Grain of Hope in Breakfast of Champions :: Breakfast of Champions Essays

Grain of Hope in Breakfast of Champions â€Å"I think I am trying to clear my head of all the junk in there...the flags...I’m throwing out characters from my other books too. I’m not going to put on any more puppet shows.† This proud exclamation is made in the introduction of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. It caught my attention and drew me to continue reading. The book continues to take the reader on a bizarre journey through the human mind. Our mental trip is made easier through Vonnegut’s childlike â€Å"artwork,† which mostly consists of underwear, guns, cows, and other odds and ends. Finishing the introduction I was instantly fed a synapse of the plot. The story follows the mental decline of a rich Pontiac dealer, Dwayne Hoover, and the rise of an unknown science fiction writer, Kilgore Trout, who is to become one of the most beloved and respected human beings in history. All this is revealed on the first page. In my closed mind, I figured that I already knew the plot, so there was no point in continuing. On a whim, I flipped through the book and saw the picture of a gravestone. On the gravestone was written, â€Å"Not even the Creator of the universe knew what the man was going to say next-perhaps the man was a better universe in its infancy.† For some reason this rather simple line hooked me and so I went back to page one and decided to read a bit more. To be honest, I’m glad I did. As soon as I finished the first chapter, I was really hooked. It was one of the few novels I had ever read straight through from beginning to end in one all-night sitting. I’ll admit-so far this essay has been more of a narrative telling of my exploits with this novel, but I felt it necessary to explain a little about my initial feelings. This book is pregnant with symbols. Many of the mechanics of the book (including the chapters) became symbols in Vonnegut’s hands. The first chapter goes into American culture in depth. It explains that in our country color means everything.   â€Å"The sea pirates were white. The people who were already on the continent, who were already living full and imaginative lives, were copper-colored. When slavery was introduced, the slaves were black.

Assignment 1 Essay

Professor Identify the pros and cons of the partnership as a form of ownership. Discuss funding options for small businesses. Determine and discuss how managerial accounting can help managers with product costing, incremental analysis and budgeting. Discuss the basic components of the marketing process using a product or service of your choice as an example. Discuss the roles of social responsibility and technology in the marketing function. A partnership as a form of ownership is formed quite simply. When two or more people get together and come to an agreement on what type of business to take part in, then all parties share investment, profit, and of course loss. Let’s discuss the pros and cons ofa partnership. Pros, one of the many things all investors would like to see out weight the cons in anything they are engaged in mentally, physically, and of course financially. First of all, one pro would be how easy it is to create a partnership. You simply get with at least one other person come to an agreement over all the business details, and â€Å"BAM† you have a partnership. Some people are comfortable in erbal agreements but I personally would suggest you get all your partnership details on a written legal document Just in case. Funding is another advantage toa partnership. When two or more people come together to form a business partnership money is invested from all parties involved in turn the business has a stronger financial backing to support it. Not only will the business have a strong financial backing all partners invested may have access to outside money to support the business even further along. One of the best advantages in being in a business partnership is shared responsibility. Shared responsibility is crucial in a successful business and of course partnership. When the business starts to get a bit heavy you can hand it to your partner or partners to carry the work load for a while. You can also look to your partners for moral support when you may think things aren’t going as stated in your business plan. So far we have heard the pros ofa business partnership but like every bandage that fixes that painful spot you eventually have to pull it off. Cons, the opposite of Pro, the many things that all business investors need to know before investing but never want to hear. You may be thinking since it was a breeze to create this business partnership the rest will come as a breeze. You could your mind; everyone who is a partner is liable for all debts. You and your partners are all Jointly or individually liable for all debts accumulated by the business. For example, let’s say your partner or partners are taking the profits the business is making and gambling with it. Your partners blow away all the profits on poker games and skip town what then, that’s right you are still liable for any debt accumulated by the business. Another obvious con is your business partners will want to share the rofits made by the business. You can’t assume when the business makes profit everyone will agree on saving it. Your partner or partners may want to buy cars, houses, or maybe boats. You don’t have total control of the business. Business decisions are made Jointly not on your own. You may run into disagreements that in turn create the other partner to leave the business, or even lead to buying out the other partner. Pros and cons are a great way to see if you’re the, â€Å"partner type†, if so make sure you pick the right partner or partners for your business. There are many ther factors in owning and running a business. For example, in order to get your business off the ground you have to find the money to do so. Debt financing is one way you can start up your business. Debt financing is simply going to a bank that knows you have good credit, a good standing history with them, and apply for a small business loan. In the current economy most banks can be very hesitant to offer you the loan so another way is equity. Selling a share of your business meaning you aren’t solely in charge or will now be sharing the profits may be scary, but it can help you start up your business. After starting up your business you now have to manage the business or appoint someone for the Job. Managing the accounting is a great way to stay on top of product cost, and budgeting. Managerial accounting is detailed data used for inside members of a company. Managerial accounting includes things like cost of the product, cost of shipping, cost of employee benefits, cost of turnover, basically every number available to you and your partners. You can determine if you have the budget to raise wages for your employees to boost employee morale. Each business owner can use the data to do their Job better. You can go to your losses data and determine if your employees are stealing from you. Then determine how much more security you will need in order to prevent product loss. If you or your manager for your business needs to determine if their product was set at the right price they could view the sales data to see if the supply met the demand. If you see that one of your items hasn’t been selling very well you can set it at a lower price or you can Just order less of such product. If you see you sold a lot of a particular product you can raise the price as you see fit. You now know if