Protection of Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Protection of Human Rights - Essay Example This was a landmark happening in the arena of Human Rights as to a very large extent, it ended the immunity of a ruler against violation of Human Rights. Recent hanging of Saddam Hussein perhaps would have had the same effect, but for the flawed law procedures and blatant desire to hang him, irrespective of trial outcome. "Since Human Rights violations are usually committed by state officials, agents or persons otherwise acting "under color" of State authority, State (or sovereign) thus imposes a significant constraint on the use of U.S. courts in civil suits concerning human rights violations committed abroad," http://www.jstor.org/view/00029300/di007418/00p0336n/0 Human Rights violation could be anything from discrimination to genocide, apartheid, holocaust torture, police encounter killings, or illegal executions of political opponents. In United States, The Homeland Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (HSEA) was opposed by Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation committed to upholding human rights because "The CLEAR Act and HSEA require state and local jurisdictions to pass laws or otherwise authorize state and local police forces to investigate, apprehend, detain, or remove non-citizens for civil violations of U.S. immigration law" and if the State refuses to do so, it could be denied federal immigration funds and this was thought to be an extremely highhanded statement. This could lead to arbitrary and erroneous arrests, deportations, and disproportionate fines, unjust and arbitrary deprivations and could increase vulnerability of immigrant women and children to violence, blackmail and abuse. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/04/2 1/usdom8473.htm According to Amnesty International, Turkey is going through human rights violation, as the government officials are routinely carrying out torture and execution not only of political opponents, but also of writers, artists, journalists, who have not adhered to the strict authoritarian rule. This has led to many deaths of suspects who were rounded up without any evidence or proof. "Many allegations of extrajudicial execution have been made against members of Special Operations Teams. These are technically police officers under the authority of the Interior Ministry, heavily armed for close combat with the PKK. Special Operations Team members frequently accompany members of the paramilitary village guard force and gendarmes in security raids on villages. Regular army and air forces also participate in large operations in the southeast" http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/turkey/turkint.htm Chile, apart from what happened during the dictatorship, has acknowledged the continuous legacy of torture by state officials as it remained a state policy, to some extent, even to this day. An unfortunate legacy to have; but the Presidential Commission confronted the Government with all evidences and proofs and everything was beyond even a modicum of doubt. "The chief of the army, Gen. Juan Emilio Cheyre, anticipated the commission's report in a November 5 article in which he acknowledged for the first time the army's institutional responsibility for human rights violations. He pointed out that the context of ideological conflict and the Cold War might explain but could never justify human rights violations" http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/29/chile9742.htm. Despite this, Police and other armed forces have not been so forthright and

How organizational behavior tools help managers to solve practical Essay

How organizational behavior tools help managers to solve practical problems - Essay Example OB lays emphasis on the application of diverse insights to create better understanding of the employee behaviour in the organizations (Colquitt, LePine and Wesson 07). Some of the important features of OB are as follows: Applied Focus: The main objective of OB is to ensure that the employees achieve the targets and objectives of the organization in unification and in systematic method. Contingency approach: This approach helps the managers in understanding the gravity of the situation and then proposing solutions accordingly. Understanding the situation helps the managers to understand the way the employees should be managed effectively and appropriately. For example identifying the cultural differences in an organization would help the managers to develop strategies that help in enhancing the productivity of the employees (French 10). Easy Accessibility: It is highly accessible and is relevant to all of the employees in their personal and professional life. OB is not regarded as a s tatic discipline but a continuous process which helps managers seeking various solutions improvement the effectiveness of the organization. ... This would be done to achieve organizational effectiveness and organizational commitment. A systematic analysis of the organizational structure and culture is identified by the managers to conduct systematic grouping. Systematic grouping will enable the managers to promote teamwork and coordination of activities among the various departmental units. The good managerial traits are similar to transformational leadership which encompasses charismatic, achievement oriented and task oriented leadership. A good manager needs to communicate effectively with his subordinates for the systematic and effective flow of instructions. A