Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Government - Essay Example In contrast, unitary governance system is characteristic of power centralization. Instead of having independent states or provinces, as it is the case in the United States, a unitary system functions based on subnational units. Critical to note is that these subnational units are subject to the influence of the central government. In this respect, the central authority governs local governments under the unitary system. Great Britain and France are good examples of governments that practice the unitary system. While national and state governments share power under federalism, the central government decentralizes or delegates power to subnational units under the unitary form of government (Lansford 44). Political cultures that adopt federalism are those that believe in more than one body of legislation. These cultures lack parliamentary systems, and instead rely on bicameral constitutional provisions for legislation formulation and implementation. In contrast, most unitary governments are unicameral. In order to share and subsequently regulate power, legislation at the state or province level is either approved or rejected by the head of the national government. Most importantly, both state and national governments work together in social, economic, or political matters. Religious beliefs and practices vary from one region to another. In the United States, religious freedom is constitutionally provided for. In other words, the constitution makes it clear religion and state are two different entities. What this means is that the government, through congress, cannot interfere with an individual’s choice, belief, or practice of religion. The constitutional provisions made in the First Amendment accord protection to the religious freedoms of the American people. The free exercise clause prohibits congress from interfering with religious beliefs or practices of the American people (Horwitz 63). On

To Compare the Financial Aspirations and Dealings of Gutenberg with Essay

To Compare the Financial Aspirations and Dealings of Gutenberg with those of Garamond - Essay Example The new ideas that Fussel (2005) notes were not new ideas at all, but ancient ones – humanism, which was based upon classical ideals. The humanistic ideals, which includes an emphasis upon the individual, were, however, merged with the prevailing doctrine of the church, so that the church morality teachings were infused in the classical ideology, making the ideology more mature. These were not the only ideas which were broadly disseminated – other ideas which focused upon solving societal problems were also widely read in the Europe after the printing press, and, since intellectuals and scholars had access to others’ ideas, debate on these topics was made easier. This, in turn, led to intellectual ideas and debates being widely held throughout Europe (Abel, 2011). That said, according to Norman (2005), these new ideas were threatening to the church, as they often conflicted with the church’s teaching. Therefore, the church instituted greater censorship, wh ile also using the Gutenberg press as a tool to better disseminate its own information to the mass. Another important development was that businesspeople were able to afford manuscripts which helped them run their business. Before the printing press, only the richest could afford manuscripts, as these manuscripts were painstakingly made by religious clerics, therefore the production was very expensive (Abel, 2011). This led to greater economic development, and, as Dittmar (2010) notes, cities flourished because of this greater capacity for economic development. This, in turn, led to greater macroeconomic growth patterns throughout Europe, as businesspeople were better able to expand their business and individuals throughout Europe became better educated and better able to take advantage of economic growth. Therefore, Europe changed dramatically after the printing press was invented. This essay details these socioeconomic and religious changes. Discussion According to Fussel (2005), one of the ways that the Gutenberg printing press changed Europe was that it essentially enabled a merge of the classical tradition of the Greeks and the Romans with the prevailing ethos of society. Before the printing press, there was not a way to spread the message of the classical societies. After the printing press, Latin studies flourished, as did different ideas from what the church had been teaching. These ideas include the belief in the individual, and Fussel (2005) explains that the Gutenberg press allowed Europe to merge the classical ethos with the current ethos of the church. This merging was known, according to Fussel (2005) as â€Å"humanistic theology,† which refers to the merging of the classical tradition with medieval theology. Thus, the Gutenberg press allowed a re-emergence of humanism and intellectualism, yet still recognizing the teachings of the church, which was that man is fundamentally flawed and must seek grace. What essentially occurred, according to Fussel (2005) was that the Europeans took the lessons of the classical societies, the humanistic traditions, and brought it â€Å"closer to God† (Fussel, 2005, p. 73). According to Abel (2011), the merging of the classical and humanist traditions with the church teachings was not the only intellectual revolution which was enabled by the Gutenberg press – Abel (2011) states that intellectuals were able, through the Gutenberg invention, to formulate and disseminate theories which were

Corporate Social Responsibility In Mauritius Accounting Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility In Mauritius Accounting Essay ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the current practice of CSR that firms in the financial sector and the tourism sector, more precisely banks and hotels, have to engage themselves in CSR activities and to investigate the relationship between CSR and financial performance. In Mauritius Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained much popularity and has become a subject of concern, after that the government has introduced an innovative legislation about CSR. Previous research on the topic is reviewed, the engagement of Firm in CSR. This study by means of questionnaires, also tries to investigate their motivations behind investing in CSR. Data collected was then analyzed using SPSS. The results highlighted that there are no differences between banks and hotels in the motives to engage in CSR activities. The results also highlighted that there is a relationship between CSR and Financial performance. Also the implications of other findings are discussed and the study conclud es with its limitations and directions for future research. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Mauritius since Post- colonial independence, the country over the last four decades have seen the mono-crop sugar island, our first pillar of the economy has significantly moved from the Sugar industry to Financial services industry on large scale offshore financial institutions from multinational companies to local industries, such as the Giant of Rogers Group, Air Mauritius, Island Blyth, Floreal Textile, Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), Barclays Bank, HSBC and others. The field of Corporate Social Responsibility has developed exponentially in the last decades. In the past two decades, CSR appears to have become more omnipresent and perceived as being actually pertinent to companies all over the world (Aras and Crowther, 2008). It is at the forefront of strategic outlook of contemporary organisations of all kinds. A larger number of companies than at any time before are engaged in a serious efforts to define and incorporate CSR into all facets of their businesses. In recent years a great deal of time and attention has been devoted to the concept of corporate social responsibility. This basis has considered it necessary to take notice not only of the economic and financial transactions in a company, but also the social and environmental consequences a business places on its shareholders and society as well as the ecological footprint in all aspects of their operations, which extends beyond their statutory obligation to comply with legislation. CSR has variously been described as a motherhood issue (Ryan 2002, p. 302) the hot business issue of the noughties (Blyth 2005, p. 30) and the talk of the town in corporate circles these days (Mees Bonham 2004). In fact, the last few decades have seen a rise in awareness on behalf of corporate bodies, on the issue that they have a moral duty to give something back to the society. This rise in awareness is plausibly the effect of the recent corporate scandals involving well reputed companies, such as Enron, Parmalat and WorldCom as well as the growing impact of climate change on the environment. One of the fundamental questions still to be answered concerns the effect of corporate socially responsible behavior on profitability. The answers one finds in the specialized literature are numerous and often contradictory. Views emerging from Corporate Social Responsibility can contribute to the financial performance of a company. This approach, has been described as enlightened shareholder approach, believes that corporate decision makers must consider a range of social and environmental matters if they are to maximize long term financial returns. Even if they sometimes can be, CSR initiatives are certainly not always compatible with other organizational strategic goals (namely growth and money-making).(McWilliams, Siegel, Wright, 2006). Even though the link between CSR and corporate performance remains tenuous (Lindgreen, Swaen, Johnston, 2009), companies are following to CSR principles and practices and incorporating CSR principles and aims into their overall corporate strategy in exponential numbers (Godfrey Hatch, 2007; Lee, 2008; C. Smith, 2003). Similarly, as those major scandals have undeniably raised the view of greediness among senior managers, CSR is also seen as a tool for counteracting allegation of corporate greed (Deloitte report, 2008). Each company integrates Corporate Social Responsibility differently. The differences depend on factors such as companys size, the specific industry involved, the firms culture, stakeholder demands, and how progressive the company is in engaging CSR. Some companies concentrate on areas which they consider more important for them, for example human rights or environment while others incorporate CSR in all aspects fields of their operations. CSR IN MAURITIUS CSR initiatives go quite a long way in corporate Mauritius up to 20 years back. According to a report by Deloitte et al. (2008), it was found that the contribution in CSR has ongoing at varying period for the companies surveyed. Many enterprises are involved in CSR initiatives for the welfare of their employees and the society. Due to Government limited means to handle todays social problem, an appeal was made to the private sector in July 2009 to spend 2% of their profits to CSR activities. Government suggested that all gains from various companies regardless of their size should invest part of their profit into non profitable organization such as charity, scientific research and wild life to restore and preserve nature in order to maintain a good balance in the ecological system which means to give back to nature. Moreover, the government has set up a national CSR committee comprising of representative members from the public sector, private sector and the civil society. Additional ly, the companies need the approval of the CSR committee before the application or investment in any CSR activity. In the occurrence that a company has not spent the total amount of the compulsory two per cent of its profit, it should remit the remaining amount to the MRA. PROBLEM STATEMENT CSR is nowadays gaining more and more importance especially after the major corporate scandals and due to changes in norms held by the general public. Such changes have given rise of the interest in the field of CSR. However, most studies have concentrated mostly on the consequences or end results of engaging in CSR activities. Furthermore many researchers have worked to find any empirical relationship between CSR and financial performance. Various Studies have identified different kinds of relationship (positive, negative, no relationship), but currently there is no clear empirical relationship. CSR is problematic as it is often perceived that there is a contrast between CSR activity and  ¬Ã‚ nancial performance with one being harmful to the other and companies having an authoritative to follow shareholder value. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main goal of the study is to scrutinize the current practice of CSR and what are the motivations that lead firms to engage in CSR activities. The study also aims at evaluating the relationship between turnover and level of CSR activities undertaken. This is an issue which has been the subject of an ongoing debate and has become a topic of concern, in the Mauritian context, especially after that the local government revised legislation making investment in CSR activities compulsory. Objectives of the study: Objective 1: To investigate the current practice of CSR conducted by banks and hotels. Objective 2: To investigate what factors motivate firms to increase their involvement in CSR Objective 3: To investigate how these firms benefited from conducting CSR Objective 4: To investigate the differences between firms in different sector of operation in the reasons to engage in CSR activities. Objective 5: To investigate whether there is a relationship between level of CSR activities undertaken and Financial performance. OUTLINE OF THE STUDY Chapter One: Introduction This chapter consists of general overview of CSR. It provides a brief overview of the growing importance of CSR in a general as well as in the context of Mauritius. It consists the problem statement along with the aims and objectives. Chapter Two: Literature Review This chapter consists of reviewing the existing literature by examining diverse articles pertaining to the subject matter. The literature review helps to have a better understanding of what different researchers found on CSR. Chapter Three: Research Methodology This particular chapter describes who are the target population for this survey, what is the sample size, what are the procedures and techniques used for data collection, the methods used to analyze the data to get results and limitation of the study. Chapter Four: Results and Discussions This chapter shows how the collected data is analyzed by carrying out various tests. Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendation In this chapter, conclusions are derived from the study and some recommendations are mentioned forward. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBLE A DEFINITION Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fast-growing facets of organizations. The European Commission defines CSR as a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. (Simms 2002). Adams and Zutshi (2004) define it as the integration of business operations and values whereby the interest of all stakeholders including customers, employees, investors and the environment are reflected in an organisations actions and policies. In present concept of CSR states that the business enterprises is in their usual process of business decision making should pay due attention to the social interests of the people in the community. A company is not only an economic entity but a social and political entity also. Most of the decisions taken by businesses not only affect the stockholders but also the stakeholders namely, creditors, debtors, employees and the society at large in one way or the other. ( Kapoor and Sandhu, 2010). CSR is nowadays gaining more and more importance especially after the major events such as the collapse of Enron and the James Hardieasbestos scandal in Australia and due to changes in norms held by the general public. The argument about the place of CSR in the global economy continues with Solomons opinion that multinational corporations should take responsibility for the improvement of world-wide social and environmental conditions. (Scherer and Smid in Windsor 2001, p. 245). CSR is also looked upon as an umbrella term, including many other business concepts and social practices. Synonymous with some and overlapping a few others, CSR indicates the concept of common relations between businesses and society the world over. Businesses, however small or large, are governed by their place in society and have to take into account the responsibility they bear to the society, people and environment within which they operate. Economist Theodore Levitt criticizes in the Harvard Business Review that is no longer fashionable for the corporation to take gleeful pride in making money. What fashionable for the corporation to show that it exists to serve the public (Time, 2008). It is now being more and more realized world over that a firm cannot afford to function and continue in the long run unless it performs in a legitimate and socially responsible way. Moreover, many recent definitions draw attention to the financial benefits gained through CSR. For example, Vaaland et al (2008, p. 931) explain CSR as management of stakeholder concern for responsible and irresponsible acts related to environmental, ethical and social phenomena in a way that creates corporate benefit. While Mittal et al (2008, p. 1437) define the concept as a business approach that views respect for ethics, people, communities and the environment as an integral strategy that improves the competitive position of a firm. Hence, it is important to understand the point that, whether corporations appreciate it or not, herein lies the idea of CSR. The matter is not that of profit earning alone for a corporation, but that of looking beyond the profit-making attitude. This awareness has made corporations identify the need of CSR and its application along with their particular businesses (Gupta and Saxena, 2006). Economics drivers of CSR Researchers have identified different method in which CSR approach to business decision making may lead to better financial performance. The following economic drivers have been viewed by the World Economic Forum and Business in the Community that have explained the adoption of the concept corporate social responsibility by companies around the world (ADL 2003). It is advocated that these drivers do not operate in isolation, and that different companies may have different drivers. Several drivers may also be stronger in different areas and for different companies. An alteration to adopt corporate social responsibility may arise from a combination economics of drivers. Employee recruitment, motivation and retention Recent studies show that corporate social responsibility is more and more an important factor in attracting and retaining a brilliant and diverse workforce (Globescan Inc 2005). Companies that cater for the interests of their employees by offering good working conditions will attain better performance in terms of quality and delivery, and, thus, experience higher levels of productivity. Learning and innovation Learning and innovation are serious to the long-term survival of any business. Corporate social responsibility can be a vehicle for business to respond to environmental and social risks and turn these into business prospects. Reputation management Businesses function in a market of opinion. Depending on the judgment by customers, suppliers and the broader community on companies will have an