you are the partner ype, you know a couple ways to possibly fund your business, and you know how to manage your data and budget. How are you going to get costumers through your door or buying your product? How will you market yourself? Let’s use my dream business as an example. I would like to open up a caf © lounge that serves fair trade coffee, craft beer, and fine wines. In order for me to make any kind of better profit for my business I have to market my business. You have to give the people what they want in my case I would produce amazing cups of coffee. My business would offer a coffee with better taste, and appeal. My coffee would be made with love and not thrown at you in the pickup line simultaneously saying, â€Å"NEXT†. My caf © lounge would major downtown street. Location is important for my caf © lounge so doing a little research of the area by visiting throughout all times of the day to see the amount of traffic the area receives is crucial. Then maybe you can ask around the nearby stores to see if customers purchase a lot of coffee. You can even go to the nearest coffee shop and see what coffee and vibe they offer and simply ask the locals what kind of coffee they like or would like to drink in what kind of atmosphere. After finding your target market, a great location, building your business, affordable product pricing, and setting your hours of operation it is time to promote your business. You can put ads in the local newspaper, ads in local magazines, and maybe even do a commercial broadcast in the tri county area. You will have to set your product apart from all the other competitors. For me coffee is all about personality, process, and taste. In order to retain customers your employees have to be personable, professional, and building customer relationships. Then there’s process, customers will see you make heir drink every step of the way making it an enjoyable experience. Lastly is taste, my employees being highly trained baristas will make you a drink to your satisfaction in a timely fashion all the while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere for my caf © lounge. Having the best tasting coffee and vibe may do Justice but for long term business it may not be enough this is when you bring in the events. Doing special events with your business such as charities, open mic nights, acoustic Jam sessions, and book clubs is a great way to attract more customers and maintain current ones. Internet is your best friend. Creating a website for your business is an amazing marketing play. It allows your customers to have 2417 access to information, and product choices. You can post updates on new product arrivals, special events, and specific information for each product you offer. The best part about having a website is they can look you up anywhere in the world that offers internet. Another great marketing strategy is purchasing ad space on other websites like a grocery franchise or sports sites. Green marketing is another great way to market your business. Customers love knowing your business is eco friendly by recycling, or using recycled aterial. By simply pushing customers to buy coffee to drink in house rather than take away conserves paper cups in turn less garbage. If customers choose to take to go anyways inform the customers all your paper products are recycled and recyclable. Offering organic treats to eat along with their coffee can promote a green business as well. In the end knowing everything there is to build, manage, and market your business your goal is to have long term profitability. You want to exceed customer satisfaction, you want to blow away the competition, and be prepared for even harder competition in the future.

How Efficient Market Hypothesis Explains Share Price Movements Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1169 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The Efficient Market Hypothesis is perhaps the most prevalent, controversial and well-known market theory in the world. EMH is one of the arguments made in favour of the stock market. It was developed throughout the 20th Century however it became more prevalent once Eugene Fama penned the term Efficient Market Hypothesis in his thesis from 1970. Since then the theory has grown and evolved, however the basic concept has remained the same. If new information comes onto the market concerning a business and its performance, this will be quickly and rationally transferred into the business share value. For example if an investment analyst found that in terms of its actual and expected dividends, a particular share was underpriced and thus represented a bargain, the analyst would advise investors to buy. As people then bought shares, their price would rise, pushing the value up to their full worth. So by attempting to gain from inefficiently priced securities, investors will encourage the market to become more efficient (Sloman 2009). The EMH further states that stock prices already reflect all known information and are therefore accurate, and that the future flow of news (that will determine future prices) is random and unknowable in the present. The Random Walk theory in its most primitive; says that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. The chance of a stocks future price going up is the same as it going down. A follower of random walk believes it is impossible to outperform the market without assuming additional risk. (www.investopedia.com) Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How Efficient Market Hypothesis Explains Share Price Movements Finance Essay" essay for you Create order There are three forms of the EMH that show the structure of the theory: Weak Form of Efficiency: Stock prices reflect all the past information in prices. Thus, current stock prices are the best estimated value, provided no change to the companies fundamental value. Fundamental analysis can be used to investigate if the stocks are undervalued or overvalued, as share prices move in cycles that do not reflect underlying performance, however as these techniques are used more and more knowledge/information becomes more perfect making the market more efficient and cycles withdraw. Consequences result in no excess return being made from investment strategies that based on historical stock price or financial information. Technical analysis can also be difficult to implement, but some fundamental analysts still make profits in the stock market. Semi-Strong Form of Efficiency: Stock prices reflect all past and current publicly available information. The stock prices can be adjusted in an unbiased movement to any new public information; e.g. on business news on local newspaper. However, the adjustment is relatively small. The outcome of SSF is that not much gain can be earned by trading on this information. Though fundamental analysis is still useful, nonetheless the returns are normally not as high as in the weak form. Strong Form of Efficiency: Stock prices reflect all relevant information, including data that is not yet disclosed to the general public such as insider information. The effect of this info is that almost nobody can earn high returns on investments over a long period of time. Unless people have access to privileged information, such as CEOs i.e. who know the company will release better than expected profit figures and buy shares prior to this knowledge being unrestricted, if this is the case large returns can be made. Nevertheless it must be noted that the EMH theory relies on the fact that, investors are assumed to be rational and subsequently value securities rationally (Shleifer 2000). Rational investors value each security for its elemental value. When these investors learn something about the value of securities they react quickly to the new information by pushing prices up when news is good and down when the news is bad, by buying securities they expect to have a higher-than-average return and selling those they expect to have lower returns. So for a market to be efficient the current prices should reflect the net result of the entire buy and sell decisions by all investors based on their interpretation of all the information that is known about a company at that time, The hypothesis that new information about a companys current or future performance will be quickly and accurately reflected in its share price (Sloman 2009). Regardless of what one analyst or every investor believes, the market is always right according the EMH theory. However there are cracks within the foundations of EMH that have formed over time. Different investors have different judgements (random walk, rational/irrational) it is impossible to say how their judgements would affect a security to immediately go up or down on notable news. Investor perception can be affected by an infinite number of developments, innumerable events happen every day throughout the world that impact a companies short term and long term earnings/growth rates and therefore, the price/earnings ratios that investors will be willing to pay for different securities. (Pike 1996) Because of this many observers/academics/professionals argue against the concept that markets behave consistently within the efficient market hypothesis, especially in its stronger forms. Some economists, mathematicians and market experts cannot believe that man-made markets are strong/semi strong-form efficient when there are, under closer analysis, reasons for inefficiency i.e. the slow diffusion of information, the relatively great power of some market participants e.g. financial institutions and the existence of apparently sophisticated professional investors e.g. Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, George Soros etc. The way that markets react to surprising news is perhaps the most visible flaw in the efficient market hypothesis. For example, news events such as surprise interest rate changes from central banks are not instantaneously taken account of in stock prices, but rather cause sustained movement of prices over periods from hours to months. Only a privileged few may have prior kn owledge of laws about to be passed, new pricing controls set by pseudo-government agencies such as the Federal Reserve banks, and judicial decisions that effect a wide range of economic parties. The public must treat these as random variables, but those who act on such inside information can correct the market, generally in a discrete method to avoid detection. Warren Buffett who has argued that the EMH is not correct, on one occasion saying Id be a bum on the street with a tin cup if the markets were always efficient and on another saying, The professors who taught Efficient Market Theory said that someone throwing darts at the stock tables could select stock portfolio having prospects just as good as one selected by the brightest, most hard-working securities analyst. Observing correctly that the market was frequently efficient, they went on to conclude incorrectly that it was always efficient. (www.moneyscience.com) Secondly, to the extent that some investors are not rational, their trades are random and therefore cancel each other out without affecting prices. Third, to the extent that investors are irrational in similar ways, they are met in the market by rational arbitrageurs who eliminate their influence on prices.

A close Reading/critique of Jorge Luis Boges short story the theme of the traitor and the hero in his book collected fictions Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Because of its great length compared to a single lifespan, human beings have never observed this greater year and have no name for it (39d). So far Plato. But, in the centuries intervening between Plato and Yeats, the idea took on a life of its own (Mann). It became associated with the Hesiodic ages of mythological history (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron), and with the precession of the equinoxes (the apparent motion of the whole celestial sphere imparted by a slight wobble of the earths rotation, not known until centuries after Platos time), and with apocalyptic ideas of world ages in human history and their repetition; their exact repetition, so that another Argo will sail, Achilles will be born and die again (as described in Vergils Fourth Eclogue). By Yeats time, all of this had been mixed with modern historiography and Christian myth into a Theosophical, occultist mishmash of determinism, cycle, and apocalyptic. By invoking this overgrown theme through his quotation, Bo rges establishes the themes of determinism and inevitability moving through the ages for his narrative. Borges begins his story by telling the reader that he is not writing a story. We will write a custom essay sample on A close Reading/critique of Jorge Luis Boges' short story the theme of the traitor and the hero in his book collected fictions or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page

Is Helen A Woman Or A Hoe - 1266 Words

Is Helen a Women or a Hoe? In the Iliad, there are a handful of women that do not possess agency or the ability to make changes. Though the book is based on the Trojan War that was started over Helen, a woman, she has no direct control over her position in the battle. One may argue that â€Å"the rage† that is so commonly referred to throughout the Iliad is the direct outcome of Agamemnon’s decision to take away Achilles’ prize, Briseis, meaning that women do have an effect, but this situation only emphasizes that Briseis is an object, in the eyes of Agamemnon and Achilles, that can be traded and stolen to measure the amount of honor a man holds. Throughout the Iliad, the reader sees a variation of women, some with prominent roles and others with minor roles; the difference in the amount of time Homer allows each female character to speak or be spoken about has absolutely no effect on the agency or influence a character has. Since the women vary in roles and amount of speaking parts, it’s natural for a reader to think that those variations can be correlated with the character’s agency and ability to make change, but this is not true in the Iliad, because all of the women, regardless of their speaking roles, lack agency and influence. The affect of a female character can be measured by the response she receives from men. Since Chryseis’s has a non-speaking role, the way she is categorized by Agamemnon and her father are very important in developing an accurate evaluation of herShow MoreRelatedFinding Balance: Howards End Argumentative Essay1495 Words   |  6 Pagesone middle ground, or finding balance and proportion. This is accomplished through the behavior and attitudes of three essential characters; Helen Schlegel, Margaret Wilcox nee Schlegel, and Henry Wilcox. Helen is a character who is the epitome of immaturity and passion. Throughout the novel, she is described as a flighty, unrealistic, young woman. She is quick to find trouble, but is even quicker in running away from those troubles. From the very beginning, Helen’s passion and immaturityRead MoreMandinka Empire21578 Words   |  87 Pagesfa (father), lula (5), konondo (9), and other words for numbers, jambo (leaf), jiyo (water), juso (liver, a â€Å"good liver† commonly