CAREER DEVELOPMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CAREER DEVELOPMENT - Essay Example GuideStar seeks to strengthen the role of CSOs through â€Å"transparent reporting†, which will serve to make the CSO more visible, and thus, more able to receive a fair contribution of resources for its programs and initiatives. In addition to supporting the growth of individual CSOs, GuideStar strives to create clear communication between the stakeholders involved, including the CSO, donors (governmental bodies and citizens) and supporters. In order to support these objectives, GuideStar has two visions: first, the systems employed by GuideStar will be running in over 30 countries, which will provide a comprehensive database of information that will create global networks, and promote trans-national charity; second, information on the operations and objectives CSOs will become available to its stakeholders, and this transparency will ensure that programs of value will be more likely to receive the funding necessary on a voluntary basis. The central vision involves the  "effective and generous allocation of [society’s] resources† to legitimate and deserving CSOs (GuideStar International, 2011). Background, Management and Supporters GuideStar started in 1994 in the U.S. by founder Buzz Schmidt, and â€Å"has become the US’ premier non-profit database and is used extensively by most philanthropic institutions, non-profit organisations, corporations, individual donors, and government grant making agencies and regulators† (GuideStar International, 2011). After receiving the award of Non-profit Executive of the Year in 2001, the company expanded to the UK, where it launched a web service that provided information about charitable organizations in the UK. This has resulted in generating world interest in implementing the GuideStar system into global CSOs. The central founding figures in GuideStar are Buzz Schmidt, William H. Dietel, Dr. Virginia Hodgkinson, and Lady Hilary Browne-Wilkinson. These individuals are all leading fig ures in the non-profit sector, and have contributed significantly to the development of GuideStar in the US, the UK, and internationally. The current staff at the UK office consists of eight individuals, including Tinsley C. Goad, CEO, and Caroline Neligan, Director of Partnerships and Development. In addition, the supporters of GuideStar and TechSoup Global include: the Ford Foundation, The Philanthropic Collaborative, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Eten programme of the European Commission’s Information society and Media DG, pro bono support from Weber Shandwick. Objectives and Issues The central objective of GuideStar is to collect information on CSOs, create a comprehensive report, and provide donors and supporters unrestrained access to this

Caesar Biography Exam Essay Example for Free

Caesar Biography Exam Essay 1. Which speech was more persuasive? Explain your answer. * Anthony’s speech was more persuasive because all the people were convinced and went with what he said. 2. What examples of appeals to emotion did Brutus use? What examples did Antony use? Who handled the appeal to emotion better? Explain your answer. * Brutus used brotherly speech and affectation to win people over as his appeal to emotion. * Antony enters dramatically to the pulpit with Caesars body to win the sympathy of the mob. He began his speech by addressing the mob as friends. * Anthony handled the appeal to emotion better because he almost cried and the people followed him. 3. What examples of appeals to reason did Brutus use? What examples did Antony use? Who handled the appeal to reason better? Explain your answer. * Brutus makes an effective speech that appeal to reason. But he is far surpassed by the cleverness of Antony, who plays directly on the emotions of the crowd. Through the use of irony, he not only manages to suggest that Brutus and his fellow conspirators are not honorable men, he does so without violating the conditions imposed on him: that he not speak ill of the assassins. 4. What examples of appeals to ethics did Brutus use? What examples did Antony use? Who handled the appeal to ethics better? Explain your answer. * Since Anthony cannot say that Brutus and the rest of the council are evil, he uses an ethical appeal, telling the public that Brutus is noble, For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men -Come I to speak in Caesars funeral. * How did Antony ultimately win over the crowd? * The people liked Caesar. The senate thought he was becoming ambitious king. When Caesar was assassinated Mark Anthony addressed the people his audience. He called Caesar a friend who was faithful and just. He gave the impression that Caesar should not have been assassinate. He reminded them that Caesar was a Great War hero and brought back slaves important to Rome and filled Romes’ coffers. That he was a generous man. He had promised to say nothing negative about the assassination of Caesar. So Antony and called the conspirators â€Å"honorable men,† but the tone of his voice spoke otherwise. When he said they are honorable men, he was actually mocking them, and the crowd caught on and started to riot. He curses those that spilt Caesars blood. That Caesars spirit needs revenge. This turns the crowd solely against the senate. * What could Brutus have done differently? * Brutus loved Caesar but cared for the life of Rome and its people more. This is the only reason Brutus would conspire against Caesar. Had he not conspired against Caesar, things would have gone differently.

