Aviation Technology

Although the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) runs one of the safest air transportation systems in the whole world, it is foreseeing an aviation problem caused by increasing passenger numbers and consequently, more crowded skies (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2007).   The number of passengers is expected to reach 1 billion per year 8 years from now.FAA (2007) shows concern that if it does not take action, there will be far greater delays than what is being experienced right now, leading to economic losses which could amount to $22 billion.   That is why the agency is starting to institute transformations in its system to address this key issue.One of these is the transition from the currently-used system to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) – a step that promises to prevent gridlock in the skies.One of the critical components of NextGen is ADS-B, short for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, which is considere d to be the â€Å"backbone of the NextGen system† and utilizes GPS satellite signals to provide both pilots and air traffic control stations with more precise information to enable a more efficient and safer use of the skies (FAA, 2007).How Does ADS-B Work?Unlike radar which involves transmitting electromagnetic pulses and bouncing them off airborne targets and then interpreting reflected signals, ADS-B works by relying on satellite-based GPS system in order to determine the aircraft’s exact position as well as a host of other parameters such as the aircraft’s speed, route, heading, altitude and flight number (â€Å"ADS-B†, 2007; â€Å"ADS-B Creates a New Standard for Aviation Safety†, 2007).These information are broadcasted via a radio transmitter and can be received by other aircrafts, ground stations and ground vehicles that are also equipped with ADS-B (Caisso, 2001).   Aircrafts and ground control stations within 150-200 miles of the broadca sting aircraft (orADS-B   ground station) receive the information and display it in an easily understandable format in a computer screen.   Pilots can view this information on a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) while air traffic controllers on the ground can see the ADS-B aircrafts on their regular traffic display screen (â€Å"ADS-B Creates a New Standard for Aviation Safety†, 2007).Users of ADS-B are assured of receiving air traffic information in real-time which means that both the pilot and the controller on the ground can both view the same information at the same time.Benefits of ADS-BOne of the major benefits of ADS-B, as stated earlier, is the ability of both the pilot and the ground station, when both equipped with ADS-B, to view reliable and accurate air traffic information in real time.   There will also be less need for aircrafts to continually send and receive signals from ground-based controllers (FAA, 2007).   This will lighten the load of air traffic controllers, enabling them to accommodate and serve more aircrafts at a more efficient rate.The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) also supports the government’s move to pursue ADS-B in lieu of radar and other surveillance technologies, stating that their members can benefit from ADS-B as it is able to provide graphic weather updates and textual flight advisories (AOPA, 2006).These information were considered to be an expensive add-on to existing aviation technology resulting to its unpopular use in aircrafts (â€Å"ADS-B Creates a New Standard for Aviation Safety†, 2007).   Furthermore, AOPA believes that FAA can have enormous savings because ground-based transmitters cost at most $200,000 as opposed to radar systems that cost the government millions of dollars.ADS-BAnother reason why ADS-B is preferable to radar systems is that aside from it being less expensive than radars, ADS-B updates at least once a second compared to radars which can so metimes take as long as 12 seconds (AOPA, 2006; FAA, 2007). ADS-B also has wider coverage and ADS-B ground station can be put in place more easily than radars.   In fact, FAA’s Capstone Program involved equipping airlines and air taxis in Southwest Alaska with the new technology.The region was particularly chosen because most of the ground is frozen for the whole year making a lot of places inaccessible by land (FAA, 2001).   Furthermore, remote areas cannot be reached by radars making the place a perfect testing ground for ADS-B technology.   Starting in 1999, the program has continued until at present and has even expanded to include two more phases.The use of ADS-B has reduced accidents in the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta –a place not reached by conventional radar – by 43 percent in 2003-2006 (Stapleton, 2006).   The results of the Capstone program proves that ADS-B technology can be used to increase efficiency and safety in aircrafts.The drop in the n umber of accidents in Southwest Alaska can probably be attributed to ADS-B’s ability to enhance aviation safety by providing pilots with features such as automatic traffic call-outs and warnings of impending arrivals or take-offs in the runway (â€Å"ADS-B Creates a New Standard for Aviation Safety†, 2007).ADS-B, having a range of more than 100 miles, provides the aircraft with a wider margin in which to detect conflict (e.g. an imminent collision).   Compared to existing systems, resolution of conflicts can be enacted within a shorter span of time.Disadvantages of ADS-BBenenson (2005) noted a certain disadvantage of ADS-B while flying his Cessna Cardinal, which he equipped with ADS-B UAT (Universal Access Transceiver).   It was notADS-B  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5really a disadvantage of the technology itself but rather to the lack of ground-based transceivers (GBTs) at present.   In order for non-ADS-B aircrafts to be displayed in a CDTI, the ADS-B equipped plane must be within the line of sight of a GBT.   The GBT sends traffic information coming from air traffic surveillance sensors, most probably radar.The radar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  information however is not as accurate as the one received through ADS-B, so the non-ADS-B plane appears in the CDTI distorted.   Related to this, pilots who are equipped with the new technology may be over-confident, thinking that he perfectly understands the surrounding traffic, forgetting that only equipped aircraft are able to transmit their position quite clearly (Caisso, 2001).Evans (2006) tackles more serious issues such as the risk of â€Å"spoofing† by individuals whose sole intent is to produce as many false ASD-B targets on an air traffic controller’s screen.   Dick Smith, the former head of Australia’s Civil Aviation Authority, was the first to make public the reality of such a risk.   He claimed that spoofing can be done using a laptop, an ADS-B transceiver and a $5 antenna.ADS-B experts in the United States, after performing their own tests, agreed with Smith that spoofing is indeed possible with the new technology.   FAA, being aware of such a possibility, are putting the pressure on the bidders for ground stations, which should be able to show their system’s anti-spoofing ability.Although ADS-B is seen to be less expensive than radar, airline and aviation companies still think that the new technology is not worth the amount they’re going to spend to replace existing systems and are holding off buying until the prices drop (Evans, 2006).However, the prices are not likely to go down until there is a greater demand for the technology.   ADS-B Program Manager Vincent Capezzuto said that if consumers are not willing to make any investment risks, it will be difficult to follow airspace mandates and delays in the benefits offered by the program could be delayed.ADS-B  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6Evans (2006) also tackled the danger of completely relyin g on GPS for aircraft navigation and surveillance.   FAA acknowledges that GPS may be prone to interference and of course, failure.   When such a situation arises, an ADS-B – equipped aircraft will have no means by which to obtain air traffic information.   It is therefore critical to come up with a backup system.The Implication of ADS-B in the Aviation IndustryADS-B can be considered a milestone in the aviation industry.   Never before has there been a technology that can provide so much air traffic information and a lot of other features with just a single equipment.   With the large volume of passengers and greater air traffic expected by FAA in the coming years, ADS-B seems to be a viable (if not the most) answer to this issue.