means good-natured today in Pakao), kidola (gun), kemu (man), kodo (silver, incidentally also money in Pakao), musolu (woman), musonding (girl), sajano (harvest season), safero (to write), sali (to pray), sama (rainy season), sani (gold, to purchase), solo (leopard), somanda (morning), yiro (tree), tiyo (master), warata (large), tilo (sun), tilibo (eastern land, in PakaoRead MoreThe taste of melon by borden deal11847 Words   |  48 Pagesthough he dared the earth not to yield him its sustenance. Above all, Mr. Wills could raise watermelons. Now, watermelons are curious things. Some men can send off for the best watermelon seed, they can plant it in the best ground they own, they can hoe it and tend it with the greatest of care, and they can’t raise a melon bigger than your two fists. Other men, like Mr. Wills, can throw seed on the ground, scuff dirt over it, walk off and leave it, and have a crop of the prettiest, biggest melonsRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagesam particularly grateful to my reviewers, who pointed out some of the glaring errors; I hope they will find this edition at least slightly less faulty. I am very grateful to Dr (now Professor) E.N. Emenanjá » , Mr (now Dr) P.A. Anagbogu, and to Miss Helen Joe Okeke and Miss Ifeoma Okoye, students of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, for last-minute [sic] help on the grammatical section of the introduction; and to the late Mr A.E. Ahunanya, Mrs Dorothy Njoku, and Miss Mercy Harry for their care

American Election Free Essays

string(152) " factors arise from early socialization at home and in school and from affiliations with voluntary associations, workplaces and religious institutions\." Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority groups. This is so because the votes of even small minorities in a state may make the difference between winning all of that state’s electoral votes or none of that state’s electoral votes. And since ethnic minority groups in the United States happen to concentrate in those states with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. We will write a custom essay sample on American Election or any similar topic only for you Order Now The same principle applies to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists and so forth. Most states use a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate with the most votes in that state receives all of the state’s electoral votes. This gives candidates an incentive to pay the most attention to states without a clear favorite, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. For example, California, Texas and New York, in spite of having the largest populations, have in recent elections been considered safe for a particular party; Democratic for California New York; Republican for Texas, and therefore candidates typically devote relatively few resources, in both time and money, to such states It is possible to win the election by winning all of eleven states and disregarding the rest of the country. In the close elections of 2000 and 2004, these eleven states gave 111 votes to Republican candidate George W. Bush and 160 votes to Democratic candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. Part 2. How the Electoral College system in the general election fail to ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the most votes becomes president. One way in which a minority president could be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that there were three or more presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the necessary majority. This occurred in 1824 and was successfully attempted in 1948. Those who object to the Electoral College system and favor a direct popular election generally do so on four grounds: the possibility of electing a minority president, the risk of so-called faithless electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turn out and its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will. A faithless voter is one who pledge to vote for his or her party’s candidate for president but nevertheless votes for another candidate. In this way the Electoral College may fail to ensure that the presidential candidate who has the most votes becomes president. On the concern of the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turn out critics argue that since each state is entitled to the same number of electoral votes regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive to encourage voter participation. The college fails to accurately reflect the national popular will in at least two respects. First the distribution of Electoral votes in the college tends to over-represent people in rural states. This is because the number of Elector for each state is determined by the number if members it has in the House (which more or less reflects the state’s population size) plus the number of members it has in the senate (which is always two regardless of the states population). A second way in which the Electoral College fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stem primarily from winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most poplar votes in the state wins all the Electoral votes of that state. One effect of this mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third-party or independent candidates ever to make much of showing in the Electoral College. If for example, a third party or independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a plurality of votes in at least the state. And even if he managed to win a few states, his support elsewhere would not be reflected. By thus failing to accurately reflect the national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party system, discourages third party or independent candidates and thereby tends to restrict choice available to the electorate. Part 3 How some groups have much higher turnover rates than? Low turnout is often considered to be undesirable and there is much debate over the factors that affect turnout and how to increase it. Its case has been attributed to a wide array of economic, demographic, cultural, technological and institutional factors. A high turnover is generally seen as evidence of the legitimacy of the current system. Socioeconomic factors significantly affect whether or not individuals vote. The most important socioeconomic factor in voter turnout is education. The more educated a person, the more likely he or she is to vote, even when controlled for other factors such as income and class that are closely associated with education level. Income has some effect independently. Wealthier people are more likely to vote regardless of their educational background. Other demographic factors have an important influence: young people are far less likely to vote than the elderly and single people are less likely to vote than those who are married. Occupation has little effect on turnover with the notable exception of higher voting rates among government employees in many countries. Generally speaking, the lower voters’ education level and lower voters’ income level, the less likely they are to vote. For example, college graduates in some recent election have had turnout levels nearly twice that of those who have not finished high school. Some individuals possess more politically relevant sources, like income and education, than others, some are more interested in public affairs and some are more likely to be recruited to participate. These factors arise from early socialization at home and in school and from affiliations with voluntary associations, workplaces