Market Equilibrating Process Paper free essay sample

Market Equilibrating Process Paper Market equilibrium is the point in which industry offers goods at the price consumers will consume without creating a shortage or a surplus of goods. Shortages drive up the cost of goods while surpluses drive the cost of goods down, finding the balance in the process is market equilibrium. A good example of a market equilibrium commodity would be the price of gasoline. Currently a barrel of oil is around $81. 00USD. This has resulted in an increase in the price of a gallon by about $1. 0 from one year ago to an average of about $3. 00 per gallon of gasoline. While driving habits have not started to change, people are taking notice and may be looking to make changes should priced continue to rise. The sector of the market that is taking notice and making a changes is those homes that use oil for heating. The recent cold snap in the mid-west and east has increased the need and usage of oil. We will write a custom essay sample on Market Equilibrating Process Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The $1. 00 increase in price per gallon of gas from a year ago is resulting in a larger percentage of increase in home heating. Consumers are starting to make changes in their live style in order to achieve a personal equilibrium in their budget. The dollar increase may not seem like much but the bottom line result is in increase of about 3% 5% in homes heating costs. The reasons sighted for the increase in oil is increased consumption by China, colder than normal temperature is Europe and shortages in Europe due to their unseasonable amount of snow fall in the large cities. Market Equilibrating Process Paper free essay sample Running head: MARKET EQUILIBRATING PROCESS paper Market Equilibrating Process Paper Sonia Reyna University of Phoenix Daniel Rowe ECO/561 June 1, 2010 Abstract Today’s society must study social mechanisms, political realities, and social customs to coordinate its wants, needs, and desires. Mexico has one of the most unstable economies. The government in Mexico announced the price increase of corn tortillas. The price of the product went up 14% last year. In supply demand, prices are affected by the demand of the resources and the ability to meet the demand. If there is a high demand for resources and the demand is not met, prices can reach records high. This paper will talk about the supply and demand and how it has affected prices increase for corn products. Market Equilibrating Process Paper Today’s society coordinates its wants, needs, and desires in many ways and to do this it must study social mechanisms, political realities, and social customs. We will write a custom essay sample on Market Equilibrating Process Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Economics is the social science that examines how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal choices under conditions of scarcity, (McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 2009). Market Equilibrating Process Related to Corn Shortage Scarcity is when the goods available are too few to satisfy the desires of individuals (Colander, 2004). Simultaneous changes in supply and demand affect equilibrium price and quantity in various ways, depending on the relative magnitudes of the changes in supply and demand, (Colander, 2004). A decrease in the supply of a product increases its equilibrium price and reduces its equilibrium quantity. In contrast, an increase in the demand for a product boosts its equilibrium price and its equilibrium quantity, (McConnell, Brue, Flynn, 2009). This affects economies around the globe. Mexico has one of the most unstable economies. During the first week of April, the government in Mexico announced the price increase of corn tortillas. The price of the product had already gone up 14% last year. The increase outpaced inflation and minimum wage increases to its citizens by four percent (Gilot, 2007). Retailers in Mexico will be forced to keep prices at eight and a half pesos per kilo, which is about . 78 cents. Supply, Demand, and Price As the demand of corn supply has increased, this caused the price of the resource to go up. In supply demand, prices will always be affected by the demand of the resources and the ability to meet the demand. If there is a high demand for resources and the demand is not met, prices can reach records high, (Colander, 2004). In the case of the corn tortillas, the departments in charge of increasing prices know the tortilla is an item mostly always consumed by all Mexicans. They know that even though the price increases, citizens will be forced to buy corn products. Conclusion Today’s society must study social mechanisms, political realities, and social customs to coordinate its wants, needs, and desires. Mexico has one of the most unstable economies. During the first week of April, the government in Mexico announced the price increase of corn tortillas. This year’s increase came to surpass inflation and minimum wage increase. In supply demand, prices are affected by the demand of the resources and the ability to meet the demand. If there is a high demand for resources and the demand is not met, prices can reach records high. References Colander, David C. (2004). Economics. 5E. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. [University of phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Retrieved May 27, 2010, from University of Phoenix, Student Resources Web site: https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/resource/resource. asp. Gilot, L. (2010, April). El Paso Times, pp. 1. McConnell, Campell, Brue, Stanley, and Flynn, Sean. (2009). Economics. Principles, Problems, and Policies, 18 E. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. [University of phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Retrieved May 27, 2010, from University of Phoenix, Student Resources Web site:

