Should people be allowed to keep pitbulls Research Paper

Should individuals be permitted to keep pitbulls - Research Paper Example As per a few sources, it is accepted that â€Å"currently the variety of decision for hound contenders, pit bulls are compelled to battle, they don't decide to fight.† (Aavenge.com) Even Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT, announced once that â€Å"No, we don't accept that Pit Bulls are inalienably dangerous.† (Companionanimalsolutions.com) There are numerous reasons of with respect to why individuals ought to be permitted to keep Pit Bulls and there ought not be any boycott authorized in keeping them as it won't advantage the wellbeing of the general public. Right off the bat, as it is realized that this specific variety of canine has an awful notoriety on account of being forceful and rough. It absolutely relies upon the proprietor as how he prepares and keeps them. It will be one-sided to boycott them just on the sort of canine. Furthermore, the Pit Bulls don't require a lot of preparing as â€Å"Their short coat is low upkeep and they can be washed in next to no time, not that they should be washed often.† (Petfinder) â€Å"Pit Bulls are great creatures that merit an opportunity to have a decent life like some other dog.† (Villalobos Rescue Center) There are reports that more individuals have confronted passing by the household rodents than Pit Bulls. It is a fantasy that individuals state Pit Bulls assault more towards the individuals than some other variety of pooch. Be that as it may, Pit Bulls don't have the most grounded of jaws; it is considered as the most fragile among all varieties. What makes Pit Bulls as one of the most mainstream and requesting kind of breed is that they are extremely faithful to their proprietors. It is said that the man has made a companion forever when he purchases and possesses a Pit Bull. There is an equivalent reaction from the pooch just as they love their proprietors and they don't separate between the humanity. Yet, probably the best explanation, as I would like to think is that Pit Bulls do grin gives a metal lift and certainty to their proprietors. On the off chance that the proprietor of Pit

“The Kiss” by Anton Chekhov Free Essays

â€Å"The Kiss† by Anton Chekhov After perusing Anton Chekhov’s â€Å"The Kiss†, it is evident that few components of fiction were joined into his story. The story included intriguing characters, a graphic setting that viably mirrors the disposition of what is happening, adequate measure of incongruity. Furthermore, an all around created plot and structure. We will compose a custom article test on â€Å"The Kiss† by Anton Chekhov or on the other hand any comparable subject just for you Request Now Out of these segments that help to manufacture a fruitful anecdotal story, the component that was best was the component of plot. The plot of â€Å"The Kiss† is a magnificent plan of occasions that satisfies each viewpoint that is relied upon to be fused into an anecdotal plot. It incorporates fascinating turns, outstanding characters, and in particular, a subject that nearly everybody can without much of a stretch identify with. â€Å"The Kiss†, is about a man named Ryabovitch that is totally unsatisfied with his life until one night, he participates in a â€Å"adventure (288). † In a surprising arrangement of occasions, Ryabovitch, who has never experienced female communication, winds up confused by a secretive lady with her darling. Because of the misunderstanding, Ryabovitch encounters his first kiss. The kiss reframes his life and Rybovitch turns out to be more intense and sure than any time in recent memory. Despite the fact that most would see the occurrence as a basic misconception, Ryabovitch takes it for more than that. He becomes persuaded that he is enamored with somebody that he doesn't have a clue. Toward the finish of the story in any case, Ryabovitch understands that the circumstance was essentially misrepresented and he returns to his typical life. This first explanation that the plot stands apart so much is that it is relatable. In â€Å"The Kiss† Ryabovitch overstates the importance of the kiss to the point of being indistinguishable. In the story Ryabovitch is â€Å"†¦surprised unpleasantly when it took him to recount to his story (294). He went overboard so much that he didn't perceive how straightforward and unimportant that his episode was. Everybody has been liable of this as some time. â€Å"The Kiss†, was composed dependent on and overcompensation and everybody can identify with what Ryabovitch is experiencing. Another explanation that the plot sta nds apart is that Chekhov writes such that makes the peruser need to peruse on. He makes the peruser care about what happens to Rybovitch by distinctively portraying everything that he experiences. Chekhov powers the peruser to need to peruse on by causing them to feel thoughtful for Ryabovitch. The plot is set up to keep the peruser intrigued and it stands apart as a result of it. Without this fuse of getting perusers into what is new with Ryabovitch, the adequacy of the component of plot would be seriously debilitated. In the wake of perusing â€Å"The Kiss†, clearly Chekhov fused the component of plot into his story adequately. By expounding regarding a matter that can be effortlessly identified with, the general estimation of the plot definitely expanded. Chekhov worked superbly of getting into the perusers mind; he made them need to peruse mindfully and proceed with the story by utilizing the component of plot. Step by step instructions to refer to â€Å"The Kiss† by Anton Chekhov, Papers

Impact of Technology on the Retailing Business Essays -- essays resear

