‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost Essay

In the poem ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost, the poet considers the value or otherwise, of boundaries. In contemplating whether good fences make good neighbors, he is including all barriers and boundaries in that – including walls. He is concerned that the saying may be becoming so popular – and spouted so often – that it is fast becoming trite. He wonders whether properties are always of sufficient threat to each other as to always demand some kind of barrier. Apples are no threat to cattle for example, or corn to forestry trees. However, others may feel different – it depends on what’s on the property and what the neighbor believes. Some believe that it’s pointless to wonder what your neighbor’s like – just throw up a wall and be done with it – that way everyone’s happy. There are no incursions and therefore no disputes. â€Å"I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought / And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:† I regret that I did not achieve many things I tried to get, and with old regrets renewed I now grieve over having wasted my precious time: â€Å"Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow / For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,† Then I can cry, being unaccustomed to crying, over dear friends who have died, â€Å"And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe / And moan the expense of many a vanish’d sight:† And weep again over former loves that I put behind me long ago, and cry over the pain of many faded memories: â€Å"Then can I grieve at grievances foregone / And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er† Then I can grieve over past griefs and recount each sadness with a heavy heart, â€Å"The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan / Which I new pay as if not paid before.† The sad remembrance of things I have grieved over already, which I now grieve over anew as though I never did before. â€Å"But if the while I think on thee, dear friend / All losses are restored and sorrows end.† But as soon as I think of you, my dear friend, all those wounds are healed, and my sorrows come to an end. Why is he saying it? Sonnet 30 is at the center of a sequence of sonnets dealing with the narrator’s growing attachment to the fair lord and the narrator’s paralyzing inability to function without him. The sonnet begins with the image of the poet drifting off into the â€Å"remembrance of things past† – painful memories, we soon learn, that the poet has already lamented but now must lament anew. The fair lord enters the scene only in the sonnet’s closing couplet, where  he is presented as a panacea for the poet’s emotional distress. Closely mirroring the message of sonnet 29, here Shakespeare cleverly heightens the expression of his overwhelming anxiety by belaboring the theme of emotional dependence. Whereas in sonnet 29 he quits his whining after the second quatrain, in sonnet 30 three full quatrains are devoted to the narrator’s grief, suggesting that his dependence on the fair lord is increasing. Meanwhile sonnet 30’s closing couplet reiterate s lines 9-14 of sonnet 29 in compact form, emphasizing that the fair lord is a necessity for the poet’s emotional well-being: the fair lord is the only thing that can bring the poet happiness. This pinnacle of the poet’s plaintive state is beautifully conveyed through an artful use of repetition and internal rhyme. Beyond the obvious alliteration of â€Å"sessions of sweet silent thought,† note the â€Å"-nce† assonance of â€Å"remembrance† and â€Å"grievances,† to which may be added â€Å"since† and â€Å"cancell’d†; the correspondence of â€Å"sigh,† â€Å"sought,† and â€Å"sight†; and the rhyme in â€Å"foregone,† â€Å"fore-bemoaned,† â€Å"before,† and â€Å"restored.† It is as though the poet wishes to hammer in his hardship with the repetitive droning of his troubled soul. Beyond its poetics, sonnet 30 also provides some prime examples of the poet’s recurring tendency to describe his relationship with the fair lord in financial terms. The opening lines of the sonnet remind us of being called to court (cf. â€Å"court sessions† and â€Å"summon a witness†). This is followed by a slew of money-related terms, including â€Å"expense,† â€Å"grievances,† â€Å"account,† â€Å"paid,† and â€Å"losses.† The phrase â€Å"tell o’er† in line 10 is an accounting expression (cf. the modern bank teller) and conjures up an image of the narrator reconciling a balance sheet of his former woes and likening them to debts that he can never pay off in full. The only cure for his financial hardship is the fair lord’s patronage – perhaps something to be taken literally, suggesting that the fair lord is in fact the poet’s real-world financial benefactor.

Global Economy Essay

Globalization is corporate driven; it’s the system which allows trans-national business and finance to invest what they want where they want; to produce what they want; and to buy and sell what they want, everywhere, with the fewest restrictions possible coming from labour laws, social conventions or environmental regulations. Globalization is also finance driven. Corporate-led, finance-driven globalization has been extremely successful (George 2008, p. 1). Globalization has been extremely beneficial to those at the top of various societies. The benefits of globalization for ordinary people have been problematic particularly in the mature capitalist countries. Those who advocate for neo-liberal globalization claim it thrusts the floor upwards for everybody an extremely debatable proposition in a world where a billion people exist with a buying power of a dollar a day and approximately half the world with less than two dollars a day (George 2008, p. 1). Multi national corporations, finance corporations and wealthy persons contribute less and less proportionally in taxation to national budgets. This means the ordinary people, consumers and local businesses pay more than their reasonable allocation (George 2008, p. 1). More and more people are doubtful as to whether globalisation has delivered on its promises and benefits. 57 % of the people recently interviewed in the G7 countries are of the opinion that globalisation has moved too fast in recent years. In twenty seven other countries, 64 % were of the opinion that the advantages and troubles of globalisation were unjustly shared. Only in ten out of the thirty four countries polled did the bulk of the people think of globalisation as a positive factor for local economic development (Falk 2008, p. 1). World Sourcing and Outsourcing In the corporate world, companies are exploiting the emerging markets in line with globalization. A company like Levono has its products, human resources and facilities in 160 countries around the world. Market trends such as outsourcing have created a time zone that universal. This means that the company can access the resources it needs from any part of the globe where the costs are lower at any time regardless of its time zone. It is a top-down strategy designed to save on costs by handing the non-core operations to a third party who offers the lowest price. World sourcing is a business strategy that influences the positive aspects of globalization to maximize on value and quality that the company delivers to customers globally (Walker 2008,p. 3). Companies in the global economy can source for everything where the best talent exists and like wise sell where the best market is located. Companies that practice world sourcing create value twenty four hours a day. The global distribution of resources such as talents and markets has created a nucleus of excellence strategy. A company in this case can have its marketing department in India, designing being done in Japan, its fulfilment centres located in North America and the manufacturing facilities located in China, Latin America, India and Europe. This distribution of resources also means as companies tap into the skills and talents spread across the globe, career choices then cease to be hindered by geographical boundaries (Walker 2008,p. 5). World sourcing as a globalization strategy is envisaged on the principle that brand cuts across nationality and geographical boundaries. The more a company extends to the entire world for the finest ideas, human resources and processes, the more it develops in the refined essence of its brand name. It is appraised not by nationality, but according to the excellence of its products, services, degree of corporate social responsibility, governance, environmental practices, transparency, and ultimately, the degree of value it conveys to customers globally (Walker 2008, p. 7). Global corporations that world source their products and services are exposed to the inquisitive light and censure from challenging consumers and government watchdogs in different countries. They can only build confidence by complying with the highest principles of governance, compliance transparency, and excellence (Walker 2008, p. 7). Global Networking Debate on networked economy began as early as 1865 in Paris. However it is the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that has turned the world into a truly global village. This means a global networked economy. By definition a global village or a global networked economy means that there is instantaneous relay of information from one part of the globe to another. The connectivity of the internet today has contributed greatly towards global connectivity (Tarjanne 1997, pp. 2-3). The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has played a vital part in networking based on global connectivity. The Radio Regulations, one of the inter-governmental treaties of which ITU is the guardian recognizes the electro-magnetic spectrum as a universal resource of humanity. A Recent development in this field is the advancement of satellite handsets, the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS). Satellite systems will enable access to essential telecommunications from any part of the globe regardless of time zones and geographical boundaries (Tarjanne 1997, p. 4). However global networking is still not yet fully attained. Access to technology is largely influenced by wealth. Approximately 97% of all Internet hosts are based in the developed countries which represent 16% of the world’s population. There are approximately fifty countries that still lack an Internet host within their boundaries. One of the objectives of the ITU is to support the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunications technologies globally (Tarjanne 1997, p. 5).

