Causes and Effects of Poverty in Society Research Paper

Causes and Effects of Poverty in Society - Research Paper Example Causes and effects of poverty are interrelated and problems associated with poverty never occur alone. The deficiency of income for sustainability may be inherited and the vicious cycle of poverty results to the passing of these problems from one generation to another (Blau 265). Due to tensions in the social circles, nations stand threatened due to the resulting income inequalities which could result to a country being destabilized. Poor housing, unsafe work environments as well as diseases related to food and water results from the lack of enough money ((Blau 272). Socially, poverty results to high infant mortality and death rates, increased diseases related to hygiene and diet, increased crime rates as people devise survival ways to face poverty and finally increased homelessness. Politically, nations face increased risks of war, mass emigration, genocide as well as terrorism (Blau 276) Step 6: Summarizing Sources Deaton, A. Health, inequality and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 41: 113. 58, 2003. Print Deaton (58) discusses the mechanisms which are associated with inequality and health as well as review evidence on the effects of the existing income inequality on people’s mortality. ... Parents experiencing hard economic times are very strict as well as become erratic followed by issuance of demands and resulting to insulting their children not to mention administering corporal punishment (Duncan 98). Poor families are trapped the poverty cycles for as many as there exists many disadvantages which collectively work in a circular process making it impossible for individuals to break the poverty cycle (Duncan 105. This is because the poor lack resources to get them out of the poverty, such as finances, quality education, or social connections. Individuals who are poverty-stricken experience disadvantages as a result of their poverty and in turn increases their poverty. This would mean that the poor remain poor throughout their live (Duncan 86). Step 8: Integrating Sources The cause of poverty is as a result of inequality in the income distribution and this leads to deficiency in meeting the basic needs. Another cause of poverty is lack of quality education which is no t able to secure well paying jobs for people or is unable to start income generating activities (Deaton 58). Therefore, the lack of any work to do for individuals eventually results to poverty. Corruption is another contributing factor to causing poverty as it robs the poor to pay the rich off their corrupt activities. Corruption may deprive individual equal opportunities to work competently as the corrupt always have their way even on securing of jobs. Unforeseen circumstances such as the natural calamities may also cause poverty due to the property damage experienced. Finally, a strain on the natural resources due to overpopulation also causes poverty in

The Price of Greatness Is Responsibility Essay Example for Free

The Price of Greatness Is Responsibility Essay In his first few days in office, President Barack Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U. S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, while he could have let the US military continue devastating that part of the world on the basis of false allegations made by the previous senator. Our public figures are not only well known, but admired and loved. However, with their fame and greatness come great expectations from us, the public. Under their seemingly exotic outer shell and fame, they are simply ordinary people like the common man on the street. Even in literature, public figures are faces with expectations of being perfect. For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is a well-known local lawyer. He has an overall good reputation, and he is a very learned man; however, one day, he chooses to defend a black man in a case against a white man. The black man is convicted of raping the white mans daughter, and even though all charges are faced towards the white man lying, the black man is proven guilty. Atticus Finch receives a lot of hatred for his decision to face someone who is unlike him, and his children also hear a lot from the citizens of their town. The citizens of his town always thought of him as someone who they could look up to, but when he defies their initial trust with something that they could not even imagine, they start degrading him. In this way, the public expects a lot from their public figures, because they inspire it to lead others in the same way. Winston Churchill once said â€Å"If the people of the United States had continued in a mediocre station, struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs, and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the world, they might have remained forgotten and undisturbed beyond their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilized world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes. † It is also evident that public figures are faced with many expectations in everyday life. For instance, the current American president, Barack Obama. It is already extremely difficult to actually be president, but Obama is, arguably, president during one of the hardest times in history. He has been ruling us through a difficult recession, capture of a very dangerous terrorist, and just hard times in general. However, even though he is most likely trying his hardest in order to be a successful president, he has to always be careful because even a minor slip-up can cause citizens to stop believing in him as a success.

