houses can app ly very well in these zones with extensive heats since, they are poor conductor of heat therefore, making the interior of that building quite cool (Konya,1980). Another architectural consideration in these parts is constructing buildings that do not have ceiling in order to enable circulation of air thus improving the ventilation. Finally, the appearance of local landscape and the way it is influenced by climate can have an important control on the choices made by the architectural designers. For example considering the land which is close to water bodies then the domestic residences can be built facing in the course that enables cooling breezes created by the water to create natural circulation of air (Fantin, 2003). Consequently, those places with an abundance of trees, residences can be constructed under the shade of their leaves to accomplish a similar function and deliver protection from either wind and or rain. In addition, the modern conservation of energy can be a main challenge in buildings which are being built. This often leads to connecting energy from native weather patterns in ways which are sophisticated and will allow the concentrated amount of air to stream through and cool the buildings (Alamo et al, 2002). Conclusion             Any architecture can give in a very detailed and speedy manner, the cultural background and historic economic of any group of people or settlements. In simple terms, the architectural constructions in any setup, informs visitors the kind of structures in existence whether cultural or environmental. There must be a resolute struggle to revive the failing architectural trend and advance fresh but tolerable architectural plans and design that identify the culture of the people with respect to present development in their environment. Every culture can stimulate a kind of architecture that can encourage a kind of architecture that can vary from developments to everyday house. Environment and family appear to be the most common influences generally. Each culture is not the same to the other and the more we become enlightened on them, the more we raise the value of our environment and comprehend why certain issues appeal to us. There is no doubt that if any architectura l design can consider the cultural and environmental factors, then there will be a built environment which is acceptable and friendly and at the same time matching with the existing infrastructures in the environment. References Denyer S 1978. African Traditional Architecture. New York: African Company, pp. 14-22 Dovey, Kim.2010. Becoming Places: Urbanism/Architecture/Identity/Power. London, New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, David M.2013. A Place to Call Home: Identiï ¬ cation with Dwelling, Community, and Region. The Sociological Quarterly, Nr. 1, 111–131 Ferrigni, F., & European University Centre for the Cultural Heritage. (2005). Ancient buildings and earthquakes: Reducing the vulnerability of historical built- up environment by recovering the local seismic culture; principles, methods, potentialities. Bari: Edipuglia. Alamo, A. M. A., O’Reilly, W., & Noschis, K. (2002). Architectural education today: Cross-cultural perspectives. Lausanne: Comportments. Konya Allan 1980. Design Primer for Hot Climates. London: Architectural Press Limited, P. 33, 37, 38. Dillion,J. & Salvage, M. 1998. â€Å"Tangentyere council† in Architectural Review, Octomber, pp.96-97.Dillion,J. & Salvage, M. 2003, â€Å"House Design in Alice Springs Town Camps† in Take Housing Design and indigenous Australia, eds P. Memmott & C. Chambers, The Royal Australian Institute Of Architects, Red. Cowlishaw, G.(1999). Rednecks, Eggheads and Blackfellas A Study of Racial Power and Intimacy in Australia. Allen and Unwin. Fantin, S. (2003a). Aboriginal identities in architecture. Architecture Australia, 92(5):84–87. Source document

