The role which has been played by blogs and social networking in altering our daily usage of the internet and the World Wide Web

The development of the internet has been perhaps the best thing which has ever happened to human beings, as far as computer-based communication is concerned. Ever since its introduction in the world way back in 1965, the internet has continued to play a significant role in our lives.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The role which has been played by blogs and social networking in altering our daily usage of the internet and the World Wide Web specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The advanced use of the internet or the World Wide Web in the contemporary world has had a revolutionary impact to the people all over the world, thus helping to improve their lives in a special way. The human life in vast areas of accountability has been made easier through the possibilities of world wide communications currently offered by the internet. As it would be observed, culture and commerce are some of the key aspects involving human s today that have been impacted largely by this modern trend of communication which continues to touch every part of our lives. On this particular note, the internet has played a major role in enhancing communication and interaction among people of different cultural backgrounds, through interactive elements like search engines and social networking sites found on the internet. More importantly, the evolution of the internet has continued to play a key role in today’s business arena in a number of ways. In regard with this subject, this paper examines how the use of blogs and social networking has altered our daily usage of the World Wide Web and the internet. The constant use of blogs and social networking as some of the main tools of communication offered by the internet has altered the way people use the World Wide Web. Just a couple of years ago, the internet would be seen as a platform for kids and idle adults to kill time in ways that could not be more useful. This woul d include things such as sharing of pictures and rants, email communication, and computer gaming, among other engaging activities. However, today, things have completely changed, and internet has emerged as one of the many things courtesy of the computer technology which have proved to be very useful to the human life. As a matter of fact, millions of people across the world have discovered just how the internet could be used for other beneficial ways, apart from simple communication and gaming (Goh Quek 2010). Today, people can interact freely with each other and even conduct business over the internet through blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and My Space, among others. As it would be observed, most of these activities are based on social and economic grounds, and it is for such reasons why people would remain attached to the internet nowadays than ever before.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can hel p you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Blogs are interactive platforms through which people can communicate with each other and be able to share and discuss important things in life. Different people would tend to blog for varied reasons that would range from personal to commercial purposes. In this regard, blogging offers both personal and corporate benefits to its many users across the world. As it would be observed, there are diverse reasons as to why many people in the current world would prefer using blogging as a way of interaction and communication over the internet (Miura Yamashita 2007). First of all, blogging is an effective and first way of establishing relationships, and for that reason, it serves as a convenient way through which marketers and other business people could create links with potential customers. Another common purpose for using blogs is to build reputation and credibility online about one’s business. In this regard, businesses are able to provide information regarding their products and services to potential customers through an interactive basis where they can receive feedback and comments from the targeted audience. This, however, plays a significant role when it comes to understanding consumer interests better, thus giving marketers a better stand against their competitors in the market. Blogging also offers growing businesses an opportunity to create or establish community online. In this case, businesses can share their expertise, knowledge, and information on their products and/or services with a larger audience. More importantly, businesses can blog their new product updates, holidays, and other specials regarding their businesses, thus creating and maintaining good relationships with customers and clients. Apart from the benefits highlighted above, blogging also offers vast communication benefits to both the bloggers and the targeted people. Through this form of online communication, people can a lways be assured of effective communication all the time. Moreover, people would be sure to save much of their time when they use blogs to convey their message to the audience, than when they use other mediums of communication. More importantly, blogs are also known to offer a better solution for notification than email or websites. One common advantage of using blogs over other forms of online communication is that they are an inexpensive method of passing information to persons. Unlike the website, which involves many things which the users have to be familiar with before they can use them, operating a blog would only require one to have basic computer skills. Blog software is easy to operate, since they involve pushing of a few buttons on the computer keyboard, before the task is completed. This usually involves typing one’s thoughts or ideas, linking to relevant resources, and then publishing to blog for people to read. The idea of blogging is said to serve a wide array o f purposes beyond what people are likely to realise via the use of social media. As a matter fact, it is for these specific reasons why many people in the current world have decided to opt for blogs as the effective ways of conveying information.