Groups and Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Groups and Teams - Essay Example In the first section of this document, I shall critically discuss the impact of Belbin team roles in the three areas that I shall major: leadership skills, problem solving and decision making. Moreover, I shall inculcate the Mary Brown scenario and relate it to the specific three theories discussed. Additionally, I shall deliver an eventual concise summary on the Belbin team roles. Moreover, I have critically explored the above-mentioned areas, with regard to thorough studies I have conducted and which I have cited within the text. Groups and Teams Apparently, all teams are groups but not all groups are teams. Definitely, a group is any given number of entities that are considered as a complete unit. Moreover, a collection of various people who share various aspects, interact freely with each other, give in to obligations and rights as members of the specific group and share an identity form an entity. Moreover, groups are established to segregate the incident into practical areas of operation. Additionally, a collection of individuals who operate together to deliver products or services are mutually accountable. The members of the team share common goals and are mutually accountable for accomplishing them while affecting interactions between them. Each member of the team is held responsible for the work of integrating with each other since the entire team is held accountable. Groups embody various traits that are retrospective relative to those of teams. For instance, group members have paltry communication, they lack vision, members always seek to conceive their identity, leaders are manipulative, the whole group entity is ideally less than the summation of its independent parts, their members have exclusive cliques and there is minimal support. As disputed to groups, teams have advantageous traits that include plentiful support, members always seek to find identity, there is honesty and openness, there are numerous opportunities for motivation and new member s are always welcome and communication is effective. Mary Brown Scenario This scenario regards a situation where a family in a given town faces problems emanating from drug abuse. For instance, George Smith and Mary Brown, the father and mother respectively; to three children: Joe, Lucy and Tom have numerous problems within their marriage, issues that come from intake of drugs and short temperedness. This scenario also encompasses the outside parties concerned with the family, with an aim to help them elude the problems they face. This inculcates Ann, the family’s social service worker, Teachers, welfare personnel and youth workers among others who seem to have issues with effective communication across their specific agencies. Theories on the Leadership Skills, Problem Solving and Decision Making Linked With Mary Brown Scenario With regard to leadership skills, the Mary Brown scenario applies in the sense that virtually all involved parties have weaknesses in one aspect or t he other in process of trying to work as a team. For example, Ann, the family’s social worker seems to be overly concerned with helping the family by addressing the need to hold a meeting with the concerned parties such as the police, youth workers, welfare officers, teachers and drug advisors among others. This shows that she is a leader of good sort. With regard to George’s family, he is anticipated to take leadership over his family though he

Cultural Differences Between Employees Management Essay

Cultural Differences Between Employees Management - Essay Example While superficially it might seem the first three elements of the analysis, (Political, Economic, and Sociological), might seem to be the most applicable to a discussion of culture within the workplace, the others are as well. PESTLE has been used by many companies to examine both the internal and external factors that will influence both present and future business. It is a way of viewing complex situations through the prism of a strong model that can both provide a rational framework for the examination of complex issues and also provide a foundation for the possible alleviation of the problems discovered. Thus the problem of "culture" is one that is posed for nearly all managers in all businesses, but especially within increasingly diverse environments such as are found in Europe. First of all, what does "culture" mean The dictionary defines it in the following manner: What does such an esoteric subject have to do with the ordinary business environment one might ask Basically, culture is all the beliefs, biases, likes, dislikes and general attitude towards life that an employee brings into the workplace. If all these were homogeneous within each company then culture could be ignored as it would be shared and unified. Problems arise when a culture is not shared, specifically when a particular manner, way of speaking or belief conflicts with another. On a most basic level, one might deal with the problem with hand gestures.  

How will I schedule time for me everyday Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How will I schedule time for me everyday - Essay Example the next progress is to go home for my wife and kids where I have to do some relaxation activities that I have mentioned above (Dodd & Sundheim, 2005). However, there are ten ways to make the schedule better such as purchase a calendar, prioritizing my tasks, trying to complete these tasks according to priority, stick to the schedule, check the complete tasks using marks, allowing space at the bottom of the schedule for low priority items, transferring undone items to the following list, adjust the schedule as expected for personal lifestyle, selecting excellent format and filling each day with constant tasks (Newport, 2006). For me to improve my commitments, I should be realistic in order for the schedule to act as a real guide, that would help me plan time well, also I should be flexible in following the schedule because things would come up that requires me to deviate from the schedule and that I should be able to evaluate the schedule in order to observe whether it is offering go od

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

Compensation - Essay Example These wages are augmented by bonuses that are commensurate with the contributions the employee makes to specific projects or even their own entrepreneurial developments (â€Å"Facebook beats google†, 2012). The best fit and best practice approaches constitute different perspectives. The best fit approaches argues that compensation pay should be aligned with the organization’s strategy and values. The challenge these becomes finding the ‘best-fit’ between the strategic approach and compensation. These practices are contrasted with ‘best practice’ approach that argue there need not be a best fit between strategy and approach, but instead a universal approach to compensation in the organization. A customer service-agent that manages issues that arise between buyers and sellers at the online marketplace Half.com. These management practices occur over the telephone and through e-mail. Notably, there are over 2,000 emails a day to sort through. It is indicated that this information does not become tedious as the emails are of constantly different varieties. In terms of further information needed, it is necessary to consider what occurs when the issue cannot be resolved, as well as the extent that the employee is under pressure from Half.com to determine a best fit solution. 5. The compensable factors in paying my boss more than me are that he has a higher knowledge set and deeper managerial experience. This increases his organizational value as he is able to oversee crucial aspects or operational difficulties. This is further understood in terms of organizational contributions. While it is possible for the lower tier workers to make tangible contributions to organizational value, compensation is on a best fit spectrum so that the higher the individual is on organizational spectrum, the higher their value is the organization. This results in the higher compensation

The Crusades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Crusades - Essay Example They left for Acre in 1217, and joined John of Brienne, ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Hugh I of Cyprus, and Prince Bohemund IV of Antioch to fight against the Ayyubids in Syria" (Crusade, Wikipedia). The campaign started with seizes of Damietta, in June, 1218 and they gained little success with conquering one tower outside the city on 25th August. But then epidemic swept through the crusader's camp and one of the many casualties was Robert of Couron. But by November the crusaders were able to capture the sultan's port under Francis of Assisi. He tried to negotiate with the sultan numerous times but failed. Slowly but surely the crusaders were gaining footholds in their campaign and ultimately seized Cairo. But their march to Cairo was proved to be disastrous as it was the flooding season of the Nile and "with supplies dwindling, a forced retreat began, culminating in a night attack by Al-Kamil that resulted in a great number of crusader losses and eventually the surrender of the army by Pelagius. The terms of this surrender meant the relinquishing of Damietta to Al-Kamil and an 8 year peace agreement with Europe in return for the original piece of the cross and the prisoners held from the failed advance on Cairo". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Crusade) The Sixth Crusade: The Emperor Frederick II of Germany had taken the crusading vow when he was young during his coronation ceremonies. And now it was his turn to salvage the holy land. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was ruled by John of Brienne who was actually had been acting as king. Fredric married his daughter Yolanda and started his campaign in 1228. Though Fredrick was barred considerably with internal conspiracies and movements he was able to force Al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt into negotiation thereby winning the possession of Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa, Bethlehem, and all of Jerusalem except the Dome of the Rock in February 18, 1229. Fredrick was not allowed to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, destroyed by Al-Mu'azzam, nephew of Saladin, in 1217 but he entered in to the city victorious and was crowned king on March 18th. But due to constant restraints by the conspirators back home Fredrick left Jerusalem in May and in 1244 when the truce ended Jerusalem was taken by the Mamluks. The Seventh Crusade: The Seventh Crusade was started by King Louis IX of France. For his campaign to recover the holy land King Louis IX became known as Saint Louis later in his life. Some scholars believe that this title was given to him simply because of his great devotion to God and not for his crusade campaign. The Mamluks took possession of Jerusalem in 1244. Louis felt it was his duty to announce his version of Crusade. King Louis IX of

Castillian Lyric 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Castillian Lyric 2 - Essay Example The final phases of the evolution of the Castilian took place subsequent to the Arabic Invasion. In the early part of the fifth century, the Visigoths entered Romanized Spain but was not much impressed by its culture or language. They strictly followed the traditions and language of their homeland. As time went by, they began to inter marry and therefore allowed their children to learn the Roman Tongue which in turn evolved to be a kind of Pidgin-Latin. Since Latin was used as a literary tongue in that part of Spain where the Castilian speech evolved, over time became a proper language. Three Romance or Roman languages were in the hands of the Christians in that part of Spain – in Catalonia and Argon, the Provencal, Catalan or Limousin; in Asturias, Old Castile or Leon the Castilian; and in Galicia, the Gallego. During the Provencal – Catalan period, courts of love were held with great seriousness and proved that the art of love competed with the forces of law and religion. From the glorification of the relations between the sexes, there arose a science of chivalry which gradually spread to Castile. This fired the imagination of the Spanish mind and they came to accept and appreciate Romantic Literature. In time, all foreign languages lost their alien character and evolved from the crucible of Spanish thought- Castilian. The Troubadour poets of Provence and Catalonia were responsible in accomplishing the perfection of rhyming verse. These songs have great musical sense and the predominant theme is –â€Å"the exaltation of love† Castilian poetry and romance was greatly influenced by Provencal and Catalan troubadours. The Galician, a romance language which grew from the same root as the Portuguese, was nearly akin to Castilian. It is not rich in guttural sounds and has less of the Teutonic in its compositions. Galician influence upon Castilian literature ceased at an early period. The evolution of the Castilian from the original Latin

