Socio-economic status and race

Socio-economic status and race Abstract The defendant who was Latino was hypothesized to be sentenced to more years in prison by jurors than the defendant who was white. It was also hypothesized that the defendant would be sentenced to more years in prison if the victim was of higher socio-economic status (Businessman) than low socio-economic status (homeless man). There were 60 college aged participants chosen at random. Participants were given one of four scenarios that varied in race (white or Latino) of the defendant and socio-economic status (Business or Homeless) of the victim. The scenarios asked the participants to recommend jail sentences for the given scenario. As hypothesized the Latino defendants received longer jail sentences than the white defendants and defendants received longer sentences when the victim was a Business man than when the victim was a homeless man. Socio-Economic Status and Race as Influences on Jury Sentencing: Does Socio-Economic Status and Race Influence a Jury Decision on Sentencing? As the world becomes more diverse we need to understand the bias factors that influence jurors decisions. It is hard to asses these factors in real cases as no two cases are truly similar and we can not simulate several scenarios. We used Jury simulations to test these unconscious bias people used when they recommended sentencing for the defendants. The bias factors can be seen in the news when high profile cases come up. There are times when we believed defendants to be guilty but they were found innocent. In most cases the defendants were either from high socio-economic status or race was a factor. We conducted the jury simulation with four different scenarios to try and understand this bias. Based on previous research we made two hypotheses. The first was that the Latino man would be sentenced to more years in prison than the white man. According to demographic studies minorities are more likely to be convicted of a crime and more harshly sentenced than white Caucasian (Gleason, Harris, 1975). The second hypothesis was that defendants would be sentenced to more years in prison when the victim was a Business man and less years when the victim was a homeless man. Based on previous studies cited in this report it was predicted that there would be a main effect for each variable and a significant interaction between these variables. Defendants are sentenced to more years in prison when the victim is considered attractive to the jury than when the victim is considered unattractive (Landy, Aronson, 1969. Race and Socio-economic status do notably bias jurors views toward the defendant and victim in a court case. Those with higher socio-economic status were seen as less guilty than those with lower socio-economic status (Gleason, Harris, 1975). Gleason and Harriss study was a 22 factorial design which varied the defendants race (white and black) and socio-economic status (middle class and lower class).Although in Gleason Harriss study the socio-economic status variable is used for the defendant and in our study socio-economic status is used for the victim, you can still see how socio-economic status plays a rule in peoples judgment regardless of if its the victim or defendant with high or low status. If the defendant is of high socio-economic status they are less likely to be found guilty status (Gleason, Harris, 1975). Also if the victim is of high status the defendant is more likely to be found guilty and subject to a harsher sentence as this study shows. A jury simulation carried out by Gordon, Bindrim, McNicholas, Walden survey 56 University students. Their survey was a jury simulation that studied how perceptions of blue-collar and white-collar crimes were tied to the defendants race. An equal number of black and white participants were given one of four scenarios were the descriptions of the defendants race (black or white) and type of crime (burglary or embezzlement) committed varied. In the study the black defendant was sentenced to a longer jail term than the white defendant in crimes that were considered blue-collar crimes such as the burglary that was present in the study. In the case of the embezzlement the white defendant was sentenced to a longer jail term than the black defendant. This study conclude that people are more likely to be sentenced more harshly for crimes that people can associate them with on the bases of things like demographics and socio-economic status . There are many other studies that have looked the things that influence a jurors opinion of a defendant. One study â€Å"The Influence of the Character of the Criminal and His Victim on the Decisions of Simulated Jurors† carried out by Landy Aronson looked at the character of the criminal and defendant and how it influences jurors decisions. They conducted two version of the experiment and compared results. In both the first and second version of the experiment the victim was report to half the participants as unattractive and to the other half as attractive. For the second version the character of the defendant also varied in character some attractive, unattractive, and neutral. Jurors are more likely to look at a defendant more negatively when they see the victim as attractive and less likely to view the defendant negatively when the victim is unattractive (Landy, Aronson, 1969). Method Participants Participants were 60 University students. Participants were approached randomly and asked to volunteer in this study. The Participants ranged in age approximately 18-24 years old and were University students from around the country. Materials Each Participant was given a short jury simulation scenario (See Figure 1). There were two independent variables that made up four different scenarios. The opening paragraph informed participants that the questionnaires were anonymous and that they may take as much time as they need to come to a decision. It also informed participants to give to