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The role which has been played by blogs and social networking in altering our daily usage of the internet and the World Wide Web specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Social media has also played a very important role in changing the way humans use the World Wide Web or the internet. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and My Space, just to mention but a few, have emerged as very powerful platforms that have helped to transform the way we communicate and do business in the current world. These interactive sites have continued to play a key role in promoting and enhancing human interaction across the globe. As a matter of fact, social network site s have proved to be useful in enabling people interact online easily. Unlike the traditional ways of communication and the other forms of internet communication that entails the use of forums, email, and message boards, the use of social networking sites closely resembles face-to-face conversations, and this makes communication more effective. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and My Space are altering the human fabric of the World Wide Web. As it would be observed, none of the above social networks appeared to be exciting for the last five years, where they were seen as just virtual sites fit for kids and idlers than anything else. This perception, however, has changed completely in the current world where a greater percentage of the global population is said to be very active on these sites. According to current statistics on internet, Facebook alone has amassed over 600 million members and users across the world. On the same note, over 200 million are sai d to be actively involved in matters involving twitter. The same high participation is also observable in other social networks. This massive usage is a clear indication that the social sites are taking humans somewhere exciting. One common aspect of the social networks is that they do enable people to stay connected all the time, regardless of the geographical barriers separating them in life, among other common obstacles of normal interaction and communication. In this regard, there are many ways through which social networks have changed our lives, thus altering the daily usage of the internet in the world. One significant way by which social networks have widely been used is for normal socialisation. Social networking sites have become useful platforms of modern interactions through which people having similar interests and goals can connect. In this respect, employers can easily get in touch with their employees in matters of work, thus enhancing performance and productivity in the workplace. Moreover, people can easily communicate with their friends and family members.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Colgate and Buchanan (2005, p. 429), what makes the use of these interactive sites more interesting is the fact that, apart from them being virtual spaces upon which information can be managed in an efficient manner, the sites also enable their users to listen to music, share photos and watch videos, among other stuff. More importantly, just like such engines such as Google and Yahoo, social networking sites can also be educational and informational, and this keeps users updated on many things in life. Social sites such as Facebook and Twitter are also viewed as the most reliable communication platforms in the current world through which celebrities, and managers of non-profit organisations can reach out to their targets of interest. These social sites have also become the touchstone for politicians and other high-profile people who are willing to publicise and promote their causes. In this regard, the targeted people can also use the interactive platforms to share thei r ideas and voice their opinions. Moreover, they can also communicate with these people on a one-on-one basis. Social networking sites have become common among the younger generations in the world. For this reason, progressive politicians and other famous icons have seen them as the most efficient ways of reaching to the tech sawy youth of the current world, thus going for them without hesitation. Social networking sites have also proved to be useful tools in the modern business world. Things in this world are changing fast with times, and such is the business world which has taken every initiative possible to stay ahead in matters regarding technology. In the current times, progressive marketers and businesses allover the world have embraced the power of technology to reach their customers and try to engage them in useful communication that will help in improving their business relationships with them. In this case, marketers and businesses have turned to social sites as important platforms upon which they can advertise their products and services. Burn and Loch (2007, p. 