Managing Operations - HSBC Bank (UK) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Operations - HSBC Bank (UK) - Essay Example It was a considered a premier bank in the Asian region. In Japan, after opening its branch in 1866, the bank went on to become an adviser to the government on banking and currency. In 1888, it was the first bank to be established in Thailand, where it printed the country's first banknotes. Today HSBC proudly boasts of over 125 million customers around the world, with a diverse workforce of more than 260,000 people, and has successfully completed 140 years of its presence in China in 2005. Today UK has the biggest share of its operations with over 55,000 employees serving the bank customers. The value that is added by both operations management and operations strategy is fundamental to any organization. Providing services or goods are the basic forms of operational activities. All organizations try to provide a combination of product and service. Opening a bank account, taking a meal in a restaurant, visiting a hospital, buying a pair shoes, insuring a vehicle, a hotel stay etc. are all operations activities and their management is central to the successful provisioning of goods and services. HSBC, having a vast experience over the 140 years, has done a commendable job by being a friendly bank to the world community at large. Operations management has i... ource form an active component of any organisation having many types of needs which, at times, are affected by the motivational factors present in the internal and external environment of the organisation. Therefore, human beings work towards the achievement of their short-term or long-term goals and objectives. The organisation too expects certain standards of performance from its staff and certain goals are set by the organisation as well. For HSBC we'll be examining its performance against the following five performance objectives; Quality: John Ruskin an English Critic said, "Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort. There must be the will to produce a superior thing". This 'will-power' is encouraged amongst the human being to achieve a quality service standard. In fact the term quality often conveys different meanings to different people. The meaning of quality varies in different circumstances as well, for example, a car which runs smoothly on straight roads may not prove to be of top quality while running in the hilly stretches of bumpy roads. HSBC has set for itself the following Core Business Principles to deliver quality service to its clientele. Outstanding customer service Effective and efficient operations Strong capital and liquidity Conservative lending policy Strict expense discipline Morality in dealings HSBC says, "We aim to combine quality investment performance, first class service and value-for-money products1. It appears HSBC has put in practice what it preaches. HBBC was adjudged as the top ranking in the 'sub-custodian' category 'Global Finance' magazine's (Oct 2005) Best-Banks award-2005, in 12 countries and three regions for the quality of its services to global custodians. Speed: The starting point of

Speech Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Speech Class - Essay Example We got a really a good package and it includes: Car, ticket and the hotel. In this day , we did not sleep we were staying all the day until the day after and at 8 we were on the Denver airport. we went to the rental car office and we gave him the conifrmation number for us and my friend for his licence to get a copy of it. When he just took it and went thru the copy machine he just came back and said: sorry we can not give you the car because you are under 21 and I was under 21 too...!!! The problem is we were planning to go and visit many places, I was sleepy a littile , but when I heard that I got dissapinted ( lol ) and my friend too , and then we told him we already rented an online so we already have a conifrmation number and we tried with him like for half an hour and then he said ok but you will be charging more double more .. The car which we already chose it in the site was : Musting Shelby GT 500 comfortable 2008, but he said because you are under 21 it should be much much much expesive arround 2600$. Then we rented the regular Musting which was much lesser than the Shelby GT. Then , we were looking to the restaurant we were hungury and we didnt eat anything for 4 hours in the plane because we were sleeping, we found a nice little Mexican restaurant right on the beach. Two guys were playing live music with an acoustic guitar. It was a pretty pleasant experience, except for the fact that we were exhausted after flying for over four hours. We bought passes to the Disney World complex that gave us a lot of freedom. The passes that we bought was a regular one but then we discovered that they have two kinds of passes for the 4 parks: the express one and the regular one. For the express pass you dont have to wait on the line unless too many people have the same pass card as you have. But after two or three days, everything started to look the same. That’s when I began to notice how some of the people acted

Internet Banking in India Essay Example for Free

Internet Banking in India Essay The banking sector in India has undergone a rapid transformation. Almost a decade ago this area was limited to nationalized banks and cooperative. Then came the multinational banks, but were these limited to serve small elite.  One could consider the past as the Middle Ages in the banking sector, in which each branch of the same bank acted as independent information silo and multichannel banking (ATMs, Net Banking, tele-banking, etc) was almost nonexistent. The main reason for this first transformation is due to improved methods developed encryption security and Internet. The second reason is that banks do not want to lose a potential market share for banks that are quick to offer their Internet services. The objective of this research is just comparing the modern era banking system with the old one. The evolution of modern banking technology began with the use of advanced machines shipping Ledger (ALPM) in the 1980s. The Reserve Bank of India, which is a central policy under which several public sector banks, financial institutions, NBFCs etc. working in India had advised then all banks to go massive computerization branch level. Two options were raised i. e. either to automate the front office or office. Many banks opted for ALPM office automation in the first phase. Banks as State Bank of India, a public sector commercial bank, focused on automating back office in branch level. The Rangarajan Committee 1985 report said the banks had to get computerized. The second wave of development called for Total Bank Automation (TBA) in late 1980. This automated both the front-end and back-end operations within the same branch. TBA compound total automation of a particular branch with its own database. In the third wave, the new private sector banks entered the field. These banks have opted for a different model of having one central database instead of having multiple databases for all branches. This was possible thanks to the availability of good network infrastructure. In the beginning of the 1990s, the cost of the leased line goes down. The DoT was expanding its capacity and new technologies were being implemented. Earlier, banks were unsure of directing the whole operation through a single data center. However, when a couple of private sector banks implemented efficiently, other banks began to show interest, and also began consolidating their databases in a single database [8]. Banks follow this movement by choosing appropriate application software that supports centralized operations. The fourth wave began with the evolution of ATM delivery channel. This was the first stage of training the client for their own transactions. The second stage was Suvidha experiment in the city of Bangalore in India. This showed the power of technology and how the scope can be increased at a rate unusually large. Seeing this, all banks began to renew their retail distribution channels. Their main focus became the number of customers they can service at a lower cost. The main channels are chains such as Internet banking and mobile banking. After this came alliances for payment through different gateways. The third major event happening now is the real time gross settlement system of the RBI. Once this is in place, transactions between banks can be done through the settlement system, online, electronically. So collections will become very fast. Within five years, most transactional services are provided by way of the Internet. Net-based banking takes only 10 percent of the operating costs of conventional banking practices and services. Because banks will play a key role in terms of public services related to electronic money transactions we feel that cooperative banks NET-Banking should consider in a big way. A cost comparison study by IBM Global Services Consulting Group clearly shows the advantage of using Internet for banking services through another Traditional media. The opening of the Indian banking sector to private players acted as a turning point for the transformation. De-regulation efforts led many financial institutions (such as HDFC and ICICI) and non-financial institutions entering the field of banking. With the entry of private players in retail banking and with multinationals focuses on individual consumers in a big way, the banking system experienced a change a phenomenal. Multi-channel banking gained importance. For the first time consumers have the option conducting transactions in either the traditional way (through the bank branch), through ATMs, by phone or through the network. Technology played a key role in providing this multi-platform service. Input private actors driven patterns combined with new nationalized banks forced to redefine their core banking strategy. And technology is central to this change. Internet Banking is the most effective means of banking. The bank customers changing relationships significantly, open standards replace property front ends, many-to-many substitution networks single line, links and traditional locking erosion, so that corporations enjoy lower switching costs. Corporations source worldwide and find the best cane. Corporate customers are free to disaggregate their corporate banking shopping, selecting the best genetics for every need, geographic and functionally, and the integrated use of front-end to manage the complexity of multiple vendors. Methodology: Let us now compare the IT journey of two of the leading banks of india i. e. Pnb and hdfc. Punjab National Bank Punjab National Bank (PNB), a public sector commercial bank, has come a long way since March 2000, when IT systems are deployed only 500-odd branches, and was very uneven. Only 35 percent of the bank business was computerized and a number of small software packages running on independent PCs. Now 2003, GNP had 101 branches in a WAN, deployed core banking infrastructure and network works 175 ATMs. It has also deployed a reliable security infrastructure that helps make transactions within its carefree branches. The journey does not end here, but along the way banks gathered valuable knowledge and experience. Some of the preconditions were that the RBI systems must be audited by an independent auditor, and an independent agency should carry authentic out penetration tests. The bank has already had their systems audited by an external agency, and penetration testing process is ongoing. In the process, GNP has developed the skills of its own staff to take charge of security on their own at a later stage. The bank also hire technically trained personnel to provide the necessary knowledge base. With the launch of Internet banking, the bank will also strengthen its security policies. A private sector bank had a centralized IP-based network right from its inception. All branches throughout the country converge at their respective location zonal center, which in turn connects to the data center Mumbai. Based on the nature of the entity and spoke network architecture, the branches are distributed in different regions and each position has an important regional center. Falling branches under a location connected to the hub in the main area. These hubs then connect to the central site (data center) using a combination of 2 Mbps tubes and 64 Kbps, depending on the total volume of transactions passing through. A highlight of HDFC Bank Network is the presence of two or more hubs in one place. Pre-Internet banking A security issue during the pre-Internet has more to do with the internal activities of a company. From the early days as technology solutions for banking applications mainframe, AS400 or Unix- had a lot of security built. Transactions that are directed from the branch to the main server is encrypted no individual passwords and many functions have two levels of authorization. Therefore safety banking largely integrated in the software or the application itself. Today banking in India is not limited to a branch. People have less time to devote to their banking and would like to make use of banking services through other channels. In a competitive market, where services offered command market share, banks are constantly competing for customers. Banking has become a process of choice and convenience. By offering different channels until banks have succeeded in divert their operations from one branch to other channels. The result has been a reduction in the cost per transaction at the branch. An average transaction costs about 100 rupees branch, at an ATM in question Rs. 0, and the Internet is around Rs. 20. But unfortunately a very small percentage of customers out not use the Internet Banking in India. This is due to factors such as low PC penetration, and penetration of Internet itself is low. At present only a few banks (eg HDFC, PNB, etc) have demonstrated the Internet initiative banking and have a strong advantage over other banks through a large number of customers still use ATMs. Typically 55 percent, on average, the operations of these banks are in the ATM, branch 30 percent, 8 percent Phone and 7 percent Internet. As with any new technology issue new face. There are a number of problems faced by these banks. One of the first problems is that of customer service. Banks need to create a whole new customer relations department to help customers. Banks need to ensure that customers receive help quickly if they need help. The major problems or disasters can destroy banks reputation quickly and easily. By showing the customer that the Internet is reliable they are able get the client can trust the online banking more and more. Besides these the first is the main concern of the laws. While Internet banking has no national or state borders, the law does. Companies will have to make sure you have the software in place that can detect when a law of a state to another is being violated. Security of course, is a big problem with banks. Along with security problems and manage cryptographic a bank also has to worry about becoming a far too cold for the customer. Some think the banks offering Internet banking services our increasingly cold and impersonal with customer. Despite the problems that exist however, are not as bad as you think. With encryption and security technology to improve in leaps and with banks and financial institutions are allowed to use 128-bit Internet banking is increasingly Code secure. The future of modern banking integration is, as people have less time for banking. My profile revealed that the banks that offer online banking services are rapidly becoming the choice of citizens in the urban areas. People want to process more transactions online. Soon there will be more activity in terms of applications and services on mobile. Geography is not an inhibitor more, since all can run on the network. Integration will become the next big thing in real. The customer will want a one-stop workshop that will take care of all your needs. For example people will want to buy their mutual funds, redeem his mutual funds, insurance policies buy, renew policies, and buy movie tickets, train tickets and numerous similar transactions through the bank. The ATM still serve as an effective means of dispensing, but the Internet and mobile will be very active. Banks that use the Internet banking have higher rates of return deposits and provide higher interest rates in general, and not have to deal with cashiers, branches, etc. and then in the times ahead and the actual Virtual banks will not dominate the future.