give their personal judgment not bias of what others may think and sentence defendant without parole to a certain number of years in prison. The last paragraph restated what the opening paragraph had stated. All four scenarios were similar in location of incident, action leading up to incident, details of how accident occurred, and the fatal outcome resulting in the victims death. The scenarios were all male drivers driving down a street at night distracted that hit and killed a pedestrian crossing the street that was not using a crosswalk. The two variables that were changed were the defendants race (White Caucasian, Latino) and victims sta tus (Business, Homeless) man. Design There were four groups of 15 participants assigned randomly based on their researcher. Each group was given separate scenarios to read and make a decision on. Procedure There were three researchers who approached participants in the field. One researcher administered two scenarios while the other two researchers administered one scenario each. University students were approached at random by the researchers and asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. For example some participants were asked before the start of a lecture to complete one of the researchers scenarios from the scenarios of anonymous questionnaires. Participants were instructed to read through the scenario and make a personal judgment of the numbers of years in prison the defendant should be sentenced to. Once the participant was done writing down their sentence on the questionnaire they placed it in a large manila envelope to protect their anonymity and privacy. Results A 2-way 22 analysis of variance was run to decide if the sentence length was influenced by socio-economic status or by race. There was a main effect present for the victims socio-economic status. The prison sentence given to the defendant when the victim was a Business man (M= 8.73, SE=.69) was significantly longer than when the victim was a homeless man (M= 6.67, SE=.69) (F (1, 56) = 4.45, p .05) (See Figure 2). In looking at figure 2 we can see the lines are nearly parallel which would be a visually indicator that there not significant interaction. Discussion There were significant main effects for both variables (Race and Status). When the defendants race was Latino their sentence was significantly longer than when the defendants race was White. As for status the defendants sentence was significantly longer when the victim was a business man than when the victim was a homeless man. There was no significant interaction between race and status. Support for the two hypotheses can be explained by the results of previous research on jury simulation presented in this report. In this study it was predicted that there would be a main effect for each of the variables and a significant interaction between these variables. Although there was not a significant interaction in this study unlike some similar studies which resulted in significant interactions, there was a main effect for each variable. No two studies will ever be the same making it hard to undoubtedly predict the results and interactions. The variable of race showed that Latino men were sentenced to more years in prison than a white man. For the variable of status defendants were sentenced to more years in prison when the victim was a business man than when the victim was a homeless man. In this study race was the more significant variable. A black defendant was seen perceived as more likely to repeat a crime than a white defendant (Gordon, Bindrim, McNicholas, Walden, 1988). Thus to say the race of the defendant had a greater influence on the jurors to sentence more harshly than the influence of the victims social-economic status. There were a couple of limitations in this study. The first limitation is the external validity due to the population size and selection. With the sample size (N =60) University students it is hard to generalize the findings to all possible American jurors. This sample size would need to be bigger and cover a wider age group across America. In future research we could collaborate with Universities across the nation to conduct the study on a much lager scale. With this collaboration a much larger sample size that would be spread out across the Nation could create a more generalized picture of the bias that goes into jurors decisions. Also we could use a neutral study with a similar sample size to compare to the study. The neutral study would the same incident but it would be a person driving killed another person and there would be not race, status, or any other demographics. Another suggestion for future studies would be to obtain certain demographics from the participants (age, rac e, religion, political party, etc.). I would ask all participants two question regarding their experience with the US justice system. The first question would be if they have ever been convicted of a crime and if so have they ever served time in prison. Those two questions are important as they might play into the participants decision when evaluating their opinions of the defendant and feelings toward the US justice system. With all this said the more demographics and questions we ask the better we can understand the specific bias that play into jurors decisions when making a judgment on a victim. References Gleason, J., Harris, V. (1975). Race, socio-economic status, and perceived similarity as determinants of judgments by simulated jurors. Social Behavior and Personality, 3(2), 175-180. Gordon, R., Bindrim, T., McNicholas, M., Walden, T. (1988). Perceptions of blue-collar and white-collar crime: The effect of defendant race on simulated juror decisions. The Journal of Social Psychology, 128(2), 191-197. Landy,D., Aronson, E. (1969). The Influence of the Character of the Criminal and His Victim on the Decisions of Simulated Jurors. Journal of Experimental SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 5, 141-152.