proper and effective communication model paves the path of success for an organization. Communication of ideas and knowledge sharing enables the employees of an organization to be creative and think independently which can promote innovation in an organization (Groves 579). Managerial Abilities or Leadership Skills There is a significant and positive relationship b etween the leadership and organizational effectiveness which arises out of managerial traits (Erkutlu 708). Transformational leadership is a significant contributor to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Leadership and effective managerial traits are often interrelated to each other because both of them are regarded as a continual social influence process. Manager try to utilize different leadership approaches which helps in accomplishment of organizational objectives and encouraging efficient employee behaviour and maintaining the group culture of the organization. Managerial behaviour has a direct influence on the employee outcome and organizational

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 165

Essay Example I began my high school life at a very good school, specializing in math and physics. However, because my math score wasn’t satisfactory, I was asked to leave the school. Thereafter, I went to another high school that focused on English studies. I still remember the day I walked into the classroom and saw my English teacher; she was so beautiful that her eyes brought me great warmth and caring, although I didn’t understand her first words to me, which were â€Å"good morning†. You have to take learning English one step at a time but at last I learned basic English which how to read, speak and write. Despite the process of language learning, it is good to look at the Chinese culture regarding food. For instance, the Thai food which most Chinese love to eat. I was born and raised in China for around 20 years. It is so surprising that I found Chinese food in US was so much different from what I had in China. They may change the recipe but the ways chefs here cook the food are still similar to people do in China. I still remember once I talk to my roommate, who is one fourth Chinese, telling her that the common dish â€Å"Orange Chicken† does not exist in China actually. In this case, I think I am the person who is able to tell whether a dish is authentic or not because I am the one who was born and live in the country, share the value of the majority in the nation, involved in the cultural atmosphere and influenced by the context where the dish began to developed its popularity in the nation. It is also interesting to talk about the moon cake gambling festival in china. The Moon cake gambling is originated from southern part of China, including Xiamen Fujian, as well as Taiwan. This traditional activity was first played for winning moon cakes. In other words, in the past people ran the game to decide who will have the moon cake and enjoy the victory of being luckiest person during the whole year. However, the gabling for moon cake

Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony - Research Paper Example In simple words it can be said that using VoIP applications a caller will be able to avoid paying long distance international call charges and also save expensive telecommunication hardware and infrastructure (Hallock, 2004, pp.5-8). The principles of VoIP are similar to traditional digital telephony in that the former also involves channel setup, signaling, conversion of analog voice signals into digital signals, encoding and decoding. The difference with traditional digitized telephony is that the encoded VoIP digital signals are transmitted over packet-switched networks as Internet Protocol or IP packets instead of being transmitted over circuit-switch network. This concept of packet-switched data transfer is based on the principles of time-division multiplexing networks. The early business service provider models of VoIP were based on traditional telephonic networking only with difference on how the data would transfer across channels. The second generation providers of VoIP incl uded the concept of closed networks for enabling private communication between secured user bases. The Skype is one of the most popular second generation VoIP service providers whose technology offers their users free calls. But the business model of Skype charges connection or access charges to customers to use private networks or public switched telephone networks (PSTN). The advantage of such model is that user’s requirements for hardware or software compatibility would be minimized and independent. The third generation of VoIP, mainly popularized by Google Talk, allows dynamic interconnection between any two user domains on the internet (Bianco, 2006, pp.365-367). Analysis of Existing Applications and Market Trends The main reason for the growth of VoIP over the years is due to its popularity as a business data networks application. With the application of VoIP a business enterprise will be able to reduce its service and hardware costs by increasing productivity through c ustomized telephony applications. VoIP technology ensures secured and consolidated telecommunication network for business enterprises. As the prices of bandwidth are falling, the internet telephony is increasingly becoming popular and more accessible to global customers. With the help of VoIP business critical information could now be telecommunicated without any significant delays (which were more prominent in traditional