39) claim that by â€Å"simply placing banners and advertisement texts about their products and services, companies and other businesses can be assured of reaching more customers in diverse regions, thus increasing their sales in the long run†. More importantly, social sites are cost inefficiency, thus enabling entrepreneurs and investors to draw insight on their businesses without having to incur much expense in terms of advertisement and publicity. The fact that sites such as Facebook offer much exposure to commercial advertisements, possibly owing to its great popularity across the world, has attracted many investors and entrepreneurs into the habit of using the social sites to promote their businesses. Both established and emerging businesses in the modern world have adopted the idea of social presence as a convenient way of testing their services on consumers. In this respect, cu stomers are able to air their views and give suggestions on products and services, among other aspects, thus helping businesses to understand their interests well. This plays a crucial role in facilitating future improvements to serve the customers better. Thanks to current advancements in the communication sector, an access to the internet has been extended to reach beyond computers to mobile phones. In this regard, internet users across the world are able to reach the internet and access social networking sites simply by pushing a button on their phones. This offers great opportunities to businesses, which are ever eager to reach an expansive market for their products and services. It is worth noting that social networking sites have also played a crucial role to modern journalism. Today, it is easy for the people in the media sector to reach large masses of people in the world, through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In this case, news and other important in formation would have reached the audience long before they are aired through traditional media. More importantly, some news websites offer people the opportunity to share their version of a news event before it goes on air, thus adding value to the report. The ability to sift through news and speculated events offered by the social sites gives everyone who can access the internet a better understanding of the information, compared with anyone who relies just on traditional media to get to know about news (Sohail 2012). The other notable place where the effective use of social media has applied is in the business and recruitment sectors. As a matter of fact, there are businesses that operate solely on social networking sites such as My Space, Linked In, and Facebook. This, however, enables them to interact well with their clients and other people that may be of interest to them. In this regard, the businesses would sometimes see these interactive sites as convenient zones to seek pot ential employees, thus placing employment advertisements on them for willing applicants to apply. Linked In, which specialises on career and professional matters, is known to have undoubtedly played a key role in advancing careers by helping Human Resource professionals in the world discover potential employees with the desired qualities. In just another perspective, some potential employers have adopted a new way of getting to know their potential employees better through the social networking sites (Kumar, Novak Tomkins 2010). This has the meaning that it is possible for the employers to sift through the applicants’ information using sites such as Facebook, and make informed conclusions about them, before they get to hire them in their companies. On this note, it should always be understood by everyone that social networks can sometimes play a significant role in our professional lives, and therefore, it would always be a good idea for people to be careful with the kind of information they post on the internet for others to see. While good images and information give the best reflection of someone, compromising information, images or any other details can severely hurt one’s chances to pursue employment. The use of blogs and social networking sites, as observed in this paper, has completely changed the usage of the World Wide Web in the world. Blogs and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and My Space, among others have completely reduced communication barriers in all aspects of human life. As observed in this paper, many people across the world have become great fans of the internet, owing to the many social and economic benefits associated with the trend. This, however, explains the current changes on the daily use of the internet in the current world. List of References Burn, J Loch, K 2007, ‘The societal impact of the World Wide Web-Key challenges for the 21st century’, Social Responsibility in the Informati on Age: Issues and Controversies, vol. 12. no. 29, pp. 34-39. Colgate, M Buchanan, O 2005, ‘Relationship benefits in an internet environment’, Managing Service Quality, vol. 15. no. 5, pp. 426-436, via Global Internet database. Goh, J Quek, C 2010, ‘An investigation of students’ perceptions of learning benefits of weblogs in an East Asian context: A Rasch analysis’, Educational Technology Society, vol. 13. no. 2, pp. 90-101. Kumar, R, Novak, J, Tomkins, A 2010, Structure and evolution of online social networks, Springer, New York. Miura, A Yamashita, K 2007, ‘Psychological and social influences on blog writing: An online survey of blog authors in Japan’, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 12. no. 4, pp. 1452-1471. Sohail, Q 2012, How social networks have changed our world, http://www.techi.com/ This essay on The role which has been played by blogs and social networking in altering our daily usage of the internet and the World Wide Web was written and submitted by user Harmony W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The eNotes Blog 7 Famous Authors and their DayJobs