Ben-Hur Video Review Essay -- essays research papers

For many centuries, the Roman Empire dominated the known world. Several great emperors brought Rome from a small city in central Italy to the largest world power to date. It didn’t happen all at once, but was a sluggish process. Rome began her quest for power in the last centuries B.C. and continued well into the time of Jesus. Rome ruled with an iron fist and wouldn’t allow anyone to speak out against the empire. Their plan of conquest consisted of taking an area over by force and then acting friendly with the inhabitants of their newly acquired territories. The motion picture â€Å"Ben-Hur† tells of a Jewish family who is caught right in the middle of a similar situation with the empire during the days of Jesus. Judah Ben-Hur is the main character in the movie â€Å"Ben-Hur.† He grows up in a wealthy and politically influential family who had everything they could possibly want. While still a young child, Judah’s best friend, Messala, moved to Rome for education. As the years went by, Judah and Messala never forgot each other. But while in Rome, Messala grew to be a wicked man that would do anything or use anybody to gain social prominence. Ordered by the Emperor, Messala returned to his homeland to rule as a Tribune. Judah heard of Messala’s return and met him as soon as he arrived. While talking with each other, they decide to see who can throw a javelin more accurately. Both men hit the same target and Judah interpreted this as a sign that Messala still considered them equal. Pr... Ben-Hur Video Review Essay -- essays research papers For many centuries, the Roman Empire dominated the known world. Several great emperors brought Rome from a small city in central Italy to the largest world power to date. It didn’t happen all at once, but was a sluggish process. Rome began her quest for power in the last centuries B.C. and continued well into the time of Jesus. Rome ruled with an iron fist and wouldn’t allow anyone to speak out against the empire. Their plan of conquest consisted of taking an area over by force and then acting friendly with the inhabitants of their newly acquired territories. The motion picture â€Å"Ben-Hur† tells of a Jewish family who is caught right in the middle of a similar situation with the empire during the days of Jesus. Judah Ben-Hur is the main character in the movie â€Å"Ben-Hur.† He grows up in a wealthy and politically influential family who had everything they could possibly want. While still a young child, Judah’s best friend, Messala, moved to Rome for education. As the years went by, Judah and Messala never forgot each other. But while in Rome, Messala grew to be a wicked man that would do anything or use anybody to gain social prominence. Ordered by the Emperor, Messala returned to his homeland to rule as a Tribune. Judah heard of Messala’s return and met him as soon as he arrived. While talking with each other, they decide to see who can throw a javelin more accurately. Both men hit the same target and Judah interpreted this as a sign that Messala still considered them equal. Pr...