international telecommunications) and hence increasing the efficiency of the company. Thus, one of the major reasons for quick acceptance of VoIP was cost efficiency that the companies could realize from the implementation (Bergstrom, 2004, pp.17-18). (Source: Tele Geography Research, 2008) The traditional telephone lines are replacing the medium of communication between business enterprises as well as households. A research has found that only the North American residential VoIP services has grown over 31% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) and it was a $1.25 b illion VoIP service industry in the year 2005. (Source: Word Press, 2011) The main drivers for the tremendous growth of VoIP can be attributed to some important VoIP characteristics including cost savings, reliability and easier functionality. SWOT Analysis The VoIP technology allows customers to make

Multi line regression Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Multi line regression - Statistics Project Example atly depends on statistics in order to determine how well a country is doing in terms of trading with the relevant partners and in enhancing economic growth. In this task, the chosen dependent variable was the United States of America exports, the dependent variables selected are; oil prices, USA car prices and technological product prices. It is assumed that the selected independent variables have a direct relationship with the dependent variable. For instance, car prices will determine if the exports of the same will be higher, especially when compared to prices of cars from other countries such as Japan. In order to understand how the independent variables impact on the dependent variable, multiple regression analysis is usually utilized. Regression is a statistical analysis that is used to evaluate the association or relationship between continuous dependent and continuous independent variable (Chatterjee & Simonoff, 2013). Usually the regression analysis helps establish a number of issues such as if a relationship exists between variables, the strength of the association, the structure or form of the relationship, as well as help in predicting the values of the dependent variable and controlling for other dependent variables. This makes regression superior to correlation analysis. Ideally, regression coefficients depict the mean, variance or change variables under investigation variable for one unit of change in the predictor variable while holding other predictor variables constant in the same model. With regards to coefficients above, it is evident that when oil prices and technical product prices are held constant, the amount of exports will increase by 6.94, when car prices, and technical product prices are held constant, then exports will increase by 4.27 and lastly, when car prices and oil prices are held constant, exports will reduce by -0.52. R-square value stood at 0.9472. Coefficient of determination adjusted for the degree of freedom denoted as

Online vs. Brick and Mortar Shopping Essay Example for Free

Online vs. Brick and Mortar Shopping Essay Abstract It seems that many of us are discovering a new and more convenient way of shopping, and this would be online. Online shopping has become a major way of making purchases today, and it seems to offer everything that your local department, grocery, or drug store does, only with more convenience. On the other hand, there are those â€Å"Die-Hard† shoppers who would rather pound the pavement and deal with the hustle and bustle of the crowds, either because of habit or tradition. The â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar† shoppers are the most common folk, who wouldn’t have it any other way, because to them there’s just something about personally choosing the items that they are purchasing. The online shopper seems to be less particular, when it comes to online shopping; you have to have a certain amount of faith in certain web sites when buying anything from items for the home to clothing. Online vs. Brick-and-Mortar shopping seem to be two ways of doing the same thing. Although online shopping takes a little more time for the consumer to receive their purchase(s), many people don’t seem to mind because of the convenience of it all. They seem to accept the risks that go along with it, and some of the risks could include getting the wrong size, color, or an item that doesn’t work properly. An item can always be shipped back, and we can wait on either another product or a refund, which can cause some inconvenience. When the â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar shoppers make their purchases, most of them are satisfied, because they have made the decision to take the time to personally inspect and admire their item(s) personally, and if something is not quite right, they have the option of returning to the store and waiting in line for customer service to either refund or exchange their item(s). It seems that there can be some inconvenience with  whatever method of shopping you choose. When you think of making a purchase, part of the excitement is in choosing your items personally, and you want to do that first hand and in person. There also leaves room for a chance meeting with friends and acquaintances, which open the opportunity for reconnecting and catching up on old times. If you choose to shop online, you won’t have that opportunity because computers don’t have that capability. To the Brick-and-Mortar shoppers, it’s just a way of life, and a part of living and staying socially