Free Essays on Stalking

Stalking doesn’t stop alone Many people know the characteristics of a stalker, but a lot of people don’t know how to deal with a stalker. Some of the solutions for a stalking situation not to become fatal are to know the facts about stalking; they can be helpful. You should also know the profile of a stalker. The last thing you need to do is take proper precautions when dealing with a stalker. Every year 1.4 Americans are stalked. Eight percent of women and two percent of men have been stalked at some point in their lives. Most of the cases lasted less then one year, but some of them continued beyond five years. For female victims, twenty-one percent of stalkers were strangers. Eighty-seven percent of the stalkers are males. The victims range between the ages of 18 and 29. 45% of the victims were threatened. 75% percent of the victims were followed. Only half of stalking victims file police reports. And 25% percent of the victims obtained restraining orders, but the stalker violated 80% percent of these. Only 24% of female victims prosecute and only 54% of the stalkers are convicted. All of the facts used were from the victim advocacy center website. The profile of a stalker is very important to know in case you’re ever in a stalking situation. Sometimes the stalker is a prior intimate partner; yet often they only desire a relationship with the victim who was an acquaintance, co-worker etc. The stalker often fantasizes about their victims. The fantasies can be love oriented or angry and vengeful. Many stalkers have failed relationships and have difficulty communicating directly with people. They fear rejection. Many stalkers are very intelligent and have no trouble of staying away from the law. Most stalkers are motivated by a belief that their victim is the only one they will ever â€Å"love,† or desire of revenge for someone that has wronged them. Being stalked is not the victim’s fault, but the... Free Essays on Stalking Free Essays on Stalking Stalking doesn’t stop alone Many people know the characteristics of a stalker, but a lot of people don’t know how to deal with a stalker. Some of the solutions for a stalking situation not to become fatal are to know the facts about stalking; they can be helpful. You should also know the profile of a stalker. The last thing you need to do is take proper precautions when dealing with a stalker. Every year 1.4 Americans are stalked. Eight percent of women and two percent of men have been stalked at some point in their lives. Most of the cases lasted less then one year, but some of them continued beyond five years. For female victims, twenty-one percent of stalkers were strangers. Eighty-seven percent of the stalkers are males. The victims range between the ages of 18 and 29. 45% of the victims were threatened. 75% percent of the victims were followed. Only half of stalking victims file police reports. And 25% percent of the victims obtained restraining orders, but the stalker violated 80% percent of these. Only 24% of female victims prosecute and only 54% of the stalkers are convicted. All of the facts used were from the victim advocacy center website. The profile of a stalker is very important to know in case you’re ever in a stalking situation. Sometimes the stalker is a prior intimate partner; yet often they only desire a relationship with the victim who was an acquaintance, co-worker etc. The stalker often fantasizes about their victims. The fantasies can be love oriented or angry and vengeful. Many stalkers have failed relationships and have difficulty communicating directly with people. They fear rejection. Many stalkers are very intelligent and have no trouble of staying away from the law. Most stalkers are motivated by a belief that their victim is the only one they will ever â€Å"love,† or desire of revenge for someone that has wronged them. Being stalked is not the victim’s fault, but the...