7 Famous Authors and their DayJobs As summer winds down and a new school year starts up again, it seems like only yesterday when we celebrated the completion of our many school projects and exams. It’s hard not to wonder, â€Å"Where did the time go?† It may feel like we have trouble accomplishing everything that we want to do, but despair not! Some of our favorite authors in the classical canon pushed through their own daily grind just like the rest of us, and they still managed to write literary masterpieces. Let’s take a look at a brief history of the behind-the-scenes work of seven renowned writers and their day jobs. 1. Willa Cather, Powerhouse Magazine Editor Best known texts: Her â€Å"Great Plains Trilogy†- O, Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My ntonia, which portray life on the rugged American frontier at the time of westward expansion. Willa Cather left the Midwest for the comparatively bustling Northeast shortly after graduating from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in order to pursue a career in journalism. In time, she made her way to New York City to become an editor of fiction and poetry at McClure Magazine, a popular periodical now famous for its role in shaping American investigative journalism. A hardworking, successful, cosmopolitan figure in the realm of literary journalism, Cather left her position at McClure’s at the start of her middle age to fully devote her attention to novel writing. It was after this that she wrote the famous â€Å"Great Plains Trilogy† for which she is so acclaimed. 2. Joseph Conrad, Man of the Sea Best known texts: Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, which illustrate the effects of European colonialism in the late 19th century. As a young man, Joseph Conrad left Poland to work as a marine merchant across Europe, mostly on British ships. Since voyages were long and toilsome, reading was a principal recourse for the sailor. After two decades of work, Conrad left the mariner’s life to take up a career in writing. He went on to write several works colored with the sights and experiences of his life at sea. 3. T. S. Eliot, Pencil-Pushing Banker Best known texts: â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† and The Waste Land, which draw heavily on allusions to Western and Eastern cultures and serve as hallmarks of modernist poetry. While Eliot’s works are thought of as a pinnacle in English literary culture, the poet wrote some of his most famous works between grinding away at desk jobs to make ends meet for himself and his wife, Vivienne. Eliot lectured at various colleges in England for a short period before he took a clerical position at Lloyd’s Bank in London. It was during his years at Lloyd’s that he wrote his seminal work â€Å"The Waste Land.† This poem’s themes include feelings of social discomfort and isolation of the modern world, and we can only assume that his time at desk jobs helped to inform this feeling. Though written before his stint as a banker, his famous poem â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock† is similar in tone, the poem’s themes and images of existential malaise and social discomfort likely informed by his personal experiences at the time. 4. H. D., Actress and Film Critic Best known texts: Her imagist poems, such as â€Å"The Garden† and â€Å"The Orchard†, which illustrate the resilience of nature and powerful feminist themes. A modern renaissance woman, the American Imagist poet H. D. was also involved in the world of cinema. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, H. D. wrote reviews for a film journal jointly founded by her and her colleagues. During this period, she also acted in three silent films directed by close friend Kenneth Macpherson. One of these films, Borderline (1930), takes up the subject of interracial relationships from a fairly progressive point of view. 5. Franz Kafka, Insurance-Company Suit Best known texts: The Trial and The Metamorphosis, which capture themes of absurdism and isolation and also serve as a heavy critique of bureaucracy. Iconic in the corpus of 20th-century European literature, Kafka’s prose is acclaimed for a strain of absurdity so distinct that it won the author his very own adjective: Kafkaesque.† Though the term is quite literally synonymous with the strange and absurd, Kafka led a professional life that was as straight-laced as they come. A degree-holder in law, for most of his adult life Kafka earned his living as an insurance officer at a workers’ compensation institute in Prague. 6. Edith Wharton- Architect, Landscape Artist, and Interior Designer Best known texts:  The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome, which deal with societal pressures, expectations, and tragedies in, respectively, the urban and rural United States. Wharton was comfortable in American high society, and she had a keen eye for architectural design and decorative taste. It’s not widely known that she wrote The Decoration of Houses, a guide on interior design often held as a cornerstone in American architectural history. Both the grounds and manor of her magnificent Massachusetts estate, The Mount (now a US National Historic Landmark) are of her own design.