Effect of Internal Controls on Financial Performance Essay

Over the past decade, Africa and other developing regions have been in the midst of tremendous changes. Market liberalization and governmental decentralization policies have interfaced with globalization and urbanization trends to dramatically transform social, political, economic and cultural lives. In this context of rapid change, SME operations can no longer remain behind serving only to meet sustenance income for their owners. SMEs engagements have to become a dynamic and integral part of the market economy. The identification of factors that determine new venture performance such as survival, growth or profitability has been one of the most central fields of entrepreneurship research (Sarasvathy, 2004). A multitude of research papers has focused on exploring various variables and their impact on performance (Bamford et al., 2004). However, in order to be able to analyze and model the performance of new ventures and SMEs, the complexity and dynamism they are facing as well as the fact that they may not be a homogenous group but significantly different in regard to many characteristics (Gartner et al., 1989) have to be taken into account. In line with the above, there have been challenging debates all over the world on the role played by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) towards economic development. Therefore, a vast literature on the growth and performance of SMEs has been developed over the years. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have had a privileged treatment in the development literature, particularly over the last two decades. Hardly any arguments are put forward against SMEs, even if development policies do not necessarily favour them and economic programs, voluntarily or not, often continue to result in large capital investment. Arguments for SMEs come from almost all corners of the development literature programs, particularly in the less developed countries (LDCs), tend to emphasise the role of SMEs, even if practical results differ from the rhetoric. (Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco. May, 2003) Therefore, SMEs seem to be an accepted wisdom within the development debate. It is believed that growth in SMEs should have a positive effect on the living conditions of the people, their income level, housing, utilities. Castel-Branco (2003), in a study, revealed that this is not always true because areas where SMEs are performing so well attracts public attention and many competitors begin to troop into the area. This subsequently leads to over congestion with its associated problems of which accommodation is not an exception. The structure of SMEs in Ghana as perhaps one of the main engines of growth can be viewed as rural and urban enterprises. For urban enterprises, they can either be planned or unplanned. The planned-urban enterprises are characterized by paid employees with registered offices whereas unplanned-urban enterprises are mostly confined to the home, open space, temporal wooden structures, and employment therein is family or apprentices oriented. In the recent pursuit of economic progress, Ghana as a developing country has generally come to recognize that the SME sector may well be the main driving force for growth, due to its entrepreneurial resources and employment opportunities. Nevertheless, the existing attempts to explore empirically the roles played by SME in the economic development of a nation are still somewhat ambiguous. This can be attributed, more or less, to the fact that when examining economic progress per se, economists have tended to ignore the industrial structure of the economy and the impact this can have on such development. The ambiguity of the role of SMEs has therefore necessitated the need for a study to be conducted to access the actual impact of the proliferation of SMEs on the inhabitants of the Medina community. 1.2 Problem Statement The small business sector is recognized as an integral component of economic development and a crucial element in the effort to lift countries out of poverty (Wolfenson, 2001). The dynamic role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries as engines through which the growth objectives of developing countries can be achieved has long been recognized. The growth of small scale businesses in Ghana so rapid, that it is now seen as a daily affair. Many Potential owners of SMEs move to areas where the feel they can succeed to set them up there. More so, many factors may contribute to the movement of people to settle at certain geographical areas. It is believed that the factors that influence migration include the need for peaceful and violent free environment, the need for fertile business locations, the desire for privacy, government policy and a host of others. Specifically, with reference to the above, the Medina municipality of the Greater Accra region has experienced a noticeable growth and increase in the number movements into the area and for that matter SMEs increase in the last few years. It is important to mention that some research studies have been conducted to determine the real impact of migrations on host societies. In line with the above, this study sorts to assess the nature of SMEs in Medina with respect to the involvement of men and women, the main sources funds for them, the main objectives and challenges faced by SMEs in Medina, reasons the explosion of SMEs in Medina and the scio-economic impacts of this growth of SMEs in Medina. 1.3 Objectives: 1.3.1 Main Objective The main objective of this study is to assess the general impact of the plorefication of SMEs in Medina on the Medina municipality of the Greater Accra region. 1.3.2 Specific Objectives 1. To assess the nature and forms of SMEs in Medina and the relative involvement of women and men. 2. To identify the main objectives and challenges of SMEs in Medina and to rank them in order of importance. 3. Assess the main sources of capital for SMEs in Medina. 4. To assess the status of SMEs in Medina with regard to business registration, savings, record keeping and business account holding. 5. To determine the factors that account for the emergence of small scale businesses in the Medina community 6. To assess the socio-economic impacts of the growth of SMEs in Medina 1.4 Research Questions The study shall provide answers to the following research questions: 1. What is the nature of SME operation in Medina and the relative involvement of women and men? 2. What are the main objectives and challenges of SMEs in Medina and which are ranked more importance? 3. What are the main sources of capital for SMEs in Medina? 4. What are the status of SMEs in Medina with regard to business registration, savings, record keeping and business account holding? 5. What factors have accounted for the emergence of small scale businesses in the Medina community? 6. What are the socio-economic impacts of the growth of SMEs in Medina? 1.5 Justification of the Study It is difficult to analyze the performance, nature of operation and behavior of the SME sector in Ghana due to the lack of comprehensive data on them and their activities. The sector is not classified into sub-sectors and the last industrial survey was conducted in 1995 but covered only medium and large-scale industries. In respect of this, the justification of this study rests on the fact that, study will help provide information on the nature of SMEs in Medina with respect to the involvement of men and women, the main sources funds for them, the main objectives and challenges faced by SMEs in Medina, reasons the explosion of SMEs in Medina and the socio-economic impacts of this growth of SMEs in Medina. Furthermore, the study while provide vital information policy makers of the Medina municipality and all other stakeholders of the Medina community. Finally the study while produce information to will add on to existing literature for further studies in this area. 1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study Due to time and resource constrains, this study is restricted particularly to the Medina community. The study focuses on the factors that account for the growth of SMEs in Medina and the socio-economic impacts of this change on the people of Medina among others. The study is limited in scope because it fails to cover the entire population of Ghana. The findings of this study may therefore lack generalizability as far as other communities in Ghana are concern. 1.7 Organization of the Study Chapter 1 deals with the background of the study, the problem statement, objectives of the study, justification of the study and organization of the study. Chapter 2 reviews both theoretical and empirical literatures on SMEs in general, in Ghana among others. Chapter 3 introduces the study area and describes the methodologies used to analyze the problems stated. It includes the methods used for data collection, and procedure for data analysis. Chapter 4 is devoted to presentation and discussion of results. Summary statistics of the variables used in the study are presented and discussed. Chapter 5 winds up this study drawing conclusions, their policy implications. Suggestions for future research based on the findings are made. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter reviews works on small and medium enterprises in the world, Africa and Ghana. The state of SMEs in Ghana is reviewed here. Also, Works on performance and determinants of performance of SMEs are captured. Furthermore, a section of this chapter assesses the various methods of measuring performance of SMEs which while help open up the understanding of the state of SMEs in Medina. Finally, this chapter closes with some migration theories to help facilitate the comprehension of the factors that actually account for human migration, in this case migration to Medina. 2.2 Definitions and Concepts of SMEs There is no single, uniformly acceptable, definition of a small firm (Storey, 1994). Firms differ in their levels of capitalization, sales and employment. Hence, definitions that employ measures of size (number of employees, turnover, profitability, net worth, etc.) when applied to one sector could lead to all firms being classified as small, while the same size definition when applied to a different sector could lead to a different result. The first attempt to overcome this definition problem was by the Bolton Committee (1971) when they formulated an â€Å"economic† and a â€Å"statistical† definition. Under the economic definition, a firm is regarded as small if it meets the following three criteria: i. It has a relatively small share of their market place; ii. It is managed by owners or part owners in a personalized way, and not through the medium of a formalized management structure; iii. It is independent, in the sense of not forming part of a large enterprise. The Committee also devised a â€Å"statistical† definition to be used in three main areas: a. Quantifying the size of the small firm sector and its contribution to GDP, employment, exports, etc.; b. Comparing the extent to which the small firm sector’s economic contribution has changed over time; c. Applying the statistical definition in a cross-country comparison of the small firms’ economic contribution. Thus, the Bolton Committee employed different definitions of the small firm to different sectors. 2.2.1 Criticism of the Bolton Committee’s â€Å"Economic† Definition of SMEs A number of weaknesses were identified with the Bolton Committee’s â€Å"economic† and `statistical’ definitions. First, the economic definition which states that a small business is managed by its owners or part owners in a personalized way, and not through the medium of a formal management structure, is incompatible with its statistical definition of small manufacturing firms which could have up to 200 employees. As firm size increases, owners no longer make principal decisions but devolve responsibility to a team of managers. For example, it is unlikely for a firm with hundred employees to be managed in a personalized way, suggesting that the `economic’ and `statistical’ definitions are incompatible. Another shortcoming of the Bolton Committee’s economic definition is that it considers small firms to be operating in a perfectly competitive market. However, the idea of perfect competition may not apply here; many small firms occupy `niches’ and provide a highly specialized service or product in a geographically isolated area and do not perceive any clear competition (Wynarczyk et al, 1993; Storey, 1994). Alternatively, Wynarczyk et al (1993) identified the characteristics of the small firm other than size. They argued that there are three ways of differentiating between small and large firms. The small firm has to deal with: (a) Uncertainty associated with being a price taker; (b) Limited customer and product base; (c) Uncertainty associated with greater diversity of objectives as compared with large firms. As Storey (1994) stated, there are three key distinguishing features between large and small firms. Firstly, the greater external uncertainty of the environment in which the small firm operates and the greater internal consistency of its motivations and actions. Secondly, they have a different role in innovation. Small firms are able to produce something marginally different, in terms of product or service, which differs from the standardized product or service provided by large firms. A third area of distinction between small and large firms is the greater likelihood of evolution and change in the smaller firm; small firms that become large undergo a number of stage changes. 2.2.2 Criticism of the Bolton Committee’s â€Å"Statistical† Definition of SMEs (i) No single definition or criteria was used for â€Å"smallness†, (number of employees, turnover, ownership and assets were used instead) (ii) Three different upper limits of turnover were specified for the different sectors and two different upper limits were identified for number of employees. (iii) Comparing monetary units over time requires construction of index numbers to take account of price changes. Moreover, currency fluctuations make international comparison more difficult. (iv) The definition considered the small firm sector to be homogeneous; however, firms may grow from small to medium and in some cases to large. It was against this background that the European Commission (EC) coined the term `Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)’. The SME sector is made up of three components: (i) Firms with 0 to 9 employees – micro enterprises (ii) 10 to 99 employees – small enterprises (iii) 100 to 499 employees – medium enterprises. Thus, the SME sector is comprised of enterprises, which employ less than 500 workers. In effect, the EC definitions are based solely on employment rather than a multiplicity of criteria. Secondly, the use of 100 employees as the small firm’s upper limit is more appropriate given the increase in productivity over the last two decades (Storey, 1994). Finally, the EC definition did not assume the SME group is homogenous, that is, the definition makes a distinction between micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. However, the EC definition is too all embracing for a number of countries. Researchers would have to use definitions for small firms that are more appropriate to their particular `target’ group (an operational definition). It must be emphasized that debates on definitions turn out to be sterile unless size is a factor that influences performance. For instance, the relationship between size and performance matters when assessing the impact of a credit programme o n a targeted group (also refer to Storey, 1994). 2.2.3 Alternative Definitions of SMEs World Bank since 1976 – Firms with fixed assets (excluding land) less than US$ 250,000 in value are Small Scale Enterprises. Grindle et al (1988) – Small scale enterprises are firms with less than or equal to 25 permanent members and with fixed assets (excludingland) worth up to US$ 50,000. USAID in the 1990s – Firms with less than 50 employees and at least half the output is sold (also refer to Mead, 1984). UNIDO’s Definition for Developing Countries: Large – firms with 100+ workers Medium – firms with 20 – 99 workers Small – firms with 5 – 19 workers Micro – firms with < 5 workers UNIDO’s Definition for Industrialized Countries: Large – firms with 500+ workers Medium – firms with 100 – 499 workers Small – firms with ≠¤99 workers From the various definitions above, it can be said that there is no unique definition for a small and medium scale enterprise thus, an operational definition is required. 2.2.4 Definitions SMEs in Ghana Small Scale enterprises have been variously defined, but the most commonly used criterion is the number of employees of the enterprise. In applying this definition, confusion often arises in respect of the arbitrariness and cut off points used by the various official sources. As contained in its Industrial Statistics, The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) considers firms with less than 10 employees as Small Scale Enterprises and their counterparts with more than 10 employees as Medium and Large-Sized Enterprises. Ironically, The GSS in its national accounts considered companies with up to 9 employees as Small and Medium Enterprises (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). An alternate criterion used in defining small and medium enterprises is the value of fixed assets in the organization. However, the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Ghana applies both the `fixed asset and number of employees’ criteria. It defines a Small Scale Enterprise as one with not more than 9 workers, has plant and machinery (excluding land, buildings and vehicles) not exceeding 10 million Cedis (US$ 9506, using 1994 exchange rate) (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). The Ghana Enterprise Development Commission (GEDC) on the other hand uses a 10 million Cedis upper limit definition for plant and machinery. A point of caution is that the process of valuing fixed assets in itself poses a problem. Secondly, the continuous depreciation in the exchange rate often makes such definitions out-dated (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). Steel and Webster (1990), Osei et al (1993) in defining Small Scale Enterprises in Ghana used an employment cut off point of 30 employees to indicate Small Scale Enterprises. The latter however dis-aggregated small scale enterprises into 3 categories: (i) micro -employing less than 6 people; (ii) very small, those employing 6-9 people; (iii) small -between 10 and 29 employees. 