A Discussion of the Marketing Concept and the Implementation of those Essay

A Discussion of the Marketing Concept and the Implementation of those Concepts - Essay Example Music in the Macro-Environment 8 3.1 Evolving forms of Listening 8 4. Final Thoughts 11 4.1 Bagozzi’s Ideas on Transactional Exchange 11 4.2 Conclusion 13 References 14 Marketing and the macro-environment: A discussion of the marketing concept and the implementation of those concepts. 1. Introduction The development of a macro-environment has meant that the field of marketing has had to expand its methods and beliefs as the meanings of consumerism have shifted to a global field of engagement. While a global state of business means that there are more opportunities, it also means that the competition is increased through innovation and local brands that may have an advantage over an international company originating out of foreign lands. Through using concepts and ideas that directly engage the issues that arise when entering into a new market, marketing becomes defined by those issues and the ways they lend towards engaging the consumer in a variety of environments. Marketing involves a series of elements that introduce the consumer to needs in relationship to social expectations. In addition, marketing is involved in the selling of not only tangible ideas, but intangible concepts such as political ideologies, universities, communities, and performers. Exchange becomes defined by the various environments that are involved in marketing. The actors within an exchange are involved in a wider variety of interests within the environments where the macro-environment is concerned. In addition the relationships between the actors is far more complex as barriers between people, in relationship to law, and in relationship to differences in traditions must be navigated in order to appropriately navigate the stream from sales to customer. As the macro-environment influences changes in marketing, it is essential to discuss Bragozzi’s interpretation of exchange. Exchange is defined by Bragozzi using generalities that have relevance, but require some expansion a s popular culture has increased; the consumerist attitude has enveloped society, and as the macro-environment has required a more extensive explanation of exchange. 2. Key Developments and Marketing Responses 2.1 Marketing Marketing is the creation of activities that facilitate the exchange in a consumer context. The idea of exchange is developed through the equality that is created through assigning value and giving one thing of a specific value in exchange for something that represents the same value. The most common example is the exchange of money for goods and services, the goods and services being assigned a specific value that is reflected in a monetary figure. Actual value and social value are often two different ideas. As discussed by Bragozzi, often one part of the exchange or both parts will have negative impact, thus creating an inequality in the exchange. Marketing is the creation of what might be termed as an environment around a product. The environment around a produ ct has its own identity, a culture and belief system through which the product is presented to the consumer. Marketing invites the consumer, through exchange, to become a part of that culture through ownership. 2.2 Key Concepts in Marketing One of the key ideas that are central to marketing is that designing for a product or of a product is central to creating the need that promotes purchase. Creativity is the cornerstone of design, where visuals and text must be in concern with one another in order to have impact. In addition, the culture that is created around the product is a core of how the design must convey the message. Design is developed through a series of elements that come together to convey the most powerful message possible. Within that message is an attempt to convince the

See details for specifications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

See details for specifications - Essay Example On the same note of laws, ethical issues, and nursing practice and decision making, this essay aims at comparing three articles within which these issues are addressed especially how legal and ethical factors usually affect clinical nursing practices and the consideration that nurses must consider in making decision within their practice. Article 1: Confidentiality, Secrecy, and Privacy in Ethics Consultation Gerald Neitzke (2007) conducted a research on Confidentiality, secrecy, and privacy in ethics consultation. According to Neitzke, confidentiality is likely to pose problems especially to counselors and he noted that these challenges are can be in two different ways including the uncertainty on the actual extent of the optimum practice and the problem in implementing the ethical practice within a nursing practice. Nonetheless, Neitzke noted in his article that the British association for the counseling had once published some codes of ethics to help counselors to resolve the dile mma. Additionally, Neitzke acknowledged that these counselors are sometimes challenged with the law as they undertake their duties (Neitzke, 2007). It should be noted that law and ethical values can only be breached in this situation if the client or patient feels that their confidentially have been interfered with without their consent. Therefore, Neitzke noted that if such dilemmas have to be minimized or eradicated, it is then vital for the medical practitioners in this case the counselors to seek permission to breach the confidentiality of their patients. Neitzke discussed three ways through which breaking of confidentiality is permissible and they include the counselor seeking the consent of the patient or client to break their confidentiality. Additionally, the counselor can break the confidentiality of the patient if such information regarded confidential are already in the public domain. Finally, a nurse which in this case if a counselor, may be at liberty to break person co nfidentiality if the public interest in the protection of such information outweighs personal interest in the disclosure or use of such information. It should be noted that if counselors are obliged legally to break personal confidentiality, they will be protected the law for such break (Neitzke, 2007). In the cotemporary world, keeping confidential information about client is usually vital for counselor especially for maintaining perfect relationship with clients and or maintaining their practice. Therefore, these professionals must only breach the confidentiality law in situations demanded by law; otherwise, they will lose trust from their clients; thus, interfering with their business and practice. In some cases, they may be taken to court to answer to their unethical and unprofessional behaviors. Hence, despite the fact that the law may give the nurse or the counselor in Neitzke’s case the right or protection to provide some private information about their clients, they m ust only do so without exterior motives or in a manner to harm their clients (Neitzke, 2007). Regardless, of the window that confidentiality in nursing and counseling practice can be breached