Economic Roles of a Business Essay

A business is an organisation that attempts to satisfy the needs and wants of a community by providing goods and services, however, a business does not exist only to serve the community, it also exists to maximise the financial investments of their owners. This is done through the social and economical role of a business. Economic roles are concerned with the financial impacts that the activities of a business have on various groups in the business environment. The economic roles are wealth creation, employment and innovation. Social roles are focused on the impacts of a business on the community. Social Roles are entrepreneurship, choice and quality of life. Economic roles are important for a business as they can increase the value and funds via wealth creation, employment and innovation. Wealth creation is done by increasing sales and developing strategies to promote brand awareness and sales. This will increase the value of the funds that owners have invested in the business. Businesses also generate increased wealth for the community. The profits generated are then taxed by the government in order to fund essential services such as improving educational, health and transport facilities. Employment is where the owners of a business will employ other people to perform various activities within the business. The goods and services that businesses provide to the community are formed using knowledge, skills and effort of human resources, because of this, employment is an important function in business. The third economic role, innovation can be defined as the process of improving the features of a product. It could also apply to the production process where improved methods of production are implemented. The new methods may make use of fewer resources and result in increased output, which would benefit the business in many ways. In the business environment, innovation is crucial for a business to maintain its competitive advantage over other businesses. The social roles of a business impact communities by improving their quality of life, choice in products and providing entrepreneurship. The quality of life of a community is improved through the variety of products and services provided by businesses. Organisations spend millions of dollars each year in business research and development to find ways to improve the quality of life. Many of the products that businesses provide are wants and not needs; they are often aimed at providing greater convenience for those with a busy lifestyle. An example of this is pre-prepared meals. Through the production of these products, the financial investments of the owner of the business are maximised. Most businesses operate in a competitive market; this means there is a large number of competitors offering similar goods and services. This provides a range of choice for the consumers. This choice encourages businesses to provide their products and services at the lowest possible prices, with the highest quality. Choice also encourages a business to be innovative and different from their competitors so that their product will be the one chosen by the consumer and profits can be made. An entrepreneur is an individual who has developed particular ideas and is willing to take a risk to execute these ideas through a business. They take risks by thinking up strategies for their ideas to be successful; this is why they pursue different goals as part of the operation of business. Through business entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to make their ideas a reality. The economic and social roles of a business, wealth creation, employment, innovation, quality of life, choice and entrepreneurship, are important to maximise the financial investments of the owners, without them, a business would not thrive or gain profits.

Memories essays

Memories essays Rising at the crack of dawn I raced down the stairs into the kitchen to find my grandmother cooking donuts! That remains one of my fondest memories of the many summers spent at grandmothers. The smell of the freshly cooked sugar or glazed donuts was enough to drive anyone out of their deep sleep. The recently made eggs and bacon, along with fresh squeezed orange juice, gave us the needed energy to go out and start our daily routine of chores. As I remained the youngest of the many of my cousins at the farm that summer, my tasks included feeding the cats, helping with dishes, and pretty much trying to stay out of as much trouble as I possibly could. My grandmother taught me many valuable lessons those summers about life, including humanity, laughter, strength, and most importantly the importance of family. Looking back at the all too short of a time I got to spend with my grandmother, she taught me some of the most valuable morals that I carry with me still today. One of the toughest lessons that I had to deal with was the death of some of my most loved animals. When lambing season came around, there were some very difficult decisions that had to be made. Sometimes, throughout the process of lambing, things go wrong. I remember losing my favorite ewe Breeze to a breach birth during lambing season. Through her death we did come out with two beautiful lambs; which we named after her in her memory. Decisions were tough but they had to be made in order to save the life of either the ewe or the lamb. At the time they were not decisions that I believed were acceptable. Now looking back, they are decisions I would never want to make. Dont get me wrong, I cope with death fine when it comes to animals that are raised for meat, such as cattle or chicken. In fact, one of my favorite meals is chicken. My grandma raised chickens and butchered them herself whenever a dish called for the delectable birds. I remember...