Friday, August 30, 2019

Information Technology for Pims Pumps Essay

Analysis section 1 – Background/to identification of problem Pims Pumps are an industrial pumping company which are involved in the distribution, installation and maintenance of industrial pumping units. The company has a large fleet of vans and many specialised tools and lots of equipment. Currently all of the equipment is logged in and out of the workshop and vans and this information is stored on paper. Analysis section 2 – identification of the prospective user(s) The prospective users are the managers of the business all of whom are computer literate and are already using a computer system for other aspects of the business. The company have a small network of computers installed and all involved are competent in opening and using Microsoft access 2000 Analysis section 3 – identification of user needs and acceptable limitations The system needs to be able to store large amounts of data about the whereabouts of equipment, it must be able to search through the data for any specified criteria, it must be able to be edited, it must be secure and user friendly. Interview Example documents from user Observation The proposed system can only be tested to a certain extent on being able to store large amounts of data Analysis section 4 – realistic appraisal of the feasibility of potential solutions. Analysis section 5 – justification of chosen solution I have chosen to use this system because Analysis section 6 – description of current system & data sources and destinations The current system involves the user logging in and out equipment to vans and back into the warehouse. The user must enter his/her name, the date and time, the registration of the vehicle they are taking it to, the name of the piece of equipment and the serial number of the piece of equipment. At the end of each week the logbook except for the most recent page is taken to the admin office and stored in a filing cabinet in date order. When a piece of equipment is missing, needed of has been damaged the user can then refer back to the log book to find out who if anyone still has the piece of equipment and who else has used it recently. This can be very time consuming, as the user has to visually scan through the logbooks until he comes to the entry, which could be anything up to 15 pages. This could easily result in human error and is a big waste of time Analysis section 8 – data flow diagram of current system At current there is no flow of data as the information is simply logged and referred to if needed in the future. Analysis section 7 – objectives of the project Input tasks (Data entry / Modification / View) The system will provide a user-friendly simple interface with the initial user allowing them to enter the same information as they usually do just on a keyboard. This should avoid all complications. The user interface for the initial user will be very secure to try and prevent accidental damage to the system however the management features will be able to be accessed by the management team through a password. There will be a user guide and a trouble shooting section to try and solve any potential problems. The system will be presented in form view with a main menu and various forms for different functions Output tasks (Reports) The system will be able to produce a report showing the location of any piece of equipment, or all the equipment one member of staff has recently used or all the equipment currently in a particular van. The system must be able to search through all the records for any criteria and produce a report for each one Processing tasks The system must be able to process the information and sort it into any order that the user wishes. Quantitative performance considerations The system is going to be run over a long period of time and so will need to be able to store a very large amount of data. This s one thing I will not be able to test to its full extent however I can estimate through hardware performance whether the system is adequate or not. Qualitative evaluation criteria Data security of the new system The system will have security passwords and all obvious features that would allow the user to enter restricted areas of the system would be disabled. The system will prompt the user to save changes or automatically save changes on exit anyway. Analysis section 9 – Data flow diagram of new system Analysis section 10 – E-R Model Project stage 2 : design Design section 1 – Overall system design The system will involve a series of tables, queries, reports and forms all linked together to provide a user-friendly system capable of all of the system requirements. I will have tables for vans, equipment, warehouse and users and will link these together and display them on one form. There will be a menu form giving the user options and security passwords for management to access and edit existing data or to view existing data. All of the data entry will be validated and the tables will be set to certain data types to try and ensure the user is entering the correct information. There will be four main tables related to bookings, employees, equipment and vehicles. There will also be four forms based upon these tables and then a main menu form for easy navigation of my database system Design section 2 – Description of modular structure of system The system will be based around 4 main tables. These are TblEmployees, which contains information about the employees that work at the company. TblEquipment, which lists equipment, details about it, its current location and a list of who has recently used it. TblVehicles will contain a list of all of the vans that Pims Pumps use and contain a list of all the equipment that is currently in each van. TblBookings will record all the bookings in an out that a piece of equipment makes and records the equipment and employee ID numbers. These tables will all be linked together in an entity relationship diagram. Design section 3 – Definition of data requirements The database will have to store relevant information about the employees using the booking system information about the company’s vehicles and equipment information. The fields I will store in my equipment table are as follows: 1. Equipment ID – A unique number assigned to each piece of equipment. 2. Description – a brief description of the piece of equipment 3. Service interval – The next date when the piece of equipment is due to be serviced The fields I will store in my employee table are as follows: 1. Employee name – full name of the employee 2. Employee ID – a unique number assigned to each employee The fields I will store in my vehicles table are as follows: 1. Registration – The registration number of my vehicle 2. Vehicle ID – A unique number assigned to each vehicle I will also have a bookings table, which will store the employee and equipment ID for each booking of equipment, and the date on which the booking was made. This will enable me to run a query to find out for example what equipment any employee has used or what equipment is currently in a certain van etc. Design section 4 – Identification of storage requirements and media Development hardware I can design my system on any hardware running Microsoft Windows 95 or later and that is capable of running Microsoft Access at speed. I do not require any additional specific hardware for designing my database. End-user hardware The end user already has hardware capable of running my database and all the staff are familiar with Microsoft based programs. Development software I will design the database in Microsoft Access as this is very flexible and powerful enough to undertake all or the required tasks End-user software The end user will also have to use Microsoft Access as that is the only program that my database will run on I will design the database to be user friendly and limit access to all of its functions to try and prevent accidental damage to the system. Design section 5 – Identification of suitable algorithms for data transformation Queries Macros Visual basic code Design section 6 – identification of any validation required I have several input masks throughout my tables however no validations are needed. The input masks that ii have used are simply in place to ensure that the user is entering the correct information or at least information that is in the correct format. Design section 7 – overall user interface design Here is a plan of the layout of my main menu; Design section 8 – Sample of planned data capture and entry (e.g. forms Design section 9 – sample of planned data validation Design section 8 – Description of record/database structure & normalisation Normalisation Tables design Design section 11 – Sample of planned valid output (e.g. reports) I will produce reports based on queries related to different things however the format will remain the same. Below is an example of what a report would look like if the user queried for what equipment an employee has recently used: Design section 12 – Database design including relations, foreign keys, and primary keys. Entity-relationship diagram List and describe all relations separately 1. There is a one to many relationship from Equipment ID in the Equipment table to Equipment ID in the booking table. This enables there to be many pieces of equipment logged in the bookings table. 2. There is a one to many relationship from Employee ID in the Employee’s table to Employee ID in the Bookings table. This enables there to be many employees listed in the bookings table of that one employee can have many bookings. Indicate all primary and foreign keys for each table TblEquipment’s primary key is Equipment ID and it contains no foreign keys TblBooking’s primary key is Booking ID and it contains Equipment ID and Employee ID as foreign keys TblVehicle’s primary key is Vehicle ID and it contains no foreign keys TblEmployee’s primary key is Employee ID and it contains no foreign keys Design section 13 – Planned measures for security and integrity of data Design section 14 – Planned measures for systems security Design section 15 – Overall test strategy Project stage 3 : Technical solution Project stage 4 : System testing Test section 1- Design of test plan & strategy Test section 2 – Minimal test data Test section 3 – Expected results for typical test data Test section 4 – Erroneous data (Check forms reject invalid data) Test section 5 – Expected results for extreme data Check that data just within range is accepted and stored Check that calculations using extreme data works Test section 6 – Hard copy of representative samples of test runs Project stage 5 : Maintenance Maintenance section 1 – System overview Maintenance section 2 – Summary of features used Maintenance section 3 -Sample of detailed algorithm design using a recognised methodology Maintenance section 4 – Annotated listings of program code, macro code & tailoring Maintenance section 5 – Screenshots (Mainly from design view) Table screenshots Reports screenshots Query screenshots Macro’s screenshots Visual basic code Maintenance section 6 – List/description of package items developed Project stage 6 : User manual User manual – Brief introduction User manual – Samples of actual screen displays in situ User manual – Samples of error messages and/or error recovery procedures Project stage 7 : Appraisal Appraisal section 1 – Comparison of project performance against objectives Evaluation of end-user requirements Evaluation of the qualitative criteria