2.3 Why Small and Medium Scale Enterprises? The choice of small and medium scale enterprises within the industrial sector for this study is based on the following propositions (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). (a) Large Scale Industry (i) Have not been an engine of growth and a good provider of employment; (ii) Already receive enormous support through general trade, finance, tax policy and direct subsidies; (b) Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (i) Mobilize funds which otherwise would have been idle; (ii) Have been recognized as a seed-bed for indigenous entrepreneurship; (iii) Are labour intensive, employing more labour per unit of capital than large enterprises; (iv) Promote indigenous technological know-how; (vii) Are able to compete (but behind protective barriers); (viii) Use mainly local resources, thus have less foreign exchange requirements; (ix) Cater for the needs of the poor and; (x) Adapt easily to customer requirements (flexible specialization), (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). 2.4.0 The Role and Characteristics of SMEs 2.4.1 Role of SMEs in Developing Countries Small-scale rural and urban enterprises have been one of the major areas of concern to many policy makers in an attempt to accelerate the rate of growth in low income countries. These enterprises have been recognized as the engines through which the growth objectives of developing countries can be achieved. They are potential sources of employment and income in many developing countries. It is estimated that SMEs employ 22% of the adult population in developing countries (Daniels & Ngwira, 1992; Daniels & Fisseha, 1993; Fisseha, 1992; Fisseha & McPherson, 1991; Gallagher & Robson, 1995). However, some authors have contended that the job creating impact of small scale enterprises is a statistical flaw; it does not take into account offsetting factors that make the net impact more modest (Biggs, Grindle & Snodgrass, 1988). It is argued that increases in employment of Small and Medium Enterprises are not always associated with increases in productivity. Nevertheless, the important role performed by these enterprises cannot be overlooked. Small firms have some advantages over their large-scale competitors. They are able to adapt more easily to market conditions given their broadly skilled technologies. However, narrowing the analysis down to developing countries raises the following puzzle: Do small-scale enterprises have a dynamic economic role? Due to their flexible nature, SMEs are able to withstand adverse economic conditions. They are more labour intensive than larger firms and therefore, have lower capital costs associated with job creation (Anheier & Seibel, 1987; Liedholm & Mead, 1987; Schmitz, 1995). Small-scale enterprises (SSEs) perform useful roles in ensuring income stability, growth and employment. Since SMEs are labour intensive, they are more likely to succeed in smaller urban centres and rural areas, where they can contribute to the more even distribution of economic activity in a region and can help to slow the flow of migration to large cities. Because of their regional dispersion and their labour intensity, it is argued that small-scale production units can promote a more equitable distribution of income than large firms. They also improve the efficiency of domestic markets and make productive use of scarce resources, thus, facilitating long term economic growth. 2.4.2 Characteristics of SMEs in Ghana A distinguishing feature of SMEs from larger firms is that the latter have direct access to international and local capital markets whereas the former are excluded because of the higher intermediation costs of smaller projects. In addition, SMEs face the same fixed cost as Large Scale Enterprises (LSEs) in complying with regulations but have limited capacity to market products abroad. SMEs in Ghana can be categorised into urban and rural enterprises. The former can be sub-divided into `organised’ and `unorganised’ enterprises. The organised ones tend to have paid employees with a registered office whereas the unorganised category is mainly made up of artisans who work in open spaces, temporary wooden structures, or at home and employ little or in some cases no salaried workers. They rely mostly on family members or apprentices. Rural enterprises are largely made up of family groups, individual artisans, women engaged in food production of local crops. The major activities within this sector include:- soap and detergents, fabrics, clothing and tailoring, textile and leather, village blacksmiths, tin-smithing, ceramics, timber and mining, beverages, food processing, bakeries, wood furniture, electronic assembly, agro processing, chemical based products and mechanics ( Liedholm & Mead, 1987; Osei et al, 1993, World Bank, 1992). It is interesting to note that small-scale enterprises make better use of scarce resources than large-scale enterprises. Research in Ghana and many other countries have shown that capital productivity is often higher in SMEs than is the case with LSEs (Steel, 1977). The reason for this is not difficult to see, SMEs are labour intensive with very small amount of capital invested. Thus, they tend to witness high capital productivity, which is an economically sound investment. Thus, it has been argued that promoting the SME sector in developing countries will create more employment opportunities, lead to a more equitable distribution of income, and will ensure increased productivity with better technology (Steel & Webster, 1990). 2.5 SME Approaches There are several approaches or theories to entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises. For the purpose of this study, the research team will dwell on three major theories. These include: venture opportunity, Agency Theory and Theory of Equity Funds 2.5.1 The Venture Opportunity The venture opportunity school of thought focuses on the opportunity aspect of venture development. The search for idea sources, the development of concepts; and the implementation of venture opportunities are the important interest areas for this school. Creativity and market awareness are viewed as essential. Additionally, according to this school of thought, developing the right idea at the right time for the right market niche is the key to entrepreneurial success. Major proponents include: N Krueger 1993, Long W. & McMullan 1984. Another development from this school of thought is what is described by McMullan (1984) as â€Å"corridor principle’’. This principle outlines that, giving prior attention to new pathways or opportunities as they arise and implementing the necessary steps for action are key factors in business development. The maxim that â€Å"preparation meeting opportunity, equals â€Å"luck† underlines this corridor principle. Proponents of this school of thought believe that proper preparation in the interdisciplinary business segments will enhance the ability to recognise good venture opportunities. Comparing the study with the above theory, the question that arises is: What are the factors or opportunities that have led to the proliferation of small and medium scale enterprises in Medina Township? Is it due to a particular market niche, creativity or market awareness? If so, then what socio-economic impact do they have on the people of Medina Township? 2.5.2 Agency Theory Agency theory deals with the people who own a business enterprise and all others who have interests in it, for example managers, banks, creditors, family members, and employees. The agency theory postulates that the day to day running of a business enterprise is carried out by managers as agents who have been engaged by the owners of the business as principals who are also known as shareholders. The theory is on the notion of the principle of ‘two-sided transactions’ which holds that any financial transactions involves two parties, both acting in their own best interests, but with different expectations. Major proponents of this theory include: Eisenhardt 1989, Emery et al.1991 and JH Davis – 1997. These Proponents of agency theory assume that agents will always have a personal interest which conflicts the interest of the principal. This is usually referred to as the Agency problem. 2.5.3 Theory of Equity Funds Equity is also known as owners’ equity, capital, or net worth. Costand et al (1990) suggests that ‘larger firms will use greater levels of debt financing than small firms. This implies that larger firms will rely relatively less on equity financing than do smaller firms’. According to the pecking order framework, the small enterprises have two problems when it comes to equity funding [McMahon et al. (1993, pp153)]: 1) Small enterprises usually do not have the option of issuing additional equity to the public. 2) Owner-managers are strongly averse to any dilution of their ownership interest and control. This way they are unlike the managers of large concerns who usually have only a limited degree of control and limited, if any, ownership interest, and are therefore prepared to recognize a broader range of funding options. Modern financial management is not the ultimate answer to every whim and caprice. However, it could be argued that there is some food for thought for SMEs concerning every concept. For example Access to Capital is really eye-opener for SMEs in Ghana to carve their way into sustaining their growth. 2.6 Policies for Promoting SMEs in Ghana Small-scale enterprise promotion in Ghana was not impressive in the 1960s. Dr. Nkrumah (President of the First Republic) in his modernization efforts emphasized state participation but did not encourage the domestic indigenous sector. The local entrepreneurship was seen as a potential political threat. To worsen the situation, the deterioration in the Balance of Payments in the 1980s and the overvaluation of the exchange rate led to reduce capacity utilization in the import dependent large-scale sector. Rising inflation and falling real wages also forced many formal sector employees into secondary self-employment in an attempt to earn a decent income. As the economy declined, large-scale manufacturing employment stagnated (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000). According to Steel and Webster (1991), small scale and self-employment grew by 2.9% per annum (ten times as many jobs as large scale employment) but their activities accounted for only a third of the value added. It was in the light of the above that the government of Ghana started promoting small-scale enterprises. They were viewed as the mechanism through which a transition from state-led economy to a private oriented developmental strategy could be achieved. Thus the SME sector’s role was re-defined to include the following (Kayanula and Quartey, 2000): (i) Assisting the state in reducing its involvement in direct production (ii) Absorbing labour from the state sector, given the relatively labour intensive nature of small scale enterprises, and; (iii) Developing indigenous entrepreneurial and managerial skills needed for sustained industrialization. 2.6.1 Government and Institutional Support to SMEs To enable the sector perform its role effectively, the following technical, institutional and financial supports were put in place by government. (i) Government Government, in an attempt to strengthen the response of the private sector to economic reforms undertook a number of measures in 1992. Prominent among them is the setting up of the Private Sector Advisory Group and the abolition of the Manufacturing Industries Act, 1971 (Act 356) that repealed a number of price control laws, and The Investment Code of 1985 (PNDC Law 116), which seeks to promote joint ventures between foreign and local investors. In addition to the above, a Legislative Instrument on Immigrant Quota, which grants automatic immigrant quota for investors, has been enacted. Besides, certain Technology Transfer Regulations have been introduced. Government also provided equipment leasing, an alternative and flexible source of long term financing of plant and equipment for enterprises that cannot afford their own. A Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme was also set up for entrepreneurs who have inadequate or no collateral and has limited access to bank credit. To complement these efforts, a Rural Finance Project aimed at providing long-term credit to small-scale farmers and artisans was set up. In 1997, government proposed the establishment of an Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF), operational under the Exim Guarantee Company Scheme of the Bank of Ghana. This was in aid of industrial and export services within the first quarter of 1998. To further improve the industrial sector, according to the 1998 Budget Statement, specific attention was to be given to the following industries for support in accessing the EDIF for rehabilitation and retooling: Textiles/Garments; Wood and Wood Processing; Food and Food Processing and Packaging. It was also highlighted that government would support industries with export potential to overcome any supply-based difficulty by accessing EDIF and rationalize the tariff regime in a bid to improve their export competitiveness. In addition, a special monitoring mechanism has been developed at the Ministry of Trade and Industries. In a bid to improve trade and investment, particularly in the industrial sector, trade and investment facilitating measures were put in place. Visas for all categories of investors and tourists were issued on arrival at the ports of entry while the Customs Excise and Preventive Service at the ports were made proactive, operating 7-days a week. The government continued supporting programmes aimed at skills training, registration and placement of job seekers, training and re-training of redeployees. This resulted in a 5% rise in enrolment in the various training institutes such as The National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI), Opportunity Industrialization Centres (OIC), etc. As at the end of 1997, 65,830 out of 72,000 redeployees who were re-trained under master craftsmen have been provided with tools and have become self-employed. (ii) Institutions The idea of SME promotion has been in existence since 1970 though very little was done at the time. Key institutions were set up to assist SMEs and prominent among them was The Office of Business Promotion, now the present Ghana Enterprise Development Commission (GEDC). It aims at assisting Ghanaian businessmen to enter into fields where foreigners mainly operated but which became available to Ghanaians after the ‘Alliance Compliance Order’ in 1970. GEDC also had packages for strengthening small-scale industry in general, both technically and financially. The Economic Recovery Programme instituted in 1983 has broadened the institutional support for SMEs. The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has been established within the then Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology now (Ministry of Science and Technology) to address the needs of small businesses. The NBSSI established an Entrepreneurial Development Programme, intended to train and assist persons with entrepreneurial abilities into self-employment. In 1987, the industrial sector also witnessed the coming into operation of the Ghana Appropriate Technology Industrial Service (GRATIS). It was to supervise the operations of Intermediate Technology Transfer Units (ITTUs) in the country. GRATIS aims at upgrading small scale industrial concerns by transferring appropriate technology to small scale and informal industries at the grass root level. ITTUs in the regions are intended to develop the engineering abilities of small scale manufacturing and service industries engaged in vehicle repairs and other related trades. They are also to address the needs of non-engineering industries. So far, 6 ITTUs have been set up in Cape Coast, Ho, Kumasi, Sunyani, Tamale and Tema. (iii) Financial Assistance Access to credit has been one of the main bottlenecks to SME development. Most SMEs lack the necessary collateral to obtain bank loans. To address this issue, the Central Bank of Ghana has established a credit guarantee scheme to underwrite loans made by Commercial Banks to small-scale enterprises. Unfortunately, the scheme did not work out as expected. It was against this background that the Bank of Ghana obtained a US$ 28 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank for the establishment of a Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (FUSMED). Under the Programme of Action to Mitigate the Social Cost of Adjustment (PAMSCAD), a revolving fund of US$ 2 million was set aside to assist SMEs. This aspect is too scanty in the midst of the abundant information, especially with reference to Ghana. 2.7 Gender and Small Business Performance Until more recently gender differences in small business performance remained largely unaddressed by social scientists (Greene, Hart, Gatewood, Brush, & Carter, 2003). The majority of studies either disregarded gender as a variable of interest or excluded female subjects from their design (Du Rietz & Henrekson, 2000). However, it is generally accepted that male and female owner-managers behave differently and that these behavioral differences influence their performance (Brush, 1992), but these differences have been recognized but not fully explained (Brush & Hisrich 2000). A comparison of performance of male and female owner-managers in Java, Indonesia showed that female-owned businesses tend to be less oriented towards growth compared to male-owned businesses (Singh, Reynolds, & Muhammad, 2001). Boden & Nucci (2000) investigated start-ups in the retail and service industries and found that the mean survival rate for male owned businesses was four to six percent higher than for female owned businesses. Loscocco, Robinson, Hall & Allen (1991) in their study of small businesses in the New England region of the USA found that both sales volume and income levels were lower for female- than for male-owned businesses. In a longitudinal study of 298 small firms in the United Kingdom (UK), of which 67 were female owned, Johnson & Storey (1994) observed that whilst female owner-managers had more stable enterprises than their male counterparts, on average the sales turnover for female owners were lower than for male owners. Brush (1992) suggests that women perform less on quantitative financial measures such as jobs created, sales turnover and profitability because they pursue intrinsic goals such as independence, and the flexibility to combine family and work commitments rather than financial gain. In contrast to the above findings, Du Rietz and Henrekson (2000) reported that female-owned businesses were just as successful as their male counterparts when size and sector are controlled. In his study of small and medium firms in Australia, Watson (2002), after controlling for the effect of industry sector, age of the business, and the number of days of operation, also reported no significant differences in performance between the male- controlled and female-controlled firms.