PG, McDonalds and KFC Companies in the Saudi Arabian Market

PG, McDonalds and KFC Companies in the Saudi Arabian Market Management differs from one organization to another due to the differences in size and income. Multinationals, SMEs, and global organizations have different styles of management since they deal with different cultures, employees, and clients in various areas of investment.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on PG, McDonalds and KFC Companies in the Saudi Arabian Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the global and multinational level, an organization has to adjust to international management standards in order to be successful in business. Organizations like McDonalds, KFC, and PG operate at global and multinational levels and this forces them to promote international human resource and ethics management (Shankar 12). The purpose of this discussion is to analyze the position of PG, McDonalds, and KFC in the Saudi Arabian market. PG’s Foreign Investment in Saudi Arabia PG is a multinational organization wit h branches in most parts of the world. Initially, it avoided Saudi Arabia due to the stringent business rules that the government had set on people. After opening up the market to the rest of the world, many organizations, including PG, showed interest in Saudi Arabia. PG chose Saudi Arabia since the country is a key business hub for the Middle East. Many people associate with Saudi Arabia when conducting oil deals, and they would probably take interest in other industries like PG operating in the country. Secondly, PG considered the availability of raw materials for its products.Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Saudi Arabia has affordable materials extracted from crude oil to make candles, soap, and other products that PG manufactures. Besides availability of affordable labor, ready buyers, and raw materials, PG opted for Saudi Arabia due to the availability of distributors of its products. Abudawood Trading Company Limited is a distributor of PG products and the company formed a joint venture with Proctor and Gamble to increase awareness of PG products in Saudi Arabia (Buckman 24). Finally, Saudi Arabia promotes growth of many organizations in terms of publicity and income generation owing to its huge population. Pepsis Improvement in Saudi Arabia After entering the Saudi Arabian market, Pepsi identified various strategies of survival in the market that the government initially closed to foreign investors. After a conclusive SWOT and PESTEL analysis, Pepsi developed workable measures of remaining relevant in the competitive economy. Pepsi invests in quality marketing, branding, and packaging since its greatest rival Coca-Cola equally provides similar services. In order to be unique, the company introduced Pepsi diet, which has fiber that helps in reducing weight gain, and improving health. Health consciousness is a major concern in Sau di Arabia, which the Muslim religion strongly supports. In Saudi Arabia, Islam deters residents from consuming alcohol or pork, as they consider such foods as unhealthy. The same applies to high calorie content foods and soft drinks that contain high levels of sugar, preservatives, and carbon.Advertising We will write a custom coursework sample on PG, McDonalds and KFC Companies in the Saudi Arabian Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pepsi realized such concerns and developed Pepsi diet to increase consumer consciousness about health while enjoying soft drinks. In its adverts, Pepsi uses Saudi locals and celebrities in order to increase consumer association with the products that it manufactures in the country (Cho and Moon 41). Recommendations for KFC in Beating Competitors KFC needs to learn the things that are unique to Saudi Arabians that other countries do not consider in order to provide better services as consumers expect . For instance, KFC should not ignore religion, dressing, language, and etiquette, as they are vital to Saudi residents. KFC has strengths over competitors like Albaik since it has many branches across the world. Albaik has no branches outside Jeddah, which reduces its chances of gaining publicity over KFC. Another strength that KFC needs to capitalize on is the fact that Albaik does not respond to concerns raised over fast foods. KFC equally sells processed fast food, but it serves portions of salads, non-alcoholic wines, fresh juices, and low calorie foods. Albaik does not recognize the significance of changing the styles of manufacturing foods owing to transforming consumer demands. This gives KFC an advantage over rivals in the Saudi Arabian market, which the company needs to recognize. KFC needs to employ many Saudi residents instead of importing workers from the US. Corporate social responsibility is about providing employment opportunities, tax payment, and ability to care fo r the social and geographic environments (Sims 32).Advertising Looking for coursework on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This