connected to the happenings in the community. This can be an adventure or a task; it all just depends on the circumstances and the situation. Online shopping enables retailers to display merchandise which can be seen by people all around the globe, which wouldn’t have been possible in the case of visiting a store. Nevertheless, there are a series of disadvantages attached to the worldwide online shopping as well. For example, one of the main flaws is represented by security issues. Some of the advantages of traditional or â€Å"Brick-and-Mortar† shopping, are that you get what you see with no hitches, so you know if it’s right for you. It also gets you out of the house and if you are walking it keeps you fit. Some of the disadvantages to traditional shopping are that you might have to travel long lengths which cost more money, as Internet shopping can get delivered to your door. Sometimes you may have to look through almost every shop to get what you want, therefor on the Internet you type exactly what you need. While online shopping might be the right choice for purchasing some items, there are those items that require a more personal touch, such as clothing, personal items, food, and in some cases the medications that we take, all of these things require personal attention. To the Brick-and-Mortar shopper, they wouldn’t have it any other way because shopping is like an adventure that you don’t want anyone else to go on but yourself. When we choose to do our shopping online, it just seems that we are becoming less social and less active in our communities. When you go out and patronize your local department, grocery, or drug stores there’s something about feeling connected and a part of something. Online shopping has changed people’s lives, some people today only purchase online. For some, their geographic location makes a trip to the store almost impossible. Fortunately, the  Internet is both a time saver and a cost comparison opportunity, where you can frequently find not only what you are looking for, but also get the best prices (including shipping) by doing a little shopping comparison. Basically, the retailer today needs to focus on what all worldwide online shopping is offering to a customer. This would include an abundance of information besides perfect price transparency. Also on offer are a bouquet of special deals and much more. Retailers relying on the earlier formats will have to either adapt to this change or they will die out, since the new ones will pull volume from their stores and take away their profitability. Today the economic reality is well established that e-commerce is reaching for a much larger share in retail revenue. When we purchase items right now because we just can’t wait it is called â€Å"Hyperbolic Discounting†, it’s when you prefer an option that arrives sooner than later. Fortunately, this is one of the biases that you can really fight against. If you start comparing prices before you are actually in a store, you have a better chance of putting everything on the same delivery timeline. Two day shipping from Amazon to save fifty percent sounds very good when you’re sitting at your computer and thinking about the commute to the store. If you know the variation on prices beforehand, you’re more likely not to worry about getting it immediately. While some of us choose to do our shopping the traditional way, which means getting out there and dealing with the long lines and the crowds, all in for the sake of tradition or habit, there are those who choose to do their shopping online, which is more â€Å"Convenient†. It all boils down to the choices that we make, and our personal preference. This could lead us to believe that we may be becoming less social creatures, and if we really reflect on it, we might be. In the case of online vs. brick-and-mortar shopping and which is best, I would have to say that it’s a matter of choice. References Bibliography answers.com. (2012). online shopping. articlesfactory.com. (2012). Online shopping. .

Property Prices in Sydney

Property Prices in Sydney Sydney Property Prices Executive Summary In early March 2014, the governor of Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, warned house owners that Sydney property prices including houses will keep rising. For this reason, he cautioned home buyers never to borrow so much debt because, like the house prices are anticipated to continue rising, they can equally fall. Foreign investors have been moving to Australia at a very high rate especially those from China. The business people increasingly buy houses in Australia particularly those at the hot Sydney market. This has caused Sydney house prices to shoot up at a very rapid rate. This rapid rise in Sydney house prices has also been caused by few homes in Australia that only leave the cashed-up foreign investors with the opportunity to purchase those that are available. This situation creates a big problem to first home buyers who do not have as much money to purchase such expensive houses. Table of Contents Executive Summary Table of Contents Introduction Sydney house prices The key stakeholders that are impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices Economic theories Other relevant issues in the article Conclusion References Appendices Introduction Since 1983, house prices in Sydney have been increasing and this trend has been constant for over thirty years. The rapid rise in Sydney house prices is contributed by an increase in house demand by foreign buyers, as well as the low supply of