Measurement Guidelines Essay Example for Free

Measurement Guidelines Essay Management guidelines must be developed to create a benchmark of expectations. â€Å"Without measuring the effectiveness of strategy on a timely basis, makes it not only difficult to determine alignment, management is always working with lagging information† (The Executive Corner, 2004). Each step of the final solution will be measured to meet the businesses needs. The human resources department will define three main competencies of each department within sixty days. In order to ensure effectiveness, the competencies will have to be approved and agreed on by the CEO and senior management. Once this phase is completed, the human resources department will commit to training managers on employee behaviors. To ensure training is successful, the managers are tested to assess material understanding. It is estimated that in a maximum of 90 days, Riordan should achieve a predetermined number company goals by their employees. Long-term effectiveness is measured by an employee surveys. A recommendation for an additional survey between 6-12 months for employees to complete will go out. This survey will look for feedback on new processes and the current development and training strategies. The employee turnover rate should be less than industry standards to achieve success. A last of measure of success will be tied to Riordan’s performance output. References The Executive Corner. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.businessbuilders.bz/archives/06-15-04.htm

Ineffective Unworkable Stability Growth Pact

Ineffective Unworkable Stability Growth Pact Abstract The paper presented provides a discussion and evaluation of the functioning of the fiscal discipline instrument; it was designed in the early 1990s for inclusion in the Maastricht Treaty, refined in 1997 with the creation of the Stability Growth Pact (hereafter, ‘SGP), and reformed in 2005. Assuming that we need it for reasons rehearsed in literature, the SGP will be evaluated and discussed in relation to its effectiveness to date. Although case law is not studied extensively, a brief overview of the SGP crisis in 2003 will be provided, followed by a legal/economic analytical framework perspective with the SGP examined under the lens of soft and hard law primarily. With the legal principles exposing the economics behind the SGP, the rules and discretion debate is followed supporting evidence that the current framework has proved to be inadequate. The methodology continues to analyse the SGP framework with a particular focus on the economic crisis of Greece. The lessons illumin ated from this particular case study will further provide possible recommendations to help the SGP become a more effective regime, in face of ageing populations and a need for growth enhancing forms. 1. Introduction While monetary policy is delegated to the European Central Bank (ECB) who face a challenge of convincing speculators that they are serious about the maintaining of exchange rate stability and that they will not use the option of devaluing (Jacquet 1998), fiscal policy remains in the hands of national authorities. Member States (MS) should however, according to the Treaty on European Union (hereafter, Maastricht) comply with the principle of sound public finances. To ensure this, the Treaty presents a no bail-out clause which prohibits the ECB, and other nations of rescuing a MS in financial trouble. This was further protected by the introduction of the Stability Growth Pact (SGP) which further specified rules and procedures. A primary source of European Union law is provided for by the power-giving EU treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions that, amongst other things, can enact legislation in order to achieve these goals. The SGP is precisely this further legislation that is required to give force and credibility to the Treaty. The legislative acts of the EU may come in two forms; directives and regulations. In the case of the SGP, it consists of two council regulations 1466/97 and 1467/97 which are directly applicable and binding in all MSs without the need for any further domestic legislation. The fundamental objective for the SGP is to identify excessive deficits and end them as soon as possible[1]. However, the SGP, in its original, reformed and current form is not effective. Whilst initiating debt and deficit cuts, it fails to stimulate and enhance growth. It has no end to criticisms in applying fiscal discipline. This has led to not only the SGP crisis facing the European Court of Justice in 2003 where the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) failed to impose sanctions on delinquent MSs but more significantly the recent crisis of Greece, where the failure of the SGP to discipline their budgetary discipline has led to spiralling debts forcing the EU to possibly ‘eat its own words in relation to the ‘no bail-out clause. This not only undermines the credibility of the SGP as a framework, but calls into question the functioning of the European Monetary Union as a whole. With the pact being described as an operational recipe and repeatedly being consi dered as too weak, will this finally spur policy-makers into producing a much harder pact? 2. Designing, Building and Naming the Ship From Maastricht to SGP[2] The aim of the following chapter is to provide a brief focused review of how the SGP framework was formed. The debate leading up to the creation of the SGP began long before the Maastricht treaty was signed in 1992. After the experience of the 1970s and 1980s it became clear that a new focus was required on medium term stability and fiscal discipline, and it became certain that there was a need for institutional mechanisms. In particular, the absence of a fiscal rule meant that the free rider problem was feared as MS may be tempted to run excessive deficits in the expectation that the Monetary Union will bail them out (Begg Schelkle, 2005). Later, this became the one of the most compelling rationales for the SGP; to prevent the European Central Bank (ECB) from being pressurised for an inflationary bail out (Eichengreen Wyplosz, 1998). In 1989, The Delors Committee composed of central bankers reported that economic and fiscal decisions â€Å"would have to be placed within an agreed macroeconomic framework and be subject to binding procedures and rules† (Delors Report, 1989). This would also help to avoid differences in public sector borrowing requirements between MSs and present obligatory constraints on the size of budget debt and deficits (Delors Report, 1989), therefore limiting the use of fiscal policy itself. This not only combined but reflected both the Keynesian coordination and fiscal discipline arguments. The vital question was how? The European Union (EU) was faced with key players representing different rationales. Whilst France wanted an ‘economic government the Germans central focus was on price stability, and they were adamant that excessive deficits must be avoided. Thus the result was the Treaty on European Union 1992. Whilst Article 99 states that MSs shall regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern and shall coordinate them with the Council, Article 104 states that â€Å"Member States shall avoid excessive government deficits†. The Treaty requires MSs to satisfy two fiscal convergence criteria to qualify fully as EMU members: to keep general budget deficit/GDP below 3% and nominal gross debt/GDP below 60% (Article 104c Protocol) (hereafter the ‘rules of the SGP). Furthermore, the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) is defined and shaped by the interaction between the Council and the Commission. For Euro MSs, this can lead to financial sanctions because of possible negative spillover occurring throughout the Monetary Union as a result of established excessive deficits. However the procedure, as laid down by the Treaty, is in no sense mechanistic. Ultimately it leaves the discretion of whether to take action to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). The EDP protects MSs from action in the form of ‘forgiveness clauses which accommodate deviations from the rules, for example resulting from an idiosyncratic shock, given that MSs meet specified conditions. This means MSs are still able to participate in EMU (Article 104(c) 2a Article 104(c) 2b). For the debt ratio rule, the escape clause is ambiguous in its wording as the ‘satisfactory pace for approaching the reference value has not been defined and this has been interpret ed very freely and at the discretion of each MS. It has proved difficult to devise a formal rule covering all possible events. It was interesting to note, that the SGP provided a further detailed specification regarding the interpretation of the deficit ratio emphasising the importance placed on it, yet it remained silent on the debt criterion. This can be interpreted as the SGP effectively overlooking the debt/GDP ratio as being unimportant in the application of fiscal discipline. As Maastricht aimed at bringing into line the states whose fiscal history in previous periods had given rise to problems, Maastricht offered a great incentive of joining EMU successfully.[3] However, pessimists worried that ‘Maastricht fatigue would set in once countries were admitted to EMU. It was thought that countries had been forced to suck their stomachs in to squeeze into Maastrichts tightly tailored trousers, but upon EMU entry, they would expel their breath violently (Eichengreen 1997). Beyond doubt, a further mechanism was required to ensure that MSs sustained compliance. The EU faced two options; they could either continue to rely on voluntary agreements where MSs agreed to meet convergence criteria after EMU was fully operational or the EU could impose explicit rules that would elaborate on and give further instructions from Maastricht. Although the introduction of the SGP implied that the EU chose the latter, it soon came to light that in fact the EU had implicitly chosen the former. The Original Stability and Growth Pact Prior to the introduction of the Euro, the German government became extremely anxious about giving up the reputable Deutschmark in favour of the new single currency that would include fragile economies who lacked stability culture. Germany already maintained a low inflation policy, and through the SGP the German government hoped to limit the pressure other MSs could exert on the European economy. They hoped to remove the margin for discretion left by Article 104 of Maastricht by ensuring that the EDP would be implemented according to a predetermined timetable and the eventual sanctions would be levied according to a predetermined formula (Costello, 2001). However such an automatic sanctioning mechanism was considered inappropriate by some MSs. In 1996, the SGP was finally concluded[4] as being â€Å"far less mechanical than the initial proposal† (Fischer et al 2006). Based on two council regulations, it took the force of law, with decisions to be taken within the original standard legislative framework of the Treaty. Fiscal policy remained decentralised but the SGP hoped to combine restraint with flexibility, whilst representing a backbone of fiscal discipline in EMU to primarily address negative spill-overs from MSs (Fischer et al 2006). Although the Commission reserved its ‘right of initiative, the Council ultimately retained discretion in making decisions within an overall rule based framework. Whilst some argued that the SGP was â€Å"no more than a clear affirmation of Article 4† (Jacquet 1998), others suggested that the SGP builds on the Maastricht provisions (Fischer et al 2006), by presenting a monitoring process, based on Article 99, which combines surveillance through stability programmes and a quasi automatic warning system for countries suffering from excessive deficits based on Article 104, often referred to as the ‘preventive and ‘corrective arm. The preventive arm requires Euro members to submit stability programmes while non-Euro members present convergence programmes. Both are required to include the medium term objective (MTO), and if applicable, an adjustment path towards it. The MTO is required to be ‘close to balance or in surplus and the rationale is to ensure sustainable fiscal positions in the long run whilst also creating sufficient room for fiscal policy to smooth out fluctuations in the short run without violating the 3% deficit ceiling as specified in the SGP regulations. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that although the programmes must be submitted to the Commission, it may be examined by the ECOFIN Council which may choose to make its opinion public, and this can be understood as ‘naming and shaming. In addition, if the Council forecasts a deviance from the budgetary position it may choose to address a recommendation to the respective MS. However this is not obligatory, highlighting the Coun cils power as it can take it upon itself to apply peer pressure. The corrective arm however, in contrast to Maastricht, provides for a much stricter and formal procedure, designed with a rigorous course of action set with time limits, to enforce fiscal discipline in the SGP (Dutzler Hable 2005). Whilst an excessive deficit is established upon a breach of the 3% deficit or 60% debt rule under the Treaty provisions, the SGP nonetheless focuses on the 3% deficit ceiling. This is arguably, a mistake on the part of the SGP creators. The inability of monitoring deficits due to difficulty in time lags means that data is imprecise. It can take more than four years to detect disobedience reliably, which means that disciplining MSs is even more unlikely.[5] Therefore, focusing on the debt/GDP ratio would be more sensible. After all, it is the total debt stock that needs to be financed. Focusing on the short term requirement does not do much in preventing MSs from getting themselves into situations where they may need to be rescued as the Greek experience illustrates. Because debt is a persistent stock and not a flow, it can help policymakers in nation states to choose more suitable and reasonable plans, which will help lower the probability of nations facing a crisis such as the one faced by Greece. The persistence of a debt will help give governments an incentive to keep debt at lower levels in order to be able to adjust to unforeseen circumstances more ea sily. There is a question of how to set that debt limit; but that can easily be done using the empirical work of Reinhart and Rogoff (2009), and others, on the links between debt and growth rates. Nevertheless, the EDP clarified the following. Firstly, the ‘exceptional circumstances are defined as ‘an annual fall of real GDP of at least 2% meaning that countries will be automatically exempt from further action. Furthermore, a fall of between 0.75% and 2% may be deemed exceptional if MS provide evidence. The deadline for correction of excessive deficits should be completed in the year following its identification unless there are ‘special circumstances; these were not defined. As the rules in the SGP are insufficiently flexible, they allow for breaches that ultimately may undermine the operation of the SGP. However, because the procedural steps clarify that the timing between reporting a deficit above 3% GDP and imposition of sanctions should be no more than 10months, it means that, if no corrective action is taken in adequate time to correct the deficit by the year following its identification, sanctions will be imposed. Financial sanctions will be in the for m of non-remunerated deposits which will take the value of 0.2% of GDP and rise by one-tenth of the excess deficit up to a maximum of 0.5% of GDP. Additional deposits will be required each year until the excessive deficit is removed. If the excess is not corrected within two years the deposit will be converted into a fine; otherwise it will be returned. Ultimately, this means a MS can run excessive deficits for at least three years before their deposit is converted into a fine. Although the inability of monitoring deficits is unfortunate, the effect of legal and institutional weight given to the corrective arm means that the short term requirement of keeping government deficit below 3% is treated with much more seriousness than the preventive arm. This is ironic since in practice, the excessive deficit procedure is not properly enforced as no MS has yet been fined. The preventive arm on the other hand is enforced, yet its lack of formal and legal basis and no procedure to punish a failure to comply with the objective of a medium term balance further emphasises the lack of importance placed on the preventive arm. (Rostowski 2004). 3. Soft Law to Softer Law This chapter will provide a review of the SGP as a form of proper regulation up until the SGP crisis in 2003 which led to the consequent reforms. The hard versus soft law debate will be discussed. Difficulties facing the SGP after its Inception Whilst several Euro countries bettered their fiscal outcome by moving their budgetary positions into surplus, others such as Germany, France, Italy and Portugal remained trapped in high deficits (Fischer et al 2006). The implied emphasis on correcting deficits rather than preventing them (because on its sanctioning nature) induced a failure to achieve ‘medium term balance meaning that they had little scope to allow automatic stabilisers to operate once economic conditions deteriorated (Rostowski 2004). They were criticised as not being tuned into the pact and this failure of key MSs to respect the requirements of the SGP just a few years after its inception, triggered a heated debate regarding a potential reform on the architecture of the SGP (Fischer et al 2006). Though some may argue that countries would have faired worse had there not been a SGP[6], the operation of the pact brought to light issues which where nevertheless important. A continued period of low growth levels t riggered by the dot-com crisis in 2000, eroded budget balances to the point where fiscal policies had to become strongly pro-cyclical to respect the 3% limit (Wyplosz, 2008), highlighting the fact that the SGP encourages pro-cyclical behaviour. In addition, the SGP discouraged growth and economic reform, most importantly in the labour market. REFERENCE? Although these are major criticisms of the functioning nature of the SGP itself, whats more is that the SGP is perceived as being contradictory; although created as hard law it takes the effect of soft law. With a legally binding nature, there should be little room for discretion, however as mentioned the sanctioning is not automatically applied (Schelkle 2005) to countries who are in breach of the EDP but rather, the members of the Council are required to vote, and only by qualified majority can countries be declared to have excessive deficits (Rostowski 2004). The council composing of finance ministers from MSs, implies that not only is ECOFIN dependant but it is also partial (Schuknecht 2004). As concluded by Eichengreen and Wyplosz (1998), the SGP will in this respect have some, but not maximum, effect. As long as imposition of sanction remains a political decision in the hands of national governments, it is highly unlikely that large and influential states will be punished (Rost owski 2004). This was proven in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) crisis of 2003. Due to the fact that EU officials will be reluctant to levy fines and lose goodwill, EU decision makers will compromise, allowing the 3% deficit ceiling to be violated. MSs will be reluctant to incur fines and suffer embarrassment, and therefore governments will also compromise by modifying their fiscal policies just enough to obey the rules, and avoid forcing the EU to impose sanctions. Thus although the lack of hard law perhaps implies that the sanctions were to act as a deterrent for MSs from violating the rules, the presence of the sanctions which will ‘never be imposed provides no incentive whatsoever for countries to comply with fiscal discipline. This is not only in the best interests of the respective MS but for the best interests of EMU as a whole. Furthermore fines may adversely affect a MS, causing conditions to worsen, leading â€Å"to recrimination and dealing a blow to EU solidar ity† (Eichengreen Wyplosz 1998). It makes no sense to place emphasis on penalising MSs after the rules have been breached; rather the EU needs to do more to prevent these breaches from occurring. Not surprisingly, to date no country has yet incurred fines. Evidence suggests that the SGP has created divergence between different sized MSs (von Hagen 2005). With the three largest countries seemingly unwilling to push for underlying balance, the Pact seems to have worked well for a group of smaller countries (as well as Spain) (Annett, 2006).[7] This demonstrates that enforceability is not uniformly weak; generally small countries have respected the SGP provisions, the only exception being Portugal (Rostowski 2004). This suggests that either enforceability needs to be applied equally, or the pact must regain the support of the larger MSs, especially Germany and France who fought for the creation of the pact. Perhaps a more vital question is why the pact lost support of the key players in the EU. If governments do not believe fines will be imposed in bad times, what incentive do they have to run fiscal surpluses in good times? The following SGP crisis was therefore inevitable. The Original SGP Crisis In 2003, Germany and France established excessive deficits. However, the European Council (described as the ‘dozing watchdog in Heipertz Verdun 2004) voted to hold the EDP in abeyance as it is permitted to do so by the articles in the Maastricht Treaty, causing great uproar for the ‘existence of the pact. As described by Begg Schelkle (2004), â€Å"The ECOFIN council decision was widely interpreted as the death-knell for the Stability Growth Pact.