Halting Mad Cow Disease Hysteria Essay -- Health Food Disease Meat Ess

Halting Mad Cow Disease Hysteria If you had to choose between having Mad Cow Disease or becoming the top scientist in your field, which would you choose? The answer is obvious. Most realize that Mad Cow Disease, i.e. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a fatal disease that has been present among cattle populations in Europe over the past couple decades. In BSE, brain cells begin to die, forming sponge-like holes in the cow’s brain tissue. Evidence shows that consumption of infected cattle could correspond with the contraction of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a similar disease in humans. Although few people have been diagnosed with CJD worldwide, they remain fearful of showing symptoms of CJD; commonly resulting in death within a year. For this reason, many Americans panicked when becoming aware that the first case of BSE was discovered in the United States in December of 2003. Unfortunately, the media is quick to show infected cows, distempered and shaking in their stalls, without giving sufficien t information of the disease’s origin or the preventative measures being taken to halt its spreading. Before consumers restrict beef intake from their diets they should consider their risks. In America, chances of developing BSE is far slimmer than becoming infected with other food-borne illnesses. Although many Americans were recently startled by a reported case of Mad Cow Disease in the United States, they are assured protection from infection by: consumption of selected meats, closely guarded packaging plants, and regulation in beef imports. To fully understand the spreading of BSE, one must first know the diseases origin. The cause of the disease is not official, but three theories are considered. The fi... ...eats contact. Finally, families who eat spinal or nervous tissue of cows can greatly reduce their risks of developing mad cow disease by not purchasing such items. The beef industry is willingly under surveillance, making all attempts to produce safe and healthy products. American residents should be assured that all necessary precautions have been taken to keep Mad Cow Disease out of the United States and consumer-friendly beef on market shelves. An excerpt from the FDA Consumer Magazine leaves the nation with this very â€Å"important message from both the Harvard and GAO studies. . . We must continue to work hard to make a good system even better. The FDA and the states will continue their aggressive inspection program and will continue to work closely with all components of the cattle and feed communities to help make a, thankfully, low public risk even lower.†

Argument Essay: Technology and Children Essay

This technology revolution sparked a debate on children’s use of technology. Children are constantly using iPads, iPhones, tablets, and other computerized devices. By over exposing children to technology, they are being robbed of the mental stimulation that comes from doing real, non computerized, activities. It has gotten to the point where one can see a two-year-old navigate an iPhone with ease but struggle to speak. Sixty-nine percent of children aged two to five can use a computer mouse, but only eleven percent can tie their own shoelaces (Generation Tech More Kids Can Play Computer Games than Ride a Bike). Also, children are at an all time low in the creativity department because of the lack of chances to practice their creativeness. The social interactions worsen due to the fact that children would rather communicate over the internet and via text message than speak face to face. In order to be sure that children get the proper building blocks for their future education, we must limit children’s use to technology. Today, technology is more geared toward the youth than any other age group. About 75 percent of iTunes top selling games are the educational apps designed for preschoolers and elementary school children (Strauss). Adults, think that because it is made for children that it is okay for a child to sit for hours on end playing the ‘educational’ game, when really they are causing more harm than good. Unfortunately, children no longer are seeing the need to communicate face to face with each other; children are not learning simple skills that those of before the technological outbreak learned as second nature. Children are attached to their devices, even as they are walking down the street. In the morning when kids are leaving for school, you see a line of children walking down the street all plugged in. No one says good morning as the pass another person, they bump into people without an â€Å"excuse me†, or â€Å"sorry†. These are under appreciated, simple task that the children of today lack. One could argue that this is the parent’s job to teach their children social skill, but if the parent lets the child attach themselves to and electronic device, when and how would they have the chance? Also, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in a study in 2004, 16 percent of children that are between the ages of six and nineteen years of age are overweight or obese. This is a number that has nearly tripled since 1980, mostly due to technological usage. Being overweight can bring with it great health concerns. Many of these children have a chance of developing Type II Diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, social discrimination, high cholesterol and/or blood pressure. Moreover, according to a Stanford University of Medicine study, elementary students consume 20 percent of their daily calorie intake while watching television, which usually includes unhealthy snacks, largely due to advertisements for junk food and boredom. Coincidently, kids are not burning off any of these calories while they are plopped in front of the television. When it comes down to a child’s creativity, it is being drained by the pre-generated creative art studios on computers. Before if a child wanted to show how artistic they could be, they would pull out a box of crayons or makers and draw a picture straight from their imagination. Now, we have coloring templates with preset colors that make children color inside the lines. The pseudo creativity has parents fooled into believing that their child is become more creative eve time they hand them the electronic art pad. All that is really going on is that the child is now becoming more reliant on premade sketches to create, no real thought involved. There is no doubt that technology is going to be tremendous part of the future, more specifically, children’s future. We cannot deprive them of technology, but we can limit them. Everyone wants their children to grow up creative, intelligent, and well rounded; however, with too much technological influence it will be a distant dream to achieve. As an older generation, we need to take steps toward figuring out how to save the children from becoming computer dependent, unhealthy, and unable to think on their own. Works Cited â€Å"Childhood Obesity Prevention – Stanford University School of Medicine.† Childhood Obesity Prevention – Stanford University School of Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Children and Technology – The Statistics.† TechAddiction. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Generation Tech More Kids Can Play Computer Games than Ride a Bike.† VentureBeat. N.p., 19 Jan. 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. Henry1966. â€Å"Children: Technology Killed Creativity.† Newsvine. N.p., 4 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. Pelling, Rowan. â€Å"How Technology Is Taking Hold of Our Children’s Lives.† Telegraph. The Telegraph, 22 May 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. Strauss, Valerie. â€Å"Is Technology Sapping Children’s Creativity?† Washington Post. The Washington Post, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences.† Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Volkswagen of America: Managing It