Effect of Technology on the Retailing Business Any adequate trend setting innovation is unclear from magic†, Arthur C. Clarke. Innovation has changed the retailing business significantly in the course of recent years. These progressions have influenced a number of regions in the retailing industry. These zones remember the gear for the working environment, the strategies in the working environment, the general condition, the requesting of provisions, and the record keeping of the business. One key zone in the retailing industry that innovation has changed over the previous 10 years is the diverse hardware that is utilized. Interviewee A said â€Å"The change has been very useful for business, we have gone from utilizing a straightforward till, to utilizing a PC database, which encourages us record the clients purchasing propensities and other data about them.† Interview B said â€Å" The gear we use currently has made things path simpler for everybody. They took a lil becoming accustomed to from the start yet once we figured out how to utilize them it was no issue. We exchanged structure simple gas siphons to advanced ones, we likewise changed from doing manual gas level plunges to utilizing electronic gas level. Our Rigor machine has likewise been transformed from the old lace printer to the new laser printer.† Technology isn’t the main region that has been changed by innovation. The business arrangements have additionally been changed.      The approaches in the retailing industry have likewise been influenced by innovation in the previous 10 years. Interviewee A said â€Å"With out...

EGT1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EGT1 - Essay Example From this conversation unmistakably the absolute benefit increments when negligible benefit is sure for example at the point when minor income is more prominent than negligible expense. Additionally, the complete benefit diminishes when peripheral benefit is negative for example minor income is less when contrasted with peripheral expense. Greatest complete benefit is accomplished when minimal benefit gets zero. Now, minimal income is equivalent to peripheral expense. A further increment in yield prompts a negative minor benefit or a peripheral misfortune for example the all out benefit begins diminishing. Therefore, most extreme benefit is accomplished at a point where minor benefit is equivalent to minimal income. Figure 1 shows the diagrams for Total Revenue, Total Cost, Marginal Revenue, Marginal Cost and Total Profit. The benefit is expanded at yield = q*.This paper features that if minor income of a firm surpasses the minimal cost, a firm is in a solid position. Its minimal ben efit is sure. The firm would henceforth need to find a way to expand the degree of yield with the present assets gave the interest to a similar exists. Extra work might be required expanding cost however extra capital consumption is commonly not made in the short run. The firm may likewise take activities to help advertise request. These may incorporate advertising and special activities. If the peripheral income of a firm is not exactly negligible cost, the firm is working at imperfect levels. The firm needs to examine whether the yield delivered is really required. Assuming no, the yield levels are diminished.

How to Structure an HR Team of Any Size

How to Structure an HR Team of Any Size Human Resource (HR) management is one of the most important functions of any business, irrespective of size or type. Whether there is a large HR team or just a single HR manager, their role will essentially be the same, and will focus on the people in the business, including the hiring, training, and firing (if necessary) of employees.HR managers and teams generally handle every aspect of labor relations within the business, playing a pivotal role in ensuring organizational continuity and long-term productivity. Functions include overseeing interviews for new staff members; induction and training of the people chosen for various positions; evaluation of how employees perform; and dealing with grievances that employees and management might have.HR professionals also have to be able to accurately project business needs for employees, so that if someone leaves or is unable to work due to illness, it won’t impact adversely on the business. This can often mean additional training is nee ded for those who might have to step into other people’s positions, even temporarily. Alternatively they might rely on outsourcing temporary employees to fill the gap.To be able to fulfill the HR function adequately, the team needs to be structured in such a way that it can cope with the business needs, whatever these are. © Shutterstock.com | Rawpixel.comIn this article, we will start with 1) an introduction to HR and HR department, and continue then with 2) organizational structure of HR teams, 3) a model for modern HR, 4) whether HR:Employee ratios matter.INTRODUCTION TO HR AND HR DEPARTMENTTo be able to structure a HR team of any size it is important to understand the goals and challenges of HR, as well as the key functions most HR departments fulfill.Human Capital and What it MeansMuch of what an HR department deals with â€" from recruitment to training and then dealing with employees who work within the business â€" has to do with the management of human resources. But employees are much more than simply a tangible resource, and are rather regarded as valuable “human capital” that is able to produce results for the business.Most importantly, HR aims to maximize return on investment in terms of what is spent on employees (the human capital). It does this through communication and empathy, by focusing on issues like motivation, making employees feel recognized, and by encouraging effective leadership. To get the most out of the company’s human capital, HR also tackles problems and potential problems, including lost creativity and productivity, as well as time, money and resources that are wasted if human capital isn’t maximized.While the benefits that are usually achieved by an effective HR team are not always tangible, they have a tremendous impact on both company performance and the resulting bottom line. Ultimately, when an HR department recognizes human capital, it puts its people first. Furthermore, by doing this, it helps to minimize financial risk and increase capital gain within the business.Goals and Challenges of HRHR teams within organizations and businesses are usually comprised of largely administrative personnel who are responsible for the management of employee performance, employee relations, and resource planning.Goals of HRThe primary goal of HR is to help ensure that businesses are able to meet strategic goals by finding suitable employees and then managing them effectively. It does this by:Becoming a strategic business partner within the companyActing as an agent for changeBeing a champion for employeesFulfilling an important administrative roleThe challenge