Wall-Mart and Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wall-Mart and Information System - Essay Example This paper will explain why Wal-Mart has lived to become one of the most successful retail companies in the world, and particularly tie its competitive advantage strategies with relevant theoretical models. Wal-Mart stores are, therefore, designed in such a manner that the managers of the organization are the ones who allocate duties as well as monitor the activities of employees within the organization. The managers also identify any changes that need to be implemented to the stores in order to ensure that all the production processes within the stores are in line with the goals of the entire organization (The Wall Street Journal, 2012). This paper will show how Wal-Mart has used information systems to achieve different categories of its strategic goals. New products, services, & business models Wal-Mart has been able to utilize information systems to improve its products, deliver and sell its product and services to create wealth. Ideally, the key characteristic of Wal-Mart’ s business model is its low-cost strategy, which is enabled by its efficiency and high level of productivity as a result of the use of innovative information systems. Therefore, the company has managed to attain cost leadership by reducing its cost of operation to the lowest level possible (Porter, 2008). The fact that Wal-Mart’s products cost relatively low makes it very successful when introducing new products and services because after all, many customers will want to purchase in its stores to maximize the value for their money. The management of Wal-Mart tirelessly continues to utilize information technology to improve the company’s business model in such a manner that meets the customers’ requirements and suits the organizational goals. The kind of information systems deployed by Wal-Mart is a mixed type, whereby both â€Å"bricks and motor† and â€Å"clicks and bricks† methods are used to market its products. Ideally, Wal-Mart does not advert ise in the media like many of its competitors do, however, its products and services are very popular with customers.

Loan process - Small Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Loan process - Small Business - Case Study Example The process therefore is as follows: - Assessment of credit factors: - credit factors are majorly the factors that are considered by the financial institutions or credit providers before they extend their loans to any business venture. It depends much on the amount required and whether you can provide security for the funds borrowed. They include factors such as credit worthiness of the small business. To an extent, this is looked at with reference to Current Assets and Current Liabilities with the business (Harper, 2006). More assets with less debts means the firm is a going concern and the difference would tell us the extent of liquidity of the business. The business should also consider if it has partners that can act as the business guarantors. Lenders are also very keen on how the funds if given out would be managed. If they detect they would be embezzled then they would rather keep them than give out as loans (Harper, 2006). The second step is the determination of why the small business needs financing: - here, assessment of the current financial situation is mandatory. The owners should be in the position of knowing whether they are comfortable in their current situation or not, they should also be able to know why they need the cash i.e. for expanding operations or for managing risks, the urgency of the needed money should also be of importance to the owners. The most critical in this part is to know the extent to which finance requirement agrees with the business plan (Green, 2011). A plan is the tool to convince any lender and a small business without this should strive to have one to be in a position to convince investors who may be willing to engage their funds in such ventures. The third step is the Checklist for Business Loans: this is based on the fact that businesses have diverse areas to obtain funds. This part only helps us decide where to get our loans after considering factors such as interest rates and loan repayment periods vs. the cash fl ows to be received from the business and the frequencies of such flows. This is dictated by the listing of the business by the business lister depending on their performance in the market (Harper, 2006). The question of whether a loan will be provided from the institution where the business applies from depends on whether a conclusive and relevant document is submitted to the lending agency. Some agencies normally accept some documents of application and do not accept others (Green, 2011). General documents entail; personal backgrounds of the business, resumes to tell about the business profile, a business plan which is the most fundamental for any financial provider, both personal and business credit reports and lastly a collateral security report and legal documents showing the legal existence of the business (Harper, 2006). The forth step is that the owners of the business need to make a very detailed submission of the business as any information ignored might be of interest to t he lender and this may jeopardize there willingness to advance such loans. With respect to your application, it is also important to state the industry that your business target as well as those which poses threats to your business (Harper, 2006). This again will help your lender to make informed decision regarding the prevailing circumstances on whether to advance the loan or not. A loan application