Signaling and Screening Approaches in Car Manufacturing

Signaling and Screening Approaches in Car Manufacturing Signaling and screening are key approaches to minimize judgmental errors in situations where there is asymmetric information. One such situation occurs when a firm wishes to assess individuals for consideration as a prospective employee. This report reviews and applies the different concepts studied to a car manufacturing company, Audi. The structure of the paper will be as follows: elaboration on various signaling approaches, an evaluation of the firm’s effectiveness and relative costs with respect to Audi, followed by showing the business outcomes subsequent to the use of different approaches. Finally, recommendations are made to allow Audi to boost its effectiveness in identifying the most suitable applicants. The Audi Group (AG) has been named one of the most successful car manufacturers in the premium and supercar segment. A total of 1,751,007 cars have been delivered by the company to clients compared to the 1,634,312 cars in the past fiscal year. Conversely, a new record was constructed when the main brand ‘Audi’ amplified its total number of units delivered by 8.3% to 1,575,480 vehicles. The AG manufactures in ten sites worldwide and these production sites consist of two plants in Germany while another eight other facilities are in Belgium, China, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. Moreover, its front-line logistical practices; synchronised Audi assembly system and an extremely competent workforce of approximately 73,751 assure uniform standards globally. Since each Audi production site attains high standards of excellence, productivity and conservational suitability, this could be the reason for the many awards received by the AG in 2014 which includes the ‘Best Employer Award ’and ‘World Car of the Year’. While some theories hold common views, others have conflicting ones. For instance, the human capital theory identifies that an increase in level of education has critical impacts on profitability and productivity. On the other hand, pure signaling theory states that education does not result in productivity towards the society and questions the investments which individuals made when seeking them. Under human resource management, signalling often occurs during the recruitment process. This is illustrated by Spence (1973), where it shows that signaling theory is concerned with reducing information asymmetry between two parties. Spence (1973) developed the labour market to showcase education as a signal. As employers have limited information regarding on the quality of job applicants, these applicants thus obtain education to signal their quality and reduce information asymmetries. Hence, Spence’s model emphasises on education as a way in transmitting characteristics that are unobservable of job applicants. The next signaling theory utilises two variables- high and low quality firms. In this model, imperfect information exists, where firms know its own worth, while external sources such as investors and customers do not. A choice is then made by each firm on whether to signal its true qualities to outsiders, based on the different payoffs that are presented to them. For each of the different quality firms, two payoffs will result for the various decisions made. The high-quality firm will receive payoff A if it chooses to signal and B if it chooses not to. As for the low-quality firm, it will receive payoff C and D for the respective decisions. Since both firms are assumed to make rational decisions, they would choose whichever option which gives them a higher payoff so as to be better off. With this assumption, there would be a separating equilibrium where high-quality firms are motivated to signal and low-quality firms are not (i.e. when payoff A is greater than payoff B and payoff D is larger than payoff C). It also effectively enables external sources to identify high-quality firms from low-quality firms. However, a pooling equilibrium occurs when both types of firms benefit from signaling (i.e., A > B and C > D) and outsiders can no longer differentiate between the two firms. From the financial economists perspectives, firm debt and dividends are used as representation of signals on firm quality. These signals will influence the external environment of its opinions on the quality of firms. Ross refers to this quality as ‘‘an unobservable skill of the business to earn positive cash flows in the future using financial structure and/or managerial incentives as signals’’. By doing so, only firms of high-quality are able to make interest and dividend payments over a long period of time as low-quality firms cannot bear such payments. Understanding the concept of quality is important since it is a distinctive factor in most signaling models. Quality refers to the fundamental, unnoticeable capability of a signaller to satisfy the demands or needs of an outsider observing the signal. This idea of quality may be similar to reputation and prestige, but are essentially derived from the signaler’s unnoticed feature. Based on the understanding of concepts from various approaches, three elements of the signaling process are identified: the signaller, the signal and the receiver are looked upon. Moreover, each of these elements below will be illustrated using Audi, the selected manufacturing company. Firstly, signallers are known as insiders that can acquire information concerning an individual, product or organisation that external parties are not entitled to. The insiders include directors or executives of the Audi Group. Information obtained can either be positive or negative and usually consists of confidential and high level details on Audi’s products or facilities. As the information is confidential to the insiders, it allows for some aspects of privileged perception on the primary quality of the individual, product or organization. The next element is the signal itself. This is the point when insiders make a decision on whether to share the information to external parties. In a signalling theory, the focus is on relaying positive information to achieve positive organisational attributes. For example, distribution of shares is a form of negative signal which displays that executives believe the company’s stock price is overvalued. The insiders’ main aims are to reduce information asymmetry while the negative signals sent are often an unplanned consequence of the insider’s action. An efficacious signal comes in two forms signal observability and signal cost. ‘Signal observability’ refers to the extent to which external parties are able to notice signals. When the steps taken by insiders are not easily detected by outsiders, communication with receivers will become unlikely. ‘Signal cost’ under the signaling framework will contain the fact that a number of signallers can absorb the associated costs better than others. For instance, the costs related with gaining ISO9000 certification (a certification which considers different aspects of quality management) are high due to the process of accreditation being relatively time consuming as well as preventing false signaling. Nevertheless, a high-quality manufacturer would find ISO9000 certification less costly unlike a low-quality manufacturer as a manufacturer that is of lower quality would need to implement more changes in order to be presented the accreditation. False signaling occurs when a signaller does not have the basic qualities connected with the signal but trusts that the benefits of signaling outweigh the costs of producing the signal. Therefore, in order for signaling to remain effective, signaling costs have to be planned so that false signals do not pay. The final element is the receiver. Based on the signalling models, receivers are the exact opposite of signallers whereby receivers do not have access to information regarding Audi but wants to have it. Hence, there is a conflict of interest such that any deceit would allow the signaller to have an advantage over the receiver. Signaling ought to have a strategic outcome which typically