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Ajay Bam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ajay Bam - Essay Example (MacGregor, 2001) He wanted an MBA so he enrolled at Babson. He had a vision to put-up Vayusa so he set out to find people who could help him and sources of funds for his venture. Amazingly, he was able to juggle setting up Vayusa while completing his MBA degree. Lastly, Ajay was enthusiastic about the business he wanted to set-up because he had personal experience of what it was like not to have Vayusa. He knew the convenience it was going to bring to both consumers and merchants. This enthusiasm was a key in acquiring the people and funding he needed. This resulted to his diligence and persistence in meeting people and following-up tasks. A rocket pitch is a 3-minute presentation, usually via 3 Powerpoint slides, of several entrepreneurs’ business plans to a large audience made up of, among others, investors and service providers. (BABSON, 2012) Ajay’s pitch was sound. Vayusa had more than what competitors individually offered. However, a potential investor would have a few concerns such as stability and long-term security against fraud. Indeed, Vayusa may offer more than the other loyalty programs and wireless payment companies. Nevertheless, combining both in a mobile application which is Vayusa is the first of its kind. There is no current measure if this kind of business will be successful. Moreover, in a world where computer hacking is very common, there is no existing proof that the Vayusa system is not â€Å"hackable†. In addition, there is the concern of probable mobile charges in the future for using the Vayusa application. If the business does become successful, consumers will be using their mobile phone services more. Still, given the benefits of Vayusa and the fact that it could be the first successful business of its kind, it would be a good investment. As of now, Ajay has a prototype and a team composed of himself, the driven leader, and experts from companies such as NYNEX, Citibank, GenRed

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Social Work Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Work Theory - Essay Example Justification for and against why used chosen theories   A. Praxis approach is suitable to establish context B. Cognitive therapy approach is suitable to address problems VII. Research   VIII. Conclusion   Abstract This report will analyze and evaluate the usefulness of functionalism. Based on the case of Mrs. Lucian, the concept of functionalism will be applied together with the assessment stage of ASPIRE modelled when developing social work intervention. Aside from the use of cognitive therapy intervention, this report highly recommends the need for social worker to educate Mrs. Lucian regarding her rights and privileges under the law in domestic violence situations or visit the nearby law enforcement group to discuss the problem with the police to protect Mrs. Lucian and her children from abusive husband. Functionalist Analysis and Cognitive Therapy In the Context of an ASPIRE Model Assessment Student’s Name Student Number Course Name and Number Name of Professor Date of Submission Number of Words: 1,505 Introduction Mrs. Lucian decided to seek professional help from the social service. In relation to the case of Mrs. Lucian, this report will focus on exploring the strengths and weaknesses of functionalism. ... Based on the assessment phase of the ASPIRE model, this report will critically analyze how the theory of functionalism can be useful in enabling the social care workers to assess and interpret the given case study. Brief Introduction about the Theory of Functionalism Functionalism is a structural theory which serves as a basis for asking a client to objectify the situation they are currently facing (Holmwood 2005, pp. 87 – 109). According to Jones (2003, p. 38), functionalism analyzes and study the society as a whole based on different structure that works as a system. Under common values, functionalism would normally give emphasis on objective observation of social relationships between the client and other people that surrounds the client (Brym and Lie 2007, p. 13). One of the strengths of a functionalist intervention model is that the use of this theory focuses on searching for ways on how the social care workers could reach social equilibrium (Brym and Lie 2007, p. 14). To maintain a healthy and harmonious family life, the personal interests of each of the family members should be well integrated and in equilibrium. As an active member of the society, the ability of the family members to stabilize their familial relationship could make the family as a whole function well. The theory of functionalism focuses on analyzing how people functions within a society based on social structure like family, education, and religion among others. In line with this, Isajiw (2002, p. 10) explained that it is important to solve familial dysfunction because of the interdependent phenomena that could arise from family-related problems. Since problems within