impact on their profitability and achievement. Corporate social responsibility offers a means by which companies can manage and influence the attitudes and opinions of their stakeholders, building their trust and enabling the benefits of positive relationships to deliver business advantage. Risk profile and risk management Corporate social responsibility offers more effective management of risk, helping companies to reduce unnecessary losses, identify new emerging issues and use positions of headship as a means to gain competitive advantage. Investor relations and access to capital The investment community is increasingly viewing corporate social responsibility as similar to long-term risk management and good governance practices. Recent studies show that analysts place as much emphasis on corporate reputation as they do on financial performance (Hill Knowltown 2006). Licence to operate A Global Outlook Companies that fail to accomplish their duties to society as a whole risk losing their licence to operate a concept whereby a companys stakeholders grant the company an unwritten authority to do business. This may be supported by favoring competitors, refuses or calls for deregistration. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIEVS OF CSR IN PRACTICE CSR activities and practice used are not intended to be exactly the same in different companies. Companies have diverse resources and all cannot take responsibility to the same extent. According to Lantos (2001), organizations may practice three different forms of CSR namely: Ethical CSR It means going beyond the firms economic and legal obligations and take actions that is morally mandatory. A corporation is morally responsible towards any individual or group that might be harmed or injured by a particular course of action. For example; reduce shareholders profits and used the money to decrease pollution. Ethical CSR may in the long-run generate goodwill by building the publics trust in the company. This will probably minimize the cost of fines and also bad publication that otherwise may prevail from unethical behaviour. Strategic CSR It is an activity where there is a win-win situation. Both the company and some of the stakeholder will benefit. This type of CSR actions implies short-run sacrifices which will usually result in long-run gains. For example, Ford campaigned that children should be seated in booster-seats and gave away millions of such seats. This generated goodwill among customers and government regulators. They believe that the investment will be profitable in the end. Altruistic CSR. It is when organizations are contributing to the common good and making the Society a better place on some sort of expense of the firm, involving corporate competences of the company to societal and community needs. Altruistic CSR goes beyond ethics and are actions that are not necessary for the company to take. The company does not expect any financial gain from it. Examples of altruistic CSR are activities that aid the society to fight drug and alcohol problems, poverty, crimes and chronic unemployment. The three approaches are mutually exclusive and based on the activities nature (required or optional) and the purpose (stakeholders good, firms good), or both. Today businesses are facing high competition which many firms want to perceive as best quality or valuable in customer perception. Moreover, the number of multinational companies has been increasing each year and it demanded a higher responsibility for social, environmental and economic. As the result, the influence of Sustainable Development is growing and accepted from all people. Moreover, due to the environmental issue, many researchers are concerned about environment that many natural resources can be run out if we do not use it wisely. CSR emphasizes the concern of corporate action and accomplishment in the social sphere with a performance perspective, it is clear that firms must formulate and implement social goals and programs as well as integrate ethic sensitivity into decision making, policies, and actions(Carrol,1991). As in the present time, CSR turns peoples attention to be the perception of the corporate engagement, in terms of how well corporate is able to engage with stakeholders. Current practice of CSR worldwide In practice much of the business activity that has been labeled as CSR has been determined by the concerns of investors, companies and consumers based in the worlds richest countries. National CSR agenda in middle and low income countries have been less viewed internationally. For the past five years or so, governments, companies and NGOs in many middle and low income countries have implemented CSR program from developed countries through greater direct engagement. CSR activities have developed in countries such as China, India, South Africa, the Philippines, Brazil and others. Governments in middle income countries have pressed companies to engage in summiting these tasks, as with Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa encouragement of business efforts to reduce poverty in the Philippines. CSR has also potential link with government strategies aiming at ensuring better access of certain categories of citizens to the economy. One example of such strategy is the Citizen Economic empowerment in Zambia, which aims in particular at increasing local participation in economic activities. With detail to developing countries, one major CSR concern is that government will ignore corporate irresponsibility or refuse to enforce protective efforts or environmental criteria in the law as an incentive to foreign investment (Aman, 2001). China for instance, has heavy-duty to collective negotiations, by law, and yet many people in jail for trying to use those rights (Diamond, 2003). Yet some developing country governments are transmitting laws requiring higher standards of responsible environmental or social ways in order to compete for foreign capital and institutional investment, in addition to competing on the more familiar rule of law issues of contract and property law rights, financial transparency and reduced government corruption (Hebb and Wojcik, 2004). Comparing these legal improvements in different emerging countries would be further helpful in understanding the contribution of CSR. Chapple and Moon (2005), have found that CSR in Asia is unrelated to preexisting levels of economic development but is related to the extent to which domestic companies engage in international trade, even where that trade is with other Asian nations. THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF CSR BY BANKS AND HOTELS IN MAURITIUS Mauritius is the first country in the world to require businesses to donate a portion of their profits to NGOs or government projects in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Apparently recognising the poor level of corporate citizenship in Mauritius, in 2009, the Ministry of Finance introduced the CSR Fund. A company using a Corporate Partner to implement its CSR programme will be allowed to spend only an amount not exceeding 25% of the CSR Fund. A company implementing CSR programme is eligible to administrative costs not exceeding 15% of the CSR value. The company is provided a 12 months period from the end of its financial year to fund project from its CSR fund. If it has not given the 2% CSR fund then they will have to submit it to the MRA. The corporate programme form and Declaration by Applicant is presented below in Appendix D. Banks in Mauritius especially the leading one such as Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), State Bank of Mauritius (SBM), HSBC, Barclays and such that, invest huge amount of money in CSR. Not only Banks but also in the Hotel sector invest in CSR. The role plays by some Banks and Hotels in CSR are briefly described below; Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) J.Francois (2012), of the MCB Forward Foundation, in the Mauritius lexpress Journal talk about A CSR Budget of Rs 45 millions. The creation of the MCB foundation in 2010 was a step in the development of CSR activities of the group. Since its creation, MCB has always affirmed as a bank with a heart. The foundation gather dedicated professionals concentrated only on CSR and handle projects in medium and long terms. Moreover in 2007-2008, Rs23 millions have dedicated to CSR. In 2008-2009, it has been increased up to Rs30 millions. According to J. Francois (2012) the CSR budget varies with their profits. For the Financial year of 2009-2010, they predicted about Rs45 millions. They invest the money of CSR mainly in Eradication of Poverty, Vulnerable Children, Education, and Environment. The value proposition of the Foundation is described below. MCB Forward Foundation Why the Foundation To help meet the social and environment challenges of the country Mission To develop and support sustainable initiatives for the benefit of the community in which we live and work Vision To be instrumental in the creation of sustainable value for the social, environmental and economic well-being of the community HSBC Mauritius HSBC Mauritius has continued to invest in education, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. In the year ending December 2011, the HSBC group in Mauritius has spent 6 million Rupees on community investment. In addition to sustaining communities, HSBC has been continuously involved in environmental sustainability. It also has a long partnership with The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, engaged in preventing rare species. Sun Resort (including La pirogue, le Tousserouk, Long beach hotel and such that) Sun Resort Company has commitment towards corporate social responsibility programmes at both local and national level has proved to be a very influential tool for the advancement of local communities and unprivileged circles of the population. In 2010, the Sun Resorts Cancer Trust helped a number of children and their families in their fight against cancer. The company also has opened a four-bed Cancer Unit at Victoria Hospital in May 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility donations made by Sun Resort Ltd during the year 2010 amounted to Rs3.9 million. Apart from Hotels and Banks, there are other private companies such as Terra, Ireland Blyth Limited (IBL), Omnicane and such that, they invest much in CSR projects. For instance, the IBL Foundation has financed 80 projects costing Rs17, 9 million. Rs6, 7 million for the socio economic development, Rs6,4 million for education and Rs1,2 million for sports. Moreover, there is the Omnicane Foundation which have spent Rs11, 1 million for vulnerable children, Health care, Education, Eradication of Poverty and on environment. MOTIVATIONS FOR FIRMS TO ENGAGE IN CSR ACTIVITIES THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES The motivations for firms to engage themselves in CSR activities can thus be broadly viewed from two main perspectives which are strategic perspective and the moral perspective. Strategic motive linked with Agency theory Agency theory put emphasis on the point that managers are recruited in order to work for the company that employs them, thus their major duty is to maximize the value of the firm and therefore the wealth of those who possess the company. Moreover, from an agency theory perspective, engagement in CSR activities is often viewed as a misused of companys resources which could instead be used invest in projects where profits are maximized. Nevertheless, managers will invest in CSR activities only if such investment will help them to improve the reputation of the firm or simply help them to increase shareholders wealth (Jones, 1995). However an agency problem may occur because of concern that the agent (e.g, the internal or external recipients of funds) will not follow the interests of the principal (e.g., the donor) who wishes to pursue CSR activities (Husted Allen, 2007). Very often, managers are motivated by their self- interest and therefore cannot be relied on to work in the best int erest of shareholders. Strategic motive linked with the Resource-Based View Theory The Resource- Based View (RBV) theory regards CSR as a resource that firm must know how to exploit in order to gain competitive advantages over its competitors. According to Branco and Rodrigues (2006) the firm in this model, is viewed as a unique bundle of resources and capabilities that is developed overtime as the firm interacts with all its stakeholders. This theory assumes that firms are a set of various resources and competences that are not exchangeable among firms. THE MORAL MOTIVE LINKED TO THE NORMATIVE STAKEHOLDER THEORY The moral motive is also linked to the normative stakeholder theory, which is commonly known as intrinsic stakeholder commitment. Success of an organization, according to the stakeholder theory, depends on the ability of the firm to handle and manage its relationships with a number of constituents, such as financers, shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and then community at large (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). According to Freeman (1984), managers also bear a fiduciary