Monday, September 16, 2019

The Financial Performance Measures Accounting Essay

During the last old ages, more and more attending is paid to the fillip construction of CEOs of big multinationals. CEO bonuses has become an international issue debated in the parliament and routinely featured in front-page headlines, screen narratives, and telecasting intelligence shows. Several factors have contributed to the widespread involvement in CEO fillips. First, the compensation of CEO has risen aggressively during the last decennaries ( Murphy, 1999 ) . Secondly, some houses in the Netherlands were in existent problem during the fiscal crisis, they needed fiscal aid from the authorities, but their CEOs still got a fillip ( Hooft van Huysduynen, 2011 ) . But since the regulations about CEO compensation were wholly ill-defined for companies which needed fiscal aid from the authorities, more arguments were held in the authorities and regulations were changed often. This contributed to the widespread involvement of the topic of executive compensation in The Netherlands ( de Horde, 2011 ) . And in conclusion, there has besides been an detonation in academic research on executive compensation, which contributed to the rosen involvement of CEO bonus-structure ( Murphy, 1999 ) .CEO compensationThe compensation bundles negotiated with main executive officers ( CEOs ) of big corporations largely contains four basic constituents: a base wage, an one-year fillip tied to accounting public presentation, stock options, and long term inducement programs ( including restricted stock programs and multi-year accounting-based public presentation programs ) ( Murphy, 1999 ) . The incentive constituent frequently is comprised of both an one-year fillip program and a long-run inducement program, where the final payments from these programs depend on an intricate portfolio of public presentation steps ( Bushman et al, 1996 ) . The compensation commission can take different public presentation steps, including stock return, accounting return and non-financial steps, to fin d how much of each signifier of compensation the CEO will gain ( Krolick, 2005 ) . Paying CEOs based on short tally accounting net incomes provides inducements to increase short-term net incomes ( by, for illustration, cutting R & A ; D ) even if making so reduces value in the long tally. Conceptually, the â€Å" perfect † public presentation step for a CEO is the Chief executive officer ‘s personal part to the value of the house. This part includes the consequence that the CEO has on the public presentation of others in the organisation, and besides the effects that the CEO ‘s actions this twelvemonth have on public presentation in future periods. Unfortunately, the CEO ‘s part to tauten value is about ne'er straight mensurable ; the available steps will necessarily except ways that the CEO creates value, and include the effects of factors non due to the attempts of the CEO, or neglect to uncover ways that the CEO destroys value ( Murphy, 2013 ) . A long line of literature has argued that compensation should be related to public presentation. The grounds for the linkage are both normative and positive. In a normative sense, compensation is considered just if it has been †earned † through superior public presentation. In a positive sense, bureau theoreticians argue that associating compensation to tauten public presentation steps provides inducement to increase steadfast value ( Balsam, 2002 ; Lewellen and Huntsman, 1970 ; Murphy, 1985 ) .Fiscal public presentation stepsFiscal public presentation steps consists of steps of hard currency flow, net income, earnings-per-share, gross revenues, economic value added, return on invested capital, return on assets, return on equity, return on gross revenues, stock monetary value return and cost decrease ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . The literature paperss that i ¬?nancial accounting steps, particularly steps of proi ¬?tability, are extensively used in executive compensation c ontracts. There is grounds of widespread, expressed usage of proi ¬?tability steps in the one-year fillip programs and in the long-run public presentation programs of corporate executives. The inexplicit usage of proi ¬?tability steps in the board of manager ‘s rating and compensation of top oi ¬?cers is supported by a robust, positive statistical relation between proi ¬?tability steps and assorted steps of executive wage, including managerial turnover chances ( Bushman and Smith, 2001 ) . The most of import ground of utilizing fiscal public presentation steps alternatively of utilizing nonfinancial steps, is that fiscal marks are cheaper and easier to mensurate, since all companies are already compulsory to print a balance sheet and an income statement ( Epstein, 2006 ) . Paul ( 1992 ) shows that stock monetary value need non supply efficient inducements in a multi-task scene because monetary value gaining controls the value of the house instead than the value-added by the director. Ittner et Al ( 1997 ) argues that fiscal steps entirely may non supply the most efficient agencies to actuate directors to move in the mode desired by the house ‘s proprietors. While companies use a assortment of fiscal and non-financial public presentation steps in their one-year CEO fillip programs, about all companies rely on some step of accounting net income such as net income, pre-tax income, or operating net income. Accounting net income measured over short intervals is non, nevertheless, a peculiarly good step of the CEOs part to tauten value, for several grounds. First, CEOs routinely make determinations ( such as sequence planning or R & A ; D investings ) that will increase long-term value but non short-term net income. Second, accounting net incomes ( lik e equity-based steps ) are constantly influenced by factors outside of the control of the CEO, including the effects of concern rhythms, universe oil