will definitely make KFC trustworthy to prospective consumers and will enable it gain competitive advantage over competitors. McDonald Company A multinational company operates in more than one country in terms of establishing different branches across the world. A global company has a single headquarter, but uses technology to respond to consumer needs. In essence, McDonald is a global multinational company headquartered in the US, but with many branches across the world. It has over 34,000 outlets operating in different countries in the world. Moreover, it has franchises in the US and communicates to other clients through social media, its website, and online marketing tactics. This makes it a global company that uses technology to interact with consumers from different parts of the world. McDonald has branches in the US, the UK, parts of Africa, Asia, and Middle East (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 84). Physical investment and the ability to learn new cultures by paying for licens es in countries of investment make it a multinational corporation. Companies combine both global and multinational techniques in order to acquire the highest number of consumers willing to purchase products from the company. Being a multinational company is more costly as opposed to being a global company per se (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 82). A global company spends limited resources in marketing, tax payment, and shipping. On the other hand, it becomes difficult to develop trustworthy relationships with the target population. Companies and Internationalization Internationalization links SMEs to multinationals making it easy to share information, resources, or even form mergers. PG entered the Saudi Arabian market in 1955, and this expanded its international connections. It merged with Abudawood Trading Company Limited, which expanded its market share in the country. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is an example of an organization that benefits from internationalization. It established a strong presence in the Gulf region and Asia even though the corporation does not deal in oil. Saudi Arabian Aramco is another example of an organization that strives to attain international recognition (Shankar 42). These organizations realized that cultural barriers deter effective trade between Saudi Arabia and the international countries. Such corporations deal with foreign countries in Europe and America differently since cultural appreciation is an important element of business management. FDI vs. Portfolio Management Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) refers to the possibility of an enterprise to own 10%+1 of an overseas business investment. On the other hand, portfolio management refers to a company’s investment in its own business. For instance, when PG trades with Abudawood Trading Company Limited, it has investments in a foreign company, Saudi Arabia. FDI Advantages Companies easily develop mutually beneficial relationships with other countries throug h FDI. This enables them to brand position their commodities in the country given that the other company that understands the prevailing market conditions can always market their commodities of the foreign company. Increase in international relations promotes sales, which increases profits for an organization (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 61). FDI makes it easy for a foreign organization to understand the political, social, and political environments of the target market before opting to invest in the country completely. Corporations get competitive advantage over rivals that operate independently. FDI is important for the local and foreign companies involved in the agreement. FDI Disadvantages FDI involves interactions between different organizational cultures, which might cause conflicts between the involved organizations. The corporation that owns over 10% of the foreign company’s assets may dominate the group while adding no value to the union. FDI is about risk taking in co mparison to portfolio management that many organizations from advanced countries use. Under portfolio management, people who understand the organizational culture including financial organizations and the government play a role in ensuring that the invested money is safe. Finally, through FDI, it can be difficult to transform some assets into cash when emergencies occur. PG’s FDI in Saudi Arabia Proctor and Gamble realized that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a responsibility and an opportunity at the same time. In essence, while taking an advantage of the investment opportunity, it needed to exercises various precautions. First, PG assessed the environment of investment, which included Saudi Arabian political, social, technological, and economic position. This enabled the company to understand that the negative environmental factors were fewer as opposed to the positive elements. Notably, the study gave