The U-boats Come to America, PDF attached and CITED Assignment

The U-boats Come to America, PDF attached and CITED - Assignment Example The mobilization for World War I was no easy task as the nation was still divided regarding Wilson’s decision to enter the way. Nevertheless, WWI became a focal point in American history because it gave an opportunity for America to assert its dominance as a foreign power and give rise to social reforms. Without a doubt, WWI was a turning point in American history because it gave an opportunity to America to display its awesome power. World War was a war that was indisputably fueled by American propaganda by portraying the Axis power as supreme evil. Unmistakably, this was a heavy task since so many European descents resided in America. The sinking of the U-boat was undoubtedly a huge catalyst that initiated the American involvement. This is greatly depicted via the article in the newspaper which states, â€Å"The U-boats come to America.† The author states that â€Å"It may be argued that the foreign assumptions are purely subjective.† (Skeet 2) However was evident that the United States Navy had to prepare itself for the worse and was already aligning itself with future Allies. It is clear that this was to issue somewhat of Propaganda to rally the American citizens. Europe’s condition at this point was tense, and the American aid to Allies illustrated the fact that America’s involvement was much needed (Michaels 40). Suddenly, the American economy was jolted with a huge shock as it began to produce war-related goods. The United States did not hesitate to supply its war-related products such as weapons, supplies, and ships in order to change the tide of the war (Ebert 9). Although American troops were sent overseas, they fought very little and were responsible for providing moral support. Secondly, World War I was a focal point in American history because it gave rise to social reform throughout the nation. Women and African Americans, in particular, were two groups that were able to take an opportunity to break their â€Å"cult  of domesticity†.