monetary values, natural catastrophes, terrorist onslaughts, etc. Third, while the steps of accounting net incomes typically used in fillip programs take into history both grosss and disbursals, they ignore the chance cost of the capital employed. The usage of these accounting steps provides inducements to put in any undertaking that earns positive accounting net incomes ( non merely those that earn more than the cost of capital ) , and provides no inducements to abandon undertakings gaining positive accounting net incomes that are less than those needed to cover their cost of capital ( Murphy, 2013 ) .Non-financial public presentation stepsNon-financial public presentation steps consists of steps of employee satisfaction, merchandise or service quality, efficiency or productiveness, employee safety, market portion, non-financial strat egic aims, procedure betterments and re-engineering, new merchandise development, invention, employee development and preparation, work force diverseness, leading and client satisfaction ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . Recent grounds indicates that i ¬?rms are progressively utilizing non-i ¬?nancial public presentation steps such as client satisfaction and merchandise quality in the catching procedure within i ¬?rms ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . Anterior literature shows that noni ¬?nancial public presentation can counterbalance for â€Å" noise † and â€Å" end incongruence † of i ¬?nancial public presentation steps. Another desirable undertaking property of noni ¬?nancial steps is their ability to foretell future public presentation and to ease intertemporal fiting between current investings and future returns ( Matejka et al. , 2009 ) . Non-financial public presentation steps are assumed to ease the board ‘s appraisal of private managerial information so it ca n more closely supervise the executive decision-making procedure ( Schiehll and Bellavance, 2009 ) . The ground for the usage of non-financial steps in compensation contracts is that they provide information incremental to accounting steps in rewarding and motivation directors ( Davila and Venkatachalam, 2004 ) .Fiscal CrisisPearson and Clair ( 1998 ) developed a definition for organisational crisis ‘ : †An organisational crisis is a low-probability, high-impact event that threatens the viability of the organisation and is characterized by ambiguity of cause, consequence, and agencies of declaration, every bit good as by a belief that determinations must be made fleetly. † Several illustrations of organisational crisis ‘ are: Extortion, Bribery, Hostile coup d'etat, Information sabotage, Terrorist onslaught, Executive kidnaping, Product callback, Natural catastrophe that destroys corporate central offices ( Pearson and Clair, 1998 ) . The fiscal crisis started in September 2008. Assorted causes of the i ¬?nancial crisis have been cited, including slack ordinance over mortgage loaning, a turning lodging bubble, the rise of derived functions instruments such as collateralized debt duties, and questionable banking patterns ( Kothari and Lester, 2012 ) . This research is concentrating on this fiscal crisis, which started in September 2008, and is still go oning at the minute of composing this thesis. Ittner et Al. ( 1997 ) argues that as the noise in fiscal steps increases, houses tend to put more weight on non-financial steps. At the other side, Matejka et Al. ( 2009 ) i ¬?nd that proi ¬?t urgency and i ¬?nancial hurt ( which make i ¬?nancial public presentation steps more congruent with i ¬?rm ends ) are associated with a lower accent on noni ¬?nancial public presentation steps.Hypothesis developmentAlthough old literature us non consistent the usage of non-financial public presentation steps in times of fiscal crisis, more recent research ( Matejka et al. , 2009 ) leads to the premise that the usage of non-financial public presentation steps in CEO fillip contracts will drop during the current fiscal crisis. Based on this premise, the following hypothesis is developed: Hypothesis 1: The usage of non-financial public presentation steps in CEO fillip contracts has been decreased from 2005 to 2010, due to the impact of the fiscal crisis.III. MethodologyThis subdivision describes the research methods used to look into the empirical association between the fiscal crisis and the usage of non-financial public presentation steps. Sample A mark sample of 27 houses is identified from Dutch companies listed on the Amsterdam Exchange Index ( AEX ) at the beginning of the twelvemonth 2013. No differentiation is made between different sectors, all AEX-listed companies were taken in the sample. Data aggregation Data was collected from proxy statements in one-year studies in two different old ages. To mensurate the consequence of the fiscal crisis, the first twelvemonth which had been measured is 2005, since during 2005 no influence of the fiscal crisis could be perceived. The 2nd twelvemonth which is used to roll up informations, is the twelvemonth 2010. 2010 has been chosen because it was in the center of the fiscal crisis and all informations is now available from this twelvemonth. This research surveies the comparative weights placed on fiscal and non-financial public presentation steps in main executive officer ( CEO ) fillip contracts ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . This method is similar to the method adopted by Ittner et Al ( 1997 ) and used by Schiehll and Bellavance ( 2009 ) . Variables The empirical theoretical account of this research will be as follow: Y = I ± + I?1Xi +I?2Xi Where Y will incorporate the dependant variable usage of non-financial public presentation steps, I?1 will stand for the state of affairs of the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2005 ( 0 will stand for the usage of a fiscal public presentation step in 2005, and 1 will stand for the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2005 ) , I?2 will stand for the state of affairs of the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2010 ( 0 will stand for the usage of a fiscal public presentation step in 2010, and 1 will stand for the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2010 ) , and Xi contains the house.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Analysis and Critique of Research – Based Literature