comprises selection of the signaller in favour of other possibilities. The approach on this signaling is that outsiders will benefit directly or collectively with the signaller from the decision made based on the data attained. To illustrate, the receiver can choose between hiring, purchasing, or investing. By reading the signals carefully, interested applicants will be able to identify if the skills and capabilities that the individual have are the right fit for respective firms and thereby do a self-selection for the firm to consider the applicant on hiring prospects. Audi engages using various aspects, besides putting in place attractive monetary benefits, to send out indirect but positive signals to show that Audi cares about the employees’ well-being. These aspects include the provision of job security, professional development, and healthy working environment between coworkers and supervisors along with other attractive non-monetary incentives. Audi is dependent on the skills and commitment of employees of excellent traits. Thus, feedbacks are often performed amongst employees to measure the extent of satisfaction levels. Due to its prominent existence and continuous international growth, Audi is capable of using its national and international ratings to signal themselves as an attractive employer worldwide. For example, it is known that Audi has the biggest manufacturing facility in Germany and has even invested in an institution that provides training and learning opportunities to employees. This effectively allowed Audi to become the few top employers in the region with over 33,729 employees. Employers need to find ways to motivate employees in order for signaling to be effective as dedicated and well-trained staff is vital for Audi to progress and succeed. One way is through personnel development where employees are led, challenged and cheered on in the beginning so that their fortes and ideas can be applied. Thus, an organized, intensive and reliable model for the ideal improvement of all workers is being executed. The organizational structure of Audi is another signal that attracts many job applicants. What the company looks for is neither the rank nor the period of service of an employee, but rather the loyalty, performance and capabilities that makes them an asset to the firm. This shows that Audi has a decentralized hierarchy where specific knowledge is required and responsibility is at all levels. Hence, being a recruit may not necessarily be a disadvantage. Moreover, supervisors evaluate an employee’s performance by making the decision on his/her wages increment and future prospective of the individual by communicating with each other. This method is also closely linked to promotions where Audi uses the concept of ‘‘good performance – good opportunities’’. It gives an employee the opportunity to learn as much as possible from various divisions through a manner of ‘on- and off-the-job’ selection. Most companies use salaries to signal applicants and/or employees. Audi has effectively put the signal to right use when the rewards received by employees are considerably greater than the initial negotiated amount. With profit-sharing distribution, satisfaction levels are likely to increase, in turn driving motivation. Each individual employee’s credentials, proficiency and former experiences determine the amount of remuneration he/she receives. Audi ensures that new entrants are assured a healthy work life environment where a range of benefits are available and entitlement to ‘‘open-ended contracts’’. These benefits cater to families where childcares are taken into account for employees; and to individuals where health insurance is of utmost importance to maintain as a strong health-focused workplace. More importantly, Audi takes care of its employees even after retirement through the ‘old-age pension scheme’. This may be the reason for Audi’s recent achievement of the ‘‘Best Employer 2014’’ title as employees are never hesitant about praising the company to others. The above section desribed many effective signals which Audi uses to attract potential employees. However, due to the outcome of demographic change and overall value formation processes, Audi still faces the risk of a shortage of professionals and/or skilled workers. As such, the human resource division are found to be focusing heavily on individual development, supporting the employees with extensive training programs to help them develop multiple skills. However, Audi failed to realise that these signalling approaches are very costly to the firm and needs to be reviewed through the following recommendations which could reduce cost significantly and at the same time achieve efficiency. In this model, there are two periods considered: the probation period and the non-probation period. Audi can adopt the probation model by first assessing employees during the probationary period with a relatively lower pay. If the worker is able to pass this probationary period, then a high wage is given subsequently. This effectively ensures productivity and constant monitoring of employees so that the right type of applicants is attracted to the company. By having an ‘old-age pension scheme’ for its retiring employees, it shows Audi’s valuation and treatment of its employees. A suggestion to allow senior employees of various specialties to join the senior management or board of directors for recruitment assessment of new applicants could be a relatively more cost-effective measure and the risks of selecting the wrong applicants would definitely be lowered as senior employees have the knowledge and experience to screen for potential employees. Self-selection, in the context of recruitment refers to a process whereby the right employees for the business decides to apply while the wrong employees does not. Hence, it is crucial for organisations to send signals to attract applicants and it would be an added bonus if signals are presented such that individuals perform self-selection for consideration. Bearing this in mind, Audi may consider a ‘‘piece-rate contract’’ which indicates the pay levels received by the individual when he/she attains a certain level of productivity. Thus, Audi will be able to deter less skilled workers from applying and only skilled workers are being screened. Besides conducting satisfaction surveys, Audi should instead implement a suggestion scheme where employees can provide valuable inputs to improve productivity and ensure the safe operation of manufacturing. To encourage participation, a reward in the form of extended off-day leaves or sponsored specialized education can be provided to the employee whose suggestion is acted upon by Audi. Audi can consider including other forms of incentives which consists of individual incentive plans and/or team incentive plans. Individual incentive plans can be ‘‘straight piece-work’’ system where work is less challenging and more acceptable by employees since it can be easily understood. This ensures that employees are more comfortable with the task given and will be motivated to produce efficient work. While it has been noted that Audi uses profit-sharing distribution on top of bonuses, it would probably be a better incentive for the firm to use stock ownership or options as awards instead since the effect on financial statements would be minimum and the additional profits earned by the firm could be used for further enhancement in research and development. Overall, the signaling theory is a useful indictor to describe the conduct of individuals or organizations when information is available. Normally, the sender will decide on the method and audience to send its signals to while the receiver learns to interpret those signals. However, the use of signalling approaches needs to be an appropriate fit to the business so that additional cost would not be incurred at the extent of the organisation’s and employer to employee relationship growth. Taking Audi as an example, if Audi is able to improve on its signalling approaches, the business will continue to be an attractive employer worldwide in the long run.