Women offenders and prisioners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women offenders and prisioners - Essay Example The special guidelines for the treatment of female prisoners, namely the Bangkok Rules, have been adopted by the United Nations (UN) in the year 2010. Despite the fact that these rules have not been implemented in totality, they represent vast improvement for female prisoners in international law. The main motivator for this astounding development was Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand. This redoubtable champion of women’s issues was instrumental in ensuring that the efforts of the Thai delegation to the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was successful in its efforts (Barberet, 2014, p. 174). It has been acknowledged in these rules that female prisoners have drastically different requirements, in comparison to their male counterparts. To a major extent the Bangkok Rules are evidence based and acknowledge several of the findings of ‘Women Crime and Criminal Justice: A Global Enquiry’, by the eminent scholar Ms. Barberet. Moreover, the Bangkok Rules mirror several of the erstwhile reform efforts that had been undertaken on behalf of females in prison, across the world. For instance, these rules acknowledge the high incidence of victimization of female prisoners and their greater inclination to engage in self-harm and suicide; the lower risk of most female prisoners, but higher classification levels; the special status of female prisoners who are also mothers of children; the stigma encountered by female prisoners; the abuse of women for immoral crimes; and the specific needs of indigenous women prisoners (Barberet, 2014, p. 174). Furthermore, these rules recommend the provision of intimate articles for females, alternatives to invasive or strip searching, alternatives to incarceration for females, and research and data collection regarding the issues pertaining to imprisoned females. Moreover, these rules acknowledge that females, in some nations, are incarcerated, in order to safeguard them,

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva

The Women in Dracula Essay -- European Literature Bram Stoker Vampires

The Women of Dracula Throughout the book Dracula, the author, Bram Stoker, portrays many different aspects of women's roles in the 19th century. Since this novel was published many films have been created based on Stoker's story line. Nosferatu, a silent film, depicts the women of the story, other than Mina, as minimal characters. The movie Dracula, filmed in the 1930's, stays very true to the novel, with only minor changes to the characters and plot. All three of the works depict the same women differently, thus changing the complete literary artistic nature of each piece. Mina is the main female character in the novel Dracula. She is the typical Victorian woman--caring, compassionate and completely devoted toward their loved ones (To The Life of the Victorian Women). She is Jonathan Harker's fiancà ©e and later wife, and is faithful to him throughout the entire novel. When Jonathan first meets Dracula, he becomes very ill. Mina quickly runs to his aid. She becomes completely consumed in figuring out why her husband is so terribly sick. She is intensely devoted to him and does not give up until Jonathan is nursed back to good health. In the novel, after Dracula pursues and kills her best friend Lucy, she joins the team of men that are trying to put an end to him. Dracula starts pursuing Mina, and decides to make her his slave. When Dr. Seward saw Mina after her encounter with Dracula, he was very concerned, stating, "When Mrs. Harker came in to see me this afternoon she wasn't the same; it was like tea after the teapot had been watered" (Stoker 240). The search party decides to keep Mina out of the group, so Dracula cannot read her mind and figure out their plan. Mina, putting the search party before he... ... of women. However, in the silent film Nosferatu, the women have more miniscule roles. The movie Dracula shows most of the same aspects that Stoker uses in his novel portray the women characters. While all three of these texts have the same main characters, they show how even the smallest detail can change the entire perception of a character. Works Cited Dracula. Dir. Tod Browning. Perf. Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, and Dwight Frye. 1931.Videocassette. MCA Home Video, 1984. Nosferatu. Dir F.W. Murnau. Perf. Max Schreck andAlexander Granach. 1922. Videocassette. Crown Movie Classics, n.d. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 2003. "To The Life of the Victorian Woman." Life of Women. 10 Feb. 2006 http://www.victoriaspast.com/Lifeof VictorianWoman/LifeofVictorianWoman.html.