I. Summary of Hofstede’s Model of Cross-Cultural Management Early management gurus used to presume that their ideas on management apply to everybody all over the world. Their notions were challenged when the Japanese became a world economic superpower, along with the significant rise of dragons and tigers economies. The notion that management principles are not universally applicable across all cultural boundaries soon emerged and began to develop itself through various cross-cultural studies, such as Lane and Beamish’s (1990) study on western companies that built joint-ventures with people from other nations, without considering the differences in their management cultures and thought that it would be sufficient in dealing with global competition problems. Also read this  Critique of Stuff Is Not Salvation One study that stood out from the others came from Geert Hofstede (1980a), who defined culture as: â€Å"†¦the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another†¦the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that influences a human group’s response to its environment†. Richards (2001) mentioned that Hofstede’s study was focused on the differences in ‘mental programming’ among groups of people in different nations, through their collective preferences on certain states of affairs over others. His study was conducted through a questionnaire survey on IBM’s employees in fifty nations and his analysis was based on comparative data from that survey. Hofstede’s empirical study would then strengthen the belief that western, particularly American, management practices could not directly be applied on management from different cultures, which are based on different values. Geert Hofstede identified four levels of social attachments through which culture displays itself: symbols; heroes; rituals and values. Among said levels, values play the biggest part in explaining cultural differences. Hofstede further identified five primary value dimensions from which a pecking order can be established for each target country. These dimensions are: 1. Individualism versus Collectivism: The way in which people live together and the relationship that exists between the individual and the collectivity. 2. Large versus Small Power Distance: The extent to which a society accepts or rejects inequalities in such areas as prestige, wealth and power, or hierarchy versus equality. 3. Strong versus Weak Uncertainty Avoidance: The extent to which culture cope with uncertainty or unstructured situations, and encourage risk-taking, through technology, law and religion (risk avoidance versus risk comfort). 4. Masculinity versus Femininity: Attitudes to quality of life, achievement, assertiveness and competition (task versus relationship). 5. Long-term Orientation (Confucian work Dynamism): Value persistence (perseverance); having a sense of shame rather than guilt; search for virtue, rather than truth; long-term approach to life; and ordering relations by status and observation of it. Hofstede then placed countries within the above dimensions and found that a culture in one country makes people from that country to more likely behave in a certain way than other. This research was found to be very enlightening (Richards, 2001, p. 172), especially in paving the way to look deeper into the differences in cultural values and norms. In his 2002 counter-argument made toward McSweeney’s critique, Hofstede (2002, p. 1355) even claimed that his pioneering research had resulted in a ‘paradigm-shift’ in the field of cross-cultural studies. Later on in 1987, he developed what he called as ‘theory T’ (Richards, 2001, p. 178), which core arguments are: 1. The world is unequal and everyone has his/her place within the order. 2. Each of the children has his/her birthright place and has to work on his/her duties accordingly, but can improve his/her position through studying with a good teacher, working with a good patron, and/or marrying a good partner. 3. Wisdom is grounded on tradition. That is why human beings do not like change and will avoid it if he/she can. Trying to find the ideal model for these cultural differences, Hofstede then developed his theory T to a more complex model he called theory T +, which added on to theory T the component of change and the ability within a particular culture to modernize and synergize with other cultures through life experience; commitment to change; capacity to lead to change; and people’s learning capacities (Richards, 2001, pp. 6-17). II. Analysis and Critique The prescribed readings that followed after Richards’ (2001) overview of cultural differences, cultural dimensions and syndromes, through previous academics’ works (Hofstede, Trompenaars and others) and his own teachings on cultural understanding, essentially went back and forth on research credibility issues, including validity in the methodologies that these academics utilized in their research (i. e. Hofstede’s critique on Trompenaars’ research methodologies and its subsequent rebuttal from Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars in readings # 2 and 3 of the reading list, followed by more critique from Hofstede on Trompenaars’ work in reading # 4, and still followed by Brendan McSweeney critique on Hofstede’s own methodology and the quality of his evidence in reading # 5, which sparked another refutation from Hofstede in reading # 6, and still another counter-rebuttal from Sweeney in reading # 7). To this writer, all the above debate was focused on several key issues: 1. All theoretical claims have to be based on analysis grounded on empirical research. 