Case 7  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Volkswagen of America: Managing IT 1. What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? The new system of prioritizing IT projects to determine funding is a very efficient way of ensuring those projects that are critical to business strategy meet their financial requirements. However, the method of dropping entire goal portfolios simply because they ranked lowest in the list could be deemed a flaw in the system, and one that could be detrimental to business unit integration slowly over time.This understandably frustrates those whose proposals are receiving no funding, and if this prioritization system has any hope of future success, the business units being consistently funded will need to work better at recognizing other priorities, or the system will need to be restructured to allow for smaller projects to be phased in at the very least to mainta in integration. 2. Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? The parent company of VWoA – VWAG – caps the IT budget at $60 million.However, the control of this budget includes the involvement of several cross-functional teams (AKA – â€Å"several organizational entities†, p. 5) that review project proposals before final approval – for instance, during Phase I the DBC (Digital Business Council) reduced the initial $210 million project proposals to $170 million (p. 6). Ultimately the PMO (Project Management Office) subsection of the BPTO (Business Process, Technology and Organization), which Matulovic established as a new internal IT department upon his arrival, approves projects prioritized by the IT steering committee (ITSC).Who should control these budgets? Should the IT department have its own budget? 3. How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatmen t outside the new priority management system? Matulovic should tell the fellow executives the new priority management system was developed and implemented by ELT members and senior management group. The process is now complete and not reversible. It would be unfair for any ELT member to get a special treatment. . What should Matulovic do about the unfunded Supply Flow project? The unfunded project was critically important to the company. Lack funding would delay globalization initiatives. Since the project needed full funding to continue on track and the cost was a significant part of the IT budget, funding should come from alternative sources. Matulovic should argue that the project will have a large impact on the global integration and save costs for the company as whole, rather than just VWoA. 5.On page 8 we see that $16 million of the $60 budget is for SIB projects, under the spending direction of Matulovic; on page 1 we see that some people consider this unfair – is it? Should budget be â€Å"set aside† for IT projects? Why? The budget allocated for SIB projects, under the direction of Matulovic, is fair. Many individuals across the organization were involved in project proposals and creating the process for managing the priorities and selection. The head of each business unit was a member of Executive Leadership Team that helped develop and rank the proposals for the projects.Senior business and IT members in the IT steering committee guided and approved project selection and prioritization process. After the process is implemented and executed, it is too late to voice an objection. 6. In general, what characteristics should a process for deciding about funding of IT projects have? The process of how to fund IT projects has to include the means to categorizing the projects and relating them to company’s strategy. There has to be adequate guidance for developing proposals.Since buy-in and trust by unit leaders is critical, they have b e involved in developing the process. The process has to be fair and transparent. It has to be based on what is best for the company as whole. Summary The Volkswagen of America: Managing IT Priorities case study describes the efforts of the US subsidiary of Volkswagen AG (VWAG) – Volkswagen of America (VWoA) – to arrive at a new process for setting IT funding priorities and deciding on what projects to fund. Dr. Uwe Matulovic, the new ChiefInformation Officer (CIO) of VWoA, has a dilemma in that peers from the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) have been openly hostile and critical of the new prioritization process, particularly in regards to the lack of funding for high priorities for their areas of the company, and have pressurized him â€Å"to insert an unfunded project (or two) into the IT department’s work plans† (p. 1). Dr. Matulovic position is particularly challenging as more than 40 projects have been proposed for IT, with funding requirements total ing $240m, when a budget of only $60m has been approved by VWAG.The new prioritization process that was implemented is complex. It includes the involvement of several cross-functional teams or â€Å"several organizational entities† (p. 5) that review project proposals