† The Commission challenged this decision by presenting the case to the ECJ whose judgement[8] left many unanswered questions. This in turn led to legal uncertainty and the loss of credibility for the EU fiscal framework (Dutzler Hable 2005). More specifically the Council stated that France Germany had established excessive deficits. In the case of France, Council recommendations on basis of art 104(7) set a deadline for taking appropriate measures to reduce their deficit. Once the deadline was reached, the Commission observed France had not taken effective action upon the recommendations (Dutzler Hable 2005). The case of Germany differed slightly; although another deadline was established, in face of the economic slowdown facing Germany, the content of the recommendations was moderate. Upon reaching the deadline, Germany had, from the Commissions point of view, taken inadequate measures to implement Council recommendations. Thereafter the Commission issued further recommendations to the Council in order to advance with proceedings with regard to both MSs, and in particular, to take action in face of art 104(8) and art 104(9) EC respectively (Dutzler Hable 2005). Although, from the Commissions point of view, this shoul d have resulted in the Council immediately resuming the EDP (Dutzler Hable 2005), the Council upon voting, chose to suspend the EDP for both Germany and France. This decision was not unanimous; most of the smaller countries (who incidentally hold better fiscal positions) voted in favour of the Commissions recommendation, but the larger countries formed a blocking minority (Fischer et al 2006). As commented by Dutzler Hable (2005), in essence, the ECJ had to deal with two claims by the Commission. On one hand it was asked to annul the decision of the Council of not adopting the formal instruments contained in the Commissions recommendations pursuant to art 104(8) and 104 (9). On the other hand it was asked to annul the Councils conclusions, because it involved the decision to hold EDP in abeyance. The Court, in its judgement[9], demonstrated an appreciation of both parties. It ruled that the Council can and must hold the EDP in abeyance if the majority in Council does not vote to sanction the MS in question. However, it ruled in favour of the Commission in stating that the Council cannot adopt political conclusions (Dutzler Hable 2005).The judgement proved fatal to the existence of the pact as it failed to address important questions and clarify the institutional balance of powers between the Council and the Commission. It not only called into question the political willingness of countries to adhere to the prior agreed fiscal rules but it remains unsettled if the issue is to arise again in the future. Although Dutzler Hable (2005) comment that it remains unclear whether the EDP can be continued without the Councils approval, it is likely that the sanctions will never be applied without the backing of MSs as this would never be politically accepted. Therefore the question of whether the SGP effectively enforces MSs to obey fiscal rules is brought to light. The extent to which the system of fiscal surveillance and economic policy coordination binds the MSs and institutions remains unclear. The 2003 crisis called for a refocusing of the SGP and a need for political agreement opening the path to reform the SGP architecture (Begg Schelkle 2004), as supported by many of its critics. Question of Reform? To restore the credibility of the so called ‘hard-law fiscal coordination, in 2004 the Commission â€Å"suggested that an enriched common fiscal framework with a strong economic rationale would allow differences in economic situations across the enlarged EU to be better catered for and would contribute to greater credibility and ownership of the SGP in the MSs building on the culture of sound fiscal policy established in the EU over the last decade† (Commission 2006). In 2005 the reforms took place (legal provisions in EU Council (2005a,b)). The revised version arguably offers some answers to what was known as the inadequate SGP. There are changes in the preventive/corrective arms and the EDP, for example a variety of standards such as the position in the cycle, the nature of expenditure and the level of public debt must be taken into account to calculate whether a MS is in breach of the 3% deficit rule (Couere Pisani-Ferry, 2005), emphasising further flexibility. Contrastingly, there are no changes in governance. The voting methods and basic procedures remain the same, as changes to these would require modifications to the Maastricht treaty. Though the changes are welcomed (Fatas Mihov 2003), the SGP may still be identified as the ‘dog that would never bite (Heipertz Verdun 2004). For many critics, it was unruly that a softer pact was coming into existence, as a harder pact was desirable. However the Commission role has been strengthened considerably in that it can now give early policy advice and is under obligation to file a report if a budget deficit has been violated. The changes are summarized in Table 1. Original Pact Reformed Pact Preventive Rule: Medium-term Objective (MTO) All MS have an MTO of â€Å"close to balance or in surplus† Country-specific differentiation of MTO depending on debt level and potential growth, allows for 1% deficit if debt is low In case of Deviation from MTO No adjustment path or action Specified Commission can issue direct â€Å"early policy advice;† adjustment path specified as a minimum fiscal effort of 0.5% of GDP and countercyclical; structural reforms can be taken into account to allow for deviation Corrective Rule: Monitoring if Deficit Exceeds 3% No obligation for Commission to prepare report; no mitigating other relevant factors (ORF) specified Commission will always prepare report, taking into account whether deficit exceeds investment expenditure. ORF can justify temporary â€Å"excess† Debt Position No specific provisions â€Å"Sufficiently diminishing† debt can be taken into account qualitatively; Systemic pension reforms can be taken into account for five years if reform improves long-term debt position Excessive Deficit Procedure Excessive deficit must be fixed in year following identification; if not, a noninterest bearing deposit must be made with the Commission that is turned into an â€Å"appropriate size† fine if situation persists; No ‘minimal fiscal effort defined; No repetition of steps foreseen Correction can be postponed for one year if ORF applies; Minimal fiscal effort of 0.5% of GDP to reduce excessive deficit required; Deadlines for correcting deficit can be extended if necessary steps are taken or if unforeseen adverse circumstances occur Table 1: Schelkle 2007 Analysis Under Soft and Hard Law Hard law instruments can be distinguished from soft law in that they are fully binding. When MSs do not comply with these laws they are breaking the law and may be sanctioned accordingly. Contrastingly soft law instruments are negotiated in good faith and provide a new framework for cooperation between MSs. Whilst favouring openness and flexibility, policy processes follow a codified practice of benchmarking, target setting and peer review. This allows national policies to be directed towards certain common objectives. The essence of it is not to provide a single common framework but instead to share experiences and to encourage the spread of best practice. By avoiding regulatory requirements, it allows experimentation whilst fostering policy improvement and possibly policy convergence. These can be seen as managing techniques which provide means to promote policy coordination without further undermining sovereignty. An example in the general EU context is the OMC method used under t he Lisbon strategy. Whilst soft law is easy to agree on but hard to enforce, hard law instruments on the contrary are difficult to agree on but easy to enforce. According to Wessels and Linsenmann (2001), EMU introduced both hard coordination in fiscal policy in the form of the SGP and soft coordination in economic policy in the form of Broad Economic Policy guidelines (BEPG). If a country deviates from the guidelines the Council can as in the case of Ireland adopt a non-binding recommendation against the respective MS (Jacquet Pisani-Ferry 2005). Unlike the EDP, the guidelines are not supported by any sanction. However, there is a fixed format of reporting and a predetermined timetable is followed, rather than allowing for ad hoc decisions by policy makers that set the agenda for discussion and action. Therefore, upon this insight, it suggests the SGP takes the form of hard law in that it is legally binding, but soft law in that enforcement is not automatic. Of course there are m any shades of softness in the SGP framework. The preventive arm with its close to balance or surplus provision, without sanctions is rather soft. By contrast the corrective arm with the ultimate threat of sanctions comes much closer to hard law (ESB working paper 2004.)This is not effective as it implies that only when things are wrong, is it time to sanction and this is an ultimate downfall of the SGP design. It is therefore confusing that following the reforms, critics claimed that the ‘hard law institution for fiscal surveillance has become soft. Furthermore, critics claim that the SGP has become so soft that the functioning of the SGP is jeopardized (Schelkle 2007). Schelkle (2007) refutes this claim by arguing that the revised pact will be better suited in constraining MSs in their fiscal behaviour since the new rules will be perceived as binding constraints that shape domestic efforts. An apparent paradox exists; the weakening of obligation to the pact may in fact make it difficult to evade, although it implies a softening of the governance framework. Abbott et al (2000) have proposed that there are three dimensions of governance all of which characterise the degrees of legislation; obligation, delegation and precision. This allows one to compare and contrast the original SGP with the reformed version for effectiveness of instruments and for the relationship between these dimensions. Obligation has been defined as a commitment arising under rules. At the two ends of spectrum, hard law is defined as sanction-able obligations whereas soft law are norms which are too general to create specific duties. Delegation, whilst at the hard law end of spectrum would mean an international court or organization given powers to resolve a dispute, contrastingly with the soft law end, which implies diplomacy. Precision defines whether a rule indicates the type of action that needs to be taken and by whom it needs to be taken in order to comply with the rule. For example, the BEPG state the objectives, but not how these objectives could be met. As the following table summarises the changes from the original to the revised pact, it can be understood the changes were not a uniform move from hard to soft law. Original Pact Revised Pact Obligation high to medium: Quasi-automatic sanctions under EDP but political de