Sukarno, President of Indonesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sukarno, President of Indonesia - Essay Example Deborah Rhode wrote an entire book studying the growing discussion about what global moral values there might be without coming to any actual conclusions (2006). However, there is a consistent need for a moral leader to be interested in providing the greatest good to the largest number of people, taking on a utilitarian approach to leadership. How that might be accomplished is a matter of individual values, beliefs, and political/social/economic climate. Taking a closer look at a leader such as Sukarno of Indonesia may help us to understand more about how individual values and beliefs can combine or collide with the climate to create the moral leader. Sukarno was born in 1901 to an aristocratic family and was given the best of educations, starting at boarding schools by the time he was 11 years old. When he graduated high school, he married the daughter of the man who owned his boarding house and then moved on to college. By the time he graduated college, he had divorced his first wi fe and married the ex-wife of his new boarding house's owner (Adams, 1965). He reportedly was very creative and had a photographic memory, which made it easier for him to become fluent in a number of different languages (Ludwig, 2004). After he finished his schooling, Sukarno went on to divorce and marry another woman and to start his own architectural company with a partner. His designs were shaped by his politics and vice versa. According to Rudolf Mrazek (2002), Sukarno was a very modern leader and believed the future would be blind to race, would be neat and Western in style, and would be anti-imperialist. While in high school, he had been influenced by Tjokroaminoto's nationalist ideas, but he also studied Western, communist, and Islamic political philosophy while he was in college (Adams, 1965). He eventually developed his own style of leadership which he called Marhaenism, based on concepts of socialist self-sufficiency. He was also irritated with the mostly Dutch-dominated s ocial clubs he encountered at college and organized his own study clubs for Indonesian students. By the time he was 26 and graduated, Sukarno and his friends created a pro-independence party called the PNI (Adams, 1965) or the Indonesian National Party. As the party leader, Sukarno played a major role in establishing the party platform which advocated Indonesian independence and fought against imperialism and capitalism because these systems did not add value to the lives of the Indonesian people. In keeping with Sukarno's modern beliefs, the party also advocated a secular system of leadership that ensured unity among the various different races of the region. The party was very quickly populated by members from the university who wished to gain greater freedoms and opportunities which had not been available under the Dutch colonial occupation (Adams, 1965). Within three years, it had gained more than 10,000 members, forcing the government to react. They arrested Sukarno and seven o f other party leaders and put them on trial for threatening the public order. Sukarno received four years of jail sentence and the party subsequently dissolved (Ricklefs, 1982). Looking at this party and Sukarno's historic defense speech on the day of his trial helps to reveal some of the values that Sukarno stood for at his most idealistic phase and illustrates the kind of moral leader he was. When Sukarno was arrested for his involvement with the PNI, he was permitted to deliver a speech in his defense. This speech has since

Business Ethics Essay -- essays research papers

Running Head: Business Ethics Business Ethics name school The modern theory of the firm, which is central to finance and corporate law, views the corporation as a of contracts among the various corporate constituencies. Upon this foundation, finance theory and corporate law postulate shareholder wealth as the objective of the firm. Research in business ethics has largely ignored this contracts theory of the firm except to reject the financial-legal model as normatively inadequate. Philosophers generally bring philosophical theories of ethics to bear on problems of business, and they regard the contractual theory of the firm primarily as a subject for criticism using the resources of philosophical ethics. In particular, stakeholder theory, which stresses the importance of all groups that affect or are affected by a firm, has been proposed as a more adequate theory of the firm for studying business ethics. An important benefit of business ethics research conducted within such a framework would be a narrowing of the gulf between business ethics and the fields of financial economics and corporate law. Business ethics is widely dismissed as irrelevant by researchers in these fields because of its failure to recognize the existing financial and legal structures of the corporation, which are built largely on a contractual foundation. Hence, a common framework could increase the relevance of business ethics research and create a mutually beneficial dialogue. As a framework for identifying and analyzing many common business ethics problems, the contractual theory focuses our