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

French Revolution During 18th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

French Revolution During 18th Century - Essay Example (Lind Frey, 2004) The immediate cause of revolution was financial crisis that originated due to war in America that was financed through borrowing by Necker and same method was adopted by Calonne to pay off the arrears which increased the deficit. Fiscal administration was so confusing that the rough analysis of financial statements of March 1788 of Old Regime budget estimated expenditures at about 629 million livres and receipts of 503 million leaving behind the deficit of 126 million or 20% which was attributed to court wastefulness and financers profit. The emptied treasury resulted in cutbacks of pension and stockholders Bank of Discounts were made legal tender. (Georges Lefebvre, Elizabeth Moss Evanson and Paul H. Beik) Ronald Schechter presents the argument of Furet wherein it is mentioned that the revolution of 1787 marked the first capitulation of the state to the demands of the sharing the power between the administrative officials and elected representatives of third estate s. (Ronald Schechter, 2001) Kings under capability of handling the situation of crisis after the war made him a weaker leader. Louis XVI was not able to control the deficit and adopted the same method that Necker used to finance the war in America. And moreover the new taxation policy by imposing the tax on elite groups like notables, and other merchants ignited the sense of revolt among the Third Estate members to which they disagreed. These factors sparked the beginning of revolution in France. The revolt from elite groups created an excitement among the commoners, notably lawyers and they supported the nobles in revolt against king even though he was authorizing them to plead his case. The Patriot Party was formed which provoked counter argument using brochures with cautious... This essay describes the French Revolution, that was the major event during the 18th century that shook the entire world and economy of France. It laid the foundation for human rights through Declaration of the Rights of Man which provided equal status to poor and downtrodden on par with nobles and clergy. It was the Estates General meeting called by Louis XVI to elect the deputies that led the revolt among the Third Estate. The revolt intensified when Third Estate broke the stalemate and spread the revolt across France inviting First and Second Estate to join the rebel. The peasants’ war broke out resulting in loss of human life. Aftermath of the revolution, the French government implemented various provision and policies to cope with the economic crisis. The French revolution had various effects in forms of economy, society, political and religion. There were no differences maintained in the state school and government authorized the positions of pastor and bishops. France r eceived dramatic response from neighboring countries in the form of war including America. It also promoted nationalism which was also adopted by Italy and Germany under Napoleon and influenced most of the European countries to adopt parliamentary democracy. Such was the impact of the revolution that evolved the democratic form of government which is followed almost by all the countries in world today giving equal rights and opportunity to each and every citizen irrespective of race, religion, social and financial status.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Approaches to Quality Management Discussed here six thought leaders Essay

Approaches to Quality Management Discussed here six thought leaders who had a lasting impact on quality management practices thr - Essay Example The historical backgrounds of quality gurus, development of interests in quality, and their contributions to total quality management are also elaborated. The research used secondary methodology in collecting data. Data collected was analyzed using qualitative data analysis. Key words: total quality management, quality gurus, organization, contributions Introduction to the Topic During the 1960s, concerns about widespread global competitiveness forced most companies to show new interests in total quality management (Goetsch & Davis, 2013). The leading six quality gurus who augmented interests in quality management included Crosby, Deming, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa, Juran and Taguchi. These gurus were active consultants, lecturers, and authors with several years of experience. Most of the quality gurus were at advanced ages and widely influenced the growth of industries through development of distinctive approaches to total quality management. Total quality management philosophy seeks to i ntegrate all organizational functions to focus on meeting customer needs and company objectives (Summers, 2009). Examples of organizational functions include marketing, customer service, engineering, finance, design, and production. It is critical for all organizations to comprehend the contributions of quality gurus and institute their ideas into business operations to enhance performance. Research Methodology The data collection method for this study was secondary methodology. This methodology involved collecting data from already available datasets and researches done by other people. The sources of secondary data the researcher considered include companies’ publications, journals, periodicals and books that have been published under the subject of total quality management. Secondary methodology was advantageous because it helped reduce the costs of research such as finances, time, and facilities. The researcher selected the most recent resources from credible sources such as libraries and websites. The research adopted evaluative research strategy. Evaluative strategy involved assessing systems, theories, and frameworks of total quality management in relation to their effectiveness and outcomes. Data analysis involved comparing the contributions of various quality gurus, identifying their similarities and differences, and forecasting their outcomes. Data was analyzed by reorganizing and refining it to adapt standards of simplicity and understandability. Findings, Analysis and Interpretation Philip Crosby Philip Crosby started his career in industry as an inspector. Later, he became a vice president of quality at ITT. Crosby left ITT in 1979 and founded Philipp Crosby Associates, Inc., and Crosby Quality College that had trained 35,000 managers and executives by 1986 (Summers, 2009). Crosby influenced General Motors; General Motors purchased over 10% of Crosby stock in addition to setting its own Crosby school similar to IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Ch rysler (Besterfield, 2009). Crosby directed his messages to top managers and sought to change their perceptions and attitudes about quality. He spoke of quality as conformance to requirements and made managers to believe that products consistently reproducing its design specifications conformed to standards of high quality. According to Crosby, the goal of quality improvement is achievement of zero-defects. This is achieved through prevention rather