Developmental state(East Asia) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Developmental state(East Asia) - Essay Example After World Banks noted acceptance of a certain role of government intervention, it can be said that ‘Developmental state’ theory is the centre of the debate (Johnson 1982; Amsden 1989; Wade 1990; Chan 1993; MacIntyre 1994; Evans 1995). For instance, Korea was cited as being one of the nations that had highly Confucian values and was characterized by significant state-led export oriented industrialization, authoritarianism and political development which was followed by economic development. Korea is ranked among the most developed third world countries which further raised the need for the study of the reasons why East Asian countries have been able to record such a magnitude of economic growth within a very short time. As a matter of fact, East Asian countries development has been far much more than other developing countries particularly those in Latin America such as Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay etc. The question under investigation in this work is what is the implication of East Asian Economic Development? The importance of this question is that it will shed light into the reasons why East Asian countries have been able to record high economic growth rate within a short time and could reveal possible routes that other developing economies could adopt and move on to a trajectory of higher growth. The present study will attempt to present an analytical overview of the factors that caused the phenomenon. As shall be shown, none of the arguments that try to explain the event are comprehensively convincing nor are totally discardable thereby reflecting partial truth to all of them. The Liberalist views tend to stress on increased market orientation while Mercantilist views emphasize on efficient regulation. The present study will explore both sides of the argument using a level analysis framework to pursue the truth. In the following section, a survey

Health Care Managmeant Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health Care Managmeant - Assignment Example Most often, the change starts small to include daily tasks of the employees in a shorter span of time. Large scale on the other hand, embraces to change the entire culture of the organization with a longer duration. For changes to occur in a small scale organization, the behavior of the employees has to be positively influenced. Observation has it that employees tend to comply readily if they know that a reward is at stake as an incentive of their performance. While implementing change without something to compensate the employees’ effort will take time or even resisted. This observation is supported with Vrooms expectancy theory where it states that motivation depends on certain variables (Miner, 2007). One is valence which simply means reward. Employees are expected to work hard if they know the valence available is of their interest. For instance, promotion as a valence is something vital for employees so the tendency is for them to positively accept change whether the chan ge would include additional responsibilities or trainings. Such behavior may result to another variable that is expectancy believed to be the effort that results in the attainment of the desired performance.

Applied Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Applied Ethics - Assignment Example Therefore, ethics can cause morality to change. Finally, morality surpasses cultural norms, while ethics in most cases is overseen by professional and legal guidelines within a particular place and time (Ciulla, 2003). Ethics is fundamental to any leadership; good ethics upholds characteristic needed for an effective leader. In the leadership, you can get two scenerios, an effective leader but not ethical or a not effective leader but ethical (Ciulla, 2004). It is hard to get both. Therefore, the phrase â€Å"the ends justify the means† depends on what is the outcome and the goal and the means used to achieve them. If the outcome is good and noble then, the ends justify the means. However, most people do not mean that; they use the phrase as an excuse to achieve a particular goal, through any means no matter how illegal, immoral and unpleasant the means could be. The phrase means it does not matter how someone gets what he or she want so long have it. In most cases this phrase is used in an unfair way such that most leaders use it for self-gain. For instance, Machiavelli never liked Cesare Borgia as a person, however he was impressed by Borgia as the resolute, who got the job done, but the way he did it was morally disgusting. In ethics end justifying the means is an ethical dilemma and a popular scenario. There are things to be considered when making a decision, for instance, what is the morality of the action, the morality of the individual performing an action and the morality of the outcome. In the leadership, a good and effective leader should use a moral means to justify a moral end. This is because leaders need to be more careful than ordinary people because a leader’s moral inconsistency is highly noticeable by the public than just an ordinary individual. When their action does not meet their promote values, then they tend to lose the trust of their effectiveness from various stakeholders. There are leaders who tend to be effective in what

Do native peoples today invent their tradition Essay

Do native peoples today invent their tradition - Essay Example Today, the native influence is gradually facing assimilation due to the impacts of migration, settlements, and expansion of immigrants into new lands. These immigrants come with new values and social structures that either absorb or consume the existing traditions. Some states have become wiser, preserved these natives in their rightful places, and netted mass revenue in return. The history of these original natives is very resourceful and traces its roots to the precincts of civilization. Contrastingly, today many communities have risen. The sprouting communities tend to emerge and dynamically evolve to become different from the ancient eras. Their traditions are not directly similar to the archaic eras. They have new norms and values that could sound profane to the aborigines. It is not authentic where these new traces of tradition arise. This paper attempts to discuss whether the natives today invent their traditions. The plot development takes into consideration case studies and analogies from different cultures around the world. Special reference falls on the current American native community. The initial part shall outline points that contradict this premise. The second section shall then garner support for the premise before offering a conclusive standpoint in the stale mate. Tradition has always found its roots in oral tradition of a community. The community is a channel of culture transfer across generations. Consequently, it is inappropriate to assume that these natives invent their cultures. These cultures find their way to the present times through the vehicle of oral tradition that passes this values and norms to the preceding generations. In this sense, the traditions that appear to have ancient roots still find their stronghold in the society today. In fact, a few modifications take place in them, but the key intents always remain unchanged. The Native American perspective helps to unravel this myth. According Kattok (2010), the markers of tradit ional Native American identity prevail to date. She asserts that â€Å"indigenes† injects itself into the mainstream of current native inhabitants of the community and later stand as true. The essence of oral tradition stands out as influential in the presence of long standing traditions that still stand in the present. A good illustration is the spiritual viewpoint shared by several generations over time. The evolving community has often shown similar appreciation of religious beliefs despite the time and age manifested. The Native American philosophy advocates that spirituality is supreme and directional. The natives, therefore, almost universally observe the earth as a womanly figure. In this respect, this notion passes on to the upcoming generation. It is no wonder several people regard the earth as â€Å"her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Additionally, the natives also view many environmental products as endowments from a higher being. kattok (2010) supports this view when he says that man was created to complement the other creations. Secondly, the colonial times across the world history bear a lot of explanation to the origin and invention of a variety of cultures. The colonization era among several affected states was a time of reckoning. The colonizing powers established their cultures that they deemed as superior. In most instances, the natives never got the chance to contribute to the creation of the emergent culture. In the ancient American tradition, the immigrants’ influx and the British invasion of the 17th century saw the emergence of various

Arab-Israeli War of 1948 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Arab-Israeli War of 1948 - Essay Example Observers claim that the Arab nations were not satisfied with the UN ruling, which they criticized greatly on the basis of great imbalance on the partition. Most Arabs claimed that the partition plan did not adequately balance the two groups. More so the Arabs, whom they claimed to, have been the majority. The UN voted in favor of the partition, ruling that the British were to terminate their mandate in Palestine in order to pave way for the partition to be implemented. Avi (1998) continue to argue that by the beginning of the Second World War; most Arab countries were under the strong influence of their colonial masters. Most notably were British and the French groups. He point out that Jordan in particular remained under the strong influence of the British thus acquired arms supply and military training. The Arabs countries joined hand to form the Arab league, which was mandated to coordinate the policies between their states after independence. According to Gelber (2006), the UN p artition plan was unanimously rejected by the Arab League of Nations. They declared holy war (jihad) upon all the Jews both in the Arab states and those living in Israel. He further claims that by 1940, most Jews had flown back to Israel from the Arab states fearing being persecuted. Consequently, he adds that the Arabs in Israel were encouraged to leave the country with a promise of returning after they purge the Jews land. Gelber (2006) estimates the number of Jews refugees running from the Arab states to be around one million (1,000,000), and that of Arabs from Israel to have been around three hundred and forty three thousand (343,000). War triggered a mass exodus from the Arab states. It is claimed that the Jews easily integrated in their mother country thus the claims that most Jews today are descendants of the Jews from the Arabic countries. However, it is also argued that, intentionally, the Arabs did not integrate their fellow Arabs who had escaped from Israel following war outbreak. During the initial stages of the Arab-Israel war, Avi (1998) observes that the British who were in control of Palestine, denied the Jews a chance to defend themselves. He further argues that this was done in many ways some of which were blocking those coming from other countries and denying them entry into Israel. Second, they outlawed Israel’s militia men as terrorists groups and denied them a chance to import weapons. In the mean time, it is argued that the British were supplying arms to the Arab countries and freely allowed them into Palestine. This is argued to have greatly compromised the Jewish ability to defend themselves against the Arabs. This continued until the British mandate was terminated. By February Benny (2008) observes that the Palestinian informed the UN Security Council that the partition plan could not be carried out without military aid. Because of the long process to come up with a defense force, the situation in Palestine got out of control. Benny claims that this resulted as disagreements raged the formation of the military forces without incorporating the support of the major powers. Consequently, war broke out in Palestine. He further states that the UN council blamed the Arabs for the war outbreak, with most of the western and European countries condemned Israel’s’ invasion by the Arabs. The British and the Palestine denied the UN Palestine Commission access to resolve the war crisis. Avi (1998) points out that, despite all the mounting pressure in Palestine, the UN did not suspend the partition plan. As a result, Israel