2. Selection of methodology made on an academic’s research could determine the credibility of his/her research and subsequent academic analysis. 3. Research design, along with type of data and instruments to gather said data are exceptionally important in the formation of a researcher’s analysis. . The type of analysis used on a researcher’s database would determine the scope of academic claim he/she could create and how valid those claims would be. This writer’s own doubt on Hofstede’s research is mainly based on whether his sample of 117,000 respondents who participated in his questionnaire survey are homogenous, thus representative enough to the world population that was supposed to be the target population of his research on (world) culture. Unlike McSweeney in reading # 5, however, this writer would give Hofstede the benefit of the doubt on his choice of questionnaire content, which must have played a significant part in determining whether cultural differences could be correctly reflected through the selection of question items. Simply put, should the writer be in Hofstede’s shoes and possess sufficient resources within his grasp, he would probably undertake another survey-based research on a much narrower or tighter ‘cultural’ sub-concept or characteristic, which makes up a larger concept of ‘culture’.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Leadership in Criminal Justice Essay

Leadership is a necessary component of any organization to include a criminal justice organization. In recent years, research has clearly indicated that leadership must be present in criminal justice organizations for a multitude of reasons. Leaders provide motivation and inspire their followers to progress while advancing toward a shared vision. This paper will discuss several different aspects of leadership and expand on the importance of having strong leaders in place. This paper will explain that there are different styles and theories of leadership which are utilized today. Basic principles of leadership as well as the role of a leader will be discussed in detail along with explanations as to why leadership is crucial in criminal justice organizations. Leadership in Criminal Justice Leadership in any organization is directly related to the overall success that organization can expect to see. Leadership in criminal justice is certainly no exception. Having strong leaders in place promotes organization, management, productivity, motivation and creativity in a criminal justice setting. Moral, productivity, and the overall success of a criminal justice agency are a few of the things commonly affected by lack of leadership. This paper will explain the importance of leadership in a criminal justice organization by responding to the following questions: 1. What is leadership? 2. What are leadership theories and styles? 3. How does leadership differ from management? 4. Why is leadership important in criminal justice? What is leadership? Leadership can be defined as a process that helps direct and mobilize people and their ideas (Stojkovic, Klofas & Kalinich, 2012). Leadership requires that a person have a strong desire to be an influential part of the organization and want to play a key role in moving towards a common goal. Leaders are primarily concerned with motivating and inspiring their followers to remain productive and to maintain the drive and ability to reach organization goals. A leader must a have an organizational vision and be able to inspire and motivate others to buy into that vision and work towards achieving the goals related to that vision. The role of a leader in a criminal justice organization should not be under appreciated. A leader plays has an immensely influential role within the organization. First, leaders must have a strong working knowledge in the assignment they wish to lead. This can be developed through education, training, and experience. Leaders must have the respect of those they wish to lead in order to be effective. One way that leaders can earn that respect is by possessing the skills needed to be in a leadership position. Secondly, a leader must know themselves, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Many leaders in law enforcement find it easy to know their business, but find it difficult to know themselves (Dobbs & Field, 1993). Leaders must realize their strengths and weakness in order to develop their own style of leadership. Leaders who act outside their natural style of leadership can cause themselves to appear awkward and ultimately affect their ability to lead. Third, a criminal justice leader must know their subordinates. Due to the fact that people are motivated my different things, a leader must realize what motivates each subordinate individually. Also, a leader must have a personal relationship with the subordinate as well. For example, a leader must know his employee well enough to congratulate or give condolences in personal matters when appropriate. This will remind the subordinate that the leader cares about their personal achievements and struggles as well. Finally, a leader must operate with consistency and lead by example. For example, a criminal justice leader who punishes a subordinate for poor report writing when they themselves write poor reports will create a lack of respect for that leader. This is due to the fact that the leader does not lead by example. A leader must exemplify the ideals they demand in order for their follows to truly want to follow their lead. What are some of the theories and styles of leadership? There are many theories about different aspects of leadership and the effectiveness of each in a criminal justice setting. Contemporary research brings into focus the behavioral approach and the contingency approach. The behavioral approach emphasizes the behavior of leaders while the contingency approach emphasizes