The Continual Oppression of the Homeless :: Essays Papers

The Continual Oppression of the Homeless The story of Eric Blair, also known as George Orwell, shows many aspects of poverty. Eric goes about everyday life that is completely and utterly different from every aspect of the average Americans life. He tells of various characters that are all attempting to escape the possessive hands of poverty. Each character has their own way of dealing with poverty. The problem is that none of them seem to escape. The stem of the problem can be found in many aspects of the book. The attitudes of the homeless, the operation of such homeless shelters as â€Å"The Spike†, along with the practices of the pawnshop and the actions of the coworkers all contribute greatly in oppressing the poor. There are also many characters that play a role in keeping the poor down. The first one that will be discussed is the role of the tramps play in their own oppression. Oppression is not something that can be forced on someone. It is something that they must accept and find to be true in order not to fight it. This brings up the issue the feelings deep inside a tramp that Orwell brings up. â€Å"Indeed, when one sees how tramps let themselves be bullied by the workhouse officials, it is obvious that they are the most docile, broken-spirited creatures imaginable† (202). This proves the first point that the only reason that those in this destitute class remain oppressed is because in essence they are allowing themselves to be oppressed. In order for the destitute homeless people to move up in the world they must prove first to themselves that they should not be oppressed. By allowing oppression, they are supporting it. Not only do the homeless not fight it but they admit themselves that they are not worthy of being praised. This attitude is exemplified by Boris in his talk with Orwell when Orwell first arrives and finds work as a plongeur, â€Å"Do you think a plongeur can afford a sense of honour?† (60). In saying this, Boris is proving the feelings that lurk behind those that work the low class jobs. They feel that they are so low that they do not even deserve their own honor. By not believing that they are worthy of their own honor they continue to hold themselves down.

My Antonia Essay: Weak Structure and Powerful Drama :: My Antonia Essays

Weak Structure and Powerful Drama in My Antonia Much of the earliest criticism of My Antonia focuses on the apparent failure of the narrative. Many critics take the title of the story and its introduction at face value. When the story says it is to be about à ntonia, it must be about her! Therefore, many critics see the stunningly crafted pieces of "variation from a theme" -- the stories of Peter & Pavel (the Russians and their wolves) and the sections of the novel dealing with the hired girls Lena Lingard and others-- as divergences which weaken the overall structure of the novel. In other words, these stories distract us from the real story, that of à ntonia and her relationship with Jim. Other critics talk mostly about the landscape of Cather's stories, the way the pioneer story and the struggle with nature is a vital piece of her work. This is partly why, I think, Cather has been viewed as a minor writer of "local color" for so long. Because she sketches her landscapes with such simplicity and yet detail, many critics do n ot look past the landscape to see the characters and the true drama that they play out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example of a critique which accepts the critical opinion that the novel is "defective in structure" is James E. Miller's 1958 essay "My à ntonia: A Frontier Drama of Time." I group his essay here because he spends the bulk of the essay arguing that the defect of structure is overcome when we look at the cyclical nature of time in the novel as its unifying theme. This article does seem to be one of the first ones that looks to disprove the "failure" of Cather's narration. Of course, by disproving this argument, Miller is still working within the context of failure/success which I don't think other writers (read male authors) are judged by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miller begins his argument by pointing out that many critics "have felt the unified emotional impact of My à ntonia and have grappled with the puzzling problem of the book's actual lack of consistent central action or unbroken character portrayal" (Miller 52). Miller argues that there seems to be no consistent character portrayal, "The action in My à ntonia is episodic, lacks focus and abounds in irrelevancies"(Miller 52). But Miller believes that there is a consistency within the novel, that of the evocation of feelings which the reader has. My Antonia Essay: Weak Structure and Powerful Drama :: My Antonia Essays Weak Structure and Powerful Drama in My Antonia Much of the earliest criticism of My Antonia focuses on the apparent failure of the narrative. Many critics take the title of the story and its introduction at face value. When the story says it is to be about à ntonia, it must be about her! Therefore, many critics see the stunningly crafted pieces of "variation from a theme" -- the stories of Peter & Pavel (the Russians and their wolves) and the sections of the novel dealing with the hired girls Lena Lingard and others-- as divergences which weaken the overall structure of the novel. In other words, these stories distract us from the real story, that of à ntonia and her relationship with Jim. Other critics talk mostly about the landscape of Cather's stories, the way the pioneer story and the struggle with nature is a vital piece of her work. This is partly why, I think, Cather has been viewed as a minor writer of "local color" for so long. Because she sketches her landscapes with such simplicity and yet detail, many critics do n ot look past the landscape to see the characters and the true drama that they play out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example of a critique which accepts the critical opinion that the novel is "defective in structure" is James E. Miller's 1958 essay "My à ntonia: A Frontier Drama of Time." I group his essay here because he spends the bulk of the essay arguing that the defect of structure is overcome when we look at the cyclical nature of time in the novel as its unifying theme. This article does seem to be one of the first ones that looks to disprove the "failure" of Cather's narration. Of course, by disproving this argument, Miller is still working within the context of failure/success which I don't think other writers (read male authors) are judged by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miller begins his argument by pointing out that many critics "have felt the unified emotional impact of My à ntonia and have grappled with the puzzling problem of the book's actual lack of consistent central action or unbroken character portrayal" (Miller 52). Miller argues that there seems to be no consistent character portrayal, "The action in My à ntonia is episodic, lacks focus and abounds in irrelevancies"(Miller 52). But Miller believes that there is a consistency within the novel, that of the evocation of feelings which the reader has.

Clockwork Orange :: essays research papers

"A ClockWork Orange" The picture opens to a close up of an eye with a peculiar long eyelash. The camera fades back onto the face of a young gentlemen, he begins to narrate: "There was me, that is Alex. And my three droogs (friends), that is Pete, Georgy and Dim. And we sat at the karuba milk bar trying to make up our plans for the evening†¦" For those of you who don’t know this famous opening scene, I am talking about the movie "A Clockwork Orange". This movie, In my opinion, Is one of the greatest movies of all time. Not only a great movie, but directed by a great man, Stanley Kubrick. Some of his other movies include Full Metal Jacket and Dr.Strangelove. Full Metal Jacket deals with Vietnam, while Dr. Stranglove deals with the cold war and nuclear weapons. "A Clockwork Orange" deals with moral judgment and the thought of taking it away from someone. The pattern here to me is very clear. Kubrick liked to dive into subjects that are very controversial and gave his own opinion in the form of a movie. A Clockwork orange is filled with a lot of hidden meaning and satire, which is what I’m going to discuss in this essay. The movie itself doesn’t mention when or where this took place. But since it was shot in London during 1960, much of the culture of that time is shown throughout the movie. As I stated earlier the movie starts out by showing four young men dressed all the same, sitting in a milk bar. The milk bar sounds harmless but the "milk" they sold at this bar was laced with drugs that helped them in what they were planning to do: beat, rape and murder.for what they were planning to do: beat, kill and rape. After they leave the milk bar, their first victim is a drunk homeless man. This is where Kubrick showed his audience why they were beating people for apparently no reason. Just before they beat the old man to death, he complained that there was no law or order anymore. And that everyone was in space "†¦circling around the earth and living on the moon†¦" This gives the simple reason that these four young gentlemen were beating people simply because they could.Alex is the leader of their clan. But along the way his other three "droogs" grow tired of his ways.