relationship to stakeholders instead of having solely fiduciary duties towards owners of the firm. Similarly, Donaldson and Preston (1995) defined stakeholders as persons or groups with legitimate interests in procedural and or substantive aspects of corporate activity. Thus, CSR is viewed as a means of fulfilling the duties that the company has towards its stakeholders, and therefore it is crucial that the firm engage itself in CSR activities that are significant to the stakeholders. However, the more influential stakeholders are, the more the company has to adjust itself to their demands and this has given rise to questions whether firms engage themselves in CSR activities because they really want to assume their social and moral responsibilities or this is done only to get strategic advantages such as to prevent any stakeholder from withdrawing their support to the firm. Meijer, Bakle, Smith Schuyt (2006) argued that despite the fact it is rational to presume that companies want to do good for the society, it is also true that managers of those companies realize that this will benefit their organizations as well. Thus, put in simpler terms even though reporting pure unselfish intentions, firms engage themselves in CSR from strategic perspectives. On the other hand, Graafland and Van de Ven (2006) exposed through their study that despite some firms strongly believed that engaging in CSR activities might lead to improvement in profitability, enhancement of reputation and more employee commitment, they were also much concerned with making the world a better place to live. BENEFITS OF ENGAGEMENT IN CSR ACTIVITIES This section will try to examine what are those advantages firms get by investing in social activities which, as many academics found, ultimately leads to improvement in the firms financial performance. According to Galbreath (2009), there are only three main benefits a firm can derive from investing in CSR activities and they are namely: increased customer satisfaction; reduced employee turnover and improved reputation; and. It is these benefits that will consequently lead to improvements in the financial performance of the company. Increased customer satisfaction Customers are one of the most important stakeholders of a firm and by meeting justice needs of customers, CSR is likely to increase customer satisfaction (Galbreath, 2009). Hence, customer satisfaction may lead to brand loyalty and consequently improve and increase future sales of the firm. Reduced employee turnover Employee turnover is of the essence since the loss of human capital in companies can have dramatic effects on competitive advantage of a company (Barney, 1991; Huselid, 1995). A key potential gain from CSR initiatives involves establishing the situation that can contribute to increasing the dedication and incentive of employees to become more innovative and dynamic. Galbreath (2009) found that, owing to demonstrated justice, socially responsive activities appear to be a means to reduce employee turnover. Turban and Greening (1997) found that demonstrating CSR is essential for attracting potential employees. In their study on French firms, Maignan and Ferrell (2001) found that CSR is positively linked with employee commitment. Companies employing CSR related perspectives and tools tend to be businesses that provide the prerequisite for increased loyalty and commitment form their staffs. Such conditions can facilitate recruitment of employees, retaining and motivating them to develop skills, reduce absenteeism, and may also translate into marginally less demands for higher wages (Deloitte Report, 2008). According to Galbreath (2009), firms that are unjust, that does not exhibit comportments that match with employees moral or ethical frameworks are prone to obtain negative results that affect profitability. Therefore, reducing employee turnover is crucial so that a firm can improve its performance. Improved reputation Moreo

The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Essa

The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley â€Å"An Inspector Calls is a perfect play. It contains theatrical excitement in the thriller-like suspense of the Inspector’s inquiry; it has a moral message and it is very tightly constructed.† Do you agree with this statement? The play â€Å"An Inspector Calls† was written by J.B Priestly. The play is set in 1912, in the Edwardian Era, in a fictional town called Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands. When Priestly wrote the play in 1945, World War II was just ending. The play is set two years before World War I, in 1912, and in the year of the Titanic. In the Edwardian Era, known as the â€Å"Golden Age† for some classes, upper and middle classes led a pleasant life. They had everything they needed and plenty of money. The upper class, which, in the play, includes Mrs Birling, Gerald Croft and his parents, Mr and Mrs Croft, were hardhearted people. The upper class owned factories and businesses and employed the middle class, like Mr Birling, to run them. The working class, like Eva Smith, were the employees who worked for many hours and little pay. The upper class did not work, but were wealthy and many of them were associated with royalty. It was not a â€Å"Golden Age† for the working class though. They had little money and struggled to stay alive due to lack of food and employment. They worked in factories or coalmines owned by the upper class. The entire play is set in one room, the dining room. The play begins with the Birling family, who appear respectable, celebrating the engagement between their daughter, Shelia Birling, and Gerald Croft, when an Inspector calls to question them regarding a suicide incident of a young... ... Shelia, but not at the same time. Gerald, Eric and Mrs Birling do not see the photograph, this is because they knew her by name, but she had several different names. She was known to Gerald as Daisy Renton whereas, Eric knew her as Eva Smith and Mrs Birling said Eva Smith called herself Mrs Birling. The audience is left to wonder why the Inspector has only shown this photograph to two people and whether or not it was the same photograph. This is another clue to the audience to show that he may not be a real Inspector. â€Å"An Inspector Calls† has been a very successful play because it is enjoyable to watch. The play holds the audience’s attention because of the continuous action. The play today continues to be very popular and the moral or message Priestly tries to put across, treat people how you want to be treated, still applies to a modern audience.