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Power in organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Power in organizations - Essay Example With reference to this aspect, the paper will discuss about the importance of power within an organization in a more diversified manner. Additionally, the paper also ensures a discussion regarding steps that the organization takes in order to encourage its employees and management to adopt and maintain an ethical and legal approach in their activities within organizational operations. Discussion Importance of power in an Organization The significance and the strong presence of power within an organization depict the fact that in the absence of it, proper execution of the operational activities of the organization will be highly uncertain. In precise, it can be depicted that power, which is mostly associated with the top level management and leaders of organizations is utilized as a major resources towards directing and accomplishing the goals and activities set by the organization for long and short term. Furthermore, the possessor of power in an organization will have the authority to manage various resources of the organization to ensure optimization of the benefits acquired from the same. Contextually, it will be vital to mention that effective use of these resources will further result in accomplishment of the organizational objectives, ensuring overall efficiency of the organization. Apart, from this vital aspect, power of a leader and a manager implies about their ability to influence higher authorities of an organization for accomplishment of the desired goals. Additionally, power of leaders and mangers assist them in promoting and reforming advanced strategies prevailing within an organization. This will enhance the probability of getting positive results from the utilization of the aforementioned resources. In addition to that, the possessor of power (leaders or managers) in any organization will also have the privilege to decide on the size of the organization, incorporation of latest technologies, operational approaches of the organization and alloca tions of the resources among other. Hence, it can be affirmed that a person acquiring maximum power in any organization will have his/her presence and influence in almost every sector of the organization with which he/she will be accountable to steer the overall performance of the organization towards a positive direction (Clegg, Courpasson & Phillips, 2006). Types of Power The above discussion apparently depicts the importance of power in an organization. However, to gain a comprehensive understanding regarding the facet of power in any organization, the various forms and sources of power will be vital to illustrate. In general, there are five types of power in any organization which further include coercive, legitimate, reward, referent and expert power among others. Coercive power, also regarded as the most primitive form of power in workplace that provides a person with the authority to punish or threaten the subordinates owing to non-completion of any task or inefficiency in th e same. This kind of power is implemented in scenarios where business is in a deteriorating position (Morgan, 2006). Subsequently, legitimate power refers to the formal rights of the top level leaders related to their designation within an organization. This type of power is quite universal and applied in ensuring proper functioning of the business through

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Interpreting Research Questions Using MANOVA Essay

Interpreting Research Questions Using MANOVA - Essay Example The article reports multiple dependent and independent variables in the subject study. The set of independent variables consists of the types of care services as offered by the care facilities that were involved in the research. These include substance abuse care services: â€Å"assessment, referral for detoxification, intensive outpatient treatment, toxicology, 12- step groups, individual and group counseling, linkage to methadone maintenance, relapse prevention and recreation† (Bennett and O’Brien, 2007, p. 399, 400). Domestic violence factors include â€Å"24-hour crisis, shelter, case management, psycho education, advocacy or protection orders, transportation, children’s program, and individual, group, or mother child counseling† (Bennett and O’Brien, 2007, p. 400). Dependent variables consist of three factors, â€Å"women’s experience of battering,† â€Å"domestic violence self efficacy,† and the number of days in which the participants abused drugs (Bennett and O’Brien, 2007, p. 400). The journal uses different levels of measurement to represent the research’s data. While it applies nominal level of measurement for the independent variables, ordinal level is applied for the three categories of dependent variables. In a nominal level of measurement, numbers are assigned to items for mere identification purposes while such numbers hold preference values in ordinal level of measurement (Melnyk and Overholt, 2010). The research analyzes five variables, two independent variables, and three dependent variables. Even though the article does not explicitly offer a research question, it answers the question, ‘what are the effects of coordinated services for drug abusing women who are victims of intimate partner violence?’ The results that show reduced levels of substance abuse and higher efficiency among the women support this (Bennett and O’Brien, 2007). The second article explores