What Caused the Current Economic Crisis Term Paper

What Caused the Current Economic Crisis - Term Paper Example This meant the very foundations on which our principles and understanding of the whole economic system was based on were shaken and jolted to an extent that people lost confidence in its integrity. It raised questions that directly pointed fingers on the functioning of the global financial markets. The whole crisis began when the US investors lost confidence in the value of sub-prime mortgages resulting in an adverse liquidity crisis. In fear of the effects of the looming liquidity crisis, the US Federal Bank injected huge sums of capital, liquid money, into financial markets in an attempt to prevent several hundred thousand businesses and individuals from declaring bankruptcy. By the end of September of the following year, the economic crisis had worsened as its negative effects started to crash stock markets on all the continents. This made investment highly volatile and investors lost millions of dollars overnight as this continued to spread further. A pinnacle was reached where c onsumer confidence was at its lowest in fear of the inevitable outcomes. Analyses reveal that at a more fundamental level the economic crisis could be attributed to the diligence of massive global imbalances. These imbalances were the outcomes of long periods of excessively loose monetary policy in the major advance economies during the early part of this decade. A major factor in this was the significant increase in the budget deficit of the United States, while at the same time the accumulation of huge amounts of surpluses in Asia, particularly in China and the oil exporting countries of Middle East. The current account balance of US in 2008 as a percent of its GDP was -4.7%, and for China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and UAE was 10%, 28.9%, 6.1% and 15.8% respectively. This showed that even after billions of revenue for the Western Giant United States, the global net flow of money was directed towards the Eastern part. This imbalance was ever growing as the Economic power was slowly and gradually shifting from the West to the East. Experts stated that these imbalances were seen as the consequence of the relative inflexibility of the currency regimes in China and other such countries. According to Portes (2009), prevailing global macroeconomic imbalances were the major underlying cause of the crisis. The gap between the saving-investment function was extensive and this gap was only widening with time since developing countries started relying more heavily on developed economies to provide for their development expenditures. The immediate impacts of these huge cross-border financial flows were seen on the financial intermediation process. (Mohan, 2009) As stated earlier the monetary policy of US was also a contributing factor to the financial crisis of 2008. To understand this we have to visualize the dot com bubble burst in the early 2000’s. This resulted in a reduction of the interest rates and consistent ease in the monetary policy of US and other advanced economies. These rates maintained as low as 1 per cent in US during the period 2003-2004. This gave ample opportunity for new businesses to thrive in the country and huge investments were made during the first half of the decade. Figure 1 clearly demonstrates that during 2008 the effective federal fund rate in the US was around 1 per cent margin. This relatively loose monetary policy meant that transactions were being done on a credit basis more than ever in the history of the country. The effects of this were visible in the credit crunch of 2007 that eventually combined with other factors to bring about the economic crisis. The growing demand from the US consumers and its increasing reliance on cheap consumer goods being imported from Asian countries, mainly China,

Asepsis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asepsis - Essay Example Asepsis is targeted at eliminating the possibility of infection while anti-sepsis is the use of chemicals to destroy germs already in the body or wound (Markovitch, 2005). UK’s National Health Service (2009) on Asepsis Surgery The United Kingdom National Health Service (2009, p. 3) defined asepsis as â€Å"the prevention of microbial contamination during invasive procedures or management of breaches in the skin’s integrity.† Literally, asepsis means â€Å"without microorganisms† (UK National Health Service, 2009, p. 3). Further, the NHS pointed out that an aseptic technique â€Å"ensures that only uncontaminated objects/fluids make contract with sterile/susceptible sites, minimizing the risks of exposure to potentially pathogenic organisms† (United Kingdom National Health Services, 2009, p. 9). In contrast, the â€Å"clean technique is a modified aseptic technique where the basic principle of an aseptic technique is used and clean gloves, clean fie ld and non sterile solutions are used† (United Kingdom National Health Services, 2009, p. 3). Based on the United Kingdom National Health Service (2009, p. 4-7), we can derive twelve principles followed in aseptic surgery. The first principle is the principle of non-touch or the principle that even if the hands are washed, the hands must not touch the sterile equipment or the patient. Non-touch can be achieved by using forceps or sterile gloves (United Kingdom Health Service, 2009). The second principle is the preparation of the equipment, environment, and patient for the aseptic procedure. This can involve cleaning and drying the patient body areas that will be affected by surgery. It also means ensuring that equipment and solutions are sterile and undamaged before use. According to the United Kingdom National Health Service (2009), any equipment including gloves that are contaminated must be discarded and replaced before use. The third principle is the use of â€Å"sterile of sterile equipment for the procedure, which has been stored appropriately until use† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The fourth principle is the â€Å"avoidance of direct contact with the susceptible site† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The fifth principle is â€Å"effective hand hygiene† that involves the decontamination of the doctors hands with an alcohol hand rub and most importantly with observation of a twelve-step procedure for hand decontamination adopted in 2008 (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5-6). The sixth principle is correct handling by doctors of sterile gloves: only the wrist end must be touched and the outer surface of the gloves must not be contaminated. The seventh principle is maintaining asepsis all throughout the medical procedure like surgery. The eighth principle is the use of appropriate clothing. The United Kingdom National Health Service prescribes, for example, that clini cal staff must have â€Å"sleeves that are short or rolled back, no wrist jewelry/watches, no false nails and no stoned rings† (United Kingdom National Health Service, 2009, p. 5). The ninth principle is the use of effectively cleaned equipment and appropriate personal protective equipment. The tenth principle is the separation of wastes between domestic and clinical wastes. The eleventh principle is

Transformational Leadership Essay Example for Free

Transformational Leadership Essay What are the most important concepts you have learned this week? I have understood that a skillful leader must be an example for his followers. I have realized that the chances to become a leader are not very high and if I don’t become leader I’ll be able to apply my leadership skills to the role of follower and thus will become useful for team work. What would you recommend to your management/leadership based on these concepts? During last week I have realized that to be a leader means to be highly responsible and to be a leader means more than simply giving instructions. Skillful leader may sometime act as follower and it won’t mean that the leader is weak or his followers are stronger. It means that leader should act logically. How will these concepts impact you personally and professionally? The key elements of leader’s success are certainly communication, responsibility, planning, consistency and motivational. After having read lots of relevant materials I have realized that many difficult situations have made me stronger and provided me with leadership characteristics. Thus nowadays I am successfully equipped with all of them at my working place. What is the value-added from these concepts, or what differences can these concepts make to your organization? The value –added from these concepts are the same as in the previous week. They are to reduce misunderstanding, mistakes, miscomputations as well as to increase good communication, mutual respect and motivation of every team member. It is necessary to understand your own virtues and characteristics in order to find out whether you are a natural leader. Describe important references used this week. List the references in proper APA style. Ackoff, R. L. (1999). Transformational Leadership. Strategy Leadership, 27, 20–25. Avolio, B. J. , Yammarino, F. J. (2002). Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead. Greenwich, CT: JAI. Bass, B. M. (1990). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press. Bass, B. M. (1990). Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications (3rd ed. ). New York: The Free Press. Bal, V. , Quinn, L. (2004). The Missing Link: Organizational Culture and Leadership Development. In M. Wilcox S. Rush (Eds. ). The CCL Guide to Leadership in Action: How Managers and Organizations Can Improve the Practice of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 163-171. Characteristics of Good Followers. (2006). Retrieved November 5, 2006, from http://www. ssu. missouri. edu/faculty/rcampbell/Leadership/chapter5. html. Clark, D. (2005, April 2). Concepts of Leadership. Retrieved November 5, 2006, from http://www. nwlink. com/~donclark/leader/leadcon. html. Leadership. (2006, November 3). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 5, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Leadershipoldid=85498479. Life Issues In-Focus – Dealing With Stress: Visioform Personal Growth. Retrieved November 5, 2006 from