during three separate Phases before final approval. For instance, during Phase I the DBC (Digital Business Council) reduced the initial $210 million project proposals to $170 million (p. 6) by way of identifying dependencies among projects. That is, removing those projects from the budget that required other projects to be completed before they could start.Ultimately the PMO (Project Management Office) subsection of the BPTO (Business Process, Technology and Organization), which Matulovic established as a new internal IT department upon his arrival, approves projects prioritized by the IT Steering Committee (ITSC). In conclusion, it became apparent to Dr. Matulovic that the Supply Flow Project, which is viewed a s critical to the company’s global supply chain management objectives, was poorly served by the new prioritization process in that it was left only partially funded.The process overlooked this project primarily because much of its value was felt at the global level, and not at the VWoA importer level. Dr. Matulovic found himself in a quandary and struggled with related decision-making as he understood that the loss of funding for this project would constitute a major setback for globalization initiatives based in Germany. 1. Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? The budgets for IT projects were controlled through a process that involves several organizational entities that establish priorities.There were four specific teams that were involved in this process: the ELT (Executive Leadership Team), the ITSC (IT Steering Committee), the PMO (Project Management Office), and the DBC (Digital Business Council. ) The ELT was responsible for executing the NRG (Next Round of Growth) strategy in which the IT governance is a part. The ITSC consisted of business and IT managers and was responsible for guiding and approving the process of IT project selection and prioritization. The PMO administered the project proposal and approval process.The DBC was responsible for the project filtering process which decided which projects were most in line with the companies business strategy. 2. What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? The new IT priority management process was driven by the new IT budget constraint given to VWoA by the parent company VWAG. If the new budgetary constraint was not initiated, it is likely that elements of the former less organized and less centralized method would be maintained.In the end, this may benefit the individual business units, but be detrimental to the business as a wh ole. In creating the new process, Matulovic enabled the business unit managers to work together to make the decisions that would effect their departments using the overall company strategy as the driving element. In doing this, he succeeded in involving all of the managers that would be affected by the prioritization system while maintaining the executive leadership team’s strategic goals. This new system was a substantial improvement over the former system. . On page 8 we see that $16 million of the $60 budget is for SIB projects, under the spending direction of Matulovic; on page 1 we see that some people consider this unfair – is it? Should budget be â€Å"set aside† for IT projects? Why? The budget allocated for the SIB (Stay in Business) projects (business continuity and legal) should receive the highest priority. As denoted by the name, if any of these projects are incomplete or fail, the risk to the business is substantial compared to business unit priori ties.However, the amount budgeted may be a point that could be questioned. Instead of predetermining the amount required, he should have submitted the SIB to the same process as all of the other projects which would have reduced or eliminated the business unit manager’s perception that Matulovic was trying to control company strategy. 4. How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system?What should Matulovic do about the unfunded Supply Flow project? Matulovic created a well organized system that focused on company goals. His fellow executives were involved in the IT priority decision making and the company expectation is that business unit managers also support company goals. If they think that these goals in relation to their requests does not make sense, then they had the opportunity in this process to voice their concerns to the one of the process teams (the ELT,ITSC,PMO, and/o r the DBC), not to Matulovic himself.Because the Supply Flow project is tied into global strategy, Matulovic should propose that the funding for this project come from VWAG. 5. In general, what characteristics should a process for deciding about funding of IT projects have? General characteristics that an IT funding process should have: –  Involve all of those who will be affected by the funding decisions in the process. –  Align IT funding priorities with company strategy. –  Enable communication between business units depending on the funding and between those units and executive management.