Friday, August 23, 2019

Contruction & analysis Exercises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Contruction & analysis Exercises - Essay Example The curtains flapped about in the draught caused by a carelessly half-closed window. And on the floor, to the left of the chairs lay Jerry Pinto, very, very quiet.in fact, very, very dead Mary Pinto entered the room. She had a tranquil air about her; her skin looked translucent, her mouth was soft, and her eyes large and dark, giving her an appealing wide-eyed look. She was six months into her pregnancy-a fact barely discernible on her slight figure. Mary deposited her shopping bag on the sideboard next to the half empty glasses, humming a tune, and smiling to herself. "Jerry, how are you, darling" she said with genuine affection, in the direction of where she expected him to be sitting Not hearing his reply she turned around, and stood stupefied for a momentonly for a momentthen she ran to where he lay fallen on the floor. She seemed somehow to understand, as soon as she saw him, that he was dead. Perhaps it was the way he lay. In that strange and stiff fashion She ran over to him and sat down by his side, gently lifting up his head, cradling it in her lap. The sobs came hesitant and rasping at first, but louder and more abandoned as the moments passed. She must have sat thus, for what seemed like an age to her. But it must have been no more than five minutes Mary suddenly stopped crying, and wiped her eyes. ... The voice at the other end was familiar " Quick! Come quick! I think Jerry's dead!" said Mary into the receiver " Mrs. Pinto yes Mrs. Mary Pinto here. I think so. He's lying on the floor, and I think he's dead" she said, as her voice caught on another sob. The call over, she busied herself in the room, moving here and there, straightening up the furniture, trying not to look where it layItHe was it now. No longer Jerry. Before long, Mary heard the sound of a car. Even before the knock, she was at the door to open it. Two plains clothes men stood there. She knew them wellthey were Jerry's colleagues after all. On seeing them, Mary suddenly felt the tears start again. James Hendricks, the young officer who had joined the force only recently was plainly moved. He helped Mary gently to a chair. Aneez Afzal, the other cop, a veteran, kept his face expressionless. But as he moved towards Jerry, it crumbled for a moment in an expression of grief and despair. Jerry was his colleague and friend, and they'd been working together for the last five years "Is he dead " Mary managed to ask. "I'm afraid so", replied Afzal. "Tell us what happened, Mrs. Pinto. Where were you, and how long back did this happen" "You know, how punctual Jerry is", said Mary. "He had just returned from the police station by 5.30, as usual. I was sitting here with my sewingI hadn't cooked any dinner today. You know, every Wednesday we go out for dinner. But Jerry was so tired"Her breath caught on a sob again, and she took some time to compose herself. "I thought it better to have dinner at home. I put a leg of lamb in the oven, and nipped across to Vipul's, you know, Vipul's the Indian store down the road I didn't have any vegetables at home. I left Jerry to unwind over a drink. I was hardly away

Ethical implications and theories about a new technology Essay

Ethical implications and theories about a new technology - Essay Example Sample (2007) reports that scientists working in the field of neurology have developed a system with which they are able to look into a person’s mind and see their intentions even before they are carried out. Essentially, it allows them to bug the mind of an individual much like a telephone can be bugged. The methodology is based on taking high resolution scans of the brain to identify the activity in certain areas of the brain which can be translated into the actual thoughts of the person. A brain image of this kind could reveal a person who is lying, having violent thoughts, has racial prejudices, or any other negative or positive emotions. While the process can be used to help in interrogation and crime solving it could easily turn into an Orwellian tool much like the thought police. Of course the brain scan could also be used to prove the innocence of an individual who has not committed a crime but the invasion of privacy and the violation of civil rights certainly bring up interesting questions. The technology is still several years away from being perfected but it is going towards a direction where hiding thoughts might be impossible. In a few years, scientists will be able to tell if an individual is lying or not simply by looking at their brain activity. In fact, we might even be able to know a person’s emotional state, background thoughts as well as their hopes and dreams with a good enough scan of their brain. The idea does have its positive applications since computers could be controlled with the brain and machinery could also be controlled with thought alone to provide the disabled with an unprecedented degree of movement. Thought controlled wheelchairs or artificial appendages could make losing an arm or a leg less debilitating than it is now. Clearly, there are both positive and negative sides to the debate on the reading of thoughts. To better grasp the situation in ethical terms,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

How Cell Phones and Other Inventions Affected the American Family Essay Example for Free

