Saturday, September 21, 2019

Ethics Handbook Essay Example for Free

Ethics Handbook Essay We chose you as an employee of Company X because we see you as a valuable person who can contribute to the same priority. As a team member of Company X, are goals are clear. Through public respect, responsiveness, and accountability as our core values, we are able to remain leaders in the industry. The success of our company is dependent on you, our stakeholders, and our customers. We take great pride in our reputation in the industry and continually monitor ourselves for ways we can improve business for our clients, stakeholders, policymakers, and the general public, both local and national. Our reliability is measured through our commitment to delivering service with integrity and through honorable conduct. Because we are at the forefront of public service, we are judged on our choices and decisions. Our reputation is based on the public’s view of our commitment to ethical business practices and our respect for society. As an organization we aim to maintain active engagement in ethical behavior that promotes social responsibility in everyday practices. This is where you come in as an employee. We encourage all employees to actively participate in community outreach and events that foster both your own growth and the growth of social values. Company X will reward this activity if accompanied with ethical decision making by increasing promotion opportunities and/or allowing this experience to be counted in your job description. If you are interested in this opportunity, see Human Resources for a list of approved community outreach opportunities. Company X Values It is the policy of Company X to embrace ethical behavior through clear communication of the laws, rules and expectations that are defined in this code of ethics. In addition, Company X values accountability for good ethical choices and socially respected behavior. We rely on every member to evaluate their own behavior and conduct respectable business through solid every day decision making. Ethics are not fixed, and subject to interpretation through each and every interaction between everyone involved. Because value s and ethical decision making can be challenging, Company X wants to take some of the pressure off the complexities of making difficult ethical decisions. Therefore, this manual provides directives used to evaluate and interpret best practices in the business environment. In addition, these policies and all regulations including administrative actions, apply to all staff  members, contractors, and volunteers and are strictly enforced (see section Member Misconduct).The manual also contains fixed principles, mandatory training, resources for questionable situations, ethics mentor, anonymous hotline, and resources for situations that may be questionable. A signed copy of this manual will be placed in all member’s personnel file and will be used as reference for future use. Please be sure you understand these policies and procedures before you sign the document. We begin by outlining and defining the standards of social and ethical conduct. In addition to standards of behavior, training is outlined. Training is mandated to all staff employed by Company X. Additional training and resources are offered throughout the year in respon se to the changing needs of the industry and social issues and will be announced semi-annually. Principles of Behavior and Conduct No member, contractor or person acting as a representative shall: Discriminate against clients, coworkers, stakeholders, Accept monetary compensation, services in trade or benefit from any interaction directly or indirectly related to the services provided by company x if the value is determined to be at or above $30. Engage in, use or create an appearance of using official capacity to influence clients stakeholders, or other members for personal or professional gain. Knowingly make statements or take action that is untruthful or can be reasonably determined to be untruthful. Engage either directly or indirectly in political campaigns, nor engage in political conversation with anyone while acting in capacity of Company X business. Retaliate against any member who comes forward with claims of ethical violations. Retaliation is mandatory termination of employment without further warning (see section Member Misconduct). All members contractors, or persons acting as a representative shall: Report all incidents of violations to the Ethics Office. Interact and promote personal integrity, honesty, fairness and confidence in compliance with all laws, rules, policies and regulations both internally and externally. Maintain confidentiality in all interactions. Written, verbal, email, phone. Avoid inappropriate associations with clients or client representatives. Engage, actively encourage and support community involvement through support and reassurance in wrap-around service delivery. Utilize efficient use of resources in such a way that minimizes the impact to the environment (energy and materials). Report suspected, potential, or clear violation of ethical misconduct. All members in the chain of command are held to the same standards. Contractors, and any individual acting in a capacity to officially represent Company X are also required to carry out all actions with an intent to promote public trust, integrity, and confidence. From team members to corporate leaders, we expect the same set of principles through a set model of best practices. Best practices is recognized by asking yourself is this decision going to cause harm to someone, is this situation going to violate law or company policy, is my action going to violate stakeholder values, or compromise my position within my job role? Best practices will help us all to remove some of the risks we might face in everyday decision making by communicating set values, social responsibility and ethical standards for all members. Because best practices is subjective, training and resources will be available to provide leadership and mentoring. We encourage open discussion when personal values and ethi cs might cause conflict or confusion. As a condition of continued employment, mandatory ethics training is provided and monitored (see monitoring ethics section below). Ethics Training Leadership teams attend annual ethics training. Training includes skills to monitor and mentor lower staff. As a result, members can be confident that management is able to provide guidance and support for most ethical decisions. In order to communicate Company X’s policies, values, and changing trends in legal and social ethical issues formal training is required. Company X models this by providing training. As a result, all staff are required to complete the following formal training: In the first month of employment, all staff will go through instructor led training targeted toward individual and group acknowledgement of legal situations, ethical dilemmas, social responsibility and reporting requirements. This interactive training will present scenarios in which employees will make decisions whether ethical violations may or may not have occurred. Independent trainers with local management will evaluate answers and offer answers to difficult scenarios. All