situational variables that affect leadership. We find in the behavioral approach an emphasis on how leaders interact with their subordinates as well as how a leader creates processes that encourage subordinates to be productive and accomplish the goals of the agency. The behavioral approach is concerned with whether or not the subordinates feel that their leader makes them feel like a valued member of the agency and if their opinions carry any weight in the day to day operation of the agency. The contingency approach, founded in the 1970’s differs from the behavioral approach. â€Å"Examining various situational variables is central to understanding leadership in organizations, according to the contingency theorist† (Stojkovic, Klofas & Kalinich, 2012). Fiedler’s Contingency Model is one of those contingency theories. In Fiedler’s model we find that how well liked or disliked by subordinates a leader is, will have a direct impact on how effective that leader will be. For example, a detective supervisor who is not well liked might have a hard time finding volunteers to work overtime at their request. In contrast, a well like supervisor might have no problem getting volunteers in the same situation. The subordinates in this example might base their decision on nothing more than who is asking. Also in Fiedler’s Model, we find that uncertain task structures can be problematic to leadership. For example, if officers are instructed by their supervisor to go out and make some arrests and not given any further details on the assignment, they are left not understanding the true goal of the assignment. In this example, a leader would gain better results from an assignment if their subordinates knew the true purpose of the assignment and were aware that there would be measurable results. â€Å"It is easier to lead when the task structure is clearly defined and open to direct monitoring by a supervisor (Stojkovic, Klofas & Kalinich, 2012). There are many different styles of leadership that one can utilize in an organization. The three that are the most commonly applied to the criminal justice profession include: the autocratic, democratic, and the laissez-faire styles of leadership. It is important for a leader to stick with a style that best fits their personality, but at times and depending on the circumstances facing them at any given time, they might switch back and forth from on style to another. The style of leadership one elects to utilize largely depends on what that leader wishes to accomplish (Lynch, 1998). The autocratic leader is authoritarian in nature. An autocratic leader would rather give orders and make all the decisions while gathering little or no input from others. Many times this does not provide the best of environments for subordinates to grow confident in making their own decisions. Autocratic have a tendency personalize criticism and are often times viewed as harsh or rigid. Autocratic leaders work well in times of crisis where an authoritarian is needed to quickly gain compliance and organize resources (Aleno, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008). An example of this would be in an officer involved shooting situation. When an officer is injured in the line of duty, emotions run high which often creates a chaotic situation that is difficult to control or manage. Autocratic leaders are most likely to be able to handle a situation such as this due to the fact they are quick to give orders and begin making the decisions that need to be made without much hesitation. Autocratic leaders in a criminal justice setting often work best with subordinates who are young and have little experience. The democratic leader is one that welcomes input from their subordinates under the right circumstances. Democratic leaders encourage their subordinates to participate in the decision making process which promotes teamwork and personal growth. Democratic leaders often times delegate duties to subordinates which further builds their confidence in decision making. Democratic leaders many times can struggle during times of emergency due to the fact they might take additional time to make decisions due to bringing others into the decision making process. The third leadership style, laissie-faire, is a style in which the leader will allow the subordinates to make the majority of the decisions on their own with little input or interference from the leader. This type of leadership can be effective in situations where subordinates perform properly without excessive direct supervision. An example of where a laissie-faire style of leadership could be utilized would be a unit comprised of self motivated veterans who require very little supervision. This style has few truly positive aspects and the agency could actually be placed in jeopardy due to this hands off approach to leadership. The laissez-faire style may not be leadership style at all; instead, it may be an abdication of administrative duties (Peak, 2004). How does leadership differ from management? Any criminal justice organization would benefit from having both managers and leaders among their ranks. There are managers who are not capable of true leadership and leaders who are not accomplished managers. In contrast, there are some who have the unique ability to perform well as both a manager and a leader. There are marked similarities and differences that make management and leadership roles important to a criminal justice agency. Management can be defined as â€Å"the fluid and dynamic component of administration† and as â€Å"a process of working with people in a humane way to achieve organizational goals and objectives as efficiently and effectively as possible (Aleno, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008). Managers concentrate much of their efforts on planning, organizing, directing, implementing, and evaluating. Criminal Justice mangers are known for prioritizing important aspects of an