Pay for Play: College Athletes Deserve Payment Essay

Although many college athletes receive a free education in exchange for playing a sport, it’s not enough. The sports industry, college football specifically, is a multimillion dollar business. The athletes who participate in this multimillion dollar business are primarily why the business does so well. Student athletes should receive a monetary compensation for their work. There are quite a few reasons to support college athletes making a type of monetary compensation. A few of the reasons include the dangers of playing sports, how expensive college is, and how much the programs make annually. College football athletes â€Å"leave it all on the field† when they compete. Many players would say â€Å"blood, sweat, and tears were shed for their schools.† In return, shouldn’t they deserve compensation in the form of a stipend? Joe Nocera of The New York Times said the top 15 highest-paid NCAA division 1 football coaches made $53.4 million; meanwhile, the 13,866 Division 1 players made $0. The definition of an amateur is an athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restriction specified by a regulatory body, in this case the National Collegiate Athletic Association, for participating in a competition (FreeDictionary.com). The problem the NCAA has with paying their student athletes for their work on the field is that it would no longer be considered an amateur sport which goes against tradition (NCAA Board of Directors, ESPN.com). Historically speaking, programs didn’t make $100 million dollars 100 years ago. The NCAA is relucta nt to share revenue with their student athletes in an effort to keep it all for themselves (Tom Farrey – ESPN Writer). The times have changed and student athletes deserve to get paid. College education is not cheap under any circumstance. The average cost of in-state resident tuitions and fees for a four year degree is approximately $40,000 (Savingforcollege.com). The cost of tuition is going up every year with an average increase of 6%. Here we can break down the numbers in a general sense to see how much a student athlete â€Å"makes† with a free four year scholarship. Nocera also mentioned student athletes participate in approximately 50 hours a week in football related activities. For example, practice, film studying, team meetings, working out, and games. 50 hours a week, at 52 weeks per year, multiplied by 4 years comes out to 10,400 hours. $40,000 divided by 10,400 hours comes out to $3.85 an hour. $3.85 is lower than the national average for minimum wage, which is about $7.25. This number of 50 hours per week is just time spent on the sport. This time doesn’t include the school portion, which is supposed to be why the student athletes are there. Presented with this kind of data, anyone could tell that college athletes are being â€Å"underpaid.† Now that we know how much student athletes â€Å"make,† we can take a look at how much universities profit from their student athletes. According to ESPN in 2008, the top 10 universities in college football reported revenues of $100 million on average (ESPN.com). The lower 10 schools in revenue make around $15 million. There are 120 Division 1 schools in college football. $5.4 billion dollars is the approximate revenue for one year of Division 1 college football. This number is alarming. Students are the focal points of this business and they do not receive any part of the revenue? Strictly speaking of per institute, the NCAA should govern a system that collected a form of tax from each university that would be substantial to paying student athletes. They wouldn’t need to pay the student millions of dollars because, let’s face it, the student athletes are not professionals. If they were to get paid an additional $5,000 for the season their sport was in, the total amount paid to the students in comparison to revenue would still be less than 1% (Personal calculation via ESPN data). Another reason to consider payment for student athletes is the potential risk of injury. Professional athletes get paid hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars and have players unions to protect them in case of serious injury. There are many associated risks with every sport; with football it seems there are more than most sports. The very nature of football is very violent; violence is what makes football so popular in America. The most popular sports are those with an associated violent contact such as hockey, football, and mixed martial arts (cbsnews.com). The advancement of safety equipment for football players is heavily debated. Every year the administration of both the National Football League and the NCAA is striving to make the sport safer for its players. The potential injuries from football include everything imaginable to include broken bones, paralysis, brain damage, tearing of ligaments, and other neurological problems that can affect someone for the rest of their lives. Recent studies show traumatic brain injury is the result of multiple concussions over the lifespan of a player (civtrial.com/traumatic-brain-suicide). Junor Seau, an all-pro NFL linebacker, recently committed suicide due to brain injuries he sustained from playing a 10+ year career in the NFL (NFL.com/Family-sues-NFL). More and more studies are linking mental health problems to concussions acquired in violent sports. The student athletes need something more if they were to be irreparably damaged for life. The amount of money they could be paid could go into a fund dedicated to helping them later in life. The students put their future on the line while playing these sports; they deserve to get compensated for their efforts. College athletes deserve to be paid for their sacrifices. Universities make millions of dollars on a yearly basis. University of Michigan’s ticket sales for one season of college football can pay for their entire athletic program (MGOBlue.com). The student athletes are responsible for themselves and their university’s image as a whole. Traditionally speaking they are amateurs, but recently with the rise in popularity of college football, they are more than that. They are stars and they deserve at least a reasonable amount of monetary compensation. The NCAA should govern a system to pay their student athletes because they deserve it.