attention on the need to provide adequate safeguards for each constituency's interests. Corporate governance is concerned primarily with protecting shareholder interests, in part because the special contracting problems of shareholders are best met by the residual claims that the law of corporate governance creates. The comparative neglect of other constituencies in corporate law is not a matter of concern as long as their interests are adequately protected in some way. How the interests of each constituency are protected--whether by means of corporate governance structures or other means--is a matter of what works best in practice. Before we can devise means for protecting the interests of each ... ...act but on the efficacy of the actual claims of the group in question. Business ethics problems can be identified mainly as wrongful harms, misallocations, and misappropriations. These categories are commonly employed in economics, finance, and corporate law in the analysis of various kinds of problems, which are usually attributed to market failures, imperfect contracting, and other causes. However, many of these other kinds of problems arise from larger economic and political forces that would affect any theory of the firm. References Kenneth E. Goodpaster, "Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis," Business Ethics Quarterly, 1 (2001), 53-73; Allen Kaufman, Lawrence Zacharias, and Marvin Karson, Managers vs. Owners: The Struggle for Corporate Control in American Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Alderson, A. and Kakabadse, A., (1994), 'Business Ethics and Irish Management: A Cross-Cultural Study', European Management Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, December, pp. 432-441. Abelson, R. and Nielson, K., (2003), 'The History of Ethics', in Edwards, P. (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of Ethics, Macmillan, New York, pp. 81-116. Business Ethics Essay -- essays research papers Running Head: Business Ethics Business Ethics name school The modern theory of the firm, which is central to finance and corporate law, views the corporation as a of contracts among the various corporate constituencies. Upon this foundation, finance theory and corporate law postulate shareholder wealth as the objective of the firm. Research in business ethics has largely ignored this contracts theory of the firm except to reject the financial-legal model as normatively inadequate. Philosophers generally bring philosophical theories of ethics to bear on problems of business, and they regard the contractual theory of the firm primarily as a subject for criticism using the resources of philosophical ethics. In particular, stakeholder theory, which stresses the importance of all groups that affect or are affected by a firm, has been proposed as a more adequate theory of the firm for studying business ethics. An important benefit of business ethics research conducted within such a framework would be a narrowing of the gulf between business ethics and the fields of financial economics and corporate law. Business ethics is widely dismissed as irrelevant by researchers in these fields because of its failure to recognize the existing financial and legal structures of the corporation, which are built largely on a contractual foundation. Hence, a common framework could increase the relevance of business ethics research and create a mutually beneficial dialogue. As a framework for identifying and analyzing many common business ethics problems, the contractual theory focuses our attention on the need to provide adequate safeguards for each constituency's interests. Corporate governance is concerned primarily with protecting shareholder interests, in part because the special contracting problems of shareholders are best met by the residual claims that the law of corporate governance creates. The comparative neglect of other constituencies in corporate law is not a matter of concern as long as their interests are adequately protected in some way. How the interests of each constituency are protected--whether by means of corporate governance structures or other means--is a matter of what works best in practice. Before we can devise means for protecting the interests of each ... ...act but on the efficacy of the actual claims of the group in question. Business ethics problems can be identified mainly as wrongful harms, misallocations, and misappropriations. These categories are commonly employed in economics, finance, and corporate law in the analysis of various kinds of problems, which are usually attributed to market failures, imperfect contracting, and other causes. However, many of these other kinds of problems arise from larger economic and political forces that would affect any theory of the firm. References Kenneth E. Goodpaster, "Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis," Business Ethics Quarterly, 1 (2001), 53-73; Allen Kaufman, Lawrence Zacharias, and Marvin Karson, Managers vs. Owners: The Struggle for Corporate Control in American Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Alderson, A. and Kakabadse, A., (1994), 'Business Ethics and Irish Management: A Cross-Cultural Study', European Management Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, December, pp. 432-441. Abelson, R. and Nielson, K., (2003), 'The History of Ethics', in Edwards, P. (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of Ethics, Macmillan, New York, pp. 81-116.