Lord of the Flies Narrative Poem Essay

I, the island, all alone in the sea, Have been invaded by humanity. A plane crashed while escaping war, And left several schoolboys upon my shore. In my jungle, a scar their tube did make, And simultaneously, my peace it did take. Two boys blew into a shell from my beach. All came to whom the sound did reach. They decided that they needed a chief, And Ralph was chosen, to Jack’s grief. The boys thought that survival would be fun, But were they ready to get the work done? Their happiness didn’t last and fears did rise. A snake-beast was spotted by a littlun’s eyes. They decided to build a signal fire upon my mountain head, But out of control, the fire did spread. Missing is the littlun who saw the beast, Yet the boys don’t seem to care that he’s likely deceased! Pig hunting became Jack’s obsession. The boys abandoned building huts in their transgression. Only Ralph and Simon remained to work, While in my bathing pool the rest did lurk. Simon is the only one who respects my beauty. Why is rescue not everyone’s top priority? The littluns are barely being taken care of, The older boys neglect to show them love. Jack and the boys hunted pigs and let the fire die. Ralph got angry, there was no signal as a ship passed by. The boys caught a pig so they chant and dance, But spirits were dampened at the loss of a rescue chance. The boys’ work ethics, Ralph did doubt: Defecating everywhere, poor shelter, fire gone out! Thanks to Jack, the beast continued to bring fear, The littluns claimed to have seen it near. The voices of Piggy and Simon are kept quiet, And Jack lead the others into a frantic riot. Upon my mountain a dead parachutists did land, The twins spotted it and ran down to the sand. They claimed to have spotted a beast on my hill, Now all the boys want to do is to find it and kill. They searched a cave but the creature was not there, In fact there was no beast anywhere! Ralph is losing control of the bestial boys, All this talk of beasts is just useless noise. The real evil is inside the human mind, But to this fact these boys appear to be blind. Due to these children, my land has been hewn, I hope that they leave me alone again soon.