buy custom Serial Killers in Modern American Society essay

buy custom Serial Killers in Modern American Society essay Today, a modern person faces many problems of different scale. War, terrorism, economic crises, and the games in the political arena are the topics every second individual is discussing. However, apart from these problems, the subject of serial killers is also often discussed in the community. It appears on TV screens and in newspapers. It calls attention and a public concern, but it does not shock people as a few decades ago. The issue of serial killers has always evoked the interest among psychologists, psychiatrists, and other scientists, as well as society, as a whole. These murderers belong to the group of people who have serious mental disorders being under the influence of other internal and external factors. Thus, they pose a real threat to the health and lives of other persons (Bonn). Today, the society has approached the problem of serial killers that is significantly different from the one that was in the days of its occurrence. This issue is very serious and relevant to t he modern American society. The community itself provokes the appearance of these criminals, creating favorable conditions for them. The Phenomenon of a Serial Killer Serial murders as a separate type of crimes that appeared in the 70s of the last century. At that time, society was shocked by the stories of such notorious murderers as J. W. Gacy, David Berkowitz, and Ted Bundy. They were charged and arrested for the murders of more than 30 people committed by each one (Ramsland and Pepper 131). Their activities put the whole city and countryside into the horror, forcing people to be afraid walking down the streets even during the day. Besides, all parents were living in a constant fear being afraid for the lives of their children. Though there are serial killers in almost all countries, the United States is a leader in their number. Washington (with the highest percentage of 25 serial murderers per 100.000 inhabitants), Alaska, and Louisiana are the regions where they are located most of all (Johnston). This fact should be alarming to us. To understand the problem better the definition of a serial killer should be provided. It refers to the people who have committed murder more than three times within one month. In most cases, they kill others due to some mental and emotional disorders. They do it for satisfaction of their psychological nature. The choice of a potential victim usually falls on unknown individuals or strangers. Criminology experts say that this type of criminals are often characterized by the presence of the personal handwriting. It could mean a way of killing, a crime scene, a type of weapon used, a sort of a victim prefered or if a specific sign left on the body or near it as a business card (Haggerty and Ellerbrok). These factors help to distinguish a serial killer from the ordinary one. After analyzing the psychological profiles of such murderers, provided by doctors and forensic experts, the psychological and social portrait of a typical representative of this type could be formed. The characteristic features of a serial murderer are the dissatisfaction with a social status and a role in society. Such people are often very impulsive, emotionally closed, and, at the same time, aggressive and relentless. They are not the center of attention in the company of others (Ramsland and Pepper 134). They have a low level of adaptation in society. Many of them do not have the certain goals in their life or far-sighted plans. The vast majority of potential and serial killers have many serious persoal complexes, including those ones derived from their childhood. They could have appeared due to the child's mind injuries, as well as the unhealthy and poor treatment by parents, peers, and other people around them. Serial killers are the individuals that ignore all laws of the stat e and do not accept them. Moreover, they do not support the principles of religion and morality (Bonn). They are not open malicious violators of these regulations merely because they do not want to be denied and punished. They see the world differently and perceive the scope of permission in another way. Killing is a source of emotional charge or a way to administer justice such as they see it for them. Modern American society and Serial Killers The wrong approach to the issue of serial killers will focus attention only on a psychological and personal side. The external factors should also be considered. In the modern American society, such conditions have been created to promote the development of this phenomenon. The main aspects that play an important role in the emergence of serial killers are the transformation of community as a concept of strangers, the development of the cult of famous people, and the marginalization of society (Haggerty and Ellerbrok). Modern people have undergone many changes compared to the state, in which they have remained in the past centuries. The main forces that influence this issue began from modernization and urbanization later. A large influx of people into the city, which contributed to the rapid growth, has produced a society of strangers. In previous years, the persons living in a certain locality were familiar with each other and knew practically everyone in the district. Thus, this fa ct has also