PG good reasons to seek a distributor (Shankar 33). Secondly, PG made an individual entry into the new market and assessed all other organizations, but settled on Abudawood Trading Company Limited. This follows its ability to trust the other company after assessing their performance in the market since inception. Additionally, PG officials met with Abudawood Trading Company Limited officials for negotiations. PG trusted Abudawood Trading Company Limited after working with it as a distributor for a long time. During negotiations, PG considered the importance of signing agreements that favor both firms. The greatest element of consideration for PG was sustainability in Saudi Arabia and the possibility of increasing the consumer base. PG considered a growth opportunity in Saudi Arabia, and since Abudawood Trading Company Limited understood clearly the market conditions, it definitely provided the best guidance to PG. Finally, PG looked at diversity, availability of affordable raw materials, availability of human resources, and costs of production (Dunni ng 18). Egypt’s Economic System Closed economic systems normally prevent foreign investors from establishing corporations in their countries. Egypt is the exact difference of a closed system since investors can easily establish brands in Egypt, but the challenge is that nobody cares about investment activities. Political instability and poor trade policies make it difficult to trust Egypt, especially when dealing with FDI cases. Egypt has a laissez faire system in which nobody really controls the economy (Kaplan 74). Studies indicated that it has the unrestricted system in which many government bureaucrats use taxes for personal gain. Many middle class residents pay taxes, but few rich people benefit from such efforts. Egyptians need thorough knowledge on financial management so that they can take control of the economy instead of leaving it to a few bureaucrats. Uncontrolled markets have significant impacts on Egyptians including increase in unemployment rates, increase in t axation, inflation, and increase in national debts. Egypt’s Benefits by Gaining Admission to GCC Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) consists of oil producing countries that invest within the Gulf area, Europe, and Asia. GCC provides rules that govern member states in order to establish high discipline levels. GCC ensures that the involved countries ensure that conflicts within a country do not interfere with trade. This helps in stabilizing the economy even in moments of conflict or inflation. Egypt needs to join GCC in order to acquire the status of other states like Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. GCC sets clear standards concerning management of oil reservoirs and companies, and this reduces confusions over ownership of various oil fields. Hazem al-Beblawi, Egypt’s deputy prime minister, displayed interest in the proposal that seeks to incorporate Egypt in GCC. He understands that Egypt needs to interact with countries that will support it with financial information. Suc h levels of empowerment will help the country reduce its budget deficit and promote self-employment in order to reduce the unemployment gap (Kaplan 74). Risks of FDI in Egypt As mentioned earlier, FDI is a risk measure, but a corporation needs to assess the political and socio-economic environments. The past political unrests in Egypt made the country economically unstable. Government bureaucracy and budget deficit in Egypt make companies unstable and a merger with such companies poses a threat to foreign corporations. Companies that apply portfolio management may succeed in their operation. For instance, when inflation occurs, a company can sell its assets quickly and recover the funds (Dunning 47). An unstable economy like Egypt keeps changing and FDI becomes risky since it would be impossible to recover invested funds in another corporation that might be experiencing losses (Kaplan 19). FDI is only possible in closed and capitalist markets that have certain levels of control. The Egyptian economy lacks proper management, thus posing security risks for investment-oriented institutions. Buckman, Greg. Globalization tame it or scrap it?. Dhaka [Bangladesh: University Press ;, 2004. Print. Cho, Tong, and Hwy Moon. From Adam Smith to Michael Porter evolution of competitiveness theory. Singapore: World Scientific Pub., 2001. Print. Dunning, John H.. Multinational enterprises and the global economy. Wokingham, England: Addison-Wesley, 19921993. Print. Kaplan, Leslie C.. Economy and industry in ancient Egypt. New York: PowerKids Press, 2004. Print. Pride, William M., Robert James Hughes, and Jack R. Kapoor. Business. Sixth ed. Mason: South-Western Cengage, 2012. Print. Shankar, Venkatesh. Handbook of marketing strategy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Pub., 2012. Print. Sims, Ronald R.. Ethics and corporate social responsibility why giants fall. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003. Print.