when it comes to meeting these goals in today’s business environment is for HR departments to be strategically proactive partners acting on behalf of management or business owners. In the past the primary function of HR focused on administration and employees, and this role was commonly seen as reactive. Also, there was no proven method of measuring the value of HR.Challenges of HRBecause of the traditionally administrative role of HR, today’s HR professionals face enormous challenges. In many companies they have very little control or influence largely because HR is still often viewed with skepticism. This negativity makes many HR professionals feel overwhelmed and vulnerable.In a 2005 report by the Society for HR Management (SHRM) titled The Maturing Profession of Human Resources Worldwide, statistics showed that more than half (54.8 percent) of HR professionals considered themselves unable to advance in their careers because the organization did not hold them in high esteem â€" even though most hold at least one university degree. The report also identified a major challenge to be the need for HR professionals to show they can add value to the business or organization in the fields of talent management and human capital. It also stated that it was imperative for them to focus on their strength as a professional group with recognized certification.So for starters, irrespective of the size of the HR team, it must comprise suitable professionals.Major Functions of HR TeamsThe primary function of HR teams has always been to provide a basic support function, mostly doing admin and dealing with staff matters. In addition to recruitment, placement, training, career development and so on, HR teams will usually facilitate all forms of documentation both within and outside of the company, from contracts to passports. If staff members need to travel, HR might do flight reservations, hotel bookings and anything else that is needed.To be really effective it is essential to structure the HR team so that it is also able to deal with a full range of policies and procedures including:A business staffing plan that will budget the costs of manpower, reduce costs of recruitment, and allow existing employees to be promoted (or moved) to vacant positions. This plan would usually be updated annually.Recruitment of new staff and internal selection to vacant positions if necessary.Implementation of a graded salary structure that is competitive in the market place.A transparent table of company benefits and allowances that relates to positions, experience and achievements.A properly scheduled leave and company holidays plan.Employee performance evaluation systems that can be used for salary reviews and promotional considerations.Promotion and merit increases that follow the organization’s business plan. It is important that HR works closely with management on this.Well thought out policies that relate to financial loans, housing and salary advances.A clearly defined policy for business travel. Generally this could be based on actual costs or according to a predefined maximum budget.Time, attendance and overtime policies that ensure proper control, remuneration and penalties (where necessary).Systems that enable employee suggestions to help increase profitability or reduce cost, and help to motivate employees perhaps with rewards.Termination of employment procedures that relate to both firing and resignation.In large companies, team members might only be responsible for one or maybe two critical function. If the business is very small, one or two people might handle everything.Regardless of the size of the business and t he HR team, once the policies and procedures have been developed, it is essential to find a reliable information system that can be used to inform and educate employees. Not only should they be aware of the policies and procedures in place, but they should also be kept up-to-date if and when they don’t comply, or if circumstances require them to take some type of action.In real terms, what this means is that the HR team helps the business operate as well as change if need be â€" for instance if it is going to downsize, restructure, or merge with another business.Evolution of HR FunctionsBusiness modes and methods have changed so much in the past 100 years, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that the relatively new HR function continues to evolve. Although people have done business for centuries, and various concepts including labor relations, industrial relations, and even personnel administration existing from the early 20th century, it wasn’t until the 1980s that the term hum an resources was mooted. It took another couple of decades for the idea of human capital to emerge, and the whole concept of HR continues to grow and evolve.In his paper The Evolution of HR: Developing HR as an Internal Consulting Organization Richard M. Vosburgh (Exhibit 5, page 16) shows the impact and contribution of HR to business as it both limits liability and protects the downside, while maximizing the upside and adding value to the business.From a function that really only dealt with labor relations, as HR has evolved, it has gradually embraced employee relations, personnel, a greater realm of human resources, and added immensely to organizational effectiveness. In the beginning it was mostly concerned with safety and workers’ compensation issues, and labor and union relations. Then compliance, benefits and general employee relations became more and more important.As HR became a recognized term, compensation, training and development, survey action planning and staffing an d talent management became vitally important, with organizational design and strategic HR planning gaining increased impetus. Latterly, the continued evolution of HR functions have been seen to encompass HR information systems, performance management, diversity and equal employment opportunity (EEO), as well as the value and importance of HR as a business partner, and the culture and image that goes hand-in-hand with it.ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF HR TEAMSThe internal structure of an HR team or department is hugely important. Governed by function, it should have a hierarchical structure with one person heading the team. Unless it is a small business that relies on a single manager or just a couple of people, this organizational structure should comprise separate units that specialize in key human resource management functions. Each unit should have a unit supervisor who reports to the team leader â€" or an HR person responsible for each function.The most efficient way of organizing the structure of an HR team is to have units that each specialize on key HR functions. So for instance, one unit might focus on training and development, another on issues that involve money (salaries, compensation, benefits and so on), and another that only deals with employee and labor relations. Ultimately the units that form the team structure will be determined by the business itself.Typical Units in a Hierarchical HR Team StructureWhile function is closely related to any HR team structure, the units themselves need to be carefully defined depending largely on the size of business. Typically, a medium-sized business would have six units dealing with:RecruitmentTraining and career developmentAdministration of compensation and benefitsHealth and safetyEmployee relationsComplianceRecruitmentRecruitment is all about finding the right employees for the business, and placing them in the best position (for the business and the employee). So this unit would cover aspects of business st affing as well as internal selection when needed.The main function of the unit would be advertising jobs, sourcing potential employees and screening them, doing preliminary interviews, and then coordinating meetings for managers that are responsible for making final decisions.Training and Career DevelopmentEven though the unit responsible for recruitment would ensure that new employees (or those filling other positions) have the right qualifications for the job, there is also a need for further training and development. For example, many HR departments offer leadership training that is designed to give employees the skills to take on supervisory or management positions. Other opportunities might include career or personal development for those wanting to improve their qualifications or personal goals. The HR unit wouldn’t normally provide the training, but would rather simply facilitate.Compensation and Benefits AdministrationThis unit would be tasked to handle all types of compen sation and benefits including insurance, personal benefits, and sometimes payroll. Compensation, specifically, would include the setting up of structures that would ensure wages and other payments were competitive. Benefits would include negotiating insurance, group health benefits, retirement funds and so on.In a large company these two functions (compensation and benefits) could be split into two units. Payroll might be a third unit, or it could be outsourced.Health and SafetyThis is a vital HR unit that plays a critical role in ensuring that the workplace is safe and healthy. Operated according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) by HR risk and safety specialists, the unit would work closely with those in charge of compensation and benefits.OSHA requirements are very clear, and amongst other things, the HR unit would need to maintain proper logbooks where workplace incidents and injuries are reported. Those in charge of the unit would also have to ensure that all oth er environmental and personal safety regulations are adhered to, and that emergency, first aid and personal safety equipment is provided to employees.Employee RelationsAs mentioned previously, labor relations have always been at the forefront of HR, even before it was a defined concept. So employee relations go with the territory, and are a very important part of any business. As an HR unit, employee relations will help to strengthen relationships between employers and employees, by focusing on job satisfaction and resolving any conflict that might arise in the workplace.Some businesses deal with unions, in which case this function would usually be handled by HR. While a separate union-orientated unit may be required by larger businesses, functions would normally include negotiations and bargaining as well as development of management response and interpretation of labor union issues, including contracts.ComplianceA critical issue for employers and employees, compliance relates to f air employment practices, working conditions (including health and safety), and a myriad of working conditions and issues that have the potential to adversely affect productivity and impact on profitability.There are a number of federal laws as well as other rules and regulations that those responsible for this HR unit need to be aware of and well versed with.A MODEL FOR MODERN HRThe organizational capability of HR teams is something relatively new that has only been evolving since about 2000. The earliest accepted model for modern HR was propounded by Dave Ulrich in his book Human Resources Champions first published in 1997. Developed by the need to ensure that HR meets the needs of both the business and the people working there, his model is a simple yet effective one that presents four basic functions or roles. Two of the functions focus on processes and people, and the other two on day-to-day operations and future strategies, and together they form the accepted goals of HR in to day’s business world.The four basic roles  include:Process and strategic focus â€" in the form of a strategic partnerPeople and strategic focus â€" in the form of a change agentProcess and operational focus â€" in the form of an administrative expertPeople and operational focus â€" in the form of employee relations expertsEach of these roles relates directly to the goals of HR mentioned earlier, and each has three or more accountabilities for which HR is expected to take responsibility.Strategic PartnerAccountabilities for strategic partners are strategic HR planning, HR as a business partner, and culture and image.Change AgentAccountabilities for change agents are staffing and talent management, organizational design, survey action planning, performance management, and training and development.Administrative expertAccountabilities for administrative experts are compensation, benefits, HR information systems, and compliance.Employee Relations ExpertAccountabilities for employee re lations experts are employee relations, labor