provided a certain level of security. The appearance of an unknown person has not kept a reason for the increased attention and care (Haggerty and Ellerbrok). Now due to the huge number of population in the cities where there are all strangers nobody knows who is a potential threat to them. Therefore, this situation is the today's society that creates ideal conditions for serial killers. The second factor that contributes to the emergence of such murderers is the media that often turns to the topic of serial killers. These criminals are getting more attention. They are being at the center of the films plot, TV shows and books (Johnston). Their stories are familiar to ordinary citizens. They evoke curiosity and interest in more details of the lives of these brutal murderers. Thus, a serial killer is becoming a celebrity spoken by everyone about. All people want to hear about him or her. This fact carries a devastating effect. First, it distorts the perception of the real situation. Since the closer acquaintance with a serial killer, the background, and the reasons why he or she started the killer path can cause even the compassion and understanding from other people (Haggerty and Ellerbrok). It can be explained by an ability to empathize. However, the question is if this is the correct position considering the real context of events. Secondly, such coverage of stories about serial killers to the public can be dangerous due to those ones that want to become famous by being the members of the serial killers clan. Such an outcome is possible, because the glory of the murderer can extract a person from the grayness of ones life and make notorious. Becoming famous and getting attention to oneself is the desire of one per three individuals today. Moreover, the media today practically advertise the deetailed instructions for the commission of such crimes from different angles; thus, it has become an auxiliary factor. Though serial killers choose their victim at random, they have their target audience. Today, we have a large number of marginal people who do not fit into the accepted framework of those ones with the proper and lost life direction. They live the way that the public does not accept or anyone being significantly different from the total mass. To marginalized people, the homeless, beggars, prostitutes, and homosexual people should be included. These individuals are often the victims of serial killers (Haggerty and Ellerbrok). One of the recent cases confirming the existence of the above trends while choosing the victim is the story of a serial murderer Darren Deon Venn. He was arrested in 2014 for the murder of a prostitute.Then, it turned out that she was the seventh victim (Locker).The isolation of the peculiar group of people being outside of society, as well as their low degree of protection makes the choice of these criminals easier. The phenomenon is that the modern society loves serial killers. It sounds crazy, but now many people admire their intelligence and thoughtfulness of their crimes. They eagerly seek and absorb the information about the perpetrators of this kind. To explain this, some of the most common reasons could be provided. The first is their rate compared with other types of offenders, for instance, thieves. In addition, they think outside the box and consequently kill in an extraordinary way. Their actions are beyond the scope of humanity; they are filled with cruelty, aggression, and brutality (Bonn). Therefore, many people on the strange grounds are wondering what a man is capable of,how wild his or her animal nature could be, and what demons dwell within them. Serial killers are the persons that have gone far beyond the limits of what is permitted. Thus, ordinary people become interested, what happens behind this line and how far it is possible to go. Today, the number of serial killers has decreased by 85% compared with the same phenomenon thirty years ago. Law enforcement agencies are now successful in catching them after the first or second victim, and not the fourth as it used to be before (Johnston). Nowadays, not only community but also law enforcement agencies are showing the increased secondary attention to this matter. They have progressed in revealing the cases of serial killers.It means that these criminals are often imitators or followers that makes it easier to find them. Conclusions Serial killers are a separate type of criminals that despite having the short history of existence instill the feeling of fear and terror. They walk among everybody like shadows without causing any suspicion. According to the summary data in 2016, cooks, nurses, janitors, and, most of all, truck drivers were among the serial killers. The modern society has changed its attitude to these murderers. Due to mass media, they have become a source of hot topics for discussion, as the terrible and, at the same time, unusual intriguing stories. They cause an increased interest among the public. People have begun to forget about serial killers as the monsters, not realizing that everyone can become their victims. The modern community has provided a fertile ground for the emergence of serial killers. Thus, despite the efforts of the police to deal with them, the call that society directs to potential serial murderers nowadays is rather strong. Buy custom Serial Killers in Modern American Society essay