Operations Management Essay

Carefully review the assignment scenario/case study. From the limited information in the scenario/case study, along with your answers to the unit three written assignment, identify at least three direct and specific long-term and three direct and specific short term operations changes that Albatross Anchor must make to gain a clear and sustainable competitive advantage (provide detailed information to validate and support each recommended change) Long-Term Operational Changes (01) Building Renovation: Moving the equipment around to make sure that it is better organized. Moving the foundry to where the raw products and finished products are located right now will open up the receiving and shipping. Receiving and shipping now can be one big area with the possibility of adding more equipment to the area which would bring down the delay between the two anchors. If there is a way of dividing the manufacturing area so that the area can make both anchors at the same time instead of having that 36 hour window of changing the equipment. This will cut cost down on the down time and increase the profit margins. (02)Technology: Having up to date technology added to the area will help eliminate some of the equipment that technology could do. Also up to date technology in the administrative offices is important as well so that all employees on the floor and in the offices know what is going on. Having this technology will be safer and faster production. (03)Equipment: Updating the equipment if possible that would do more in less time would help with building up the profit margins. Adding more equipment so that both anchors can be made at the same time will also bring in the profit margins. Moving the equipment around to make room for new or making the foundry and other equipment to divide the manufacturing area to have the area produce both anchors. Short-Term Operational Changes (01)Budgeting: Budgeting the funds around to help upgrade the technology and equipment. And the funds to have more employees. The cost of what will cost to do all the long time and what the company will make after everything is complete. Having a budget will help with what can be done now and what we can see if we can get help or something that will have to wait until funds are available. (02) Employees: All employees new and old know the procedures and rules of the company. What the employees need to do to make it easier of a change. Train them on the new technology and equipment and what needs to be done. Having all employees knows the two types of anchors is very important especially the administrative office when they have callers that have questions and those that are shipping out the anchors. Sending out the wrong anchors to the customers can lead to loss of money and customers. Because of the items not being right they would think that Albatross Anchor is very none organized and more to a company that looks more organized. (03) Update administrative offices: Updating the offices will have the customers that come in want to do business with Albatross Anchor. Trying to have a couple of the administrative staff are knowledgeable in the anchors will help the other administrative staff with training and be the go to for all questions that they may have. Having updated technology the administrative will be able to do a lot more to help with the business and be able to know when delivers are coming and what amount is coming. This way all employees that deal with shipping and receiving will be on the same page. Question Two From the list of ten operational issues in the Unit 6 assignment instructions select four operational issues. For each of the four operational issues explain in detail that operational issue will help Albatross Anchor improve; 1) job retention, 2) employee morale, and 3) employee dedication. Operational Issue One: Cross Training Job retention: Have cross training employees will be able to work in different areas so if an area is short on employees can move someone to the area of shortage to help and keep everything going. This will also give the employees more of an opportunity and look for work if a position opens up. Employee morale: Having employees cross train over in areas will make them feel valuable to the company, which will give positive results in the work environment and in the employees. Employee dedication: Having employees cross train and having them feel valuable will help bring employees continue to work and want to work at Albatross Anchor. Operational Issue Two: Gain sharing and profit sharing Job retention: profit sharing created the employee will benefit of the financial success of Albatross Anchor. With the growth of the company and valuable employees will help with this success. With the employees knowing that they are benefiting from the profit sharing will continue to stay and work hard. Employee Morale: Employees will feel appreciated if they receive financial rewards. Being rewarded of their hard work created positive morals for the employees and the company. Employee Dedication: Employees has personal responsibility for the profit sharing in the company success, especially when all employees benefit when the company is successful. This will create employee dedication. Operational Issue Three: Ergonomics Job retention: Having hard physical labor brings short and long term damages. Ergonomics ensures that workers operate in the most safest and productive ways. Having a company pay attention to workers health will keep employees when they know the company cares about their employees. Employee morale: Working in hard manual labor rises the risk of damage to the employees. Having the employees know that they are working for a company that cares about their well-being will bring employee morale high. Employee dedication: Employees that feel the company is invested in their employees will bring dedication from their employees. Operational Issue Four: Technology and automation: Job retention: Improving the technology and automation will help bring the company safer and a better place to work for. Having this done will bring Albatross Anchor up to date with safety procedures. Employees will feel safe knowing they are working with the latest technology and automation. Employee morale: Workers will take pride in their work when there is an up to date technology and automation. Employee dedication: Employees that work in up to date technology and automation will come to work happy and will be dedicated to the company. Conclusion If the Albatross Anchor takes these long and short term improvements. The company will be a very successful company and many customers will continue to purchase anchors from them, especially if the company are producing both anchors at the same time. Having employees that want to come will also help bring in the success of the company. No one wants to come and work for a company that doesn’t care or show their appreciation in their employees and help with rewards after the company starts getting a profit after the changing of the equipment and moving things around. As long as Albatross Anchor does the changes and upgrades that need to be done and show support and appreciation to their works Albatross Anchor will be a successful company and one that many customers and possible customers will talk about.

Compare and contrast Essay

Shakespe be uses m to each one different types of fill out in Romeo and Ju compriset. The first aspect I will concentrate on is overly the most obvious and is that of Romeo and Juliet themselves, who share a pure, quixotic and passionate lay down sex. We are remove told at the runually beginning the mickle of these two sp nullify a penny be make fill indrs. A pair of wind crossed esteemrs take their life, wind crossed besotteding that their do it and lives were unredeemed before they level off met. The fearful act of their death marked have sex. It is do very clear to the audience that the diddle has a tragic ending.Shakespeare does this so that because we exist what is going to happen, we hope that it wont, which makes it til now more than tragic in the end. The solely play is based on the fact that timing was non on Romeo and Juliets side. If Romeo had heard that Juliet was merely sleeping because he would not have use uped himself. moreover t hen in doing so caused Juliet to kill herself and so restored civil beloved in the midst of the two families. Shakespeare does this to show that their love was not in vain. Before they act as Juliet is oft more reserved and obedient towards her parents.She is skilful to connect Paris to please her parents. Her intuition of love is very naive and believes it to be a very conventional love without passion, as she bumps no passion for Paris. but when she meets Romeo she instantly changes and believes in true love as she is actually sense of smell a physical attraction. Their love scenes are of all time the most perfect of settings. For example, the balcony scene with Romeo in the orchard and Juliet on her balcony. Shakespeare creates very romantic moods to amplify the fact that they are in love. They speak to each other at this first run into in sonnets, which are love poems containing 14 lines and would be very recognisable to an Elizabethan audience.Before collision Julie t, Romeo was courting Rosaline, but because she was dismissed at the beginning before we actually meet her, Romeo obviously didnt feel love for her. He tells Benvolio that he does, in sorrowfulness cousin I love a woman, but on meeting Juliet his object of affections is soon forgotten. They now feel a mutual passionate love, and so the baloney unfolds as we see hope for them slowly disappearing. One reason is because of Juliets breed, Capulet, wanting to marry her off to Paris. He is not a bad father however and shows a strong agnate love, he does not arrange the conglutination to get rid of her, but to make her dexterous.When Romeo murders Tybalt, Capulet tries to speed up the marri come on because he hates to see his daughter so reprehensible he bets he is doing the best topic for her happiness. Juliets mother however, Lady Capulet, is little caring. She was married when she was a younger age than Juliet, I was your mother much upon these years. She feels that Juliet sh ould have to go by the like as her as she did not marry for love. This is shown as Capulet does not show any affection or respect towards his wife, What workforcetal disturbance is this? Give me my long sword, ho This has a double meaning, calling her disrespectful names, which was ace of the things Shakespeare used a lot in his plays. The opening with Sampson and Gregory shows a whole act of crude references to sex and women as objects, I will push Montagues men from the wall and thrust his maids to the wall, Women world the weaker vessels. They show no love except a sexual one. Paris love for Juliet is a conventional one of Shakespeares time, where a man would be shown to dock a lady but there was no passion shown.This is unlike Romeos love of course. But it is not that elemental because Paris is supposed to be the love rival and usually would be mean and selfish. This is not the case though and so Paris makes for a very graceful lover who could give Juliet everything she would ever quest financially. This shows Juliets views of love, because she turns Paris away as she only feels love for Romeo even though they could never publicly show their affections towards each other. The play is about families although little paternal love is shown as I say before.The nurse and the friar act as substitutes almost to the infantrens real parents. They study to keep them happy, which may be fragmentize of the reason why the story ends like it does. If they had left things and told them to listen to their parents they would have lived, although through their death, another love was created-civil. We do not see the Montagues parental love towards Romeo and although Lady Capulet can be viewed as a mean woman, both parents love their children very much. This however is only in truth shown at the end when the tragedy has already occurred and they are mourning.This also links in with a civil love the two families coming together to not only love their own chi ldren, but to love each others children as well. Montague announces to Capulet, I will raise her statue in pure gold. This is of course a very generous and expensive gesture, to which Capulet replies, As rich shall Romeo by his lady lie, returning the gesture. This is the turning point of the story civil love has been restored in Verona as the two families agree to build a statue of each others child in gold to remind them of how their love was so true and faithful.To conclude, I think that Romeo and Juliets love overcame all obstacles even though it did not end as a perfect fairytale would. They have ended a war of nuisance between the whole city. At the end where Paris visits the tomb of Juliet, this action in itself shows that he had an amount of affection for her, more so than we knew before, Nightly shall be to sweat thy grave and weep. He is screening a genuine mourning for his would be bride. This makes the story sadder because we know that Juliet could have been happy wit h Paris if she had not met Romeo, yet she died feeling real love, as supposed to what she plan love was before.