staff will take a yearly instructor led course on the history of civil rights and one follow up interactive on line course which presents current social, business and ethical issues in industry. General managers will receive value based ethics training  tailored from annual risk assessment data. The goal is for managers to set modeled behavior and create positive influence. Company X sponsors an annual Industry Standards Town Hall meeting. We value transparency and company input from all of us and our intentions are to provide all of us the opportunity to go over changing social issues, our previous year’s successes and failures, and what can we do to support the values of Company X, our clients, and community partners. Our company will be closed on this day while each of us enjoy a paid day to come and participate in this interactive get together. Member Misconduct Company X recognizes ethical conduct is not always easy to define. We value fairness and strive to provide impartial judgment based on facts and data. All reports of violations are reviewed and judged by an independent review board who will at determination of reported violations, determine consequences and refer cases for criminal prosecution if necessary. Consequences for violation of ethical misconduct will be strictly enforced. Company X has zero tolerance for unethical behavior. Informal and formal offenses will be forwarded to the Ethics Committee for record keeping purposes. Informal counsel for misconduct not related to any act of gross misconduct. This is the preferred method for first time offenses. Formal counsel is written report placed in member file for duration of one year. Two written reports within one year that are found to be validated through investigation will result either in unpaid suspension or immediate termination. Unpaid suspension. Gross negligence results in immediate termination and will be referred for criminal prosecution. Monitoring Auditing and Reporting Video monitoring in central locations where customer interactions will be supervised by an independent contractor. This is to protect you as an employee, protect customer interactions, and protect the interest of Company X. All computer and resource use by all employees is subject to monitoring and will be strictly enforced. IT managers have unlimited access to company owned property. Due to the potential time sensitive situations that may arise, no notice will be given prior to IT management accessing company computers. Team members personnel files will be maintained and include reported violations. These files will be analyzed for trends that can be traced back to departments, leaders, hiring practices, or substandard training. The Ethics Office, and Human Resources do not require your written consent for  release of information related to ethical violations. Semi-annual audits will be conducted on all departments within Company X by the Ethics A udit committee: Anonymous hotline reports will be compiled and reported to the Ethics Audit committee. Plan for Evaluating and Improving the Ethics Program After Implementation. The final results of all data compiled by the Ethics Office will be submitted to Corporate Leadership Committee who will analyze the results in order to evaluate potential changes to Company X’s ethical inventory. Data will also be collected from hotline calls, imposed ethical violations, and employee suggestions. This data will be measured against all complaints, judgments, and lawsuits both within Company X and the industry and be used to revise program standards. Data will also be analyzed and evaluated for ethical issues that need to be integrated in to future training and resources for staff. All staff will complete annual on line â€Å"How Are We Doing?† surveys. Focus groups tailored to each department’s group dynamic will analyze the data and make formal recommendations to the Ethics Office Staff, community and stakeholder input will be collected and analyzed for social and ethical value. The Ethics Office will compile the results from all departments and present the evidence to CEOs and senior management. Middle management and supervisors will be included in the final findings. Training will be adjusted and targeted to cultural, legal, and ethical risk factors. Positive yearly ethical performance evaluations, focus group opportunities, and promotional opportunities will be tied to annual employee review. Help and Resources Here at Company X we recognize that some ethical situations may be complex or blurred. Additionally, we recognize that the difficult decision to come forward with information against coworkers may prevent reporting incidents that need investigation. Furthermore, ethical decisions are often confusing and require complex decision making. We are here to help. Furthermore, if you have questions about your own decisions, questions about an incident, or just want to ask questions, we want to support you. For this reason, we provide an anonymous phone line that allows members to report violations, present questions and trouble shoot challenging scenarios. Ethics Office 360-555-1212 staffed by trained ethics officer. Anonymous hotline 360-555-4242 State Office of Ethics 1-999-555-2323 Federal Office of Ethics  1-777-555-7878 We provide annual reports of imposed ethics violations and the penalties imposed. Here is the link to www.companyx/ethics/reports.com I have read and understand the policies and ethical standards set for Company X. I am aware a signed copy of this policy will be placed in my team member personnel file.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Innovation, Change and Enterprise in the UK

Innovation, Change and Enterprise in the UK Craig Rhodes 1 (a) Critically evaluate why innovation and enterprise is so important for the UK and global economy and what can be done to encourage it? Developing an innovation strategy requires a clear definition of what is meant by innovation. Innovation is the effective commercial utilisation of new ideas. It refers to the scientific, technological, organisational, financial, and business accomplishments that lead to the introduction of new or substantially improved products, practices, services or entire business models. Innovation can be incremental or extreme. It ranges from small improvements in existing products, processes and services at one end of the spectrum to extreme changes associated with breakthrough products, disruptive change and brand new ideas at the other end. A great deal of innovation takes place in the middle of the scale where organisations develop and produce new products, processes and services for existing markets and consumers. Innovation is not always determined by new technology. An organisation can develop completely new products such as Apples iTunes and iPad platform using recognised technologies. Innovation involves varying degrees of risk and needs different resources and processes for its successful implementation. Incremental innovation encourages less risky enhancements by extending existing processes, products or services. Innovation almost always involves change. The word enterprise describes the actions of someone who shows some initiative by taking a risk by setting up, investing in and running a