and religious institutions. You read "American Election" in category "Papers" Public policies can confer resources, motivate interest in government affairs by trying well-being to government action, define groups for mobilization and even shape the content and meaning of democratic citizenship. These effects are positive for some groups, like senior citizens, raising their participation levels. A surge in black voters’ turnout is often cited as a central factor in Jimmy Carter’s 1976 election victory. Beginning with Parenti (1967), many scholars advanced an â€Å"ethnic community† theory to explain why members of major ethnic groups in American cities (particularly the Irish, Italians and Jews) participated politically at rates much higher than their levels of education and income would predict. According to this theory, socially marginalized groups developed strong communal norms of participation to which there is considerable pressure within the group to conform. Political and social participation in elections asserts the importance of minority groups within the larger society. As such, all members of the group are expected to have interest. Part 4 How campaign contributions from Political Action Committees may tilt the political system toward big moneyed interests. Citizens with lower or moderate incomes speak with a whisper that is lost on the ears of inattentive government officials, while the advantaged roar with a clarity and consistency that policy-makers readily hear and routinely follow. As people become more concentrated and the flow of money into elections has grow campaign contributions give the affluent a means to express their voice that is unavailable to most citizens. Government is expected to help ensure equal opportunity for all, not to tilt toward those who already have wealth and power. Even more clearly, Americans celebrate and expect equal democratic rights. Americans fervently believe that everyone should have an equal say in our democratic politics, helping to shape what government does. They embrace whole-heartedly the ideal enunciated by the U. S. Declaration of Independence that â€Å"all men are created equal, â€Å"which in our time means that every citizen regardless of income, gender, race, and ethnicity should have an equal voice in representative government. The government is run by a few big interests looking out only for themselves. Campaign contributors do not represent the interests of the majority citizens. In 2000, an income of over $ 100,000 was found only in 12 percent of American households. 95 percent of campaign contributors were from these households. Political contributors or moneyed interests are not bribing politicians directly. What moneyed interests and wealthy citizens do gain from contributing hugely is influence on the people who run for office and an audience with these people once they get to power. Essay #2 Part 1 Why the US has only two parties represented in its legislature unlike other established democracies. Too much partisanship can be fatal to democracy. The weakness of parties can also pose dangers. In a legislature with weak party attachments, it may prove impossible to pass needed legislation. The result, as in Yeltsin’s Russia is often resort to presidential decrees or even the forcible disbanding of the legislature. Conversely, legislators may be easily wooed by a president through patronage or less savory means. In countries with weak parties like the Philippines and Korea, it has been common for presidents elected without a legislative majority to acquire one through massive party defections. Indeed, one of the areas in which the dozens of new democracies established in the past two decades have been least successfully is the creation of strong and stable political parties committed to democracy. In part, this reflects the impossibility of crafting a party system unlike most other key democratic political institutions, parties cannot be legislated into existence. At the same time it reflects a global trend, as political parties seem to be increasingly enfeebled institutions in the more established democracies as well. Almost everywhere, parties no longer command the loyalty or confidence they once did and the number of independent voters and ticket-splitters has grown. The US uses the principle of proportional representation which in essence means that parties or blocks of like minded voters should win seats in legislative assemblies to their share of the popular vote. A two party system is the only way to practice this principle. The cultural diversities in US are well catered for in a two party system. Having many parties in such a diverse society would mean that the real views of the people would not be reflected. More over a majority would be hard to achieve with many parties being represented in the legislature. Part 2 Why turnout in the US is so low compared to other established democracies? The US is one of the few countries require citizens to get themselves registered to vote, rather than having the government pro-actively making sure that all voters are on the electoral rolls, usually through some form of automatic and permanent registration on achieving voting age. On the one hand, in the United States, registration requirements are a serious barrier to political participation. There are many reasons why turnout in the US is as low as it is. Voters have to want to go to the polls and believe that their votes will matter. Many voters are disaffected from two political parties, turned off by negative campaigning, intimidated by the long ballots, and bothered by the lack of clear accountability in the crazy guilt federal system. The election laws themselves make it more difficult for people to participate. For example Election Day is usually on a weekday (the first Tuesday in November for presidential and congressional elections) and it may be difficult for people to get away from work to vote. A more direct reduction in participation is brought about by laws in many states that bar convicted criminals from the political process. Approximately five millions Americans are unable to participate in the elections for these reasons. Other countries have found more direct ways to ensure high voter turnout such as making voting compulsory. In Australia, citizens who do not vote are subject to paying a fine and in Belgium, repeated failure to vote can lead to having your right to vote permanently cancelled. In America voting is not compulsory. The governments of most established countries take the responsibility of registering as many eligible voters as possible. In the US it is the sole responsibility of the individual to register for voting. If the costs and benefits that Americans encounter are markedly different than those encountered by citizens of other countries, then that should explain why the US turnout rate is so low. America’s unique registration laws accounted for roughly half the difference between US turnout rates and those of other advanced industrialized democracies in the 1960s and 1970s. Part 3. Advantages and disadvantages of the American style of candidate centered politics. The decline of American political parties in recent decades has made strength of partisanship even more important in predicting who votes. The rise of candidate-centered politics and the decline of partisanship can explain this phenomenon. When the focus of campaigns was on two parties rather than many candidates for many offices, everyone gained at least somewhat from picking choosing ones favorite candidates from both parties. Thus even those who did not identify with a party in the past could benefit from the partisan manner by which the campaigns were conducted. In the candidate-centered environment now, by contrast, the mobilizing effects of party competition have been felt more disproportionately according to ones level of party identification. The result has been rising inequality of turnout rates according to partisan strength. Voters in parliamentary systems are becoming more candidates centered in their voting, compared to voters in presidential systems. At the same time, it would appear that voters in presidential systems are evaluating candidates in a more instrumental and less partisan way. More so than in the past, candidates’ campaigns are self sufficient organizations indirectly dependent on political parties. And as agents of information, campaigns are replacing parties as the primary source of information about the candidates. Reference: Franklin, Mark (2001) â€Å"The Dynamics of Participation in the Electoral Process†. In Comparing Democracies: Elections and Voting in Global Perspective 2, ed. Laurence Leduc, Richard Niemi and Pippa Norris. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage, in press How to cite American Election, Papers

Bp Csr free essay sample

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibilities and Law Contents BP Company Info3 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Event4 Summary of the Deepwater Horizon Event5 Stock price before and after Deepwater Horizon7 Impact on Stakeholders8 BP’s Oil Spills and Corporate Social Responsibility9 Inadequate disclosure on the oil spill event11 Recommendations for BP to get reputation back13 Conclusion14 BP Company Info BP is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured in terms of their revenues and stock prices. It is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has major renewable energy activities, including in biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power. BP has operations in over 80 countries and produces around 3. 8 million barrels of oil per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. As at 31 December 2010 it had total proven commercial reserves of 18. 7 billion barrels of oil. [1] The name BP derives from the initials of one of the companys former legal names, British Petroleum. [2] BPs track record of corporate social responsibility has been mixed. The company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997, it became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take steps against climate change, and in that year established a company-wide target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. BP currently invests over $1 billion per year in the evelopment of renewable energy sources, and has committed to spend $8 billion on renewable in the 2005 to 2015 period. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Event The Deepwater Ho rizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster)[1] is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for three months in 2010. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. [2] The spill come out from a sea-floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010, explosion of Deepwater Horizon, which drilled on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. The explosion killed 11 men working on the platform and injured 17 others. [3] On July 15, 2010, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead, after it had released about 4. 9 million barrels of crude oil. [3] An estimated 53,000 barrels per day escaped from the well just before it was capped. It is believed that the daily flow rate diminished over time, starting at about 62,000 barrels per day and decreasing as the reservoir of hydrocarbons feeding the gusher was gradually depleted. [1] On September 19, 2010, the relief well process was successfully completed, and the federal government declared the well sealed. 3] The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulfs fishing and tourism industries. [4] In late November 2010, 4,200 square miles of the Gulf were re-closed to shrimp-fishing after tar balls were found in shrimpers nets. The amount of Louisiana shoreline affected by oil grew from 287 km in July to 320 km in late November 2010. In Jan uary 2011, an oil spill commissioner reported that tar balls continue to wash up, oil sheen trails are seen in the wake of fishing boats, wetlands marsh grass remains fouled and dying, and that crude oil lies offshore in deep water and in fine silts and sands onshore. 18] A research team found oil on the bottom of the seafloor in late February 2011 that did not seem to be degrading. Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-filled barricades along shorelines, and dispersants were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands, and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists have also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface as well as an 8 km? kill zone surrounding the blown well. [1] The U. S. Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage. [2] After its own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Summary of the Deepwater Horizon Event February 15, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean, begins drilling on the Macondo Prospect. [6] The planned well was to be drilled to 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below sea level, and was to be plugged and suspended for subsequent completion as a subsea producer. April 6, 2010– The Department of the Interior exempted BPs Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact study after concluding that a massive oil spill was unlikely. March 17, 2010 – BP Chief Tony Hayward sells one third of his BP stock (223,288 shares). [6] Closing BP price on March 17 on the New York Stock Exchange is 58. 15. April 17, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon completes its drilling and the well is being prepared to be cemented so that another rig will retrieve the oil. The blowout preventer is tested and found to be functional. [8] Gagliano now reports that using only 6 centralizers would likely produce channeling and a failure of the cement job. April 20, 2010 7 am – BP cancels a recommended cement bond log test. Conducting the test would have taken 9–12 hours and $128,000. By canceling the cement test BP paid only $10,000. Crew leaves on 11:15 am flight. BP officials gather on the platform to celebrate seven years with out an injury on the rig. The planned moving of the Deepwater Horizon to another location was 43 days past due and the delay had cost BP $21 million. :45 p. m. CDT – Gas, oil and concrete from the Deepwater Horizon explode up the wellbore onto the deck and then catches fire. The explosion kills 11 platform workers and injures 17 others; another 98 people survive without serious physical injury. April 22 10:21 am – Rig sinks. April 27, 2010 – Slick grows to 160 km across and 32 km from Louisiana coast. June 6, 2010 – BP abandons plans to close three remaining vents on the containment cap noting that with one vent it is capturing as much oil as it can handle. July 24, 2010 BP says an internal investigation has cleared itself of gross negligence in the spill and will publish the findings in the next month. August 4, 2010 – BP reports that the well achieved â€Å"static condition† shortly after midnight after drilling mud is said to now fill the well. September 29, 2010 – Andy Inglis, who headed deepwater drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico at the time of the spill, steps down as head of the upstream business. October 1, 2010 – Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral leading the federal response to the BP oil spill, stepped down. December 15, 2010 According to a feature Associated Press story on the homepage of Time Magazine, the U. S. federal government is suing BP Exploration and Production, Inc. , and eight other corporations, for unlimited liability, in an effort to have them pay for the massive expenses involved in the cleanup and environmental recovery from the spill, including damages to natural resources; it also seeks civil penalties under the Clean Water Act. Stock price before and after Deepwater Horizon First quarter 2011 (After) (Before) | First uarter 2011| Fourth quarter 2010| First quarter 2010| $ million| | | | Profit for the period(a)| 7,124 | 5,567| 6,079| Inventory holding (gains) losses, net of tax| (1,643)| (953)| (481)| Replacement cost profit| 5,481| 4,614| 5,598| | | | | -per ordinary share (cents)| 29. 