agency and ensuring that things such as resources and proper planning are in place. â€Å"Leadership means directing or the ability to obtain the â€Å"followership† of others† (Aleno, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008). Leadership can take on many forms and can be seen at all levels of a criminal justice agency. Leaders motivate and inspire their followers or subordinates to work towards a shared vision. Leaders envision the future and attempt to gain a followership among their subordinates which changes their way of thinking for the better of the agency and themselves. Leadership and management are similar in some ways while being completely different in others. Both management and leadership ultimately are working towards positive outcomes for an agency as a whole. Leaders and managers both have a common responsibility to work toward a more productive and efficient organization. While leadership and management accomplish this differently, both positions have an impact on the people within the organization. â€Å"Leaders and managers differ in what they attend to and how they think† (Aleno, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008). Managers concern themselves more with managing resources, planning, and directing in an effort to meet the goals of the agency. These tasks deal more in structuring behaviors and processes with less emphasis on what motivates personnel to be productive. By contrast, leaders are more concerned with motivating, praising, or inspiring. These ideas are more likely to have a positive impact on the minds and attitudes of the people within an organization to continue working towards a shared vision. Although there are similarities and differences in management and leadership, a criminal justice agency should contain both. Due to the fact that there are very positive characteristics of both managers and leaders, a criminal justice agency needs a combination of the two in order to maximize its potential. It is debatable as to whether one is more important that the other. Ideally, a manager would strive to develop leadership skills while a leader would strive to develop managerial skills. Why is leadership important in Criminal Justice? Leadership is an important part of a criminal justice organization for same reasons leadership is important to any organization. Leaders are responsible for keeping an organization focused on moving forward and progressing towards a better more improved organization. Leaders must be innovative and continue looking for new and better ways of doing business while encouraging their followers to share that positive mindset. Leadership is absolutely crucial in criminal justice for numerous reasons to include motivation and promoting ethical behavior. In a criminal justice organization, staying motivated can be a challenging at times for many reasons. With the inherent stressors and pressures of working in the criminal justice field, one can find themselves lacking the motivation needed to remain successful. It is the responsibility of leadership to recognize this type of mindset and deal with it appropriately. Leaders should strive to keep their subordinates motivated using creativity and making necessary changes that produced positive results. A criminal justice leader must know their subordinates and understand that each person is motivated differently. Promoting ethical behavior is another important aspect and responsibility of leadership in criminal justice. Unethical behaviors are present in any organization and a criminal justice agency is certainly no exception. In criminal justice especially, one can on a daily basis find themselves in an ethical dilemma. Ethical behavior must start at the top of a criminal justice agency and be seen and reinforced with regularity. Leadership can prevent a large number of unethical behaviors by simply being involved, engaged, and by holding their subordinates accountable. Leaders of a criminal justice organization must lead by example and have integrity. Those in a criminal justice leadership role who themselves choose to engage in unethical behaviors do an enormous disservice to the organization and to individual members. â€Å"The organizational climate which is directly influenced by the leadership of the agency determines how much unethical behavior will be present in a criminal justice agency or, for that matter, any organization† (Wright, 1999). There is absolutely no substitute for leadership within a criminal justice organization. It is absolutely vital for criminal justice organizations to not only ensure that there are strong leaders in the right positions within the organization, but to also invest in their people to ensure that quality leaders are being bred for the future. A criminal justice agency that does not invest in there people from a leadership stand point, are certainly doing themselves and the organization a disservice. Research has made it abundantly clear that the quality and quantity of leadership a criminal justice organization possesses will have a direct impact on the productivity, morale, and overall success that organization will experience. References Aleno, L. , Griffith, S. , Weaver, K. , & Wright, S. Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission. (2008). Middle management (Version 2008. 8). Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Dobbs, C. , & Field, M. (1993). Leaders vs. managers: The law enforcement formula. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 62(8), 22-25. Lynch, R. (1998). The police manager. (5th ed. ). Cincinnati, OH: anderson publishing co. Peak, K. J. (2004). Justice administration police, courts, and corrections management. (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Stojkovic, S. , Klofas, J. , & Kalinich, D. (2012). Criminal justice organizations, administration and management. (5th ed. ). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub Co. Wright, K. N. (1999). Leadership is the key to ethical practice in criminal justice agencies. Criminal Justice Ethics, 18(No. 2), Retrieved from http://www. questia. com/library/1G1-60060343/leadership-is-the-key-to-ethical-practice-in-criminal