business. (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/starting-a-business-what-is-enterprise). This person can seem to be willing to take a risk and making things happen. The person will show initiative by seeing a potential business opportunity and tries to make it work. This can be seen as a bold or risky move for example investing in an opportunity with the potential of losing the investment should it all go wrong. Most of the time it will be a decisive person that shows enterprise. There is a need to innovate especially in UK/Global public service organisations due to their importance and size in developed countries. In the past century public service organisation have grown at a great pace. Such organisations as the NHS and American Education for example have grown and to survive its vital that they take the lead in innovation. Drucker (2007) expresses that pubic service institutions face similar situations, the knowledge is there and the need to innovate is clear. They now have to learn how to build the entrepreneurship and innovation into their own system. Otherwise they will find themselves superseded by outsiders who will create competing entrepreneur public service institutions and so render the existing one obsolete Drucker (2007) There is an increasing attention or support to Innovation, that innovation development is key to create/maintain/improve economic/organisation competitive advantage and secure organisation sustainability growth. Innovation is driven by the ability to see connections, to spot opportunities and to take advantage of them Tadd, Bessant (2009, p1). The key link between Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Change is that you cant really do one without involving the other is some form.An Innovation is the main source for an entrepeuneur, and its usally an innovation or entrepenuer that forces change within an organisation. Importance of Innovation and Enterprise Drucker (2007) refers to innovation and enterprise as a venture that can result in the creation of new wealth from making effective use of existing resources. Innovation commences with analysing opportunities, systematically reviewing these and exploiting these to gain maximum economic returns for organisations. Drucker (2007) has identified seven sources of opportunity that can lead to innovation. These include the enterprises own unexpected successes and failures and of its competition, incongruities (particularly in a process, for instance, production, distribution, or incongruities in customer behaviour), process needs, changes in industry and market structures, demographic changes, changes in meaning and perception and new knowledge (Drucker, 2007). Schumpeter (1934, 1939) classified innovation into five types; new products, new manufacturing processes, new sources of supply, exploration of new markets and new methods of organising business activities. Product innovation is the invention and commercialisation of completely new products and services. Process innovation involves bringing considerable improvements in the way products are made. Process innovation takes place by adopting new technologies (Schumpeter (1934, 1939). Inauen and Schenker-Wicki (2012) innovation has become essential for companies as it is resulting in the availability of knowledge, is facilitating technology transfer and fusion and is reducing innovation cycles. It is helping organisations in developing and maintaining their competitiveness and achieving success. It is assisting companies in exploring and exploiting new opportunities for commercialization. Innovation is a critical driver of economic change (Inauen and Schenker-Wicki, 2012). The views of Inauen and Schenker-Wicki (2012) are consistent with Joly et al (2010). According to Joly et al (2010) innovation is essential for organisations as it helps them in the creation of new products that can solve their customers everyday life problems. Innovation creates wealth and is a major driver of economic growth and development. Von Schomberg (2011) research also states that innovation is the key driver for organisational improvement and success. Niu et al (2013) believes that innovation and enterprise helps organisations in effectively exploiting new opportunities and using their resources to transform innovative ideas into successful outcomes (Niu et al, 2013). Whilst there is no doubt that innovation and enterprise is important for the growth of companies, national and international economies, yet it does suffer from some risks. The key risks of innovation and enterprise are that it requires considerable investment in financial and human resources. There is the risk that innovation can be copied by competitors. Innovation can be risky and lead to uncertain commercial returns (Hayes, 2014). Innovation and enterprise can be encouraged by understanding and applying the principles of change management in organisations. Furthermore, using open innovation, understanding national cultures, customers needs, crowdsourcing, user innovation, recruiting and training people, developing leaders can greatly assist organisations in effectively encouraging innovation. To compete effectively in intensely competitive business environments, organisations need to treat innovation as an essential part of their corporate strategy and not as a one off event. Continuous and consistent innovation is the key to organisational success in the global economy. Change Management Change Management is key to effective innovation and enterprise. It can be used to help employees go through the transition of accepting and implementing change within an organisation. Successful change management enables employees to understand the reasons for change. Part 2 of this essay goes into depths of why Change management is so important. Types of Change Harvard Business School (2003) states that businesses respond to challenges of new technology, new markets new competitors and consumer demand with four programs to overcome these obstacles. These four categories of change are: Structural Change Where the business is treated as a machine style model that are set up of different functions. During this change high level managements usually with the help of external consultants attempt to change these functions so they are able to accomplish a greater overall performance. Examples of previous endeavours for structural change have involved company mergers, acquisitions of other businesses and closure/reduction of operating units. Cost Cutting The main motivation for this type of change is the removal of areas of the business where there are less important activities and functions of a business where the company can squeeze extra cost out of operations. This may involve in department closures, redundancies or cuts in budgets when companies are going through tough times. Process Change The aim of this change is fundamentally a way of making operating processes quicker, more effective, more reliable and less costly, so basically an emphasis on changing how things get done in the business. Cultural Change This change concentrates on the human aspect of the business, where an organisation focuses on the relationship between the management and employees and look at the methods of how they do business. A shift from command