houses in Australia. The purpose of this report is to present the causes and impacts of the rapid rise in Sydney house prices, and to provide possible solutions to the problem. The report begins by analyzing the present situation in Sydney as far as house prices are concerned, including major contributors and possible impacts. This is followed by description of the stakeholders that may be impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices. The report also explains the present problem in Sydney in terms of economic theory and concepts of demand and supply. The last section of the report focuses on possible solutions to the rapid rise in Sydney house prices. Sydney house prices Sydney house prices have rapidly increased over the recent past. Home buyers increasingly move to Australia to look for new homes for residential purposes and for investment. The rapid increase in prices is attributed to an increase in demand for Australian real estate from foreign buyers that have resulted into several bidders quoting very huge prices (Macken 2014). Home owners have raised house prices in Sydney because foreign investors, especially from China, increasingly buy local homes. These foreign investors are attracted to Australia by the Australian significant investor visa. The significant investor visa attracts prominent investors and business people to Australia and increase innovation and economic growth (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Additionally, the Canadian government has cut its Federal Immigrant Investor Program and the recent change in the Canadian Visa scheme is expected to attract even more investors and business people to Sydney (Macken 2014). Australian houses are also expensive because of low supply of the stuff (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Many Australian families increasingly buy new residential homes resulting into the rapid increase in house prices. This form of demand is driven by education as well as lifestyle. Highly educated people believe that they should stay in executive homes. They are therefore attracted to purchase such homes that are available in Sydney at high prices. Again, many Australian men point out that they want quality lives for their wives and families and since price is equated to quality, they end up buying Sydney houses at high prices which keeps these prices high. Foreign investors from China are likely to keep Sydney house prices high as they move to establish industries in Australia concerning the fact that China has strict policy against pollution (Macken 2014). It is anticipated that a consistent rise in Sydney house prices will soon render new home buyers homeless because they will not be able to cope w ith the high prices (Johnstone 2014). However, the Reserve Bank brings back hope to such people by stating that Sydney house prices are likely to fall in the near future due to low interest rates that have encouraged Australians to build new homes (Hutchens 2014). The key stakeholders that are impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices The rapid rise in Sydney house prices may impact a number of stakeholders including home owners, upgraders, foreign investors, local investors, first home buyers, second home buyers, the society and the Australian government. Home owners will have to increase the quality of their houses and build them in different architectural designs to attract home buyers. In addition, the rapid increase in Sydney house prices will compel home owners to consider building varieties of executive houses suited for investment and residential purposes (Macken 2014). As more and more foreign investors come to Australia, the upgraders will want to sell off their present houses in order to build new ones that will meet the current demands of families and businesses (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Foreign investors are likely to be impacted by the rapid rise in Sydney house prices as they will be compelled to dig deep into their pockets and give out the required amounts before they can be allowed house owners hip. Like the foreign investors, local investors will also have to pay for the houses as per the prevailing market price. Unfortunately, some local investors might not afford to pay these prices, leading to market domination by the foreign investors (Macken 2014). First home buyers are those individuals who are purchasing homes for the first time. This group of customers lacks home purchasing experience and they may not have as much money to pay for the expensive houses. Eventually, they might soon become homeless if the current situation persists. Second home buyers on the other hand have bought homes before and can easily adapt to the rapid rise in Sydney house prices. They would thus have an advantage of house ownership at the prevailing prices as opposed to first home buyers (Johnstone 2014). With many foreign investors acquiring new residences in Australia as a result of rapid rise in house prices, the Australian population will obviously increase. Increase in population is ass ociated with environmental pollution and scarcity of resources. The Australian government must therefore make a change in its policy to ensure that these foreign investors are peacefully accommodated in the country. Even though all these groups will be impacted by the rapid rise in Sydney house prices, the first home buyers will be impacted the most because they will not be able to purchase new houses if the house prices increase further (Johnstone 