13| 24. 55| 29. 82| -per ADS (dollars)| 1. 75| 1. 47| 1. 79| BPs first-quarter replacement cost profit was $5,481 million, compared with $5,598 million a year ago. The group income st atement for the first quarter reflects a pre-tax charge of $0. 4 billion related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. All charges relating to the incident have been treated as non-operating items. Share prices for the five companies connected most directly to the Deepwater Horizon disaster have taken their lumps since the April 20 event, with analysts watching the ticker closely April 30. A review of closing New York Stock Exchange prices for those companies from April 19 to April 30 shows Macondo field operator BP off 12%, Macondo field partner Anadarko Petroleum down 15. 2%, rig operator Transocean down 18%, blowout preventer supplier Cameron International off 11. 9% and well cementer Halliburton down 2. 9%. Although Halliburton had gained from the day before the incident through April 28, the companys shares took a steep 5% drop on April 29 with news about the roles of the companies gaining wider attention. Impact on Stakeholders Jack Gerard, President of The American Petroleum Institute (API), stated that disasters are infrequent and that the Deepwater Horizon is an isolated incident. [9] By touting the aggregate safety record of the industry API has refuted any claims of a loss of industry wide credibility. API has also stated that the offshore drilling industry is important to job creation and economic growth. 9] To help prevent a recurrence of the Deepwater Horizon spill, API is setting up its own offshore safety institute that will be separate from APIs lobbying organization. During congressional testimony, key API stakeholders such as Chevron’s CEO John Watson, made an open admission to the industry’s credibility gap stating â€Å"For our industry, this is a humblin g experience. The American people expect that the energy we need will be produced safely and reliably. That did not happen here†. [10] Furthermore, ExxonMobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson, testified that, â€Å"When these things happen, we are not well equipped to deal with them. Additionally, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell have made plans to fund a billion dollar joint venture to build a new rapid response capability for deep water offshore drilling response in the Gulf of Mexico. National Incident Commander (NIC), retired Admiral Thad Allen said that the underlying problem with this response was the lack of adequate capability to quickly stop the massive amount of oil discharging from 5000 feet below the Gulfs surface. Neither the private nor public sector was prepared for an event that was not supposed to happen. BPs chief of operations for American EP, Doug Suttles, has warned that the containment concept has never been tested at these water depths either and said it might be three more weeks before it is ready to test. Weve mounted the largest response effort ever done in the world and utilized every technology available, Suttles said in his companys defense. We understand that we need to bring this event to closure as soon as possible. A broad range of stakeholders came together in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon incident to provide effective solutions and build new capabilities. It would have been extremely difficult for any one company alone to address challenges on the scale of the Deepwater Horizon incident. BP’s Oil Spills and Corporate Social Responsibility Basically Corporate social responsibility is the detailed issues on which an organisation exceeds its minimum required obligations to stakeholders. CSR means that a corporation should be held accountable for any of its actions that affect their people, their communities and their environment. It implies that negative business impacts on people and society should be acknowledged and corrected if at all possible. It may require a company to forgo some profits if its social impacts are seriously harmful to some of the corporations stakeholders or if its funds can be used to promote a positive social good. CSR is the degree of responsibility manifested in a company’s strategies and operating practices as they impact stakeholders and the natural environment day to day. Some level of responsibility is integral to any corporate action or decision that has impacts. CSR cannot be avoided because it is the root or foundation of Corporate Citizenship. CSR covers all aspects of corporate governance. It is about how companies conduct their business in an ethical way, taking account of their impact economically, socially, environmentally and in terms of human rights. This moves beyond traditional business stakeholders such as shareholders or local suppliers. CSR includes social partners such as local communities, and global responsibilities such as protecting the environment and ensuring good labour standards in overseas suppliers. CSR also includes relationships with employees and customers. It also involves working in partnership with other organisations or groups. It can be seen as a form of strategic management, encouraging the organisation to scan the horizon and think about how its relationships will contribute long-term to its bottom line in a constantly changing world. On 22nd June 2010, BP announced that it will donate the net revenue it receives from the sale of oil recovered from the MC252 spill to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. NFWF, whose mission is to preserve and restore Americas native wildlife species and habitats, will direct this money to projects that bring the greatest benefit to the wildlife of the affected Gulf Coast States. BP will provide $5 million to NFWF immediately, to ensure that their work can begin even as initial oil collections from the Discoverer Enterprise enter the refining process. BPs chief executive officer Tony Hayward said that, With its successful 25-year track record of identifying and funding solutions to Americas toughest conservation challenges, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a strong and responsible steward for this money from the wildlife fund. BP said as well it has paid $104 million to residents along the Gulf Coast for claims filed as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has issued more than 31,000 checks in the past seven weeks. BP claims team member Darryl Willis said, Our focus has been on getting money into the hands of fishermen, shrimpers, condo owners and others who have not been able to earn income due to the spill, of the . We have also been addressing the larger, more complex claims and have been successful in sending more checks to commercial entities. BP has received about 64,000 claims to date. A 1,000-member claim team is working around the clock to receive and process claims. There are 33 field offices set up in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and BP is accepting calls through an 800 number as well as accepting applications online. BP has received about 84,000 calls on the claims alone. Inadequate disclosure on the oil spill event 1. * BP completely neglects to list the amount of oil, CO2, and methane released as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster under its BP in Figures environmental impact chart which is highlighted in green(above). 