Maybe Later Essay -- Personal Narrative Creative Writing Essays

Maybe Later She’s sitting there, a blown-out shell as hulking and vacant and lifeless as the enchanted castles of my beloved fairy-tale stories. The television cries for attention, but her eyes refuse to acknowledge even its blatant wail. Behind tinted glass—is that smudged dirt or a protective coating?—eyes finally flutter open, the first sign of life. Are they blank? Do they beg for help or scream of past and present pain? I can’t say—I haven’t the courage to look. The world rotates around its axis three times an hour and I run with it. â€Å"Soccer cleats, water bottle, there you go.† â€Å"Fine—I’ll be there in an hour.† â€Å"Okay, groceries, post office, soccer practice . . . hmm . . . what do you want for dinner?† Family members dance around the kitchen in the ultimate test of agility to avoid tromping on another’s toes. â€Å"There’s nothing to eat!† â€Å"Love you—bye!† â€Å"Come back here! Pick that up right now!† A slap of the cupboard door, dashed kisses, and a sprint for keys—trip! crash! yell! A mad cacophony—entirely normal, unsettling, and dear. Grandma sits there. She has not moved. The eye of the storm? Or merely forgotten by time? Dad and I walk away from it all sometimes, releasing frustration in fruitless lament. Sometimes we laugh bitterly. Sometimes his words are a painful reminder of a happier and more carefree time. â€Å"I just had to get out of the house. Usually I can take it—but tonight!† His stride slows in failure. â€Å"I never wanted you to realize how different she is. I tried—I hoped you’d never recognize her illness. And pretending used to work. I’m—I’m sorry you have to see it now. She used to love to visit, you know, and you loved her back.† I strain to remember lost time and attitude... ...te and poofy dress waving a crystalline magic wand and saying the magic words as I am instantaneously granted love and patience and relief from guilt and dread. But there is no magic wand or sudden connection of love and understanding. There is no resolution of perfect peace. I stare at these words and am instead startled, not by supreme happiness or tranquility, but by a resilient hope. The world does not end with this page. I will push print and the world will go on, and I will continue to create my world. â€Å"Happily ever after† is unnecessary. Instead, maybe I will sit down next to her and simply speak. Tonight maybe I will kiss her cheek as she goes up to bed. Maybe I will hold her hand as she struggles up the stairs or joke with her, whether she understands or not. This is no end, and there doesn’t yet need to be—I’m still trying. to Current Contest Winners