2014). Economic theories The two main factors causing the rapid rise in Sydney house prices are; increase in demand of houses from foreign buyers and low supply of homes. According to the law of demand, the quantity of commodity demanded decreases with increase in price and vice versa, all other factors remaining constant. This can be plotted graphically in form of a demand curve showing the relationship between price and quantity demanded of a product (Sakovics and Steiner, 2012). Supply curve is a graphical representation of the quantity of goods that suppliers are willing to bring to the market at the prevailing market prices, with all other factors remaining constant. The point of intersection of demand and supply curves is the equilibrium price and quantity (Liu and Agbola, 2014). All these three relationships are shown in figure 1. Other factors such as changes in consumer tastes and preferences can cause a shift in demand curve thereby changing the price of a particular commodity (Liu and Agbola, 2014 ). From the media report, an increase in demand for executive houses is Sydney is derived from the increase in number of foreign investors, education and lifestyle (Macken 2014). These factors cause a positive shift in the demand curve where the demand curve shifts to the right (Liu and Agbola, 2014). This shift generally causes an increase in house prices as presented in figure 2 in the appendices section. At the same time, there is low supply of houses in Sydney causing the rise in house prices (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). This causes the supply curve to shift to the left as shown in figure 3. These shifts in demand and supply curves contribute to the high house prices in Sydney. Other relevant issues in the article The fact that first home buyers are the stakeholders that are likely to be impacted the most with the rapid rise in prices of Sydney houses, I would ensure that they are not disadvantaged through abolishment of stamp duty for first home buyers and reintroduction of first home buyers incentives for houses. This will give first home buyers the opportunity to meet the expenses of purchasing new homes. In addition, I would encourage first home buyers to form partnerships and share mortgage costs. This is cheaper because those involved in the partnerships can formulate policies that govern their practice. They can also extend these houses and lease the extra portions to others who will in the process assist them in meeting costs (Johnstone 2014). Other alternate actions that can be taken to solve the economic problem in Sydney include building of more homes to increase their availability to foreign investors and Australian residents. Building more homes will mean an increase in supply of homes (Hutchens 2014). This will cause the supply curve to shift to the right thereby lowering the house prices as shown in figure 4. Conclusion In conclusion, both local and foreign home buyers in Sydney are faced with the challenge of rapidly rising house prices. The current trend observed in Sydney house prices occurs as result of scarcity of houses and the increasing demand from foreign buyers. If these prices continue to rise over the coming years, first home buyers will be rendered homeless as they will not be able to afford houses in Sydney. The increase in demand as well as low supply of houses cause a shift in the demand and supply curves respectively, which causes prices to rise. First home owners can acquire houses at the prevailing prices through formation of partnerships. Additionally, they can be assisted to fit in the current market through reintroduction of first home buyers’ incentives for houses. Consequently, building more homes in Sydney will increase the supply of houses and house prices will come down. References Hutchens, G 2014, ‘House Prices Can Fall Too, Warns Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://www.smh.com.au/national/house-prices-can-fall-too-warns-reserve-bank-governor-glenn-stevens-20140307-34cr5.html Johnstone, T 2014, ‘No Joy For First Timers at Auction: Upgraders Win in Lilyfield as Sydney Records Another Strong Clearance Rate of 82.5 %’, The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/no-joy-for-first-timers-at-auction-20140308-34dud.html Liu, WS Agbola, FW 2014, ‘Regional Analysis of the Impact of Inward Foreign Investment on Economic Growth in the Chinese Electronic Industry,’ Applied Economics, Vol. 1, no. 26, pp. 2576-2592. Macken, L 2014, ‘Property: Sydney Expected to Gain Foreign Buyers as Canada Closes Visa Scheme,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/property-sydney-expected-to-gain-foreign-buyers-as-canada-closes-visa-scheme-20140307-34cr6.html Nicholls, S Macken, L 2014, ‘Upgraders Keep Sydney Property Market Bouyant,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/upgraders-keep-sydney-property-market-buoyant-20140314-34rqe.html Sakovics, J Steiner J 2012, ‘Who Matters in Coordinating Problems? American Economic Review, Vol. 102, no. 7, pp. 3439-3461. Appendices Figure 1: Demand and Supply curve showing market equilibrium Price S PEMarket Equilibrium D QE Quantity S Supply curve PE Equilibrium price D-Demand curve QE Equilibrium quantity Figure 2- An increase in demand for houses raises the price of Sydney houses Price Supply P1 P0 D1 D0 Q0 Q1 Quantity Figure 3: A decrease in supply of houses raises the price PriceS1 S0 P1 P0 Demand Q1 Q0 Quantity Figure 4: An increase in supply by building more houses lowers the price PriceS0 S1 P0 P1 Demand Q0 Q1 Quantity 1