2. At the bottom of the BPs report page, BP explains in tiny letters that he Gulf spill was left out of these calculations because Although there are several third-party estimates of the flow rate or total volume of oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon incident, we believe that no accurate determination can be made or reported until further information is collected and the analysis, such as the condition of the blowout preventer, is completed. And as for those CO2 emissions, BP explains We have not included any emissions from the Deepwater Horizon incident and the response effort due to our reluctance to report data that has such a high degree of uncertainty. * This shows that BP left out the largest oil spill data on purpose which they could have actually made any kind of estimation. 3. BP dedicates two sections of the 50 page reportHow BP is Changing, and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spillto the spill. In the How BP is Changing section, BP claims that it is working on improving safety and operation risk, values and behaviours, technology, and contractor management, among other things. Unfortunately, the report only skims the surface of these issues. Under behaviours underlined above, a report published by the US Department of Interior has alleged that certain BP staff members tasked with overseeing offshore drilling routinely watched porn on government computers and smoked crystal methamphetamine. 4. When addressing how to prevent future oil spills, BP explains that i t is working on better safety metrics with the Center for Chemical Process Safety, the American Petroleum Institute, American National Standards Institute, and its industry peers. The company also said that it has Enhanced training and development programmes, particularly around the practical aspects of process safety techniques, and that it is creating a new integrity monitoring system for its refineries. The improved safety metrics and integrity monitoring will be helpful, to be sure, but BP neglects to explain what it is doing differently in the short term. 5. A quote from BP directors: From the beginning, BP worked to fight the spill and minimize its impact on the environment. These efforts helped to reduce the amount of oil that reached the shore and environmentally sensitive marsh areas. . * The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill section is filled with bland assurances from BP that it did everything it possibly could following the spill. Yet, they neglect to give an estimation of how much oil was spilled, which is the important part of the whole report. 6. The Economist columnist Critic Clive Crook said, The proper guardians of the public interests are governments, which are accountable to all citizens. It is the job of elected politicians to set goals for regulators, to deal with externalities, to mediate among different interests, to attend to the demands of social justice, to provide the public goods and to organise resources accordingly. Recommendations for BP to get reputation back BP should conduct a review of the quality of the services provided by those cementing companies in charge of building BP offshore rigs, so that such event in Deepwater Horizon where the oil rig sank do not happen again. BP directors should propose to the API the development of a good practice for design and testing of new cement in high-pressure and high-temperature applications, so that if fire do occur in offshore rigs, it will not be as dramatic as the Deepwater Horizon. Strengthen BP’s rig audit process or find the Big 4 audit firms to oversee all auditing. This is to improve the closure and verification of audit findings and actions across all drilling rigs owned by BP. BP should devel op an advanced deepwater well control training program and ensure trainings are done. In the Deepwater Horizon event, when the well exploded and engineers could not close the valve in time, for each second wasted, tons of oil are flowing into the ocean. BP should spend an appropriate amount of funds under the Clean Water act to restore the ocean or damaged areas. BP should set better safety regulations for deepwater drillings with even tougher standards, and prove that they can deal with risky and dangerous wells such as Deepwater Horizon. BP should report transparencies as they are vital and provide timely and reliable information regarding both the containment and response operations during any future oil spill events. This is to ensure safe operations on such events and also inform stakeholders and the public of current situation. Conclusion There were at least three important stakeholders involved in this project: the BP administration, the employees of BP and the society at large. After the oil spill, it is clear to everyone that this disaster could have been avoided and that the result was not beneficial for anybody. The management of risk, in terms of oil spill prevention, means among other things that the right measures be taken to avoid disaster in the first place. Prevention and remediation go hand in hand. Planning therefore begins before the spill, to avoid it and to have a seamless response process in place. Due to cost cutting, BP incurred a $40 billion in liabilities, loss of life, serious damage to several major industries and vast environmental harm. All because of BPs failure to invest in an effective safety management system, which lead to the Deepwater Horizon event. If the manager of this project had decided to invest more efforts in risk management, BP would have invested more money in contingency plans. If the BP administration had focused on the long term earnings, they would have earned more money than they finally did. Lesson learnt : Cost cutting is essential to maximize profits, BUT not at the expense of safety even though if it is not a dangerous project. The knockback would be tremendous. 1. Key facts and figures. BP p. l. c Retrieved 30 August 2010. 2. Group results – Third quarter 2010. BP p. l. c Retrieved 6 November 2010. 3. Two Westlake Park, Houston, TX : Hines Interests. Hines Interests.. Retrieved 11 Jun. 2010. 4. BP in the United States. BP p. l. c Retrieved 27 August 2010. 5. BP. com: History of BP – Post war.. Retrieved 3 Jul. 2010. In 1954, the board changed the company’s name to The British Petroleum Company 6. Tharoor, Ishaan (2 Jun. 2010). A Brief History of BP. TIME magazine.. Retrieved 3 Jul. 2010. 7. BP tackles climate change threat with ? 200m boost for energy efficiency. London: The Telegraph. 25 October 2005.. Retrieved 9 February 2011. 8. BP to invest $1 bln plus in alt energy this year. Reuters. 13 April 2010.. Retrieved 9 February 2011. 9. Natural G as and Alaskas Future: The Facts page 22 (PDF). Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010. 10. Poole, Robert W.. Privatisation. Econlib. org. Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010.