De Motivation And High Staff Turnover Commerce Essay

De Motivation And High Staff Turnover Commerce Essay In this assignment as per question I am going to describe the motivation ,three different motivational theories and I choose Ryanair which is struggling by the demotivation of his staff and the high staff turnover . Motivation is human psychological characteristic which shows the level of commitment towards a particular goal. Motivation shows that how employee think about his job, if he is motivated than productivity level will be high. Motivation linked with morale as well ,if the morale is high it shows employees job satisfaction and they are dedicated and loyal for their works. But if morale is low it results low productivity, absenteeism, and the high staff turnover. In another words performance mainly depend on motivation. job performance= motivation +ability Contemporary views on motivation in this section we will be discuss about the three motivation theories which can be a good example for the managers who are struggling with the low motivation of staff and the high staff turnover and these theorise can help to learn how to motivate the staff .we are now going to talk about three types of theorises:- 1. Need theory 2 Expectancy theory 3 Reinforcement theory Need theory Need theory of motivation was developed by Maslow which basically focuses on the basic needs of a person. It tells us that a person first motivated for food, wages, and shelter. This theory also explains that a person is motivated when he didnt get a certain level of satisfaction in his life. For example: a child cannot be motivated for his class if he didnt take breakfast. According to this theory when a person fulfils his basic needs he move to next one. For example:- a person who dont have basic things for survival like food, shelter so his first priority will be food .After fulfilling the basic needs he will looks for job security, protection , love belongings ,then he motivate himself to his self-esteem where he look for his status in society and in organisation where he is working and living .This theory shows us that a person cant be a motivator himself his needs didnt force him to motivate . . C:UserssanjuDesktopMaslows_Hierarchy_of_Needs.svg.png Expectancy Theory This theory was given by victor vroom.according to this theory everybody has his own gaol and his own set of objective .and they can motivate themselves only when they think that there is some connection between performance and efforts.if this performance results favourable for them and its satisfy the special needs so they can make efforts worthwhile.this theory contains more practical solutions rather than other theories . We can understand this by a   scenario that in a five star hotel tow marketing agents are on promotion stage for a marketing managers job.mike who has a good marketing results in whole year and he always gets a good appraisal and good performance result .but he is little bit confuse to accepting this job because this job requires a lot travel,long hours working shifts ,more stress,and target pressure .but in another side paul wants this job as well.paul is also had a good results in last year he improve himself.and he think that he is a suaitable candidate for this job .now according to Expectancy theory paul is a suitable candidate for this job because he is motivated for the promotion and in another side mike is not motivated to get promotion. This theory is contains reversiable process it means when you put any action different outcomes came these outcomes maybe positive or negative or .for example in any organisation when people do overtime and hardwork .for this outcome came with salary raise,promotions,or new skills but in negative approach they didnt get time to their social life Managers can implement this theory in a several way. Managers must make sure that workers should increase their performance level to achive their goals. The dedicated workers must be reward as per their performance Reinforcement Theory This theory was given by BF Skinner and his associates . this theory is based on law and effect .this theory says that rewarded behaviour should be repeated again and again .but individuals behaviour which has a negative approach should not be repeated . this theory is the strong method to control or manage the individuals behaviour . Positive reinforce used to gave a positive response for an individual who shows a appropriate behaviour for example:- when you ask your any employee to cover some other employees shift who is not coming because of sickness.and your employee has their own plan but you ask him and he ready to work do immediately praising .or any of your employee is very nice to customer just reward him on the spot that you done a great job. Negative reinforce or punishment is for unsuitable behaviour which is not suppose to be at the work place for example:-any of your employee was rude to the customers .he must be punished or should be issued a warning When implement reinforcement theory managers make sure that do not reward all empoloyees in a same manner .they should tell everybody that you did well this section but not here . In this section I will be describe Ryanair motivation problem in all cabin crew and ground staff members .rayanair is a cheapest airline in Europe .according to deputy general of irish trade union ,Ryanair has a very high staff turnover in all department like pilots cabin crews, and the ground staff.its just because that all the employees have to pay some money for company for their own uniforms,meals,and training session. Instead of this company have to pay for them for everything and provide traning. Because of this many of employees left the job and now they have to recruit the new peoples, so they recruit peoples from the agencies ,and they were not good .after that they ask pilots that pay for their retraining . A cabin crew member of Ryanair writes comment on a website where he wrote: Ryanair does not care about its cabin crew and just takes the most they possibly can squeeze out of us. After a twelve hour day without a break, I dont have the energy to be nice to passengers or check that my nail polish is still on. Come on Ryanair start valuing what we do because without us you could not fly. The Ryanair cabin crew member are not nice with passenger , we can see why thses are not loyal with them in the statement of a crew member on website . because the employees work hard but they are not treat as per their performance . they do the long shifts without any break because of this they become very stressed and it make them rude with their passengers .because of this there is a high staff turn over and Ryanair losing more passenger and its totally depend on staff motivation According to Taylors scientific management theory people motivate by money in other words wages or salary .but in Ryanair compare to their employees hard work ,long shifts and the working enviorment , wages and salary are not good which they deserve for .its true that Ryanair is a low cost airline but many other low cost carriers are not facing this type of staff turnover and their employees are getting good pay. Ryanair boss have to be understand that without any dedicated and smart employees they will be no more in this industry and without any break working in long shifts is inhuman and paying for their uniforms ,food and even for training when you earning a less is not acceptable . For this problem ryanairs human resource department should follow the Maslows hierarchy of needs theory as I mention before that if rayanair will fulfil the basic needs of the employees like good wages ,friendly working environment ,and good training and development .the employees will be motivated to work and it will good for companys reputation as well as employees morale and after that they can serve in good manner for passengers. Selection and recruitment process In this section I will describe that what the process should be follow at the time of recruiting people.Recruitment and selection process should be done in a proper way because recruiting a wrong person can be harmfull for orgnistion to increase cost,labour turnover,and demotivating the morale of the exiting employees Shortlisting when company invite applications for any job there are a lot application and the CV send by candidates . the first procedure is shortlisting according to the requirements of the job, education and skills of a candidate . Forms of assessments for some jobs candidates may ask for a written test or making a presentation .its depend on the job profile .for example- for a engineer post a technical exam should be take to know about the candidates knowledge . Interview the purpose of conducting the interview is to know more about the candidate ,to know about the ability to do the job and to get some personal information. Reference checks this is the most important part of the selection process .which information you gathered from interview beside from this you can get information form reference check to insure the suitable candidate is hired .you can also verify the information which you got from interview Basicly effective employment depend on the recruitment and selection process. If you follow the appropriate process and you find a suitable candidate to perform the job according to the needs of the job . it will be a good sign for organisation and for candidate as well because person will be motivated and he will do the job in appropriate way .but if you choose a wrong candidate it be a loss for company that investing money for his training , high staff turnover ,and low staff morale for working employees and for candidate that he will be demotivate to got a another job . Your selection process should be fair enough because when you select candidates there should not be discrimination in the ground of sex, age ,religion or belief .it means you should provide a equal opportunity to all .because if discriminate people your existing may be demotivate. And in another side if you continuously choosing the wrong candidates for the wrong job ,so they are leaving the organisation time to time it can be bad impression of company in your employees or may be outside as well same like Ryanair they choose the simple way of selection,because of this they couldnt find the good candidates to perform the duties and then staff was demotivated and staff turnover was very high. For example:- A five stat hotel choose a candidate who dont have any experience in hotel industry for a front office assistant job and the hotel gave him training and develop his personality in one year, now when the time came to take back the investment which hotel invest to give training and development ,the candidate left the organisation because he think that there is no future for him in this organisation. It was just because of lack of motivation . it cost a lot for organisation in economically and its demotivate the existing staff members Second example:- A airline appoint a fresh candidate as a cabin crew member and provide him a training by investing a lot of money but after sometime because of some reason airline transfer him in ground staff in a good position but because he was trained for cabin crew ,he dont know anything about the ground staff jobs.so his morale become low and he left the job and because of this airline lost a lot of money .and the other staff members demotivate. By these two example we can understand that by using a right method of selection ,we can minimise the cost of organisation to selecting people . And we can offer a right job for right candidate according to his skills ,interest, and ability . Conclusion From the above assignment i have concluded that if any company is following the appropriate way of recruitment and selection as I wrote before ,there will be no motivation problem will be happen in the organisation and the managers can implement any motivation theory to motivate his staff. And to reduce the staff turnover, organisation must be fulfil the employees needs and give them right job for right person according to their ability and the performance level .Managers also must make sure that they provide appraisal to all employees time to time so they can check themselves as their performance basis .

A power amplifier

A power amplifier Introduction: A power amplifier is an electronic device that changes the magnitude of a signal. It is usually used to transfer high power to a low output load such as speakers where there load is about 8 ohms [1]. The relationship between the output and input is called the transfer function. An important aspect of the amplifier is the gain. The gain is the ratio between input and output whether this input is current, voltage or power. Therefore, the gain does not have a unit. The quality of the amplifier is determined by many aspects, which are gain, bandwidth, efficiency, linearity, noise and others. As one of these characteristics increase the others may decrease. Therefore, the amplifier will be designed to meet the required specifications determined by the application for which it will be used for. The various designs of the amplifiers are classified into many types which include A,B,C,D and some other types derived by combining the basic ones such as class AB which is obtained from class A and class B pertaining to their efficiency and linearity [1]. Ideally, power amplifiers are supposed to deliver 100% of the power to the load. However, as some of the power dissipates in the components of the amplifier, hence we do not have ideal power amplifiers. It is found that the linearity has an inverse relationship to the efficiency of the amplifier. The classes A, B and C power amplifiers are considered inefficient but linear whereas the other types are considered efficient but more complex than the basic types. Class A power amplifiers are least efficient than the others. The efficiency of class B is much higher than class A, however, class C has the highest efficiency level compared to class A and B [2]. The scope of this paper is to discuss class B power amplifier in details. Class B power amplifier: This class of amplifier was developed in order to improve class A power amplifiers, which have low efficiency rating. [1-3] shows and explains the internal design, the efficiency, the advantages and disadvantages, and the applications of class B power amplifiers. Internal circuit and operation: To get a sufficiently good amplification of the input waveform in the output, a push-pull class B power amplifier configuration must be used. This configuration is based on two transistors. The term push-pull comes from the fact that two transistors in a class B amplifier conduct in alternating half-cycles of the input [1]. Moreover, there are two types of push-pull configurations, one with transformers and one without transformers [2]. A balanced centre tapped input transformer is used to split the incoming waveform signal into two equal cycles that are 180 degrees out of phase with each other. Another center-tapped output transformer is used to recombine the signals. If the transformer is ideal we can get two collector currents that flow in opposite directions, hence no magnetization of the transformer core takes place which in turn minimizes the distortion in between the two signals. Both transistors used are of NPN transistor type where their emitter terminals are connected together [2]. discusses the mechanism in which the circuit works. Primarily, when no input signal is present, both transistors are biased at cutoff. When a signal is present during the positive half cycle, the transistors base inputs are in anti-phase to each other which causes transistor TR1to become biased above cutoff due to the positive base input that drives a large collector current, while TR2 is still biased at cutoff as the base current will go negative, making the collector current decrease by an equal amount of the increase in the collector current in TR1. This will result in an amplified positive-output half cycle. When the input signal is in the negative half cycle, the same procedure is done but in opposite, resulting in TR1 returning to the cutoff state while TR2 start building until it becomes biased above cutoff. This will result in an amplified negative-output half cycle. The half cycles combine to produce an output amplified 360 degrees signal with distortion. This effect is the push-pull effect. Advantages and Disadvantages of Class B power amplifier: Class B amplifiers have an advantage over class A amplifiers which is that the collector current is zero when the input signal to amplifier is zero that cause no power dissipation in the quiescent condition which leads to higher efficiency [1]. The main goal of using power amplifiers is to generate maximum AC power to the load, while consuming the minimum DC power possible from the supply. The efficiency of class B amplifiers in all types may reach up to 75% which is much higher than class A amplifiers [2]. The equation shown above is used to calculate the percentage efficiency of all power amplifiers. Pout is the power delivered to the load and PDC is the power taken from the supply. Class B amplifiers has one main disadvantage which is the high distortion that occurs in the output signal. This type of distortion is called the crossover distortion [2]. This distortion occurs when the transistors are switching over from one to another. Each transistor requires minimum voltage VBE which is about 0.7V to conduct. When one transistor is turning off by having VBE less than 0.7V and the other transistor is turning on but still the input voltage is not greater than VBE, the resulting is a zero voltage â€Å"flat spot† on the output wave shape as it crosses over from one half of the waveform to the other [2, 3].According to [2], the crossover distortion cause a reduction in the overall peak to peak value of the output waveform causing the maximum power output to be reduced. Hence, class B power amplifiers today are not used in many applications; it is only used as an audio amplifier. There are many ways to get rid of crossover distortion effect, but the most commo n one is to bias both the transistors at a point slightly above their cut-off point [1, 2]. This will lead us to class AB Amplifier circuit which is out of this paper scope. Application: The cost of class B amplifier is not high; therefore it is used in low budget designs. Furthermore, it is used in designs where the quality of the sound is not important because of the distortion it provides [3]. However, class B amplifier is preferred in designing audio power amplifiers [3]. [3] reveals that most of the time the music will be low so the signal will act as if it is in class A region. This means that the distortion will not be that bad. Moreover, the distortion can be minimized by using a negative feedback loop [3]. [3] also emphasizes that the sound power produced by this amplifier is huge and it can be run without heat sinks. Conclusion: This research was conducted in order to investigate the properties of class B power amplifier. First an overview about power amplifiers was considered in order to develop a better understanding about the reasons behind classifying them to many types. It was found that each class has its own application which it suits for. This is determined according to many aspects such as linearity and efficiency which are inversely proportional. Class B was found to be higher in efficiency compared to class A but less in linearity. Looking into the configuration of class B, it was found that class B amplifier has two possible configurations, one with a transformer and the other without the transformer. Both configurations works with two transistors where each one conducts for a half cycle (180 degrees), which gives the opportunity to the other transistor to cool. However, the configuration where the amplifier does not have a transformer is more efficient because less energy is lost in elements as a result of eliminating the transformer core. Class B amplifier was found to be used in low cost designs and designs where the clarity of the voice is not important. The crossover distortion can be removed by using a negative feedback loop or bias both transistors at a point slightly above their cut-off point, which is the idea of class AB power amplifier.