relations, safety and workers’ compensation, diversity and EEO.The larger the size of the business and its complexity, the larger the size of the HR team plus the more complex its design model will be. It is vital that the design of HR departments match all dimensions of the business. If there are multiple products, customers, and service lines, HR needs to support them all. Ultimately, HR may be seen as an internal consulting organization that (provided it is properly structured) can have a profound impact on your business.DO HR:EMPLOYEE RATIOS MATTER?When evaluating HR:employee ratios, the question ultimately is, does size matter? Even though we are discussing how to structure any sized HR team, it’s important to evaluate the size of the team before you start structuring the department. By the same token, HR-employee ratios are a controversial issue that people often use to try and measure the effectiveness of HR. One of the danger s, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers is that company executives sometimes manipulate the ratios to cut HR staff.The norm used to be to have a dedicated HR person for each executive in the management team. Today ratios of 500 or more employees per HR have become increasingly common.An SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Study suggests that businesses with fewer than 100 employees hire two to three HR professionals, decreasing this figure as the size of the business increases. So for 7,500 employees the ratio would relate to 0.42 HR people, and for 500 to 999, 0.82. But there’s no real agreement on the ratio, and so companies need to assess how much value HR can add to the business.Experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers point out that HR professionals often have different skills, so this also needs to be factored in before the ratio is decided. For instance if the HR department offers strategic partner skills, a company can justify a higher ratio of people. But if they simply do largely automated admin, the ratio should be lower.The irony is that while HR departments are there to determine staff quotas and quality, there’s often nobody there to determine the quotas and quality required to set up an effective HR division.

The Concept of Trust, Social Preferences and Fairness in Corporate Finance - Free Essay Example

This essay examines the concept of trust, social preferences and fairness in corporate finance and then explores and discusses their respective importance in the financial markets. Ernest Hemingway famously quoted that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The role of trust has become paramount in financial markets due to their increasing complexity, and especially because of the escalating use of electronic communication within them, which has made exchanges more estranged and depersonalised. The concept of trust has often been credited for providing significant insights into the transactions and conduct that are found in financial markets. It is however important to first understand the meaning of the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"trustà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, in order to carry out a meaningful analysis of its salience in these markets. The dictionary definition of the word is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or somethingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"a reasonable belief that people will tell the truth, and keep their promisesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. A particularly relevant definition of trust is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"faith or confidence in the loyalty, strength and veracity of a person or thing, without examinationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. This definition demonstrates the connection between trust and confidence and is therefore significant, since more often than not; collapses in confidence in financial markets are largely attributed to breakdowns in trust (Tomasic and Akinbami, 2011). Another relevant concept of trust that is pertinent is the definition which was later examined experimentally in the trust game experiment, by Bacharach and Gambetta (2001) and Ermish and Gambetta (2006). The financial system being a series of interlocking markets requires trust within them and between firms and consumers to operate effectively and efficiently. Trust instils a feeling of belief that the relationship with the corporation will be predictable, reliable, and consistent in meeting the necessary needs and requirements (CoveyLink Worldwide, 2006). It is crucial to the health of the economy and the financial landscape because it provides investors with a fairly easy and inexpensive way to make decisions. Banking and finance scholars, such as Gray and Hamilton have asserted that emotions such as trust and confidence have significant influences on decision making, because evaluating the vast array of information and risks associated with complex and uncertain financial services products is difficult for consumers. Thereby, in reality, investors and consumers use trust as some sort of a heuristic, relying on it to fill information gaps. It is therefore imperative that due attention be paid upon it to help investors to continue investing in financial products and services, and securities. Guiso and Sapienza et al. (2008) explicitly addressed everyday investment activity in terms of trust in the stock market by saying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The decision to invest in stocks requires not only an assessment of the risk-return trade off given the existing data, but also an act of faith (trust) that the data in our possession is reliable and the overall system is fair.