How Cell Phones and Other Inventions Affected the American Family Essay How Cell Phones and other inventions affect the American family There are many new inventions that have helped to advance our society and had an affect on the American family. Since the invention of the cell phone people no longer have to rely on payphones, mail, or even traveling. Email has made it easier for people to send mail faster. Instead of writing or typing out a letter and waiting for the post to send it, now you just hop on your computer type it out, send it, and a few seconds later it has been delivered. Entertainment has also made an impact on the American family. Entertainment has become more accessible over time and at this point you don’t even have to leave your house to order a new movie On Demand or buy a new song or even a whole CD. The cause of cellphones, email, and advanced entertainment has a great effect on the American family by helping them become more efficient. The cell phone has become so depended on; most people can’t leave the house without them. They help you become more accessible to other people and more recently have more features than just calling. Texting also makes it easy to send quick messages to people if you don’t have time to have a conversation on the phone. For instance, if you are in a loud place, like a concert or a quiet place where you don’t want to draw attention to yourself, like a church service. They also have other features like games, and music. You can buy games and music right from your phone; you can even access the internet straight from your phone. These new parts of the cell phone help the American family to become more efficient and get in communication with other people faster. Email has become more and more popular since it was invented. Now that just about everyone has an email it is not necessary to mail as many cards or letters anymore. Since the postal system takes so much time most people prefer email simply because their information gets there faster and more efficiently. Adults can send emails to their work and co-workers, which allows them to work from home without even missing a meeting. They can email all of their paper work and they can call into meetings now. Even kids/students can take advantage of this by send emails to their teachers with their school work attached if they are sick or just have late work. The American family has been affected in a very positive way by using these new inventions. Entertainment has also taken a turn into a new direction. There are so many new ways to keep yourself entertained without even leaving your house. For example, already mentioned the cell phone has games and music installed into it that gives you the opportunity to buy new things to keep yourself entertained. Then there is also the television that you can watch movies on or shows that you like. There is even programs like On Demand where you can access it right through your TV and buy a new movie for about five bucks and watch it without even having to leave your couch. The way that entertainment has expanded has had such an impact on the American family. This might not be as positive as the speeded up communication devices since this might cause you to be more inefficient and lay around all day. However, when these entertainment devices are used appropriately you can get a good use out of them without letting them consume all of your time. The way that these new inventions have affected the American family is mostly positive, with very little negative effects. Since these inventions, there has been a more efficient way of communication through cell phones and email, which helps work get done faster. The cell phone has diminished the need to have filthy pay phones all over and email has crushed the need to send many things through the postal office, which isn’t as speedy and efficient as email. With all of these new ways of speeding up work, that leaves us with more time to ourselves, and so we got new ways to entertain ourselves without having to leave the house after a long stressful day at work. Over all the cause of the inventions of things like cell phones email, and entertainment has a positive effect on the American family.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