Compare, Contrast and Evaluate the Sociological Perspectives on the Ro

The role of education is to educate individuals within society and to prepare and qualify them for work in the economy as well as helping to integrate individuals into society and teach them the norms, values and morals of society. Yet there are three sociological theories that differ greatly between them on the role of education. These are Functionalism, Marxism and Liberalism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Functionalists view the role of education as a means of socialising individuals and to integrate society, to keep society running smoothly and remain stable. Emile Durkheim, creator of the Organic Analogy, was a functionalist during the 1870’s. Durkheim believes that society can only survive if its members are committed to common social values and that education provides these to children and young people as well as raising awareness of their commitment to society. Durkheim also believed that schools teach young people that they must co-operate with their peers and be prepare to listen to and learn from their teachers. Individual pupils eventually learn to suspend their own self interests for those of society as a whole, work together and that success in education, just like in society, involves commitment to a value consensus. Similarly, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, functionalists during the 1970’s, believed that education is strongly linked to social stratification by members of society and that education ‘sifts, sorts and allocates’ people to their correct place in the economy and society. By rewarding the most talented and most dedicated by allowing them into the highest paid and highest status jobs, education performs the function which is always necessary to Functionalists – differentiating all members of society so that the system runs smoothly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Like the functionalists, Marxists agree that education is functional in that it maintains the dominance of certain powerful groups in society. Unlike the functionalists, however, Marxists do not believe that it works for the benefit of all. Instead Marxists argue that the education system sustains one small group’s ideas about appropriate forms of schooling and assumptions about what knowledge is. The system also maintains different levels of access to knowledge for different groups and thereby prohibits the widespread dissemination of knowledge to everyone. Bowles and... ...cess in the economy of an individual is not always linked to success in school as well as the hidden curriculum being to restrictive as it does not allow society to gain a sense of self. The Marxist view that when the working class develops a class consciousness and realise that they are being exploited they will gather together to create a social revolution and overthrow capitalism and seize back the ruling class wealth and assets, does not apply to modern British society as there are very few people as the underdogs Marx describes are very few as the majority of society is fairly well off. Equally, the Liberalist view of the role of education is not applicable to modern British society as the majority of children are not yet ready for the responsibility to teach themselves, nor is society on a whole ready to accept the liberalists views on education. For these reasons Marxism is most applicable to modern British society as it takes into account the hierarchy within society and the inability to apply meritocracy due to our capitalist society. Therefore Marxism is the theory that has the most in common with modern British society and the theory most likely to apply to our society.

Thomas Jefferson Essay -- essays research papers

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albermarle County, Virginia. He was born in a simple four-room house in Shadwell, Virginia, what is now Monticello. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter who was a bright, brave, and strong man. His mother was a very gentle lady. She was boring under one of the most distinguished families in the area. His family had prospered since the first Jefferson arrived in America from Whales in 1612. Soon after Jefferson’s birth, the French and British began fighting their third war in a half of century over North America’s territory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jefferson went to an English school at the age of five where he remained for four years. He was then transferred to a Latin school for five years. His father died in 1758 and Thomas was put under the control of Rev. Maury to prepare for college. When he was 17, Thomas enrolled in the college of William and Mart in Williamsburg, VA. He found the college disappointing but extremely liked the town considering it was the biggest community Jefferson had ever seen. He thrived for knowledge and was able to graduate with the highest honors in the college. After college, he studied law under the instruction of George Wythe and was inducted into the practice of law. He did not reamain in this profession for long and in 1764 was elected a representative to the Legislatures of Justices. During this time he became more and more involved in the public life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also in 1764, he inherited 2,750 acres of his father’s estate. He returned to Shadwell and began building Monticello at the top of an 867 foot mountain. Monticello now overlooks the University of Virginia. It remains a historical landmark and is open for public touring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1769 Thomas Jefferson took his seat in the House of Burgesses, where he served in Albermarle County until 1776. In 1770 Jefferson’s Shadwell estate caught on fire and many of his families belongings, books, and papers were destroyed. This caused Jefferson to take up residence in Monticello. Thomas married Martha Wayles Skelton, a 23-year-old widow, in 1772. They had six children. Jefferson’s mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, died in 1776.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thomas Jefferson played a key part in the beginning of America’s Independence from Great Britain. He took part in the sig... ...ditions of the time period. On March 4, 1809, Jefferson retired from public office. He left Washington and returned to his home, Monticello, in Virginia. He never left Virginia again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Jefferson accomplishes many things in the later years of his life. In 1817, he began the founding of the University of Virginia. At the age of 77, he began to work on his autobiography. He also developed a deep relationship with John Adams. They associated with each other all the time. They wrote many letters back and forth from Virginia to Massachusetts. After being ill for many years, he wrote his will in March of 1826. In mid-June, he became bed stricken for the first time in his life. On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson died. He was eighty-three years old. Several hours later John Adams died in Massachusetts his last words being â€Å"Thomas Jefferson still survives†. The nation was struck by this coincidence. Although it would seem that Jefferson was a very rich man, he died more than 100,000 dollars in debt. Thomas Jefferson is known as one of the greatest men of American History.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Rerum Novarum :: essays research papers

Rerum Novarum The opening words and the title of the Encyclical issued by Leo XIII, 15 May, 1891, on the "Condition of Labour". Although the Encyclical follows the lines of the traditional teaching concerning the rights and duties of property and the relations of employer and employee, it applies the old doctrines specifically to modern conditions. Opening with a description of the grievances of the working classes, it proceeds to refute the false theories of the Socialists, and to defend the right of private ownership. The true remedy, continues the pope, is to be found in the combined action of the Church, the State, the employer and the employed. The Church is properly interested in the social question because of its religious and moral aspects; the State has the right and the duty to intervene on behalf of justice and individual and social well-being; and employers and workers should organize into both mixed and separate associations for mutual protection and for self protection. All this is set forth with sufficient detail to reach the principal problems and relations of industrial and social life. Probably no other pronouncement on the social question has had so many readers or exercised such a wide influence. It has inspired a vast Catholic social literature, while many non-Catholics have acclaimed it as one of the most definite and reasonable productions ever written on the subject. Sometimes criticized as vague, it is as specific as any document could be written for several countries in different stages of industrial development. On one point it is strikingly definite: "Let it be taken for granted that workman and employer should, as a rule, make free agreements, and in particular should agree freely as to wages; nevertheless, there is a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, that remuneration should be sufficient to maintain the wage-earner in reasonable and frugal comfort. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, h e is made the victim of force and injustice.