Perspectives on Special Education Needs and Disabilities Essay

Perspectives on Special Education Needs and Disabilities - Essay Example ith students with learning disabilities has also indicated that a recognition of and capitalization on their specific strengths of mind fosters their development, whereas a focus on their specific weaknesses compromises their development. This would be a good guiding principle when dealing with children with all kinds of disabilities. In doing so, their self-esteem is built up and they are empowered to push themselves towards their optimal potentials. Studies such as Levine’s among others have encouraged the provision of education of children with disabilities in order to optimize their potentials. The Salamanca Statement has been influential in that all children have the right to receive an education regardless of their culture and social background (UNESCO, 2005). Concern for children with disabilities has already spread in the UK from the 1970’s thanks to some advocates such as Mary Warnock who raised the issues on helping children with SEN. The Warnock Report in the year 1978 was developed to appraise the provision for children with psychological as well as physical disabilities. The report had sponsored various ranges of abilities, from low-functioning to high functioning, of special needs for children. The report laid the foundations for the issuance of statements of special education need in the UK. Warnock’s committee found that 20% of children in schools have SEN but 2% of this group may need more elaborate services that are not offered by the mainstream school system. Hence, they need to be diagnosed, issued a statement that they are entitled to special needs provision (Douglas Silas Solicitors, 2010). The Warnock Report paved the way for the â€Å"Education Act† which was imposed in the year 1983. This act presented different methods to the description... This paper stresses that in terms of gaining academic skills, one intervention is class-wide peer tutoring. Students are paired, provided the curriculum materials and take turns tutoring each other. To further reinforce the effectiveness of peer tutoring, points may be earned for correct answers, successful error correction and correct procedures. Another strategy is instructional modification wherein the student’s tasks are modified into shorter ones so he can easily complete them because they are more manageable and not overwhelming for his challenged attention span. Finally, computer-assisted instruction, a popular intervention among students today, makes use of computer-based software programs designed to supplement the teacher’s instruction while providing additional academic material. All these interventions have been found to decrease inattentiveness of students with ADHD as well as help them complete their tasks with more accuracy. It has also been found to decr ease hyperactivity, disruptive behavior and increase their compliance to directions. This report makes a conclusion that children with special education needs and disabilities are fortunate to live in an age where their conditions are better understood so there is more likelihood that they will be helped. It is heartening that people from various disciplines as well as the government are concerned enough to reach out to children like them so he can still maximize his potentials, no matter how limited they may be.

Mechanism and the Rationality of Human Behaviour and Mind Essay

Mechanism and the Rationality of Human Behaviour and Mind - Essay Example In B. Jack Copeland’s paper entitled, Narrow versus Wide Mechanism: Including a Re-examination of Turing’s Views on the Mind-Machine Issue (Copeland, 2000), he examines the previous work by Alan Turing on the similarities between his Turing Machine and its similarities to the human brain. Also, the misinterpretations of Turing’s ideas by other theorists were presented in the paper, as well as other theories that either support or debunk them. On the other hand, the rationality of human behaviour in terms of choices and the products of such in the eyes of economists, behavioural analysts and social scientists were presented by Herbert A. Simon in his paper entitled, Bounded Rationality in Social Science: Today and Tomorrow (Simon, 2000). Changes in the trends concerning human choices over several decades as the effect of evolving cultures and ideas was explained and mulled over by seeing human behaviour as the result of decisions, along with theories and models th at could possibly explain why recurrences are possible in places where people are expected to be thinking differently from one another. The first paper is Copeland’s views on the connection between the human mind and Alan Turing’s computing machines, as well as the views of narrow and wide mechanisms’ school of thought. ... can do numerous tasks at the same time, several connections were made: The theory of mechanism is that the human body is made up of several parts that function as a whole, and much like machines such as clocks, each part has the task of contributing to the movement of the body. However, the human body is capable of self-repair and movement afterwards, while machines such as clocks do not have such capacity (Copeland, 2000, p. 6). The human mind and body are governed by sets of rules that allow it to move accordingly to what is needed, and that the selection of actions is determined by the pre-selected options in the mind, which are in the forms of memories. Much like in computers, problems are solvable only by what functions and options are available in their stored memories (Copeland, 2000, p. 8). Narrow mechanism believes that the mind is a machine that can be strictly simulated by a Turing machine, however, wide mechanism states that there is a strong possibility that although the human mind is indeed a machine, it cannot be imitated by a Turing machine thoroughly, thus dynamic and cognitive behavioural systems of the human mind cannot be calculated by the universal Turing machine (Copeland, 2000, p. 10). The creation of the computer was to make a machine capable of doing the computing work of hundreds to thousands of humans at the same time, proving the notion that similar to humans following a specific set of guidelines, logical computing machines when programmed with the appropriate procedures to do can also do anything that is within the set of instructions, making the process mechanical in nature (Copeland, 2000, pp. 13-14). However, several theorists proposed ideas that not all machines can be programmed to compute everything, and a time may come that some