and control management to participative management is an example of cultural change. Harvard Business School (2003) Process of Change Kurt Lewin a German-American psychologist introduced a straight forward model of process change which involves three stages that helps to understand the change process. The first stage is unfreezing which includes helping an organisation and its employees accept that change is required. Examining old processes, systems, employees and ways of thinking can show employees how important it is that the organisation changes. Communication in this part of the process is extremely important as it allows the business to inform the employees of the reasons for change, how it will benefit them and when the change will go ahead. The second stage is the Change Step, the transition period, where the implementation of the change takes place. This will be the point in the change process where reality hits the organisation that change is definitely happening, this is where it is key to continue clear communication as people will struggle to adapt to the idea of change, from this there will be resistance, panic and uncertainty. The final stage of Lewins model is Re-Freezing. This is the stage where the organisation looks for reinforcement and stabilisation after the implementation of change. This step was highlighted by Lewin as particularly important after Implementation to ensure that people do not revert back to previous ways of thinking or doing. The organisation has to attempt to guarantee the change is not lost and is reinforced into the Culture of and thinking of the organisation moving forward. Theories of Change The theory of change is a method that can help organisations in successfully achieving their change objectives and outcomes. The theory states that every change proposal needs to be carefully planned, requires the participation of others and needs to be evaluated to ensure that the planned activities are achieved. The theory states the long term goals of change and then maps these backwards to identify required preconditions (Brest, 2010). Organisations can successfully innovate through careful planning, seeking the participation and engagement of their employees and evaluating the degree to which innovation has been effective in improving organisational performance. Recognise and diagnosing the need for change. Recognising and diagnosing the need for change can be done by analysing the types of change, the context of change, using the cultural web model and forcefield analysis (Johnson et al, 2010). Encouraging Innovation and Enterprise Conclusion Innovation and enterprise is very important for the growth, development and survival of organisations in the UK and in the global economy. Innovation and enterprise enhance organisations competitive advantages and improve performance and productivity. However, innovation and enterprise suffers from the risks that it requires considerable financial investment and generate uncertain commercial returns. For businesses, innovation means sustained or improved growth. The innovative company or organisation delivers higher profits for its owners and investors. For employees, innovation means new and more interesting work, better skills and higher wages. Equally, an absence of innovation can lead to business stagnation and a loss of jobs. For the economy as a whole innovation is the key to higher productivity and greater prosperity for all. Innovation and enterprise can be encouraged by understanding and applying the principles of change management in organisations. Furthermore, using open innovation, understanding national cultures, customers needs, crowdsourcing, user innovation, recruiting and training people, developing leaders can greatly assist organisations in effectively encouraging innovation. To compete effectively in intensely competitive business environments, organisations need to treat innovation as an essential part of their corporate strategy and not as a one off event. Continuous and consistent innovation is the key to organisational success in the global economy. 1(b) Using relevant examples consider why innovation and change is often difficult to manage within organisations and how this can be overcome? In todays competitive business world change is the most critical factor in business. With heavy competition, technology and demographical forces pushing towards business change. There are not many businesses that can escape from change. The reasons for a business to adopt change is to maintain employee engagement, increase productivity and improve their performance to new levels. Sometimes change can be implemented due to a change in strategic direction. Change is brought in to make a difference from the past to the present. Change in the organisation can also mean embedding new technologies and creating new work practices into sections of the business. Technological change and new work practices in the organisation shows an impact on the way the business going. If a Business decides on implementing change within the organisation, they will need a team of members to encourage and manage the change. Charles Darwin once said It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change The Change process can be a very complex problem and managing it is equally as complex. This is why change is a process that must be carefully planned and executed. So, why is it difficult to manage? Well you can start with the fact that Change can sometimes arrive unexpectedly. A business may not be ready for change. One way of overcoming difficulties when managing change is by having effective Leadership during the change process. The leadership approach has to be focused towards increased and continuous communication. Â   Â  

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Education and Virginia’s Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own Essay -- A Room

â€Å"Only the gold and silver flowed now, not from the coffers of the king, but from the purses of men who had made, say a fortune from industry, and returned, in their wills, a bounteous share of it to endow more chairs, more lectureships, more fellowships in the university where they had learnt their craft† (754). This is a quote from Virginia’s Woolf’s essay, â€Å"A Room of One’s Own†. Here she is making a point about universities and the funding that they received from men that had gone to school there. Woolf’s essay takes place during the early nineteen hundreds when most women did not attend a university. There was great inequality of those who attended school because men had control over all the money. The men in society either received money from inheritances, or from industrial occupations, as Woolf mentions in her quote. Woolf’s essay focuses on the inequality of female writers’ recognition compared to men’s . She points out the fact that women writers were not very recognized by society because of their gender. This is true for the time period, but the reason that these women were not recognized is because of educational reasons. During Woolf’s time (the early 1900’s) women simply did not have the same resources that men had in order to be educated. The most important resource that they were lacking in was money. It took lots of money to be educated, and very few women had money of their own to attend a university. For the few that were educated, their education took place at an institution that was much less funded than a man’s institution. This funding for the institution includes the building itself and the quality of education. The quality of the education depends on the teachers that teach the classes and the ... ...an go to the best schools today. I am certain that this trend will also continue well into the future. So what difference does financial aid make? The difference is that now everyone can go to quality university rather than a low quality, low ranking university. Not every person can attend the best university. This is impossible. It is quite sad that female writers were not viewed as being as important in the past. I think that there have been many major changes to make men and women more equal today. The major equality factor is through education. Education is not only more possible for women, but for everyone. The many types of financial aid available make it possible for those who choose to attend a quality university, to achieve their goals. Work Cited Woolf, Virginia â€Å"A Room of One’s Own.† Ways of Reading, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

How does ICT affect both family and society? :: ICT Essays

 « There may be a reduced number of manual jobs. This is because computers and machinery can be used instead.  « ICT allows you to work from home. This is an advantage of no travelling and being able to live in any part of the country.  « There may be a reduction of jobs available because of the decrease in manual work. This would cause an increase in unemployment.  « The use of ICT gives the opportunity to work for yourself. It also makes it a lot easier than doing the work manually.  « There is the need to continually update worker skills, especially those who no longer spend year after year doing the same job.  « ICT can create new and interesting jobs. These can include jobs such as a computer programmer. This would also may work more enjoyable.  « With the increase in ICT there is the de-skilling or elimination of some office jobs. How will the new ICT system affect the family? A new ICT system is likely to affect the family in question, in different ways. However, it is likely to make the life of these people a lot easier and more manageable. It also allows you to be more organised. A Computer is especially helpful to school children and those who work. This is because using a computer is less time consuming, than compared to the manually writing everything up. It therefore makes life easier. Copies can be easily made meaning the family will not have to spends hours upon end rewriting documents. A new ICT system would allow the family to have improved communications around the world. The system would be equipped with the Internet and email service providers, such as Microsoft Outlook and Lycos. These facilities would allow the family to communicate with the rest of the world more easily. MSN messenger would be useful to children in the family and would also be convenient for work. The use of email is both quicker and more convenient than writing a letter. You can receive many attachments that you may have sent yourself or other people have sent. Email is a reasonably secure way of communication because you need a password to access your account. It is also useful because you can access your email from any server. You can also keep in contact with the family, no matter how far away they live. The family would have access to news on everyday events etc, via the Internet search engines and encyclopaedias. A new ICT system would allow the family to produce documents, databases, images, recordings etc. This is a lot less stressful than

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Romeo and Juliet Answer-to-Study-Guide

Romeo and Juliet – Answer Key to Study Guide 1. Although they are servants, they maintain the Montague/Capulet feud. 2. Gregory 3. These men are too quick to fight. 4. The punishment for more fighting is death. 5. quick-tempered 6. moody and depressed 7. Juliet is too young for marriage, she is his only hope, and she must give her consent also. 8. to see Rosaline 9. He falls in love too easily. 10. They fall in love. 11. an infatuated Romeo 12. The names of things do not change their basic traits. 13. metaphor 14. hyperbole 15. love 16. to foreshadow the use of an herbal brew 17. perform a marriage 18. making a pun on Tybalt’s name 9. Juliet has no interest in Paris. 20. She should meet Romeo at Friar Lawrence’s to get married. 21. a villain 22. He tells Tybalt that he loves him. 23. Tybalt draws his sword, and Romeo moves to stop him. 24. The day seems endless. 25. Juliet thinks that the nurse is saying that Romeo is dead. 26. oxymorons 27. sorrowful 28. Juliet does not feel that Romeo is a villain. 29. She is already married to Romeo but her parents do not know. 30. marry Paris 31. a marriage 32. She does not want to marry Paris. 33. imagery 34. Juliet will drink an herbal potion, she will be buried in the Capulet tomb, and Romeo will return from Mantua. 5. She is afraid. 36. finding herself in the tomb among the bodies of her relatives 37. dramatic irony 38. personification 39. uncontrolled sorrow 40. comic relief 41. Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet is dead. 42. He is taking action without thinking clearly. 43. to buy poison 44. Friar John returns without having delivered Friar Lawrence’s letter to Romeo. 45. Paris 46. to become a nun 47. She stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. 48. Lady Montague 49. There never was a sadder story than this. 50. Love at first sight is not real love.

Monday, September 16, 2019

How does Robert Louis Stevenson Create Tension in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Essay

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a gothic horror story. Around the time the novella was written, people were very much into things that were old, dark and creepy, which is very typical of this type of story. They were also very interested in how the human mind works. This story has the aspect of the human mind in it, which shows that Robert Louis Stevenson was influenced by society in this matter. Throughout the story, Stevenson creates tension in a number of different ways e.g. the way the plot unfolds, the structure, characterisation, setting and by deliberately keeping the reader waiting. Stevenson shapes the plot so that we do not see the whole picture until the very end. Instead he reveals it to us slowly by giving us clues. These clues make the reader wonder, and start to ask questions. This is good because the reader will keep on reading to find out the answer to their questions. The incident where a small man (Mr. Hyde) tramples all over a little girl is one of those clues. First Stevenson tells you about Mr. Hyde trampling over the girl. After this, he tells you that Mr. Hyde goes through a sinister looking door and then produces a cheque signed by Dr. Jekyll. This raises suspicion because Dr. Jekyll was a very respectable kind of man. He was hardly the kind of person to cold-heartedly trample over little girls. Another clue he gives us is the will Dr. Jekyll made. It said that if anything should happen to him, all his possessions should be given to Mr. Hyde and Mr. Hyde alone. This is strange in itself as most people leave things to all their family and close friends. Even stranger is the fact that his will said that if Dr. Jekyll went missing for three months or more, Mr. Hyde should simply take over his life. This is very strange, its almost as if Dr. Jekyll knew that something would happen to him. The last clue that I am going to mention (although there were many more) is the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. This was a horrific murder. But the clue lies in the weapon used to kill him. It was a stick that Mr. Utterson had bought Dr. Jekyll as a present. This is another clue that gets you thinking. Did he steal the stick? Or is there some other explanation? This creates a lot of tension in the story, it also makes the reader want to read on until they find out the answer. The structure of this novella is something that also creates tension. It is set out so that the reader sees things from more than one point of view. First of all you get the story from Mr. Utterson’s point of view. Then you get Dr. Lanyon’s narrative, which explains the letter he received from Dr. Jekyll. After this you get the full statement from Dr. Jekyll himself, which is where you get the answer to all your questions. Because of this layout, the reader is kept waiting until the very end of the story before they can make sense of what has been happening. This is why the structure creates tension. The way Stevenson reveals Mr Hyde to us makes a lot of tension. He keeps on building up the character by revealing bits about him here and there throughout the story. This brings him across as a very strange and mysterious character. The setting also plays an important part in the build up of tension. The way Stevenson describes the door at the beginning of the novella creates a lot of tension. He describes it as â€Å"blistered and dismatches on the panels† he also says that â€Å"children played shop upon the steps†, â€Å"schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings† and â€Å"for close on a generation no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages†. This makes the door sound very neglected and not a very nice place at all. Also, he describes it as â€Å"sinister†. This makes it sound very evil. All of this builds up tension and makes the reader want to read on to find out what the door has to do with the story. Throughout the story Stevenson deliberately keeps the reader waiting. A classic example of this is in the chapter â€Å"The Last Night†. Stevenson gives us a lot more clues to the mystery, such as Poole visiting Mr. Utterson about Dr. Jekyll. After their conversation finishes and they go to find Dr. Jekyll, he makes us wait and wait. First, we have to wait while the door is broken down. Then they find Mr. Hyde’s body dead on the floor and we are then left with a question: Where is Dr. Jekyll? In conclusion, I think Stevenson was very successful in creating tension in the story. All the different clues and questions he gave us right the way through the story create loads of tension. This is because as the story progresses it gets more complicated, and harder to understand. Then finally he gives the reader all the answers to all of the questions swimming round in their heads. As I read the story, I was getting more and more confused. I was trying to figure out what was going on, but did not succeed. As I got further through the story I just wanted to keep on reading to get more clues so that I could try to figure it out. When I finally got to the end of the story, and the accounts from Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll, everything dropped into place. After you read it, you start to think about all the clues you have been given and how obvious it should have been. I think this is a book that people will still be reading for many years to come. It is very interesting to read and it’s very enjoyable. This is the type of book, that if you read it again you would look at it from a totally different perspective, which therefore makes it a lot more interesting.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Blood Diamonds

Edwin Lopez Ms. Korbelack English 121 13 November 2012 â€Å"Blood† Diamonds in Africa â€Å"In Sierra Leone, more than 10,000 people have suffered amputation because of the diamond trade, which has become a trademark atrocity for the rebels†. Unfortunately, Ibrahim Fofana, a diamond miner, shared a similar fate to the thousands that suffered brutal amputations from the Rebels. Ibrahim Fofana is like many of the miners who are forced to work long brutal hours in diamond mines. And according to UK Channel 5 â€Å"The True Story† Documentary Series, â€Å"In April 1998 the RUF attacked his village.Rebels confronted his neighbor demanding diamonds, when he said he had none he was shot and killed. A different fate awaited Ibrahim, they chopped his hands off. † Diamonds are known to contain such an essential significance in which we take part of in our everyday lives. From fashion statements to wedding rings, diamonds have been in the competitive trading busine ss for years and the demand will continue to grow as long as our society greatly cherishes them. Diamonds are one of the most solicit natural resources available, but unfortunately, the origins of these diamonds are not as pleasant as the diamonds themselves.Unethical diamond businesses are adding fire to the already heated Africa, and it needs to stop. The high demands for diamonds outside of Africa are primarily the reason these different civil wars have been created, and should be thwarted. When there is a lack of enforcement, control, and basic human rights, action needs to be taken to prevent corrupt business trades and future bloodshed. In times of a civil war being fueled by the â€Å"blood† diamonds, Africa is in desperate need of laws and enforcement.Enforcing laws and regulations will prevent a majority of murders and give more security to the people suffering from the rebel’s brutal attacks. According to the United Nations, â€Å"On 1 December 2000, the Uni ted Nations General Assembly adopted, unanimously, a resolution on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict, breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict, as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts. † To thwart these unauthorized black-market sales, the government has to get involved and needs to enforce strict laws punishing these felonies.Also, in other words of the United Nation, â€Å"Governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, diamond traders, financial institutions, arms manufacturers, social and educational institutions and other civil society players need to combine their efforts, demand the strict enforcement of sanctions and encourage real peace. † Getting all of these key players on the same page will greatly affect the changes of the unethical business, which is known to fund the rebel’s weapons. Although some laws have been placed that undermine some black-market trad es, governments are not doing enough to stop them.There is minimum enforcement, which enables the rebels to freely control the helpless people to work for them. Different parts of the African government should enforce laws in the creation of contracts that encourages legal diamond trades, which would greatly minimize the demand for rebels to try and sell diamonds illegally. To elucidate on the point of a government’s need to enforce diamond trade laws, a brief article from the New Internationalist states, â€Å"Ottawa MP Paul Dewar is working to pass the Trade in Conflict Minerals Act' (Bill C-571).But even if the bill is eventually passed, says Nutt, there will be no way to enforce it. She believes both the government and cell phone producers need to take the initiative. † Furthermore, the profits from illegal diamond trading pays for the rebel’s weapons, which must be thwarted to prevent future civil wars from breaking out. In most parts of Africa, black-marke t sales of blood diamonds are the fuel to a civil war’s fire. In terms of profit, rebels use the money from diamonds to buy more weapons and they use them to brutally murder the innocent.In the words of Barak Richman, professor of law at Duke University, Durham, N. C, â€Å"The profits from the â€Å"blood† or â€Å"conflict† diamond trade–a small but significant fraction of the world market–have been used to finance dictatorial regimes and terrorist organizations†. This elucidates the idea that black market trading rarely benefits the economic status but different corrupt organizations. Businesses should find a way to properly trade legal diamonds, while benefiting the country’s economic system. Although the natural resources in some parts of Africa are rich, the people are extremely poor.In other words, Richman also states, â€Å"The great irony of this, and what concerns the industry most, is that the item is being sold as a part of a romantic, everlasting, and pure relationship, but there are a lot of ugly shadows that have contributed to the industry's success. † Industries must end their contribution to the blood diamonds that fuel this nation’s civil wars. In addition to all the corruption in business and government regulation in Africa, the abominable crimes and inhumane conditions of labor workers in the mines need to end.With the high demand in diamonds, Rebels used this to their advantage and decided to treat the innocent Africans as their slave worker. According to the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights state, â€Å"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. † The unethical business decisions being made with other countries need to end because they are a major cause to these violations of huma n rights.These violations deal with innocent people being murdered and arms being amputated for the demand of diamonds. Everyday people live in fear of a rebel attacking their village for their diamonds. If the major diamond corporations would begin to create proper contracts with professional diamond mining industries that hire proper employees, rebels would not have the great demand to force slaves into labor. But most businesses decide to go with the unethical, cheaper option of illegally buying blood diamonds.Although businesses benefit from the illegal diamond trade, the government must take action to express the pain the African people are going through. In terms of the opposing view, diamond corporations would argue that the African economy is benefited with the profits that the industries offer them. Diamonds also benefit Africa in terms of using the profit to generate different beneficial organizations and schools. According to the organization that run the website, Diamond facts. org, they have proven that â€Å"Diamond revenues enable every child in Botswana to receive free education up to the age of 13. This is greatly beneficial to the African society because there is a lack of education and schools in many parts of Africa. The amount of money diamond sales bring in would benefit the children of Africa and provide hope for the future. Also stated in Diamondfacts. org, â€Å"Approximately $8. 5 billion worth of diamonds a year come from African countries† which elucidates the fact that a large amount of money can be made. Also, â€Å"an estimated 5 million people have access to appropriate healthcare globally thanks to revenues from diamonds†The amount of money that is created from the diamonds is enormous, but can also benefit the global economy positively. Which would lead the opposing view to adamantly state that the diamond business in Africa is much needed. It would also give them reason to say that diamonds give the people of Af rica a chance to be employed because this would create many more jobs and raise the overall employment. The education system would also improve in terms of the profits earned would open schools. In Botswana, because of diamond revenue, the children are able to go to school for free.Is this enough to say that the benefits overcome the negative affects? With an economic point of view, one must not make a fallacy of composition on such a crucial topic with lives at stake. One cannot compare the benefits of a small percentage of the African people and expect it to work on every other country. Innocent lives have been brutally taken and blood has shed because of this great demand in diamonds. To disprove that the money brought in by diamonds is mostly beneficial to the African economy, the Unisol Organization states, â€Å"approximately $125 million worth of rough diamonds were bought by just Europe.This means that this staggering amount of money went to fund the RUF who killed thousand s of people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. † These numbers prove that the money not only goes towards building school and creating jobs, but it fuels a civil war with weapon that are paid with using the money earned in diamond trading. Assuming that the diamond trade will mostly benefit the economy is incorrect because a big chunk of it is not reported to the government but to the rebels fighting the civil war.In other words of the United Nation organization, â€Å"Neighboring and other countries can be used as trading and transit grounds for illicit diamonds. Once diamonds are brought to market, their origin is difficult to trace and once polished, they can no longer be identified. † This elucidates the fact that diamonds can easily be traded in the black-market without a trace. The money does not touch the government and the people are not benefited. In the final analysis of the blood diamond markets, it can be concluded that the money earned by a majority of t he diamonds traded are not directly benefiting the African economy.A fallacy of composition must be avoided when the government thinks that a small success in some parts of a more controlled territory will work in most parts of Africa. There are many organizations fighting to create hope for the people who have been affected in this diamond fueled civil war. The United Nations plays a big part in helping the restoration of human rights, but they cannot do it alone. A major organization, Hands For Africa, is fighting to protect the people and their basic human rights. In their words, â€Å"What we can do together?With one million signatures we can push Congress to put pressure on the international diamond trade. The United States is the premier retail market for diamonds; it has the clout to force a cleanup. Major diamond trading companies seem determined to turn a blind eye. The United States must force that eye open. You can be part of this amazing movement! † With your help , we can enlighten our society of these appalling stories and can provide the basic necessities that the people of Africa need to survive this horrid civil war. We need you to gather a small community and tell them about the crisis that is happening over blood diamonds.We are responsible as a society because we cherish and demand the diamonds as a fashion statement. The slave workers of Africa need justice. No human being deserves this gruesome fate. Works Cited Ritchie, Joshua. â€Å"Connect With Us. †Ã‚  MintLife Blog. Mint. com, 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. mint. com/blog/investing/the-history-of-the-diamond-trade/;. Stephen. â€Å"Blood Diamonds. †Ã‚  , African Conflict. Names. co. uk, 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. mymultiplesclerosis. co. uk/interesting-documentary/blood-diamonds. html;. United Nations â€Å"Conflict Diamonds. †Ã‚  UN News Center.UN, 21 Mar. 2001. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. ;http://www. un. org/peace/africa/Diamond. html;. â€Å"Diamonds worth their weight in blood. †Ã‚  USA Today  [Magazine] Jan. 2007: 8+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. ;http://go. galegroup. com. libproxy. howardcc. edu/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA157655613;v=2. 1;u=colu91149;it=r;p=AONE;sw =w;. â€Å"Coltan mining fuels Congo violence. †Ã‚  New Internationalist  Mar. 2011: 57. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. ;http://go. galegroup. com. libproxy. howardcc. edu/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA253866943;v=2. 1;u=colu91149;it=r;p=AONE;sw=w;. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights. â€Å"UN News Center. United Nations, n. d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. . United Nations, . â€Å"Human Rights, United Nations, International Laws UNIOSIL . †Ã‚  Human Rights, United Nations, International Laws UNIOSIL  . n. page. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. . The World Diamond Council, . n. page. Print. . Blood Diamonds Autry 1 Mary Prof. W. Jaye English 102-603 Movie Evaluation 2 March 2013 Blood Diamonds Blood Diamonds explores the underground world of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, where rare diamonds are used to fund military rebels at war. The film is based on Archer, a man with a survival instinct and a passion for collecting conflict diamonds. Archer finds himself involved with Solomon, a fisherman who was kidnapped and forced into slavery. Solomon was forced to work in the diamond mining fields under the command of a cruel fearless leader named Captain Poisen.When Captain Poison captures all of these innocent people, many men, women, and children were separated from their families and normal lives. The rebel group that captured Solomon and his family was called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)(Blood Diamonds). The RUF used the diamonds they forced their slaves to mine to support their war, they would trade the blood diamonds for guns and armed weapons. While Solomon slaved away worki ng for the terrible RUF, in the diamond fields, Solomon found a pink diamond.Solomon takes a quick look around and decides to ask if he may go to the restroom. After being searched heavily Solomon runs of into the wood and stashes the diamond deep in the ground. Solomon already scared for him and his family's lives, doesn't know that Captain Poison spotted him stealing. As soon as Captain Poison attempts to find the diamond that Solomon hid they were attacked by government troops. Both Solomon and Captain Poison were taken as prisoners. Around the same time this was taking place, Danny Archer was also taken as a prisoner.When Captain Poison arrive at the prison and sees Solomon he begins screamed about the large diamond so everyone can hear, Poison even offers other prisoners amounts of money to kills Solomon right where he stood. Autry 2 After Archers' release he arranges help getting Solomon out of the prison because of Archers' interest in the large diamond. Blood Diamonds,shows that Archer now has discovered from his childhood to not that the conflict diamonds are the reasoning behind the war. Later a convoy is attacked and the remaining news teams are killed, while Archer, Solomon and Bowen escape from the scene.Solomon runs into Colonel Coetzee, a man who also wants the diamond and later almost kills Solomon and Archer for it. There is a plane coming to pick them up now, but Archer is hit by a gun and is slowly losing blood and ends up getting left. Solomon escapes Africa, and travels to London with the help of Bowen. She helps Solomon trade the diamonds so he can reunite with his family once again. Danny finally realizes his faults in his inner self when it's too late. Danny knew all along in his heart that smuggling was illegal and wrong, but ignored his heart and chased that dream anyway.In the end, Danny gets shot and lies in horrible pain. He then realizes that it was all because of him contributing in the diamond smuggling. Danny did manage to rega in his salvation when he handed Solomon the diamond and told Solomon and his son to leave him there to die, so that they could escape with the diamond together. Although the movie is covered with violence, it holds the viewers attention. This makes the viewer feel like they are walking in the shoes of the characters within the film. When viewing this film, it really opened my eyes to real life situations and events that child slaves must face on a daily basis.It’s hard to place yourself in the perspective of the poor children being forced to work and even killed. It makes the viewer realize how lucky they are to live within a democracy, were they can freely speak for themselves and they decide of what is right and what is wrong. It forces the viewer to acknowledge slavery, instead of just neglecting it completely like I realized I have done for so long. When you view Blood Diamond, it has an effect on you as soon as you see the brutal ways in which children are treated.This m ovie would be a great educational piece to show to anyone viewing something that has more of a meaning and realism. Blood Diamonds,has tons of historical significance because of being based on a true story about African Blood diamonds, the movies shows so much that Autry 3 goes on. Blood Diamonds,was for the most part accurate but not entirely. In Blood Diamonds, the documentary showed how not only men had a hard time, but also women, and children(A;E Television Networks). It showed how women were raped for no reason, how their was no justice for the women who ad been rapped (A;E Television Networks). After the men would leave they were killed, so the women couldn't emotional heal. As much as I learned and like the movie, Blood Diamonds, I feel they should have used more of a storyline telling something about what others went through as well, especially the women. Autry 4 Works Cited Zwick, Edward, Dir. Blood Diamond. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. W arner Bros. Pictures, 2006. lood Diamonds. The History Channel. A&E Television Networks, 2006.