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Trust therefore is important not only in commercial relationships, but is relevant in both retail financial and wholesale markets. Quigley (2007) emphasized the critical role of trust, stating, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Without trust and confidence, markets do not function and value is destroyedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . It has been observed in the past that key components of financial markets such as transparency, investor confidence, liquidity and uncertainty, are largely based and dependent on trust and when financial institutions engage in trust abuse, these very components are severely eroded. This was particularly highlighted during the global financial crisis wherein when confidence (trust) declined, the abovementioned important foundations receded, thereby eventually weakening the financial market. The collapse of Northern Rock in 2007 serves as a stark illustration of why trust is instrumental and how its disappearance can have a detrimental effect on financial markets. Furthermore, breakdowns of trust between the members of a firm, and between a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s relationships with other firms through self-dealing and abuse can have a damaging impact as strongly illustrated by the infamous collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and in Goldman Sachsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ role in the ABACUS scandal in 2007. Stakeholders such as shareholders, creditors and employees trust the senior m anagement of the firm to run it in their best long term interest; the drawback however of strong relations of trust is the high dependency of one party on another that it entails. The use of creative accounting represents an impact of the abuse of this trust, most noticeably demonstrated by the managers of Enron that ultimately contributed to its downfall. Such esoteric accounting treatments conceal short-comings in corporate performance and could be used to fundamentally mislead the market, and raise doubts about the reliability of financial report. Moreover, the so called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Agency problemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ highlights the need and importance of trust between the internal members of a firm, as exhibited in the case of Lehman Brothers wherein the management failed the trust placed on them by their shareholders, thereby leading to its inevitable collapse. For financial markets to operate smoothly, trust between consumers and their agents, between consumers and intermed iaries, and between consumers and the market are undoubtedly required (Social market foundation, 2011). Trust, through the assumption that others will behave similarly according to common norms of economic conduct, instils a belief in a person that their counterpart in a transaction will not take advantage of them and this is an important aspect in the wider social context in which financial organisations operate. It is thus a necessity amongst the diverse professionals and organisations that constitute the market, and promotes economic efficiency in instrumental terms and reduces the transaction costs of economic exchange. Although trust is normally ignored in standard economic models, the existence of trust amongst those who operate within financial markets and the financial markets as a whole, is of prime importance. It is presumably ignored in the standard models due to the supposition that external law and order parties can effectively protect the interests of contracting parti es from fraud and abuses of trust. Companies that inculcate values such as integrity, trust and transparency outperform other firms by a wide margin in terms of growth in stock price and profitability (Kouzes and Posner, 2002). Moreover, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"transparency paysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, as declared by Robert Eccles (2001). Divulging essential information has proven invaluable to companies as it lowers the cost of capital and poses less risk for investors. They are perceived by the public to be more honest as providing accurate information helps the investors in making informed decisions. Deliberately withholding information that is a requisite to making these decisions can create a sense of mistrust and thereby seriously damage a corporations potential to improve business performance within the financial markets. High profile debacles of financial shenanigans, such as Enron and Tyco demonstrated the negative effects of complex business structures and dispensing fallacious finan cial information. The integrity of markets therefore largely depends on market participants being honest and open with each other. According to Tonkiss (2009), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Trust leads a double life as both a social value and an economic resource; as such, it is a critical concept for linking social arrangements with economic outcomes.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The conservative view of contractarianism states that corporations are a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"web of implicit and explicit contracts,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ with established rights and obligations amongst the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s many stakeholders which includes investors, creditors and the management. Participants upholding this view generally disregard values such as trust, ethics and fiduciary duties. On the other hand, progressive scholars state that trust is predominantly important within firms and the stakeholders do not necessarily behave in a strictly individualistic and selfish manner, as is often implied by other economic models . Additionally, they believe that economic relationships are also social relationships that look beyond just the pursuit of self-interest and in fact, require a certain degree of trust to flourish in the first place. This arguably applies to the associations between different entities in the financial markets and raises doubts as to whether financial markets are merely contract-based markets or if they have a social character, and whether some financial market participants should have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"other-regardingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ duties such as fiduciary duties imposed upon them. The traditional description of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"homo economicusà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, as the perpetual pursuit of self-interest may not strictly apply in financial markets because the trustees could anticipate additional and institutional benefits from behaving a certain way or making a particular business