Introducing myself Essays

Introducing myself Essays Introducing myself Essay Introducing myself Essay My name is Morris and I am from South Korea. I would like to introduce myself as well as my family about experiences that our family had gone through to you guys. As time goes back to sass, South Korea was not a wealthy country at all. Since I spent most of my childhood with my mother, I would like to introduce her first. I would say she was an all mighty women. She had multiple Jobs for me; sometimes she was a philosopher, teacher, or a doctor trying to teach me math and reading. I was kind of a weak boy when I was young often had a headache or democratic, and when she rubbed the certain part of my body it cured Just like a magic. There was a one great teaching that really reminds and motivates my life purpose. Live for the poor She Just kept telling me but could not understand until I reach the real meaning of that. So soon, me and my mother went to a market. There is a special form of a market in Korea that merchants do not have particular building to sell their stuff. There are lots of types of merchants who stock the small factory in their car and sell it on street or bring foods, vegetables, and clothes that they made room their factory. I still remember the special moment that I had in the market. My mother and I usually went there to buy foods or Just for fun and at some point she gave me 5 dollars to treat myself. So I was thinking really serious about what should I buy for it. It was not a small amount of money. But I saw a poor guy who did not have legs. He used his hands when he had to move with gloves on it. I became more serious. In my head, there were an angel and a devil who say that I should donate 5 dollars, or since I had a tired day, I need to treat myself. Suddenly, I felt a mysterious lining and tried to look at different angles that how would he feel like? How is he going to feed himself? WSDL money help him? I put my 5 dollars in the box. He bowed to me for appreciating it. He smiled and I felt the most happiness emotion I ever had in my life. Suddenly, I realized what mother always told me Live for the poor. After giving him the five dollar, I went to a deep thought; I wanted to become a donation for people who ever need help. That was a massive main lesson what I have learned from mother. It still motivates and inspires me every day. I would like to introduce about my big supporter, my father. At the time when he was a student, going to university was not a usual thing. Since my grandparents were farmers, they did not know the importance of education. No one would tell him about education, but my father decided to go to Korean Air Force Military Academic School and become a pilot. A few years later, he graduated from the school and had me and my brother. I was not proud of my father until I know the thing what was going on his mind. My dad always came home late in the night, drunken. What I saw when I was a little, he Just came to my bed at night and woke me up when I started to fall onto sleep and rubbed his sharp beard on my face. That was the only time being together with my father. I thought he was enjoying drinking alcohol with his elders, out It was not. It was all Decease AT ten promotion problem Ana Nils violin Tort me. IT he came home early and not having drinking and communication time with the elders, he would be terminated from the promotion examination list and he could have lost his Job at a moment. Later on, I figured out that he hated drinking alcohol (actually he abhors it) and always wanted to have playing time with me rather than formal communication with elders. He wanted for me to study abroad. That was why he could not stop it even though he did not like it. After all of that hardness, he was promoted to pretty high class and did not have to go to meetings for drink if he did not want to. Sometimes, I wondered why he would support my tuition even though he has to spend tons of money from what he earned monthly. If I were him, would I do that? I am not so sure but he commented about that for Just one word Love. . Now, I love my father and am proud of him so much. Finally, it is the time to introduce myself. I was born in 1992. Under love of my parents, grew up as a healthy boy. I was living like normal Korean students until when I turned into 16. My uncle was in the U. S ahead and he recommended to my mother that it would be a nice chance to me to study. So when I turned 16, my mother sat me down on the floor and started to talk about studying abroad in the U. S. A. I was surprised and happy about it because I have always wanted to go to the U. S. Since I was interested in business study, I wanted to learn from the high quality educators and it was becoming in reality. After my parents and I decided to go to the U. S, I got a call from a high school director that I am accepted. It was a really big moment of my life. My dream came true. So a few months later, I bought a ticket to the U. S. At that time, I was a timid person that I could not even say hi to a white guy who sat on my side in the plane. I was afraid of it because I did not know how to speak English at all. And soon, the fear of English messed up my freshman of high school year. My grade average was like D. I was frustrated about what I had for grades. Sometimes, I contemplated going back to Korea. Maybe I was thinking that if I went back to Korea, language would not be the problem. But I did not want to show y failure to my parents. I remembered what they did for me and at some point, my grades started going up. I was getting better as time goes by. I did not feel so afraid of English. So I think I ended up pretty nice grade when I graduated from the high school. But again, life got hard. Since I have citizenship of South Korea, it is mandatory duty to serve for 2 years in a Republic of Korea Army. Everyone would know that it is hard to acclimatize to a new environment. But once when you get used to it, it is not a big deal to figure out what you have to do. The army life was Just like that. In the first year of the army there were lots of North Koreans actions against South Korea and also due to my unit (Unit is large group of soldiers close to 300400) was specialized force named Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, training, every day was not easy. For example, when I got into train, I had to defend my area for 5 days. That meant I was not allowed to sleep or talk with fellow soldiers. Just watch over the boundaries for days what I was supposed to defend the area. Since the army had no study time, I have not been studying in the army (the army provides the environment or study but it is poor), I forgot lots of English, vocabulary, and most of knowledge that I learned from school. Even when I am talking to someone, I cant remember what word that I used, and it Just gets stuck for a while. However, the army had bright sloes too; sun as I learned tout teamwork, patience, nullity, Ana now to respect other persons. The main thing what I learned from the army was this There is no impossible. And that opened my eyes. Before I went to the army, if I faced a hard thing I tried to avoid it, but now I have changed. I want to know why that is hard and find the way I need.