Stone Cold by Robert Swindells

Stone Cold is a novel aimed at young adults, and was written by Robert Swindells. The book’s basic plot revolves around the life of 16 year-old ‘Link,’ born in Bradford in 1977. Link’s real name is not specified at any point throughout the course of the book. The book begins with Link’s life in Bradford, with his mother’s new lover Vince moving in to the household (Link’s father had disappeared) and taking a firm, cruel stance towards Link.The tension in the home begins to make the relationship of the young teen and his mother strained, and eventually, after a particularly heated argument, Link is locked outside of the house by Vince, and starts to sleep rough on the streets of his hometown. After a while, Link becomes increasingly independent, and after the Christmas season, he decides to leave Bradford for London, to find work and start a new life, away from the turbulent place back home. Stone Cold is unusual in terms of books aimed at younger readers, as it has a feature known as a dual narrative.This means that the story is told from two perspectives, in this case being Link, the main protagonist, and another character known only as ‘Shelter. ’ He is the primary antagonist of the book. Shelter is a military veteran, possibly around the age of 45, and was suspended from his recruitment post at the British Army on what is only described as ‘medical grounds. ’ The more specific reason is of course unknown – adding to his already mysterious tendencies – however it is evident that he has an unstable mental condition, but won’t accept this and feels it is ‘his job’ to ‘clean up the streets’ of the homeless.To do this, he takes his military background and makes his own ‘army,’ the Camden Horizontals. The one difference between this army and any other regular army is that the Camden Horizontals are all dead homeless people, killed b y Shelter in cold blood. The book reflects on the hardships the homeless have to face daily, and effectively demonstrates this life by its use of the first-person setting, and the different perspectives of both Shelter and Link.It shows people at their worst, in the case of Shelter and his perverse thoughts and meticulously calculated and calm way to ‘dispose of’ human life, which he describes as rubbish. It also demonstrates the importance of truth, as at the end of the book, Link is no better off than he used to be, even though he thought he had met ‘someone special. ’ On the whole, I enjoyed the book, and found it interesting and captivating in the way it described Link’s quest to get through life on the streets. Stone Cold by Robert Swindells Stone Cold by Robert Swindells Stone Cold is an absorbing novel by Robert Swindells which follows ‘Link’, a sixteen year old boy from Bradford, England. The novel tells you about his life over the past two years, how he leaves his violent home and lives on the street, first in Bradford and then in London, where the story starts to take shape. The novel also follows ‘Shelter’, an ex-military man who served for twenty nine years, discharged on medical grounds. In my essay, I will aim to analyse Swindells’ success in writing an absorbing novel. In 1991, when Link was fourteen, his father ran off with a receptionist.He told us how that ‘mucked up’ his school work for quite a while. He goes on to say that that is not the cause for him being where he is now, the streets. He tells us that it was in fact his step-father, Vince, who was the real cause. He recalls coming back from a friends one night, to find that the door to the house had been loc ked by Vince. Vince wouldn’t let Link in, so he had to go round and spend the night at his sister’s, Carole. When he went home the next day, Vince started slapping him around the head for ‘going off’ and worrying Mum.He decided to make himself homeless. Now on the streets, the novel gives us a real taste of what it is like to be on the streets. â€Å"So you pick your spot. Wherever it is ( unless you’re in a squat or a derelict house or something) it’s going to have a floor of stone, tile, concrete or brick. I other words it’s going to be hard and cold. † ‘Ginger’ is a very good friend of Link’s. After being robbed and kicked out of his doorway, Link found Ginger and instantly became friends. Ginger is Link’s first friend on the streets.Ginger also shows Link the basics to being on the streets, like the best places to beg and good places to eat. We meet Gail further on in the book, after losing Ginger. As Link is sitting in a cafe, he sees ‘the best looking dosser’ he’s ever seen. Gail is Scottish and not just a dosser. She’s actually a reporter looking for a story on what it’s like to be homeless. Gail came over to sit next to Link, every eye in the place following her. He describes how he feels as Gail sits next to him. â€Å"I was acting so cool it was unbelievable but that’s all it was – acting.In the real world the blood was pounding in my ears and it was as much as I could do to keep from goggling at that fantastic face. † ‘Shelter’, the ex-military man, is portrayed mainly by his use of speech. His speech is presented very ‘to the point’, army like. â€Å"Daily Routine Orders †¦Ã¢â‚¬  is how Shelter always starts his part of the story, suggesting he lives his everyday life in a militaristic lifestyle. In many of his sections, shelter dwells on his days in the army, and how things like n ational service would take the dossers and ‘teddy boys’ and turn them into real men.The story definetly gave the message to never judge somebody you see on the street, as everyone has their side of the story. I think Robert Swindells is very sympathetic towards homeless people, particularly young homeless people as it affects their future, as in jobs, social, family etc. The ending is quite a depressing ending as you find out that Gail has been using Link as a piece for an article on homelessness. This leaves Link feeling betrayed and angered.