Inventions That Affected the World Essay

Our world has experienced many changes within the last century. New inventions are made every month, and one of the most influential changes is the invention of the cellphone. The cellphone has completely changed the way we communicate, as well as the speed, convenience, and quality of our communication. Technology has made such an impact on society that most people won’t leave home without their cellphones. Also computers became human’s best friend. This is why one of the most life changing pieces of technology for many people has been the smartphone, an all-in-one, portable device that combines the functions of a cell phone with the functions of a computer. But how was life before this technology even existed? Back in the past, communicating with people was hard, especially with long distance. Letters were the only option to let someone know about something. But after the phone was invented, contacting people got much easier than before, even though, not everyone owned a phone. Computers were the other device that was invented, it was and still used in almost every concern. Then Internet invention had to step in and make life much easier. With Internet, people made electronic mails, which was another way to communicate with others. But to own all these things was very pricey back then, and to have them with you anywhere you go was not possible. So to do a specific thing, you had to use a specific device. To reach someone immediately, you had to use the phone that was wired-up and the recipient had to be close to his wired-up phone as well. To go to a specific location, you had to ask people that are familiar with the area you are going to. To send an email, you had to do it through the Internet from a computer. To remind yourself of a meeting something, you had to keep sticking little notes on your fridge door. To take a picture, you obviously needed a camera, and to send it to somebody, you had to use the mail and that would take couple days for the receiver to see it. To calculate an amount, you needed a calculator or you had to be good at math. To check next day’s weather you had wait till after the news on TV. To listen to your favorite music you had to buy a cassette or a CD and then go play it in your home stereo†¦ But after the smartphone was invented couple years ago, the race of human beings found everything to be easy. We can literally do anything with it, and with all the applications available we can even do more than we ever thought in just couple seconds. From calling someone to buying an airline ticket, it’s all available with a portable device that stays in your pocket. However, in my opinion the smartphone is the one of the best inventions ever made. I would highly recommend this gadget to anyone in this planet, because with it, we are never lost, never bored or wasting time, and always with an answer.

Building Sentences With Absolute Phrases

Building Sentences With Absolute Phrases Among the modifiers that are used to add information to sentences, the absolute phrase may be the least common but one of the most useful. Identifying Absolute Phrases An absolute phrase is a word group that modifies an entire sentence. It consists of a noun plus at least one other word, as shown here: The hunters rested for a moment in front of the shack, their breaths white in the frosty air. The noun (breaths) that begins this absolute phrase is followed by an adjective  (white) and a prepositional phrase (in the frosty air). In addition to adjectives and prepositional phrases, adverbs and participles can also follow the noun in an absolute phrase. As the sentence above shows, an absolute phrase lets us move from a description of a whole person, place, or thing to just one or more parts: from hunters, for instance, to their breaths. Building and Arranging Absolute Phrases Consider how the sentence might be broken down into two sentences: The hunters rested for a moment in front of the shack.Their breaths were white in the frosty air. The second sentence can be turned into an absolute phrase simply by omitting the linking verb were. As we have seen, the absolute phrase may appear at the end of a sentence: The hunters rested for a moment in front of the shack, their breaths white in the frosty air. The absolute phrase may also appear at the beginning of the sentence: Their breaths white in the frosty air, the hunters rested for a moment in front of the shack. And occasionally an absolute phrase is positioned between the subject and verb: The hunters, their breaths white in the frosty air, rested for a moment in front of the shack. Notice that an absolute phrase, like a participle phrase, is usually set off from the rest of the sentence by a pair of commas. NEXT: Revising Sentences with Absolute Phrases