Friday, September 13, 2019

Research Problem Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Problem - Research Paper Example Since these numbers must be absorbed into the system, public expenditures on education are continually rising to unsustainable levels. The challenge on financing is increasingly being felt, negatively impacting knowledge transfer. The second factor affecting transfer of knowledge is culture. Most Middle East countries have very conservative cultural norms. This is especially evident in the role of women. Women are generally perceived to be less capable in leadership positions, family priorities, etc. Although the trends are gradually changing, a father in Saudi Arabia has the impression that he is better placed to educate his son than his daughter. This implies that there are generally less girls than boys in schools; the reasons as to this why are purely cultural. Consequently, the society remains less educated inhibiting the flow of knowledge. The third factor is political instability. Saudi Arabia as a country has not experienced any form of political turmoil in recent years. However, Yemen, Iran and Syria are all countries that have experienced political unrest in one form or another. This affects neighbors of such countries; Saudi Arabia being one of them. This civil unrest in the aforementioned countries may spread to Saudi, considering the fact that it, like those countries, is headed by a monarchy – a contributive factor for the unrest sweeping across Arab countries in recent times. This unrest affects all sectors of the country’s landscape, part of which education and information are. Western countries have been major drivers of technology, a factor that continues to revolutionize the acquisition and dissemination of information. However, the Middle East has continued to display anti-Western tendencies. Iraq has been investing in nuclear power plants, an effort that does not sit well with the West and the world in general while Iran openly expresses ‘hate’ for the United States. This means that Middle

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Micro1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Micro1 - Essay Example However, the freedom of movement can also act as a determining factor of the existence or non-existence of freedom. When one has the freedom of movement, they have the choice to choose where the place they will move to is. They can either choose to move to a good place or move to a bad place. Let’s consider a hypothetical situation where two individuals have made a choice to move. One individual chooses to move to a good place while the other chooses to move to a bad place. Initially, the two individuals are both free, but their choice dictates their freedom. The individual who chooses to move to a good place is essentially free. This is because their choice has made them free. The other individual who chooses to move to a bad place, though initially having the freedom of choice, is not free on the basis of their choice. His choice determines that the freedom in itself does not make the individual free. This is the paradox of freedom. From this paradox, it can be derived that freedom does not necessarily make one individual free; it does not guarantee that one will be automatically free. The freedom of an individual is determined by the manner in which the individual uses the freedom at their disposal. Freedom is highly perishable. Any individual that has a particular freedom or is seeking for freedom has the fundamental obligation of using it wisely. If carelessly used or handled, freedom will automatically degrade due to its highly perishable nature. Another paradoxical feature of freedom is responsibility - responsibility comes with freedom. Any individual, group, or country that has achieved or attained freedom to a certain extent has had to take responsibility for it. A free individual is held accountable for their every decision, mistake or success and have to be answerable over any uncertainties or eventualities in terms of outcomes. Freedom therefore is not a lifeless concept but a concept of life; a living entity proof. Freedom has many forms, l evels, and states. Some of the aspects of freedom are on an individual basis while others are on an integral basis. The most basic but essential freedom is the freedom to think. This is an inner freedom that determines whether or not freedom is truly in existence. This is because the freedom of thought is the foundation of all other freedoms. Any kind of assault or annihilation of this freedom results to a restriction of all other freedoms. According to Hamilton (2011: 33), humans deprive themselves of freedom by pursuing their very desires. Man is so caught up in fulfilling his desires that he unknowingly curbs his freedom of thought. He becomes unable to spawn from his ability to think, and this is perilous because it is a fundamental freedom of man. The freedom to think is similar to the freedom to move. Similar to the freedom to move to either a good or a bad place, the freedom to think enables us as individuals to either have good thoughts or bad thoughts. At such a point, the questions that can be and ought to be asked are what are good thoughts and what are bad thoughts. The answer to this questions can be derived by an individual with regards to their beliefs, moral standards, and principles. In addition, the societal perception of certain issues can also be a basis for gauging whether the thoughts that an individual has are good or bad. However, the most standard way of determining the nature of thoughts that are generated by an individual is by analyzing their environment. From the concept of extension, the brain extends