decision. By expecting the other party to act correspondingly and by upholding the interests of others, they may derive benefit from their seemingly altruistic behaviour. This brings us to the importance of social preferences or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"other-regardingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ duties in financial markets. Social preferences or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"other-regardingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ duties are a type of preference including trust, fairness, reciprocity and empathy, and are studied in behavioural and experimental economics and social psychology, through economics experiments. Folk wisdom in behavioural economics depicts that in competitive markets, social preferences are of no importance. The standard neoclassical model is built on the assumption that all economic agents are only interested in their own material well-being. Many experiments, starting with Smith (1962, 1964) and later confirmed by Fehr and Schmidt (1999) and Dufwenberg et al. (2008) have shown that the standard neoclassical model holds true and that due to the presence of competition, all market participants behave as if the y are purely self-interested. These authors maintain that even though the standard model is unfair and distributes almost the entire surplus to one side of the market, the classic model predicts market outcomes quite well. Dufwenberg et al. (2008) through a general equilibrium model that allowed for a large class of social preferences identified necessary and sufficient conditions on preferences, which they termed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“separabilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , which further strengthened their belief in the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“classicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  theory; participants with social preferences behave as if they were purely self-interested. However, in contrast, there is also a large body of mounting experimental and field evidence showing that many people are not purely self-interested and that their behaviour is affected by caring about the well-being of others (Ledyard 1995, Fehr and GÃÆ' ¤chter 2000, Karlan 2005, Egas and Riedl 2008, Falk and Heckman 2009). Such social (aka othe r-regarding) preferences constitute a profound deviation from the standard neoclassical homo economicus assumption and also show that people are heterogeneous; some care a lot about other peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s payoffs while others care very little. The findings by these authors imply that people have been found to promote fairness and care about the welfare of other people by willing to sacrifice their own resources. This behaviour has been termed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“social preferencesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“other-regarding preferencesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  in the behavioural literature. It has through experiments shown that many people do not only care about their own material well-being, but are also concerned about the payoffs of other people they interact with. Despite the cited evidence, the standard neoclassical assumption is still prevalent in the finance literature. Guth el al. (1982) introduced the first and probably most famous experiment on social preferences, term ed as the ultimatum game. Many other experiments ensued in which observed behaviours were inconsistent with the self-interest assumption. For example, in public good games many people deviate from the dominant strategy of free-riding and voluntary contribute to the public good (Ledyard 1995). Furthermore, if given the opportunity, they are willing to punish non-contributors even if this is costly to themselves (Fehr and GÃÆ' ¤chter, 2000). In gift exchange games subjects in the role of workers provide higher effort than contractually enforceable if their employers offer generous wages (Fehr et al. 1993). Thus, experimental evidence does suggest that many subjects are willing to give up some resources to help others. While many subjects in such experiments are willing to spend resources to achieve a fair allocation or to reciprocate kind or unkind behaviour, there are also many subjects who behave very selfishly. To understand the outcomes of these experiments it is necessary to a cknowledge the heterogeneity of social preferences and to study the interaction of fair-minded and self-interested subjects (Fehr and Schmidt 1999, Fehr, Klein and Schmidt 2007). Furthermore, experimental studies such as Brown et al. (2004,2008) showed that the role of social preferences is magnified when parties interact repeatedly and form relational contracts or if they interact once but can acquire a reputation for fair or trustworthy behaviour (Bartling et al. 2009). These findings cannot be explained by the standard neoclassical model but they are consistent with the models of social preferences discussed above. Social preferences are important because they can be used as an alternative to performance based incentive schemes and in fact, they are consistent with many of the frequently observed anomalies in financial markets. They give rise to externalities that will not be internalized if each agent chooses a consumption bundle that maximizes their internal utility. A fe w papers have also shown that socially responsible investments may sometimes perform financially better or not worse than conventional investments (Derwall et al. 2005; Kempf and Osthoff, 2007; Edmans, 2011). Social preferences might be important in many other strategic situations as well and therefore the results of such experiments have broad implications for economists and non-economists alike. They may give rise to herding, multiple equilibria and to booms and busts on asset markets. Herding is an optimal strategy if investors have social preferences and gives rise to multiple asset market equilibria. Even if all market participants behave optimally and have rational expectations, these effects can be used to elucidate time varying risk premia, stock market bubbles and crashes Gebhardt (2002, 2004). Despite these advances and the topicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s importance, it is fair to say that little is known about whether, and to what extent, social preferences influence economic ou tcomes in financial markets. A standard argument against the importance of social preferences in finance and economics is that they are driven out in the market place (Levitt and List 2007, List 2009). The regulation of financial markets is however is shaped not only by considerations such as beyond trust, efficiency or self-interest; they also include concern for ethics and fairness (Shefrin and Statman, 1993). The view that fairness concerns and adequate punishment of unfair behaviour are an expression of preferences has been proved to be consistent by Neuro-scientific studies. Fairness is an equally important consideration in financial markets, particularly signified by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in which the words à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"fairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"unfairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"fairnessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ were mentioned a hundred and thirty times. The dictionary meaning of fairness is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the stat e, condition, or quality of being fair, or free form bias or injustice. Although the words à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“fairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“fairnessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  can mean a variety of different things in different contexts, there are two common themes in most discussions of fairness. The first being procedural fairness i.e. equal rules apply to all participants while the second one is distributive fairness; it examines the outputs rather than the inputs and is concerned with the equality of outcomes. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"inequality of endowmentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ has always been an integral problem in financial markets since some investors start with more resources and investments than others, and therefore generate a competitive advantage from the very beginning. Procedural fairness thus can be viewed from the perspective of equal opportunities for all, wherein all market participants are treated alike. Important analysis however has shown that distributive fairness has a la rger influence on consumersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ evaluations of overall fairness, being over four times as important as any other element of fairness (The Financial Services Research Forum, 2012). Shefrin and Statman (1999) identified seven dimensions of fairness in financial markets and viewed fairness as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“claim to entitlementsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . The various dimensions namely being: Freedom from coercion. Freedom from misrepresentation. Equal information. Equal processing power Freedom from impulse. Efficient prices Equal bargaining power References: Adler, P. S. 2001. Market, hierarchy, and trust: the knowledge economy and the future of capitalism.Organization science, 12 (2), pp. 215234. Corsetti, G., Devereux, M. P., Guiso, L., Hassler, J., Saint-Paul, G., Sinn, H., Sturm, J. and Vives, X. 2010. A trust-driven financial crisis.EEAG Report on the European Economy, pp. 5370. Duggar, J. W. 2009. The role of integrity in individual and effective corporate leadership.Journal of Academic Business Ethics, 3. Mayer, C. 2008. Trust in financial markets.European Financial Management, 14 (4), pp. 617632. Mcclure, B. 2014.The Importance Of Corporate Transparency. [online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental/03/121703.asp [Accessed: 6 Mar 2014]. Shefrin, H. and Statman, M. 1993. Ethics, fairness and efficiency in financial markets.Financial Analysts Journal, pp. 2129. Tomasic, R. and Akinbami, F. 2011. The role of trust in maintaining the resilience of financial markets.Journal of Corporate Law Studies, 11 (2). Tonkiss, F. 2009. Trust, confidence and economic crisis.Intereconomics, 44 (4), pp. 196202.

Food Insecurity And Measurements Used - 1681 Words

Food Insecurity and Measurements Used To understand food insecurity, one first needs to grasp the concept of food security. Food security is present when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and healthy food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy lifestyle.1 So, food insecurity is when this source of healthy nutritious food is limited or unattainable, causing food deprivation and malnutrition.1 Food insecurity is a phenomenon that does not exist solely between those who are homeless, but can present itself in families where both parents could be employed and have adequate housing. In 2008, more than 14% of all U.S. households, 49 million people were food†¦show more content†¦population. For instance, these surveys do not take into account people living in group quarters, those who are institutionalized or are homeless. 2(p.6) Another tool that is used to measure food insecurity would be from the National Health and Nutrition Examinati on Survey (NHANES). This particular survey collects detailed medical and nutritional information on all sample people. More than 99% of the eligible sample participated in this Food Security Survey Module developed by the USDA to measure household food security over the prior 12 months.7 These data measures are very beneficial for identifying the links between health, food insecurity and diet.2(p46) Regardless, there are many measurements used, and many determining factors to help us see where food insecurity exists. Food Insecurity and Health Disparity There are a variety of reasons of why food insecurity exists within the United States. One of the reasons for food insecurity is the varying income level of families and individuals. Lower-income families may not have access to healthier food options, and may not have the required transportation it may take to gain access to healthier food choices. 2(p31) Many low and even middle-income families can find it often difficult to spend the amount of money need for healthy food when lower quality and lower price food is more attainable. For many people who are worried when or