The Quiet American

The Quiet American In The Quiet American Grahm Green writes of a complex love triangle taking place in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He chooses Thomas Fowler as the protagonist to tell the story from a biased point of view. From the beginning, Fowler proclaims that he is objective. As the story progresses he is eventually gives into the desire to take action and get involved. It is not until after this climax that Fowler finally realizes and admits to himself that he cannot simply remain aloof his entire life.Green’s use of Fowler as an unstable narrator effectively depicts the complexity of human motive and how difficult it is to be honest, even to oneself. Fowler is a British journalist who has been working in Vietnam for several years. Living in an extremely controversial era in the middle of all the action, Fowler insists on remaining â€Å"not involved† (20). Fowler is a â€Å"reporter,† as opposed to a â€Å"correspondent,† for he reports what he s ees and â€Å"[takes] no action† (20). He often likes to sit across the street form the milk-bar and just observe.Watching people of all shapes and colors go about their normal lives, Fowler does nothing himself, but simply watches. He even uses opium to achieve a state of complete impassiveness about the world and everything around him. Just a single pipe could make Fowler grow indifferent to the â€Å"presence or absence† of his lover (6); several more and he cannot decide whether his own death would be good or bad. Opium allows him to convince even himself that he really is indifferent to all that which goes on around him.He prides himself on remaining detached and not taking sides, saying it is â€Å"an article of [his] creed† (20). Based on his determination to be merely an observer, Fowler should make a fine narrator. Impartial and neutral, he would tell the story as is without even an opinions to cloud his mind, for â€Å"even an opinion is a kind of act ion† (20). Despite Fowler’s efforts, it soon becomes impossible for him to remain stagnant. When the opportunity is offered to him, he resolves to participate in a plot to murder Alden Pyle. He justifies his decision with the fact that Pyle has caused much trouble and disaster.He is so naive that he does not realize the extent of what he has done, and even with the death of so many people on his hands, â€Å"he’ll always be innocent, [and] you can’t blame the innocent†(155). Fowler convinces himself that Pyle as a threat to society and â€Å"all you can do is†¦ eliminate him. Innocence is a kind of insanity†(155). However, his reasoning is questionable, for there are personal motives involved as well. Fowler does not want Phuong to leave him and marry Pyle. His wife had already made it clear that she will not give him a divorce.Though he cannot marry her himself, he is selfish and wishes everything to stay the way it is. When Phuong and her sister find out that Fowler’s wife remains insistent on her refusal of his request for a divorce, things start to turn against him. Phuong moves out and plans to marry Pyle. Fowler, devastated, has increased reason to want Pyle dead. In fact, the two men talk of how Phuong is â€Å"the most important thing there is† right before Fowler makes up his mind to open the book at the window and call the whole plan to action (169).It is clear that Fowler does not make his decision based solely on political grounds. Slowly, as the story goes on, Fowler starts to realize that it is impossible to stay indifferent of everything around him. â€Å"Sooner or later, one has to take sides if one is to remain human† (166). After he decides to engage in the ploy to kill Pyle, he recognizes that â€Å"[he] had become as engaged as Pyle† (175). Fowler has assumed his role in the game. He can no longer hide behind his insistence that he is neutral and â€Å"no decision wo uld ever be simple again. Stubborn as he was before about not taking sides, Fowler realizes that he â€Å"had judged like a journalist†¦ and betrayed [his] own principles† (175); he is honest to himself when he finally crosses the line into partiality. After Pyle’s death Fowler tells Phuong that he is sorry. She does not catch the significance of his apology, but he says that though â€Å"everything had gone right for [him] since [Alden] had died†¦ [he] wished there existed someone to whom [he] could say that [he] was sorry†(180). Fowler sees clearly the magnitude of what he has done.He takes responsibility for his actions and feels remorse. The instability of Fowler’s narration depicts the extraordinary intricacy of individual drive. It is never clear the reasons that Fowler makes many of his decisions, often not even to himself. Does he kill Pyle out of political concern, or compassion for the Vietnamese people? Does he do it out of love for P huong, or is it simply lust? These questions, to some degree a mystery even to Fowler himself, are emphasized by his unreliable narration.Unclear intentions are not limited to just the narrator. When Pyle saves Fowler’s life, his motives are ambiguous as well. One may assume that based on Pyle’s simple personality, his purposes are most likely be pure and genuine. He probably saved Fowler because it was in his power and it was the right thing to do. But Fowler suspects Pyle to be more calculating, that he planned to emerge a hero from the ordeal and win Phuong over in that way. Human motives are quite often multi-layered and difficult to understand.Graham makes the peculiar choice of telling a story from the prejudiced point of view of someone whose personal life is tangled in the mess of the story. Fowler starts out determined to stay impartial as a reporter and a person in general. However, as events occur and his happiness is put on the line, he gets drawn in and ta kes action. Though he makes his decision to get involved, Fowler is unsure and doubtful the whole time and feels a great deal of remorse when it is all over. It is then that he must admit to himself, and the readers see, that he is not impartial after all, and it is, in fact, human nature to take a side.