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Globalization Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalization - Case Study Example Many things have conspired to make this trend a reality, primary of which is the constant push for globalization from liberal political theories that a â€Å"rising tide lifts all boats† as famously uttered by former president John F. Kennedy in one of his speeches. Another is rapid technology, especially in the areas of information and communications technologies (ICT) in which both geographic distance and time zone differentials had been shortened or compressed, in what is now called as a â€Å"flat world† where people produce goods and services continuously on a twenty-four hour basis. A very frequent theme of globalization critics is the concept of a â€Å"race to the bottom† in which manufacturers try to get the cheapest products made abroad at the lowest labor costs possible. These issues are the main concerns in this management case study regarding bicycle manufacturing. Discussion Super Sized Cycles is a little niche maker of custom-built bicycles intende d for big (obese or fat) people who are too big or heavy for ordinary and conventional bicycles. It is owned by Ms. Denizot and is in existence for barely five years already and operates out of the Burlington city in Vermont State in the United States of America. Her bikes are certainly not cheap, as these costs range from $699 up to $3,395 in price but these are built sturdier to carry overweight people and not collapse under a heavy load; the wheels, tires, seats, and steel frames are built much stronger than ordinary bikes. Sales last year was around $104,000 only. Mission Statement – Big Bikes for Big People at an affordable price of high quality Target Market – the obvious target market for this small niche-market manufacturer of big bikes are people who are obese or overweight which ordinary bicycles cannot carry as their big weight cause these ordinary bikes to either collapse or suffer a flat tire. There is now a sizable number of people who belong to this cate gory of overweight people as there is an on-going obesity epidemic in the United States of America due to changing lifestyle patterns, primarily the lack of any adequate physical exercise to burn off excess calories and the habits of many people to consume a lot of junk foods such as fast-food which are low in nutrients but high in bad cholesterol. In fact, this obesity epidemic is now so bad it is estimated that one out of every three adult Americans is considered overweight based on the body mass index or BMI which is the easiest way to measure if a person is obese or not (The Economist para. 3). Even children today are also markedly obese compared to kids two or three decades ago. Economists have considered imposing a so-called â€Å"fat tax† to discourage the people from eating too much junk food these days. However, there is another more positive approach to changing people behaviors through an activist approach which is to encourage obese people to be more physically ac tive through exercise. One of the healthier and more fun ways to do so is through biking and Super Sized Cycles has wonderfully found this viable alternative by offering to overweight people the chance to own a bike that is suitable for their size. There is a clear customer need for big bikes for big people who often cannot find the right bike. A generic business-level strategy for this small company for big bikers is to market exclusively to people who are considered obese based on their individual BMI. This is a type of focused strategy which means the company should sell big bikes only and nothing else that will dilute its strategy and make it lose its marketing focus. Examples are the two models that the owner had developed by herself (named as â€Å"

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Distance Zones (Sociology Class) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Distance Zones (Sociology Class) - Research Paper Example In his groundbreaking study, Prof. Hall introduced the four notations in his system, which are the public, social, personal and intimate distance (Weiten, Dunn & Hammer 247). The diagram as shown below illustrates his theory on how distance affects the way people will interact: This paper is a summary of several observations made in a crowded mall nearby and how many people fit into Halls distance zones during the course of the day, as shown below. The table comprises a total of one hundred observations made over the course of one hour: The largest group is composed of social distance which is not quite surprising if we consider that the mall is pretty much crowded during the time of the observation and it is also a weekend (Sunday mid-afternoon). People may have wanted more distance between them but inside a crowded mall, this is not entirely possible, especially with a special sale going on and there were many shoppers hunting for bargains. This partly explains why the public zone was smaller than anticipated because the mall is an enclosed space rather than an open mall like a country mall (strip mall) or town center. The third largest group is the intimate zone as lovers (adolescents, young singles, newly-married spouses and older couples) may have found a sale a good reason to bring their loved ones along and at the same time enjoy a little intimacy too. The personal zone comprised the smallest group and this more or less coincides with the rare occasion of a special sale for friends or colleagues to go out to gether. Many people have opted to go with their families or lovers, instead of going out with friends, many of whom they see a lot of times already on other occasions. The intimate distance group is not limited to lovers only but includes families going out together (parents and children) as well. As an aside, it is rare to have seen an older man and a younger woman