I Love Lucy: The Popular TV Show

I Love Lucy: The Popular TV Show The baby blue, mascara spiked eyes widens, the head tilts, the electric orange curls bob, and the wide, lipsticked mouth takes another teaspoon full of Vitameatavegamin syrup. The ever popular TV show, I Love Lucy, is back on the air with a new season of drama packed episodes. Ready to record the commercial that will propel her into show business, Lucy Ricardo downs the nutritional syrup, unaware that the product contains twenty-four percent alcohol. As she advertises the virtues of the product, her awareness slowly drifts away, and her face slips into a stupefied straight stare. The innocent, child-like Lucy is thoroughly drunk and very funny. One of the most beloved housewives in media history manages to make a complete fool of herself once again and successfully enrages her husband. Lucille Ball was a comedienne, film, television, and radio actress, and the star of I Love Lucy. In 1951, the first episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Do Away with Her aired on public television; it became an instant favorite for viewers around the nation. What Lucille Ball achieved, however, had much more lasting impact. On top of being the first woman in television to be head of a production company, Lucille Ball became a pioneer that brought about the Golden Age of Television. Due to the success of I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball managed to establish television as a viable medium of entertainment in an era where media is dominated by filming industries; before I Love Lucy came about, television was mostly used as a means of keeping in touch. Not only did Ball change the face of television, she paved the path for future female actresses. Lucille Balls unique sense of humor, acquired through her own experiences, shaped the modern world of entertainment and left an irre placeable mark on society. Unlike her famous situation comedy alter ego Lucy Ricardo, Lucille Ball was not at all naive and clumsy. By the time I Love Lucy went on air in 1951, Ball was over forty and had been in show business, playing mostly glamour roles, for twenty years. Lucille Ball was born on August 6th, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She lost her father, who was a mining engineer, at the age of four. Her mother, who was a concert pianist, encouraged her into the field of entertainment. At the age of 15, Lucille Ball pursued her dreams of becoming a part of vaudeville in John Murray Anderson Dramatic School. But unfortunately for her, by the time she hit New York City the era of vaudeville was over or as Ball said it Vaudeville was dead, but I didnt know it! Forced to live on doughnuts and coffee, Ball managed to make ends meet as a model and showgirl. Unsatisfied with her current living style, Ball managed to pull some string with an old friend and hooked up with an agent looking for support actresses in comedy routines and plays. Over the course of the next few years, Ball worked on many productions such as Room Service with the Marx Brothers. She was willing to work all sorts of parts that other female actresses did not want to take. They knew Id run, Id scream, Id fall Id do what I was asked to do. () Because of her willingness to learn how to act, she landed parts in The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and most male comics. Some of the unconventional parts that Ball took caused her to have a much more unconventional sense of humor in her later works. This marked a period of tremendous growth in Balls comedic style and image. She was becoming someone recognizable and likeable a personality type. Lucille Balls first major recognized work came in 1947. She was chosen as the lead actress for a radio show called My Favorite Husband, which was sponsored by CBS. Her experiences on My Favorite Husband contributed greatly to Balls style of humor and I Love Lucy. Through the radio show, Ball learned the basic elements of timing her lines to laughs coming from a live audience. She also developed a combination of slapstick with both sexuality and domesticity. () This set Ball apart from most previous American women film comedians; it was common for women in slapstick to be a support prop, victims of male-initiated comedy, or star grotesques who had neither conventional sexual allure nor the prospect of social normalization through marriage. () Lucille Ball became one of the first female comedians to have connections with the domestic Ball gave off the similar feeling of being a part of the family. In 1940, Lucille Ball fell in love and eloped with touring Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. They moved in together, married, and began a sequence of events that led to I Love Lucy. Because of the couples busy careers, they were frequently separated month at a time. Their marriage slowly fell apart. At that time Lucille Ball was offered by CBS to transfer her radio show My Favorite Husband to television. Ball, seeing this as an opportunity to patch up her marriage, brought her husband into the television show as the male lead. Thus I Love Lucy debuted on CBS in October 1951 and became an instant sensation. Eisenhowers presidential inauguration in January 1953 drew twenty-nine million viewers, but when Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky in an episode broadcast the next day forty-four million viewers (72% of all U.S. homes with TV) tuned in to I Love Lucy. I Love Lucy is arguably the TV show that had most influence on modern television media culture. Television in the 1950s was purely a domestic medium always showing images of marriage and family. The story of I Love Lucy reflected the couples own family life in the funhouse mirror of a sitcom premise. Lucy, played by Lucille Ball, is a frustrate housewife who longs to escape the confinement of her domestic role and participate in a larger public world, especially that of her husband Ricky, the leader of the Tropicana nightclub. Conflicts arise when Lucys desire to go beyond the roles of a housewife clash with Rickys equally passionate belief of a traditional housewife. This dynamic is established in the very first episode when Lucy disguises herself as a clown and sneaks into Rickys nightclub act. In all the consequent episodes following, Lucy rebels against the restrictions placed on the lives of domestic women, the boring routines of cooking and housework, taking care of the child ren, and the financial dependence upon the husband. Each episode centers upon Lucys acts of rebellion taking jobs, performing at clubs, making money-making schemes, or trying to fool Ricky are all in attempts to expose the absurd restrictions placed on women in a male-dominated society. Sadly, because of the era, her attempts are forever thwarted in every episode. By entering the public domain, Lucy inevitably makes a mess of things and is forced to retreat and return to the status quo of domestic life that is picked up in the next episode. However the message left by Lucy remains in the consciousness of viewers for the times to come. Balls style of comedy played a great role in conveying this message to the general audience. As a mere comedian from the perspective of an outsider such a message would probably not get much consideration. However, Balls type of domestic comedy allowed to her to much more than an outsider; in fact, the character Lucy is considered by many people as part of the family. Ball was able to get past the emotional barrier that many other comedians could not. Lucille Balls use of quick witted situational ironies combined with her position as an insider allows the much male-dominated audience to slowly accept the idea of women playing a more active role and having more power in society. On top of fighting for women rights, Lucille Balls I Love Lucy reached many milestones that became pivotal in shaping modern television. Programs before I Love Lucy were aired live from New York City studios to Eastern and Central time zone audiences. It was captured by kinescope for the viewers in the West Coast. Kinescope pictures quality was dramatically less than films. However, Ball and Arnaz took advantage of the movie industry filming techniques and captured their series on film. CBS allowed the couple to go through with their idea; in exchange for a cut in their salary, Ball and Arnaz gained one hundred percent ownership to the series. The idea of reruns had not been established or tested during her time, but Ball bet on the inevitable growth of television and ended up with huge returns an investment that quickly turned Ball and Arnaz into the first millionaire television stars. Lucille Ball has certainly left her mark on our society. Not only is she a pioneer in the struggle for equality amongst men and women, she shaped modern television into what we know today. Her title Queen of Comedy is well deemed. Along with her Living Legend Award and Legacy of Laughter Award, Lucille Ball paved the path for future female comedians to take stage. Anyone who has ever seen I Love Lucy will forever remember Balls signature laugh and her clumsiness which often times lead her into silly situations. Lucille Ball will forever be glorified in the hearts of Americans.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva