Price War Essay Example for Free

Price War Essay How should a company try to deal with the threat of a price war? Fontinelle (2010) believed that price war has a big impact which leads to a string of price reduction that vaporizes the profit margins. There are some solutions which can cope with the menace of a price war. To start with, Rao et al. (2000) showed that the manager of a company should take into account of other options before answering the price cuts call. The manager should consider matching price cut is a good choice or not before deciding. Moreover, additional information about the price war is needed to be figured out immediately. Does the discounted price apply for a short period of time or long term? In addition, the terms and conditions for the promotion are also involved. For example, Starbucks drove their customers crazy because of the 50% discount Frappuccino in happy hour campaign. In addition, it also attracts more new customers. Meanwhile, their competitors should consider about applying the same strategy or do nothing. The competitor’s managers must be particularly careful as the threat of price war is high. In addition, they may get more disadvantages instead of advantages as if their brand is not as strong as Starbucks. Misreading the competitor’s purposes which is one of the main factor causes price war can lead to unavoidable price war (Little, 2003). Therefore, correct information about competitor’s intentions must be obtained carefully. The reason behind the price cuts must be figured out to have the right respond. With the same example above, the competitors’ managers should research in detail about Starbucks promotion campaign to have their suitable marketing strategy. According to Rao et al. (2000), marketing communication strategy plays an important role in ensuring the competitors understand the reason behind the company pricing tactics which assists in avoiding a price war. Advertisement should not only focus on the price but also the quality and benefits of the product. Therefore, the companies should selectively reveal their strategy intentions in the purpose of staying away from price reductions. To avoid igniting a price war, Swartz (2012) claimed that products are required to be differentiated. It means that the products must be customized to become outstanding in the market share. Although other traders may offer products which are similar to those competitors are selling, it doesnt necessarily mean the company must serve identical products or services. Therefore, there are many ways of differentiation in order to make the customers realize which product is more valuable to purchase. Rao et al. (2000) pointed out that awareness of customer’s level of price sensitivities is also important. To carry out a successful pricing strategy, a company must first comprehend the basic understanding of customer perception of price sensitivity. This changes when new competitors enter the current market as company have to be aware of other competitors pricing strategy as well. As a conclusion, companies should keep clear of price wars as it can be difficult to manage as soon as price wars begin to gain a head start. Arguments between companies regarding price wars should be handled calmly to avoid unnecessary conflicts. As a side benefit, it would also reduce the chances of initiating price wars.

Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay What is Business Law? Businesses interact in many and varied ways. To name just a few types of business transactions, there are contracts, mergers and acquisitions, leasing, etc. How these transactions are carried out is overseen by Business Law. Additionally, how businesses are formed is a large part of Business law. This area of law is very wide-ranging, although it deals primarily with defining the rights and responsibilities of businesses, rather than enforcing these laws. Because of its extensive scope, Business law has spawned a large number of legal practice area subcategories, which include Sales and Secured Transactions, Banking, Landlord-Tenant, Mortgages, Real Estate Transactions, Debtor and Creditor, Bankruptcy, Consumer Credit, Negotiable Instruments, and Contracts. Business law and Commercial law are very closely related, so much so that the terms are often used interchangeably and the legal issues they address frequently overlap. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is the principal presiding authority over commercial transactions. * Business.gov Business.gov helps small businesses understand their legal requirements and locate government services from federal, state and local agencies. Business.gov is an official site of the U.S. Small Business Administration. * Commercial Law / Business Law Definition Commercial law (sometimes known as business law) is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law. Commercial law includes within its compass such titles as principal and agent; carriage by land and sea; merchant shipping; guarantee; marine, fire, life, and accident insurance; bills of exchange and partnership. It can also be understood to regulate corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. * Compliance with Business Laws Most aspects of running a business have some legal consequences. Whether your business is just starting up, expanding, or winding down, you must comply with the federal, state, and local laws that govern your business activities. * Employment Law for Businesses A great many common law rulings, statutes, administrative rules and legislation make up the practice and interpretation of employment law. Its governance falls under the umbrella of both federal and state statutes, as well as administrative regulation and judicial precedent. When workers file claims for employment discrimination, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation, these claims fall under employment law. Likewise, overseeing workplace safety and standards, fair wages, retirement and pensions, employee benefits, and much more, are part of this wide-ranging legal area. Employment law deals with both the employer and the employee’s actions, rights and responsibilities, as well as their relationship with one another. A well-known, prevalent administrative regulatory body for employment law is the Department of Labor, which exists on both the federal and the state level.The elaws Advisors are interactive e-tools that provide easy-to-understand information about a number of federal employment laws. Each Advisor simulates the interaction you might have with an employment law expert. It asks questions and provides answers based on responses given. * Self-Employment Assistance Self-Employment Assistance offers dislocated workers the opportunity for early re-employment. The program is designed to encourage and enable unemployed workers to create their own jobs by starting their own small businesses. Under these programs, States can pay a self-employed allowance, instead of regular unemployment insurance benefits, to help unemployed workers while they are establishing businesses and becoming self-employed. Participants receive weekly allowances while they are getting their businesses off the ground. * Model Business Corporation Act A corporation is a legal entity created through the laws of its state of incorporation. Individual states have the power to promulgate laws relating to the creation, organization and dissolution of corporations. Many states follow the Model Business Corporation Act.State corporation laws require articles of incorporation to document the corporations creation and to provide provisions regarding the management of internal affairs. Most state corporation statutes also operate under the assumption that each corporation will adopt bylaws to define the rights and obligations of officers, persons and groups within its structure. States also have registration laws requiring corporations that incorporate in other states to request permission to do in-state business.There has also been a significant component of Federal corporations law since Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933, which regulates how corporate securities are issued and sold. Federal securities law also governs requirement s of fiduciary conduct such as requiring corporations to make full disclosures to shareholders and investors. The law treats a corporation as a legal person that has standing to sue and be sued, distinct from its stockholders. The legal independence of a corporation prevents shareholders from being personally liable for corporate debts. It also allows stockholders to sue the corporation through a derivative suit and makes ownership in the company (shares) easily transferable. The legal person status of corporations gives the business perpetual life; deaths of officials or stockholders do not alter the corporations structure.Corporations are taxable entities that fall under a different scheme from individuals. Although corporations have a double tax problem both corporate profits and shareholder dividends are taxed corporate profits are taxed at a lower rate than the rates for individuals.Corporate law has important intersections with contracts and commercial transactions law. * Securities law A generic term for shares of stock, bonds, and debentures issued by corporations and governments to evidence ownership and terms of payment of dividends or final payoff. They are called securities because the assets or profits of the corporation or the credit of the government stand as security for payment. However, unlike secured transactions in which specific property is pledged, securities are only as good as the future profitability of the corporation or the management of the governmental agency. Most securities are traded on various stock or bond markets. Securities law exists because of unique informational needs of investors. Securities are not inherently valuable; their worth comes only from the claims they entitle their owner to make upon the assets and earnings of the issuer or the voting power that accompanies such claims. The value of securities depends on the issuers financial condition, products and markets, management, and the competitive and regulatory climate. Securities laws and regulations aim at ensuring that investors receive accurate and necessary information regarding the type and value of the interest under consideration for purchase. Securities exist in the form of notes, stocks, treasury stocks, bonds, certificates of interest or participation in profit sharing agreements, collateral trust certificates, preorganization certificates or subscriptions, transferable shares, investment contracts, voting trust certificates, certificates of deposit for a security, and a fractional undivided interest in gas, oil, or other mineral rights. Certain types of notes, such as a note secured by a home mortgage or a note secured by accounts receivable or other business assets, are not securities. * The Setting for Buying and Trading Two principle settings for buying and selling securities exist issuer transactions and trading transactions. On the one hand, issuer transactions are the means by which businesses raise capital. These transactions involve the sale of securities by the issuer to investors. On the other hand, trading transactions refers to the purchasing and selling of outstanding securities among investors. Investors trade outstanding securities through securities markets that can be either stock exchanges or over-the-counter. Stock exchanges provide a place, rules, and procedures for buying and selling securities, and the government heavily regulates them. Generally, to have their securities sold and bought on a stock exchange, a company must list its securities on a given exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must approve the stock exchanges rules before they take effect. Transactions that do not take place on a stock exchange occur in the the residual securities market, known as the over-the-counter market. Only dealers and brokers registered with the SEC may engage in securities business both on stock exchanges and in over-the-counter markets. Most of the broker-dealers serving the public used to be members of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which served the NASDAQ stock market, but in 2007, the NASD merged with the dealers from the New York Stock Exchange to form the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) a national securities association registered with SEC. * Securities Regulation Securities regulations focus mainly on the market for common stocks. Both federal and state laws regulate securities. On the heels of the Great Depression, Congress enacted the first of the federal securities laws, the Federal Securities Act of 1933, which regulates the public offering and sale of securities in interstate commerce. This Act also prohibits the offer or sale of a security not registered with the Securities Exchange Commission and requires the disclosure of certain information to the prospective securities purchaser. Then, needing an agency to enforce those regulations, Congress established the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the SEC. Since then, Congress has charged the SEC with administering federal securities laws. The 1933 Acts registration requirements aimed to enable purchasers to make reasoned decisions by requiring companies to provide reliable information. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 also regulates officers, directors, and principal share holders in an attempt to maintain fair and honest markets. The Act requires that issuers, subject to certain exemptions, register with the SEC if they want to have their securities traded on a national exchange. Issuers of securities registered under the 1934 Act must file various reports with the SEC in order to provide the public with adequate information about companies with publicly traded stocks. The 1934 Act permits the SEC to promulgate rules and regulations to protect the public and investors by prohibiting manipulative devices and contrivances via the mail system or other means of interstate commerce * Partnership Law A partnership is a for-profit business association of two or more persons. Because the business component is defined broadly by state laws and because persons can include individuals, groups of individuals, companies, and corporations, partnerships are highly adaptable in form and vary in complexity. Each partner shares directly in the organizations profits and shares control of the business operation. The consequence of this profit sharing is that partners are jointly and independently liable for the partnerships debts.Creation, organization, and dissolution of partnerships are governed by state law. Many states have adopted the Uniform Partnership Act. A partner relationship is generally the result of a contract either express or implied with no formal requirements (such as a signed document). This is not the case of a limited partnership where one or more general partners manage business operations and assume personally liable for partnership debts while other contributing/profit sharing partners take no part in running the business and incur no liability beyond contribution obligations.) Limited partnerships are governed in many states by the Uniform Limited Partnership Act . State property law also impacts partnerships by defining ownership in a partnership and determining how the death of a partner changes the partnership structure. Federal law plays a minimal role in partnership law except in the context of a diversity action, or in instances where a partnership agreement contains an effective choice-of-law provision designating the application of federal law. Federal law also governs whether a partnership exists for federal tax purposes. For state and federal tax purposes, a partnership is not a taxable entity. Partnership income is taxable to the partners in proport ion to their share in the companys profits. * Small Business Advocacy Despite their importance to the economy, small businesses are heavily burdened by the costs of government regulation and excessive paperwork. Advocacy research shows that firms with fewer than 20 employees annually spend 45 percent more per employee than larger firms do to comply with federal regulations. Advocacy is an independent voice for small business within the federal government and is the watchdog for the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). Advocacy advances the views and concerns of small business before Congress, the White House, the federal agencies, the federal courts and state policy makers. * Mortgage Law An arrangement under which a borrower puts up the title to real estate as security (collateral) for a loan to buy the real estate. The borrower typically agrees to make regular payments of principal and interest to repay the loan. If the borrower falls behind (defaults) on the payments, the lender can foreclose on the real estate and have it sold to pay off the loan. A mortgage involves the transfer of an interest in land as security for a loan or other obligation. It is the most common method of financing real estate transactions. The mortgagor is the party transferring the interest in land. The mortgagee, usually a financial institution, is the provider of the loan or other interest given in exchange for the security interest. Normally, a mortgage is paid in installments that include both interest and a payment on the principle amount that was borrowed. Failure to make payments results in the foreclosure of the mortgage. Foreclosure allows the mortgagee to declare that the entire m ortgage debt is due and must be paid immediately. This is accomplished through an acceleration clause in the mortgage. Failure to pay the mortgage debt once foreclosure of the land occurs leads to seizure of the security interest and its sale to pay for any remaining mortgage debt. The foreclosure process depends on state law and the terms of the mortgage. The most common processes are court proceedings (judicial foreclosure) or grants of power to the mortgagee to sell the property (power of sale foreclosure). Many states regulate acceleration clauses and allow late payments to avoid foreclosure. Some states use instruments called deeds of trust instead of traditional mortgages. Three theories exist regarding who has legal title to a mortgaged property. Under the title theory title to the security interest rests with the mortgagee. Most states, however, follow the lien theory under which the legal title remains with the mortgagor unless there is foreclosure. Finally, the intermediate theory applies the lien theory until there is a default on the mortgage whereupon the title theory applies. The mortgagor and the mortgagee generally have the right to transfer their interest in the mortgage. Some states hold that even when the purchaser of a property subject to a mortgage does not explicitly take over the mortgage the transfer is assumed. Mortgages employ due-on-sale and due-on-encumbrance clauses to prevent the transfer of mortgages. These clauses allow acceleration (having the principal and interest become due immediately) of the mortgage. The law of contracts and property govern the transfer of the mortgages interest. If the mortgage being foreclosed is not the only lien on the property then state law determines the priority of the property interests. For example, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs conflicts between mortgages on real property and liens on fixtures (personal property attached to a piece of real estate). When a mortgage is a negotiable instrument it is governed by Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code. A mortgage may be used as a security interest by the mortgage. * Strangely enough, the word mortgage comes from the French word â€Å"mort† which means â€Å"dead† and â€Å"gage† from Old English, which means pledge. The term came from the doubtfulness of whether or not the mortgagor would pay the debt. In the 1500’s, if the mortgagor did not pay, then the land pledged as security for the debt was taken away. The land was then considered â€Å"dead† to the mortgagor. Nowadays, the term mortgage is used as a term for purchasing a property. We no longer associate anyone’s death with it. Although a few lucky people may be in a position to pay all cash for a property, home mortgages are required to purchase a home. Mortgages all have a term (typically 15, 20 or 30 years) representing the length of time before your home is paid off and a rate which determines the principal and interest payment that will be required to be paid during this term. * Bankruptcy Bankruptcy law provides for the development of a plan that allows a debtor, who is unable to pay his creditors, to resolve his debts through the division of his assets among his creditors. This supervised division also allows the interests of all creditors to be treated with some measure of equality. Certain bankruptcy proceedings allow a debtor to stay in business and use revenue generated to resolve his or her debts. An additional purpose of bankruptcy law is to allow certain debtors to free themselves (to be discharged) of the financial obligations they have accumulated, after their assets are distributed, even if their debts have not been paid in full. Bankruptcy law is federal statutory law contained in Title 11 of the United States Code. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Code under its Constitutional grant of authority to establish uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcy throughout the United States.States may not regulate bankruptcy though they may pass laws that govern other a spects of the debtor-creditor relationship. There are two basic types of Bankruptcy proceedings. A filing under Chapter 7 is called liquidation. It is the most common type of bankruptcy proceeding. Liquidation involves the appointment of a trustee who collects the non-exempt property of the debtor, sells it and distributes the proceeds to the creditors. Bankruptcy involve the rehabilitation of the debtor to allow him or her to use future earnings to pay off creditors. Under Chapter 7, 12, 13, and some 11 proceedings, a trustee is appointed to supervise the assets of the debtor. A bankruptcy proceeding can either be entered into voluntarily by a debtor or initiated by creditors. After a bankruptcy proceeding is filed, creditors, for the most part, may not seek to collect their debts outside of the proceeding. The debtor is not allowed to transfer property that has been declared part of the estate subject to proceedings. Furthermore, certain pre-proceeding transfers of property, secured interests, and liens may be delayed or invalidated. Various provisions of the Bankruptcy Code a lso establish the priority of creditors interests. * Small Business Financing Loans and Grants Federal, state and local governments offer a wide range of financing programs to help small businesses start and grow their operations. These programs include low-interest loans, venture capital, and scientific and economic development grants. * Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC or the Code), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America. The goal of harmonizing state law is important because of the prevalence of commercial transactions that extend beyond one state. The UCC therefore achieved the goal of substantial uniformity in commercial laws and, at the same time, allowed the states the flexibility to meet local circumstances. The UCC deals primarily with transactions involving personal property (movable property), not real property (immovable property). * US Department of Commerce The U.S. Department of Commerce has a broad mandate to advance economic growth and jobs and opportunities for the American people. It has cross cutting responsibilities in the areas of trade, technology, economic development, environmental stewardship and statistical research and analysis. The products and services the department provides touch the lives of Americans and American companies in many ways, including weather forecasts, the decennial census, and patent and trademark protection for inventors and businesses. What is the UCC? The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a comprehensive code addressing most aspects of commercial law, is generally viewed as one of the most important developments in American law. The UCC text and draft revisions are written by experts in commercial law and submitted as drafts for approval to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (now referred to as the Uniform Law Commissioners), in collaboration with the American Law Institute. The Commissioners are all attorneys, qualified to practice law, including state and federal judges, legislators and law professors from the United States and its territories. These quasi-public organizations meet and decide whether to endorse these drafts or to send them back to the experts for revision. The revision process may result in several different revisions of the original draft. Once a draft is endorsed, the Uniform Law Commissioners recommend that the states adopt these rules. The UCC is a model code, so it does not have leg al effect in a jurisdiction unless UCC provisions are enacted by the individual legislatures as statutes. Currently, the UCC (in whole or in part) has been enacted, with some local variation, in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE Act 174 of 1962 AN ACT to enact the uniform commercial code, relating to certain commercial transactions in or regarding personal property and contracts and other documents concerning them, including sales, commercial paper,bank deposits and collections, letters of credit, bulk transfers, warehouse receipts, bills of lading, other documents of title, investment securities, leases, and secured transactions, including certain sales of accounts and contract rights; to provide for public notice to third parties in certain circumstances; to regulate procedure, evidence and damages in certain court actions involving such transactions, contracts or documents; to make uniform the law with respect there to; to make an appropriation; to provide penalties; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts. * 1-101. Short Titles. (a) This [Act] may be cited as the Uniform Commercial Code. * 1-102. Scope of Article. This article applies to a transaction to the extent that it is governed by another article of [the Uniform Commercial Code]. * 1-103. Construction of [Uniform Commercial Code] to Promote its Purposes and Policies: Applicability of Supplemental Principles of Law. (a) [The Uniform Commercial Code] must be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies, which are: (1)to simplify, clarify, and modernize the law governing commercial transactions; (2) to permit the continued expansion of commercial practices through custom, usage, and agreement of the parties; and (3) to make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions. (b) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of [the Uniform Commercial Code], the principles of law and equity, including the law merchant and the law relative to capacity to contract, principal and agent, fraud, misrepresentation,mistake, bankruptcy, and other validating or invalidating cause supplement its provisions. * 1-104. Construction Against Implied Repeal. [The Uniform Commercial Code] being a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be deemed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if such construction can reasonably be avoided. * 1-105. Severability. If any provision or clause of [the Uniform Commercial Code] or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of [the Uniform Commercial Code] which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of [the Uniform Commercial Code] are severable. * 1-106. Use of Singular and Plural; Gender. In [the Uniform Commercial Code], unless the statutory context otherwise requires: (1) words in the singular number include the plural, and those in the plural include the singular; and (2) words of any gender also refer to any other gender. * 1-107. Section Captions. Section captions are part of [the Uniform Commercial Code]. * 1-108. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. This article modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq., except that nothing in this article modifies, limits, or supersedes Section 7001(c) of that Act or authorizes electronic delivery of any of the notices described in Section 7003(b) of that Act. * 1-201. General Definitions. (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, words or phrases defined in this section, or in the additional definitions contained in other articles of [the Uniform Commercial Code] that apply to particular articles or parts thereof, have the meanings stated. (b) Subject to definitions contained in other articles of [the Uniform Commercial Code] that apply to particular articles or parts thereof: (1) Action, in the sense of a judicial proceeding, includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are determined. (2) Aggrieved party means a party entitled to pursue a remedy. (3) Agreement, as distinguished from contract, means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in Section 1-303. (4) Bank means a person engaged in the business of banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan association , credit union, and trust company. (5) Bearer means a person in possession of a negotiable instrument, document of title, or certificated security that is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank. (6) Bill of lading means a document evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods. (7) Branch includes a separately incorporated foreign branch of a bank. (8) Burden of establishing a fact means the burden of persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is more probable than its nonexistence. (9) Buyer in ordinary course of business means a person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind. A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the sellers own usual or customary practices. A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead is a person in the busine ss of selling goods of that kind. A buyer in ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller under Article 2 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business. (10) Conspicuous, with reference to a term, means so written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against which it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term is conspicuous or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous terms include the following: (A) a heading in capitals equal to or greater in size than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size; and (B) language in the body of a record or display in larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that call attention to the language. (11) Consumer means an individual who enters into a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. (12) Contract, as distinguished from agreement, means the total legal obligation that results from the parties agreement as determined by [the Uniform Commercial Code] as supplemented by any other applicable laws. (13) Creditor includes a general creditor, a secured creditor, and any representative of creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a receiver in equity, and an executor or administrator of an insolvent debtors or assignors estate. (14) Defendant includes a person in the position of defendant in a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim. (15) Delivery, with respect to an instrument, document of title, or chattel paper, means voluntary transfer of possession. * International trade law Includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries. However, it is also used in legal writings as trade between private sectors, which is not right. This branch of law is now an independent field of study as most governments has become part of the world trade, as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since the transaction between private sectors of different countries is important part of the WTO activities, this latter branch of law is now very important part of the academic works and is under study in many universities across the world. International trade law should be distinguished from the broader field of international economic law. The latter could be said to encompass not only WTO law, but also law governing the international monetary system and currency regulation, as well as the law of international development. The body of rules for transnational trade in the 21st century derives from medieval commercial laws called the lex mercatoria and lex maritima — respectively, the law for merchants on land and the law for merchants on sea. Modern trade law (extending beyond bilateral treaties) began shortly after the Second World War, with the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to deal with trade in goods: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). International trade law is based on theories of economic liberalism developed in Europe and later the United States from the 18th century onwards. International Trade Law is an aggregate of legal rules of â€Å"international legislation† and new lex mercatoria, regulating relations in international trade. â€Å"International legislation† – international treaties and acts of international intergovernmental organizations regulating relations in international trade. lex mercatoria the law for merchants on land. Alok Narayan defines lex mercatoria as any law relating to businesses which was criticised by Professor Julius Stone. and lex maritima the law for merchants on sea. Alok in his recent article criticised this definition to be too narrow and merely-creative. Professor Dodd and Professor Malcolm Shaw of Leeds University supported this proposition. Contract: the elements of a contract The first step in a contract question is always to make sure that a contract actually exists. There are certain elements that must be present for a legally binding contract to be in place. The first two are the most obvious: * An offer: an expression of willingness to contract on a specific set of terms, made by the offeror with the intention that, if the offer is accepted, he or she will be bound by a contract. * Acceptance: an expression of absolute and unconditional agreement to all the terms set out in the offer. It can be oral or in writing. The acceptance must exactly mirror the original offer made. * A counter-offer is not the same as an acceptance. A counter-offer extinguishes the original offer: you can’t make a counter-offer and then decide to accept the original offer! But†¦ * A request for information is not a counter-offer. If you ask the offeror for information or clarification about the offer, that doesn’t extinguish the offer; you’re still free to accept it if you want. It is very important to distinguish an offer from an invitation to treat – that is, an invitation for other people to submit offers. Some everyday situations which we might think are offers are in fact invitations to treat: * Goods displayed in a shop window or on a shelf. * When a book is placed in a shop window priced at  £7.99, the bookshop owner has made an invitation to treat. * When I pick up that book and take it to the till, I make the offer to buy the book for  £7.99. * When the person at the till takes my money, the shop accepts my offer, and a contract comes into being. * Adverts basically work in the same way as the scenario above. Advertising something is like putting it in a shop window. * Auctions: * The original advertising of the auction is just an invitation to treat. * When I make a bid, I am making an offer. * When the hammer falls, the winning ‘offer’ has been accepted. The seller now has a legally binding contract with the winning bidder (so long as there is no reserve price that hasn’t been reached) An offer can be revoked at any time before it is accepted, so long as you inform the person you made the offer to that the offer no longer stands. * Consideration: each party to the contract must receive something of value.Consideration is the price paid for the other’s promise. There are four legal maxims that apply to consideration: * Consideration must move from the promisor; * Consideration need not move to the promisee; * Past consideration is not good consideration; * The consideration given must be sufficient, but it need not be adequate. Arrangements of a social nature are presumed not to be legally binding, whilse commercial arrangements are presumed to be intended as binding contracts. Of course, these presumptions can always be rebutted in court by producing evidence to the contrary. * Importance of Business Law It is essential to know about business law before starting a business, as it will help you operate your business without the hindrances of ignorance. It is better to seek the expert guidance of an accountant and an attorney to learn about the latest business laws that will affect your business.. There are different laws for different business entities. Be certain you learn about the business laws that govern the kind of business entity that you choose to start. The major types of businesses are C, S and closed corporations, limited liability companies, and sole proprietorships. Zoning Laws: It is essential to know about zoning laws, as certain zones are restricted in certain areas. It deals with the kind or type of business allowed in certain areas, how the land surrounding a business is used, signboards, advertisements, and parking. Licensing Laws: In order to operate a business certain licenses are required and there are some important business laws you need to know. If a business operates without these licenses, it is illegal and the business may be dissolved or forced to close. Trademark and Patent Laws: These are laws that deal with ownership; intellectual property rights, and inventions. They are necessary to protect the business. Employment Laws: These are laws regarding the hiring and firing of employees, their rights, compensation, safety, work place discrimination, child labor laws, overtime pay structure, disability laws and unemployment laws. Tax Laws: This section deals with filing of tax returns and depends on the kind of business entity and the state the business operates in, sales tax. These include franchise tax, income tax and other state and federal tax requirements of a business. These are very important business laws you need to know before starting a business. Environmental Laws: The government enforces the environmental laws for the discharge of hazardous waste and the recycling laws pertaining to the business. Health Department Permits: This is necessary if your business deals with food products. You must get health department permits to operate your business. Fire Department Permits and Air and Water Pollution Control Permits: There are laws that certain kinds of business entities must get permits from these departments to operate. The list above contains basic business laws you need to know before starting a company. It is necessary to take precautions that you are not violating any law by operating your business. You must obtain all the necessary permits and licenses from the appropriate authority.

Occupational Health and Safety Essay

Occupational Health and Safety Essay Health and safety is mainly about providing a safe and healthy workplace to the employees. The International Labour Organisation stated a definition of Health and Safety in 1950 Occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job. Health and safety is done to ensure that risks to employees safety and health are precisely being controlled. Health and safety has become an important issue nowadays (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Bill Callaghan in 2000 stated that good health and safety is good business. Sadly, not every organisation understands that. This is an unbearable expense for them and we had seen that the numbers of accidents have increased greatly although the implementation of different laws. Furthermore, as a secondary option as stated by the HSE in 2008, health and safety at the workplace should also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are connected with the workplace environment. In order to achieve this we have to engross interactions among many focus areas, including occupational medicine, industrial hygiene, public health, safety engineering, chemistry and health physics. Weskem LLC had written in 2007 that the main issue of Occupational Safety and Health is that accidents are costing a lot to the organisations and therefore laying more importance on the implementation of a good health and safety program. When accidents happen, the employer looses on two grounds; increased medical costs and employee absences (which are being paid as sick leaves). A safe work environment is not a ridiculous expectation from low class employees. From the labourer digging a hole to the office manager to the site manager-all foresee arriving home each evening without having been injured on the job. Furthermore he added that, accidents do happen, but those can be avoided in many cases. Safety in some organisation (although rare) is given the first place and even minor injuries are unacceptable. A fatality can put pause to a project and initiate a long and complicated investigation that could hold-up a project for months. It will also create a negative publicity. Occupational health and safety also impacts upon the employment bond and outsourcing, and there is a need to guarantee that there is compliance with the regulations in force. There are numerous issues affecting the health and safety of workers, e.g. exposure to physical, biological, chemical, ergonomic hazards. In his book published in 2002, Charles D.Reesee made clear that in the fields of health and safety, there are three Es that prevail. Those are respectively: Engineering- entails awareness of safety issues when designing equipment Education- train employees in safety procedures and how to safely do their job. Enforcement- rules and policies should be firmly imposed. He further stated that there are six good reasons to prevent accidents, injuries and deaths: Destruction of human life is ethically unfair. If employers do not take initial safety measures, this entitles them to be decently accountable for those accidents. Accidents limit efficiency and productivity. Occupational accidents produce far reaching social harm. Safety techniques can easily reduce occupational accidents. There has been a lot of expansion in the legal domains in order to provide a safe and healthy workforce. In totting up, he added that without exception all industries face health and safety issues which could have adverse effects upon their workforce and workplace. The employers need to recognise that there are hazards prevailing at their workplace and therefore take all the precautions that are necessary. Employers risk a lot when they perceive that safety is no longer a priority or when they divert all the resources made available for the health and safety department elsewhere. Hazard identification, prevention and mitigation are the most important elements in reducing occupational accidents and illness. In order to make all these accessible, Charles D.Reesee proposed that there is a need to put in place an approach which combines training of the workers and their involvement, ergonomic job design, medical surveillance, competent supervisor and a corporate organisation that promotes safety. The organisation should put safety before production (i.e. at the bottom line). We had seen that nowadays, the noose is tightening, and frequent bad safety practice is now being regarded in the same way as drink-driving and high penalties are being awarded. The evolution of health and safety Concern for the protection of workers health and safety is not new; it started from the early cavemen till now to the modern workers. History has shown that the Egyptians knew the danger from gold and silver fumes. They even had their own first manual of 1st aid. Ramses in 1500 B.C. hired a physician for quarry workers. Hippocrates the father of medicine realised in 400 B.C. that stone crushers were having breathing problems. The Romans even had a goddess of safety and health named, Salus and whose picture is usually found on their coins. As we go through the middle ages, we had witnessed that the working force around the world became more and more conscious about the importance of health and safety, an e.g. in the 1700s the English chimney sweeps and their ability to cause testicular cancer was discovered. During that period also the first unions made their apparitions by trying to improve the conditions of the workers. In the 1400s some physicians made their colleagues aware that t here is a great need to avert the diseases of employment in mines (Charles D.Reesee, 2001). The Hammurabi Codex (a code of law) was carved on a black stone monument on public display in ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia and that was 1780 BC. The laws were namely: If a builder built a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death [Law 229] If it kills the son of the owner, the son of that builder shall be put to death [Law 230] If it kills a slave of the owner, then he shall pay for a slave to the owner of the house [Law 231] If it ruins goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means [Law 232] (Xmo Strata, 2011). During the first part of the 1900s, compensation law was established and prior to this most employers passed the blame of accidents to their workers using the common laws which stated that: The employer was not responsible when ones injury was caused by negligence of a fellow worker. The employer was not responsible if the worker was injured due to his own negligence. The employer was not responsible if when taking the job the employee was aware of the risk that it compromised (Xmo Strata, 2011). On the other hand, Abermed limited stated on the 19th of October 2010 that in the 1900s some companies became more conscious about the importance of health and safety and did not use the common laws as a means of putting the faults on the workers. Another issue that they pointed out were that society is now responding to the rising levels of proof as to the associations between disease and certain work activities, by making employers responsible for the individual and social expenses incurred by poor workplace safety and health policies. According to them it occurred by the expansion of workers compensation and occupational health and safety regulatory programs. Those efforts were done in order to decrease occupational accidents and diseases in organisation. And it was completed in 1970 by President Richard Nixon who signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act which established a nationwide enforcement-oriented health and safety program. This legislation called for the development of increasingly severe standards to be met by all employers. Those Standards forced changes in engineering design and monitoring instrumentation were developed to assess industrial hazards. For example, air quality 15 years ago was measured by loss of visibility caused by airborne-suspended particulate materials. Now air quality is being evaluated by complicated sampling devices that measure qualitatively and quantitatively the levels of respirable-sized particles entering a workmans lungs over an eight-hour work shift. Acceptable levels of pollutants have gone from thousands of micrograms of materials per cubic centimeter of air to hundreds of micrograms per cubic meter per day (Abermed limited, 2010). From a moral and ethical standpoint, employers have the duty to grant a safe and protected atmosphere for their employees. In many contracts we have seen that nowadays they are inserting a clause that states that the employee will do their best for the company and that the company itself will do all the best possible for its workers. Then from an organisation perspective, we can see that employees are an enormous expense to the organisation. Its not just about paying salaries but about recruitment and training. All this costs a lot of money. The more the industry is skilled the greater will be the cost to the company. The important aspect is that the employers at all cost tries to retain its best and brightest employee and that implies creating a safe and healthy workplace for them (Abermed limited, 2010). This is done not only to protect the investment done into the employee, but also to ensure that the employee continues to contribute to the profits by being a productive member of the organisation. In this context, occupational health and safety can be considered as a retention tool. Another issue is that it is an effective public relations tool. Workplace accidents and incidents are not just a loss in terms of loss in lives and productivity, but also bad press. And in the litigious world that we are living in, awful press often makes very big law suits (Abermed limited, 2010). Definitions and purpose of compliance audit Audits undertaken to confirm whether a firm is following the terms of an agreement, or the rules and regulations applicable to an activity or practice prescribed by an external agency or authority (Business dictionary). However, it can further be elaborated into: A safety audit based on regulatory or other compliance. It helps to determine whether the organisation is giving a safe and healthful workplace to his employees. Compliance auditing became increasingly famous in the 20th century. Paul A. Esposito explained in 2009 that compliance audits can be defined as a comprehensive review of organisation obedience to regulatory guidelines and that there are classically two levels of compliance-type audits. The first one is a department or equipment specific inspection. A more organized compliance evaluation would engage a wall-to-wall check of regulatory conformance. He added that audit is frequently performed in reply to regulatory needs. It is almost impossible to have a workplace free from perilous conditions all of the time, for the reason that conditions and people change every time and the potential for an unsafe condition always exists. Inspections are usually done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Frequency depends on the nature of the control or how often surroundings, equipment or people change, plus legal requirements. A proper wall-to-wall compliance evaluation will classically include three gears: conformance, recordkeeping and training (Paul A. Esposito, 2009). Physical surveys and inspection of plants are usually wrongly called audits according to Reesee (2001) and Auditing is a basis of information that has become very useful in present business especially with the continuous changes happening in the legal environment and thus the level of compliance should always be monitored. Todays organisations face greater regulatory inspection than ever before due to the propagation of laws and regulations in figure and difficulty as well as increased regulatory supervision and audit activity. Arter (1998) settled the four universal principles of auditing: Audits demonstrate if sufficient controls are in place. Auditors must be skilled. Audits must be proficient , fact-based and performed professionally Audits must result in information that meets auditee desires and allows problems to be solved. A far more simple definition is that it is designed to spot problems and therefore provide corrective action before there is any litigation. The audit mirrors what an employee could expect if an inspector walked through the door and an effective audit processes, verifies and identifies those fundamentals that build up health and safety (Jorgensen, Ernest B, 1998). The key value of a safety audit is that it helps shift activities from reactive to proactive. The typical inspection is a reactive one-it identifies things that must be corrected. This means that non-compliance has been detected. On the contrary, a proactive approach strives to keep away the likelihood of litigation and therefore creating a safe and healthy workplace (Jorgensen, Ernest B, 1998). The contents in the audit depend on the nature of the duties of the organisation. The overall definition remains the same but the different organisations adapt it to their respective works. Ideally, it is conducted annually and should include every part of the organisation. Such duty requires substantial preparation and a team of competent auditors; therefore an annual audit may not be feasible in many situations. Its main purpose is to identify gaps and make recommendations in order to be more efficient and to make compliance activities more effective. An audit is only a snapshot in time; it is not an alternative from ongoing management involvement (Paul A. Esposito, 2009). We can further add that it provides a process to ensure that compliance continues. Susan Burch gave a broader definition in 2008: Compliance audits are based on a compliance risk assessment and are designed to detect unintentional regulatory compliance violations by employees and other company representative. Companies doing worldwide operations take on extra regulatory challenges, as they have to consider the changing regulatory environments and cultures with different business practices. Because of the elevated risk linked with non compliance, management are under amplified examination, not only from regulators, but also from clients, employees, stockholders and business partners. Thats why almost all the organisation is developing an incorporated approach to implement a regulatory compliance framework. (Susan Burch, 2008) The standard ISO 19011 stated that auditing has three main importances namely: It forms part of the PDCA cycle, i.e. the plan, do, check, act cycle. It is a basis for self assessment of capabilities to comply to requirements It is a basis for 3rd Party Certification. The use of safety audits have shown to have a positive effect on a companys loss control initiative. In reality it has been proven that companies who perform safety and health compliance audits have fewer accidents/incidents than those who do not perform audits. Moreover, Charles D.Reesee (2002) stated 9 main objectives of compliance audits: Identify the existence of hazards. Check compliance company rules and regulations. Check compliance with OSHA rules. Determine the safety and health conditions of the workplace. Determine the safe condition of equipment and machinery. Evaluate supervisor safety and health performances. Evaluate workers safety and health performance. Evaluate progress regarding safety and health issues and progress. Determine the effectiveness of new processes or procedural changes. Moreover, he added that the topics below are the most commonly used one in the conduction of an audit: Acids Fire extinguishers First aid Alarms Fire protection Power tools Atmosphere Fumes Radiation Barriers Gas cylinders Respirators Buildings Gases Safety devices Chemicals Hand tools Signs Compressed gas cylinders Horns and signals Scaffolds Confined spaces Hoses Shapers Docks House keeping PPE Dusts Ladders Storage facilities Electrical equipment Lifting Ventilation Emergency Procedures Lighting Unsafe condition Extinguishers Machines/Materials Unsafe act Fall protection Noise Warning devices Organisation should not only allow themselves to do the bare minimum but should embark into a culture of probing, challenging, innovation and best practice implementation. The total audit approach is meant to encourage openness, acceptance that auditing is positive and important. An effective audit process measures and evaluate the relationship between task, environment and worker (Bill Glass, 1993). A safety audit subjects each area of a companys safety activity to a systematic and very critical examination. Every single component is examined to verify its level of compliance. In this way strength and weaknesses are disclosed and areas of vulnerability are highlighted. It is extremely complex and time consuming. However it is a very worthwhile activity. (Charles D.Reesee, 2002) Compliance auditing poses serious dilemma to various organisations in the world according to the State of Queensland, Department of Industrial Relations (2005). Those can be summarised as follows: If the regulatory auditors do not find any violation on his regular visit that does mean that the organisation is safe because any employee or visitor can fill a case for non compliance against the organisation. If the organisation engages a third party for conducting the audit, the agency can at any point in time report the non compliance to the government and then further action can be taken if the organisation do not remedy to the violation. Although a private audit is conducted the government under special cases may the organisation to make the audit available to them. Furthermore they added that , compliance audit do not guarantee that a workplace is free from violations as on a visit an auditor cannot inspect all the procedures and risks involved at the workplace. The hazards investigated by auditors during a compliance audit are determined by the workplace environment by the side of information obtained from specific workers data, relevant injury data and industry input. Strength, weakness and appropriate solutions of onsite auditing Compliance auditing compromise mostly of onsite auditing but those has many strength and weakness. It represents the strongest aspect of an audit. During the onsite visiting, trained and experienced professionals are expected to conduct vigorous evaluation of the site and work process. The onsite auditing is a very complex and intense process for both the auditors and the personnel. It consists mainly of the following: Talk with the site manager; Site orientation tour; Review of the health and safety management systems; Records review; Interview with personnel; Field observation; Meeting with site staff; (Lawrence B. Cahill, 2005) In support of it, he added that it is always difficult to achieve a perfect audit although the entire possible measures have been put in place in order to conduct it. He goes further by adding that the most common problems encountered are: Poor time management; Inadequate sampling and verification; Poor balance between interviews, record review and interviews; disorganized records review; Poor interviewing techniques and; Poor findings communication. Walter Willborn (2000) on the other hand, proposed some solutions in order to cater for some of the gaps that have been found by Lawrence. Those are as follows: Poor time management; The auditor should develop its own agenda accordingly and review his progress against the agenda daily make adjustments accordingly. Developing an agenda well in advance helps the auditor to ensure that all topics are being covered. Inadequate sampling and verification; Before an audit the auditor should define when the field activities are to be completed. Auditors often struggle to determine the appropriate sampling size. On the other hand, he cannot take one as a sample. The auditor can spend much time in document review that he may neglect other areas which are much as important as the other fields. Not all the sampling must be statistically representative but there must be a balance within it. There should be at least three areas of non compliance before the auditor can come to the conclusion that there is a finding. Balance between the different fields is vital. Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears (Heraclitus, 2007). This is just to say that the auditor must be able to see all the slightest detail before reaching to any conclusion. Poor balance between among records review, interviews and observations All auditors have a tendency to incline towards their activity comfort zone. For some, its record review. For others, its field observations and for a few its interviews. For this reason the auditor will spend more time in an activity and neglect the others. The auditors must keep track of the time they have to spend on one activity and then move to another area. Occupational health and safety requirements generate thousands of paper each year and this can be one area that trips the auditor. They should recognise that although document review is very important to demonstrate compliance, it is not the whole story. If too much time is spent on this area it may compromise the efficacy of the audit. There should be a method to review and below are some steps that are easy to use: Obtain all the records needed within the time limit. Records review must be your first on-site activity. Many auditable needs can be found in the documents. Dont get overwhelmed; stay organized. Start with strategic documents, such as written programs or procedures (many Occupational Safety and Health programs, such as confined space entry, actually require written procedures). Ask for quiet time as needed. Nobody wants to be watched while they are reading. While reviewing records, develop a list of requirements so as to verify later through interviews or observations (winter, 2007). Process for compliance audit The process can be clearly described through the following points developed by Aldona Cytraus: Conduct an opening meeting with the management, stake holders and representatives of the work force to state the different objectives of the audit and introduce also the members of the audit team. Follow a small tour of the work premises in order to be become familiar with the working environment. Study the laws that will be used as standard. Develop the audit techniques which include a combination of observation of processes, examination of documents and records, and interview of management, staff members and consumers. This is mainly done to gather audit evidence so as to make the audit findings more reliable as there will be different views. All the data obtained must be reviewed by the audit team in order to present the information to the management and thus determine the level of compliance. Presentation of the report to the management and other members in a closing meeting and also mentions the corrective action that needs to be undertaken. Give the complete report to the management which includes all the facts and findings and in there clear distinction should be made between statements and observations. But on the other hand Fargason James Scott from the Institute of Internal Auditors wrote in 1993 that the most important in compliance auditing is the competence of the auditors and that everything depends on that. The auditors must have a broad knowledge of the law in question. People observe the same thing but are able to make different conclusion as all those depends on the judgement on the person and thats why the findings must be repeatedly studied in order to detect any error. He also provided a simple audit process: An audit plan should be prepared from the beginning till the end (write the objectives of the audit, methodology and verification methods). Document review should be conducted to obtain all the necessary data. Physical inspection should be conducted (e.g. observation of workers, observation of processes). Conduct interviews with all levels of personnel. Once the report is being submitted the evaluation and corrective action should be undertaken. He added some conditions so that the audit can be conducted correctly and those are: The audit team must compromise of at least one qualified person which should be the leader. A report should be developed at the end so as to state the findings. The employer should go through the report immediately after its submission in order to correct any deficiencies. The two most up to date reports must be kept for documentation. Global Perspectives on Health and Safety Every year, around the world, there are 270 million occupational accidents, 160 million workers suffers from occupational diseases and 2.2 million occupational deaths. The cost to society is several billion pounds. Britain has the lowest fatal injury rate in the European Union but although those 19.5 million days were lost due to work related ill health in 1999 against 6.5 in 1998. Musculoskeletal disorders and particularly back pain are the most frequently reported work related illness (Wilf Altman, 2000). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE, 2005) places great emphasis on the requirement systems that cover inspection, monitoring and auditing as essential features of the action required by organisation to satisfy their regulatory duties. Such systems are designed to prevent any failures that lead to accidents, incidents and prosecutions. According to them, Spain has the largest rates of accident in the European countries. The National survey of working conditions conducted in 2001 in Spain stated that 59% of the workers were exposed to hazards at work, 33% were exposed to noise while 32% were exposed to chemical pollutants and about 50% of the workers maintained static postures or perform repetitive movements during a quarter of their working time. It further stated that 37% of male and 29% of the female workers consider that their work represent a risk to their health. For the men the greater amount of hazards is found in agriculture, construction, transport and communications whereas for women those are mainly found in agriculture, mineral processing and manufacturing industries. Uncomfortable postures and physical effort are the most common occupational risk for both women and men. Some 86% of male workers interviewed believe that their health is excellent, very good or good. The state of health is worse among older workers, manual workers and women and above all among women in catering. Manual workers have a worse state of health as compared to non manual and women have a worse state of health as compared to men. Factors of change Examples of impact Micro economy Expansion of small and medium enterprises. Demographic evolution Ageing of the working population, increasing female participation rates and better qualified women. Increase in immigration.

Lord Of The Flies-symbolism :: essays research papers

Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First off, the common man is someone who has a balance between good and evil, a good perception of reality and strong morals. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the character who is perceived as this type of individual. The first example of this is Ralph’s appearance. Ralph keeps and continues to wear his school sweater while other boys run around naked. This illustrates his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. Secondly, he does everything in his power to keep the boys working together and getting along with each other. Lastly, Ralph attempts to keep the boys under a type of domesticated. He tries to do this by making such laws as the freedom of speech. This law gave any member of the group a right to express his opinion. Unfortunately, Ralph’s attempts failed and the boys became savages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, the evil side of a person is an unavoidable thing. It can be supressed but also can take over a person. Although everyone has an evil side, some have a harder time controlling it then others. The character of Jack was the representation of evil in the novel. First, Jack’s appearance is stereotypical of a possessed or evil person. He is tall and slender, with red hair and sports a of the slaughtered pig suggests is evil nature. This is a strange and barbaric thing to do in a civil society. Lastly, the fact that Jack black clock. Secondly, when he baptizes himself with the blood showed no remorse about the death of Simon clearly illustrates that he is the representations of evil in the novel. Lord Of The Flies-symbolism :: essays research papers Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First off, the common man is someone who has a balance between good and evil, a good perception of reality and strong morals. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the character who is perceived as this type of individual. The first example of this is Ralph’s appearance. Ralph keeps and continues to wear his school sweater while other boys run around naked. This illustrates his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. Secondly, he does everything in his power to keep the boys working together and getting along with each other. Lastly, Ralph attempts to keep the boys under a type of domesticated. He tries to do this by making such laws as the freedom of speech. This law gave any member of the group a right to express his opinion. Unfortunately, Ralph’s attempts failed and the boys became savages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, the evil side of a person is an unavoidable thing. It can be supressed but also can take over a person. Although everyone has an evil side, some have a harder time controlling it then others. The character of Jack was the representation of evil in the novel. First, Jack’s appearance is stereotypical of a possessed or evil person. He is tall and slender, with red hair and sports a of the slaughtered pig suggests is evil nature. This is a strange and barbaric thing to do in a civil society. Lastly, the fact that Jack black clock. Secondly, when he baptizes himself with the blood showed no remorse about the death of Simon clearly illustrates that he is the representations of evil in the novel.

The Purpose of Education :: School Learning Educating Essays Papers

The Purpose of Education I suppose the reasons that brought me to St. Olaf in 2003 were shared by many middle to upper class Midwestern kids who had just graduated from high school. We played by the rules and our learning styles fit well into the public education system (and maybe we were fairly smart too), so we had a piece of paper saying that we had a good GPA. Our parents had been grooming us for College ever since we were little, making us fill out practice applications and going out of their way to drive us past the U of M on our way anywhere. We knew the rules: If you don’t get the degree, you’ll end up living in your parent’s basement and cleaning toilets for a living or pregnant (or, GASP, both!!). Those seemed like the only two options at the time sans degree. Plus, at least in my case, I had a big sister at St. Olaf and I liked books and was motivated. All in all, it was just expected of me and I was ok with it. Then, however, the summer after a very experimental and not extremely educational freshman year, I spent a summer working on an organic farm near Stillwater, MN and discovered what it felt like to truly learn. Not just reading some book because I HAD to and then regurgitate the information back out on a test, but questing for information and experiences because plants were FASCINATING and learning to drive a tractor was empowering and farming was complex, elegant, challenging and above all, very very real. For a suburban kid who didn’t know what a tomato plant looked like and never had seen the inside of any machine, learning how to grow food, the most necessary thing in life besides water, was the most relevant experience I’d ever had. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t doing something because I needed the grade or the approval; I was doing it because it interested me. So then I decided I needed to drop out of school. Enough with this book stuff, how does this ever relate to real life? Why do I need to know about Christianity in the 7 th century or the philosophical thoughts of dead white men or about the inner workings of the Krebs cycle I want to dig in the dirt, I want to learn about how to keep squash bugs off my cucurbits, and I want to fix fences and tractors. The Purpose of Education :: School Learning Educating Essays Papers The Purpose of Education I suppose the reasons that brought me to St. Olaf in 2003 were shared by many middle to upper class Midwestern kids who had just graduated from high school. We played by the rules and our learning styles fit well into the public education system (and maybe we were fairly smart too), so we had a piece of paper saying that we had a good GPA. Our parents had been grooming us for College ever since we were little, making us fill out practice applications and going out of their way to drive us past the U of M on our way anywhere. We knew the rules: If you don’t get the degree, you’ll end up living in your parent’s basement and cleaning toilets for a living or pregnant (or, GASP, both!!). Those seemed like the only two options at the time sans degree. Plus, at least in my case, I had a big sister at St. Olaf and I liked books and was motivated. All in all, it was just expected of me and I was ok with it. Then, however, the summer after a very experimental and not extremely educational freshman year, I spent a summer working on an organic farm near Stillwater, MN and discovered what it felt like to truly learn. Not just reading some book because I HAD to and then regurgitate the information back out on a test, but questing for information and experiences because plants were FASCINATING and learning to drive a tractor was empowering and farming was complex, elegant, challenging and above all, very very real. For a suburban kid who didn’t know what a tomato plant looked like and never had seen the inside of any machine, learning how to grow food, the most necessary thing in life besides water, was the most relevant experience I’d ever had. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t doing something because I needed the grade or the approval; I was doing it because it interested me. So then I decided I needed to drop out of school. Enough with this book stuff, how does this ever relate to real life? Why do I need to know about Christianity in the 7 th century or the philosophical thoughts of dead white men or about the inner workings of the Krebs cycle I want to dig in the dirt, I want to learn about how to keep squash bugs off my cucurbits, and I want to fix fences and tractors.

Compare and contrast the variety of attitudes to marriage as expressed

Compare and contrast the variety of attitudes to marriage as expressed by different characters in Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice is one of the most famous novels in the history of English Literature. Written in the year of 1813 by the very well known author, Jane Austen, whose novels all examine the nature of love. The general tone of the novel is light, but serious. Pride and Prejudice is a story that focuses on the life of marriage, it is full of love. Money and wealth is also a main aspect of the book. Marriage in Pride and Prejudice is acknowledged in that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. The first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice could not have better prepared the reader for the rest of the novel. The thread that sews together the lives of all the characters in the novel is the establishment of marriage. Jane Austen uses the Bennet family of Longbourn to illustrate the good and bad reasons behind marriage. Mrs. Bennet is an irritating woman whose main goal in life is to get her five daughters married. It might be correct in assuming that she felt social and financial pressure to do so. Her husband's estate was entailed to his nephew, Mr. Collins, when Mr. Bennet was to pass away. Therefore, Mrs. Bennet wanted her daughters to have financial stability elsewhere in case of their father's death. In the time period of this story there was very little social acceptance of women who were single their whole lives. For the most part, women could not acquire money on their own without inheriting or marrying into good fortune. Women who could not find a husband were often referred to as â€Å"old maids† and lived their whole lives with their p... ...daughters were pleasant and appear to be ideal. Jane had longed for Mr. Bingley for quite a while. Bingley was handsome, rich, kind, and well liked. He and Jane shared many conversations and had complimentary personalities. They were pleasantly matched and I believe that they shared a happy life together. Elizabeth (the main character in the novel) and Darcy's marriage was an excellent match. Though she thought him a cold, aloof snobbish man at first, this soon evolved into something else, it was love. They were equal in intellect, had physical attraction and deep love for one another, financial security, romance, and companionship. They are the two I believe would be most happy in life. Jane Austen wanted the reader to know that marriage should be approached as a package deal - a package of love, financial stability, physical attraction, and happiness.

Red Lobster case analysis Essay

Should Lopdrup make Experientials the target segment and modify Red Lobster’s positioning accordingly. If so, how should he change its marketing mix (4P)? Red Lobster originally was founded in 1968 and gained tremendous popularity back then by offering fresh seafood for everybody. They made it easily accessible and approachable. However, over several extremely successful decades of rapid growth and many new restaurants, Red Lobster in 2004 was becoming out of date and out of touch with today’s customer. The company with more than 40-year experience in seafood restaurants, with its new leading CEO Kim Lopdrup now has invested in extensive market research. The results of the market research reveal a surprisingly exciting opportunity for the company to shift its target customer segment. The chain at the moment is taking its first steps of an elaborate 10-year rejuvenation plan under the lead of its CEO Kim Lopdrup. Back in 2004 when he took over as a CEO of Red Lobster, the company was closing down restaurants and going through a major decline in sales. Furthermore, customer satisfaction had dropped significantly as well by then. Though, in 2010, even in a period of recession, the sales results are slowly starting to improve. As a result, the whole chain itself is improving as well. A recent market research study has revealed rather unexpected results that 25% of Red Lobster’s customers are â€Å"experientials,† people looking for pleasure, good service and high-quality food. Which is very different from Red Lobster’s traditional core customer who just wanted big portion sizes of decent seafood and does not worry about nutrition or upscale atmosphere. Lopdrup is currently thinking of possible re-positioning to attract more â€Å"experientials†, thereby also changing the company’s target segment. But would this be a good step? Back in 1968, the brand gained popularity by making fresh seafood that was not very accessible back then. However, times have changed now. Customers now have an abundance of choices when it comes to fresh seafood, which makes it very hard for Red Lobster to differentiate from other brands only offering ‘approachable, fresh seafood’. Moreover, lately it has been associated with frozen and fried, unhealthy food, not fresh seafood. The recession has had a bad impact on the restaurant and there has been a major drop in customer count. Instead of focusing on winning the price war within the highly competitive casual dining category, Kim Lopdrup instead has decided to focus on rejuvenation, following a differentiation strategy. The plan is to aim for higher quality, drive a higher frequency of visits and make the brand be seen as good quality seafood, where people could get a pleasant dining experience for affordable prices. In my opinion, Red Lobster must indeed focus on experientials, start fresh and show customers it is really doing things differently now. A new look, a new menu, improved service and better communication to let people see Red Lobster in a fresh, new way. They should embrace the 21st century by using more social networking (facebook, twitter, youtube), mobile apps, yet stick to its basic principles of providing fresh seafood from good fisherman, hire skillful grill masters and friendly staff, which are all core values for ‘experientials’. Moreover, these are values and expectations not only for ‘experientials’ but for the mass market in general. This way, they could achieve the highest reach and drive traffic to their restaurants. They must get talked about and become more visible by investing in a complex marketing campaign that would go in waves. A good quality television campaign would be highly appropriate. Regarding it’s 4PS, they should adjust its current market mix by really thinking about the target group’s wants and needs. Experientials are well educated and will not tolerate bad service. They go out to restaurants to connect with friends, family, and colleagues. So the company should definitely think of ways to improve its service. Renovation of the restaurant space, hiring of friendly employees that Red Lobster would continually educate about the latest trends and menu offerings. It is very important for the brand to have a welcoming, human face. And honest, communicative employees that will give a personal experience for each customer will take the brand image further away from its current corporate image. Regarding the products, it is also very important to communicate the source of their fish, its good quality chefs, daily offerings of ‘daily fresh catch’ to let people know that Red Lobster has ‘stepped up’ their game and only offering the highest-quality fresh crab from the best farmers. Perhaps they should do an acquisition with a wine company in order to offer experientals more wines to choose from, since they like to enjoy new food and menu items. They are motivated by culinary expertise and wine and food goes hand in hand with each other. Regarding the price, they could increase the price a little bit, since experientials are not overly ‘price sensitive’. They are well educated with a high income, though they als o like to eat out often. So a mid-range price would be the most appropriate. By focusing on experientials, Red Lobster could significantly increase profitability and get more loyal customer that return for more. The positioning should stay ‘approachable, fresh seafood’, since they have so many locations everywhere. The menu should be more frequently updated. Prices could be higher for ‘specials’, and they should communicate keywords like ‘quality, freshness, seafood lovers’, have cooking demonstrations. Invest in TV promotional ads to achieve mass awareness, hirepassionate people, focus on continuous improvement.