Todays Woman Vs. Yesterdays Essays - Ibsen Family, Trifles

Todays Woman Vs. Yesterdays Essays - Ibsen Family, Trifles Today's Woman Vs. Yesterday's Women of today have come a long way since the periods portrayed in the dramas "Trifles," written by Susan Glaspell, and "Doll House," written by Henrik Ibsen. In both dramas, the characters played by women were portrayed as nothing more than property which should be seen and not heard. This is typical of society in the late 1800's and early 1900's, which is the time setting in which these dramas take place. In the drama "Trifles," the male characters known as Henry Peters (sheriff) and George Henderson (county attorney) strut around like roosters making lewd, sexist remarks while investigating the murder of farmer John Wright. The two farm women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, while forced to listen to such barbaric comments, actually end up solving the murder. Throughout the drama, the male characters are made to walk around the farm house looking for clues. Unfortunately, they do this from a male's point of view and are completely oblivious to the unseen environment around them. During this time, the two ladies sit silently conversing between themselves about the tragedy, and actually find clues to the hows and whys of the suspect without really looking. The female characters in this drama are written to be very perceptive and understanding about what happens in everyday life in a country home, since they too are country homemakers. With this information, which the men do not share, they notice small insignificant looking items which appear to be out of place. Through deductive reasoning, the women were able to figure out that John Wright's wife had been abused for many years. Not physical abuse, but severe mental abuse. The abuse seemed to reach its zenith when her husband killed her canary by ringing the bird's neck. This signifies a symbol of the life and freedom she once had. In the drama "Doll House," the main character named Nora is a woman who has gone through life being treated as if she were a "china doll." She was not unlike a china doll to be placed high on a pedestal, never to be heard from except when spoken to, or when asked to entertain her husband Torvald, their children or a group of Torvald's friends. As the story progresses, Ibsen creates a climax in the theme when Torvald finds out that Nora forged her father's name on a document to obtain money for a trip to Italy. This trip to Italy was necessary in order to save his life. Society had a certain stigmatism about the women of the late 1800's. Women were not thought to have been as smart as men, and were therefore not expected to understand the complicated world of money and especially the repercussions of getting a loan from places other than a banking institution. At this point, Nora receives a miracle she has not been looking forward to. The miracle turned out to be a test in which she finds out that their storybook love is not as strong to Torvald as she had imagined and hoped for. This particular scene in the drama gave the impression of morning sun rays tapping on the petals on a morning glory. With this, the reader begins to witness the blossoming of a flower. Nora's eyes open for what appears to be the firs! t time in her life, and she makes the decision to leave her life and family in search for a new beginning. For a male author born and raised in the 1800's, Ibsen does a fine job of looking at a relationship of this kind from a woman's point of view. However, women of today would not put up with either one of these situations. The women of today are more assertive and demanding than they used to be. There are many women today who are just as good if not better than their male counterparts. Some of the most successful people in today's society are women. With the passage of the right for women to vote and the women's movement of the late sixties and early seventies, women have deservingly "Come a Long Way Baby."

Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the Essay

Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the acknowledgement of the legally binding nature of the right to wate - Essay Example This right to an adequate standard of living is in turn enshrined in a number of international human rights treaties. The rationale herein is that it would be impossible to uphold these international human rights treaties without making the right to water legally binding. As a mater of fact, water is one of the most basic needs for mankind. Some of these treaties include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The strength of this argument is well underscored by these treaties being binding, since they enjoy near global ratification1. In a closely related wavelength, Nordblom, Reeson and Finlayson2 observe that the rationale behind the argument in favour of the legalisation of the right to water is that this move is a landmark decision that would irrevocably bring ameliorations on the lives of billions of people who are still unable to access water and proper sanitation, with children and women being at the centre of this rationale. Particularly, it is pointed out that about 1.5 million children under the age of 5 years die of diarrhoea, annually, due to the inability to access clean water. This argument is very valid, given that it acknowledges the fact that this inability to access clean water exacerbates gender disparity. The issue of gender comes into play herein, since lack of access to clean water affects women, girls and children than men. Another rationale behind this move is that it had been ratified by major players in international relations. Particularly, according to Gunduz3, the Human Rights Council as the main body of the United Nations on human rights had furthered this move, as a resolution that had been tabled and supported by Spain, Germany, France, Britain and other member states of the UN. This move was pursuant to the July 2010 resolution of the UN General Assembly which had recognised access to water and proper sanitation as a fundamental huma n right. This move had to have legally binding obligations, in order for this observation to remain binding. Conversely, such a move in the UN General Assembly of 2010 was propounded by the rationale that despite water being an essential commodity or element in human life, yet a very significant fraction of the world’s fraction could not access it. Particularly, the UN quoted research results obtained by its Independent Experts to divulge that while 1 billion people are not able to access improved or standardised sources of water, 3 billion have no taps in their homes. The import of this is that there are billions of people consuming unsafe water. It is also important to note that the report that was tabled by the Independent Experts also helped reinforce the ideas on the legalisation of the right to water because it also aimed at ensuring quality in accessibility to water and sanitation, and not just quantity. Other scholars such as Pink4 and Kibassa5 argue that the move to make the right to water legally binding was also imperative if a larger input by other stakeholder was to be realised. Particularly, the recognition of water as a human right and a legally binding reality by the Human Rights Council set the standard for all water services providers to follow, whether these providers are in private or public ventures. The import