Myasthenia Gravis essays

Myasthenia Gravis essays Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune disorder of neuromuscular transmission resulting in muscle weakness. The term myasthenia is latin for muscle weakness, and gravis for grave or serious. Myasthenia gravis is characterized by decremental neuronal response with repetitive nerve stimulation, and evidences itself in a few characteristic, physical ways. The typical symptoms for a myasthenic patient to have a flattened smile and droopy eyes, with slow papillary light responses. The patient may have fixed column deformity, or irregular posture after standing for a short time period. Nasal speech, difficulty chewing and swallowing, dulled facial expression, including difficulty smiling and an ineffective cough due to weak expiratory muscles, difficulty talking, weakness or paralysis that worsens with exertion later in the day, difficulty climbing stairs, difficulty lifting objects, are all also frequently associated with MG. MG involves fluctuating levels of weakness of commonly used muscles. Weakness occurs when the nerve impulses does not adequately reach the muscle cells which is caused by blockage of the action of neurotransmitters. Acetylcholine Receptors on the muscles are actually destroyed by the immune system, thus it is an immune response of the body against itself. High levels of antibodies block the action of neurotransmitters. The cause of autoimmune disorders such as MG is unknown. In some cases it may be associated with tumors of the thymus. MG affects an estimated 3 out of 10,000 people. ...

MOVE Philadelphia Bombing History and Fallout

MOVE Philadelphia Bombing History and Fallout On Monday, May 13, 1985, a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter dropped two bombs on a Philadelphia house where members of the MOVE black liberation organization lived. The resulting fire grew out of control, resulting in the deaths of 11 people, including five children, and the destruction of 65 area homes. An independent investigation  of the event heaped criticism on the city’s administration and at least for a time earned Philadelphia an unwanted reputation as â€Å"the city that bombed itself.†Ã‚   Fast Facts: MOVE Bombing Description:  Philadelphia police bomb the home of the MOVE black liberation organization, killing 11 and destroying dozens of homes.Date:  May 13, 1985Location:  Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaKey Participants: John Africa (Vincent Leaphart), James J. Ramp, Wilson Goode, Gregore Sambor, Ramona Africa About MOVE and John Africa MOVE  is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded in 1972 by  John Africa, the assumed name of Vincent Leaphart. Not an acronym, the group’s name, MOVE, was chosen by John Africa to reflect the group’s true intentions. Living in a communal arrangement and often associated with the  Black Power  movement,  MOVE mixes the beliefs of  black nationalism,  Pan-Africanism, and  anarcho-primitivism  in advocating for the return to a  hunter-gatherer society  devoid of modern technology and medicine. Originally called the Christian Movement for Life, MOVE, as it did in 1972, identifies itself as being deeply religious and devoted to a belief in the independence and ethical treatment of all living creatures. â€Å"Everything thats alive moves. If it didnt, it would be stagnant, dead,† states MOVE’s founding charter, â€Å"The Guidelines,† created by John Africa. Like many of his contemporaries, the charismatic John Africa wore his hair in dreadlocks in keeping with the Caribbean  Rastafari  religion. In a show of loyalty to what they considered their true home, his followers also chose to change their last names to â€Å"Africa.† In 1978, most of MOVE’s members had moved into a row house in the predominately African-American Powelton Village area of West Philadelphia. It was here that the group’s numerous loud public demonstrations for racial justice and animal rights angered their neighbors and ultimately led to violent confrontations with Philadelphia police. The 1978 Shootout and the Move 9 In 1977, complaints from neighbors about MOVE’s lifestyle and bullhorn-amplified protests had led the police to obtain a court order requiring the group to vacate their Powelton Village compound. When informed of the order, MOVE members agreed to turn in their firearms and leave peacefully if their members arrested during the demonstrations were first released from jail. While the police complied with the demand, MOVE refused to vacate their house or give up their weapons. Nearly a year later, the standoff took a violent turn. On August 8, 1978, when police arrived at the MOVE compound to execute the court order, a shootout erupted during which Philadelphia Police Officer James J. Ramp was fatally shot in the back of his neck. MOVE denied responsibility for Officer Ramp’s death, claiming that although he was shot in the back of the neck he had been facing their house at the time. During the nearly hour-long standoff, five firefighters, seven police officers, three MOVE members, and three bystanders were also injured. Since known as the MOVE Nine, MOVE members Merle, Phil, Chuck, Michael, Debbie, Janet, Janine, Delbert, and Eddie Africa were convicted of third-degree murder in the death of Officer Ramp. Sentenced to up to 100 years in jail, they were all denied  parole  in 2008. MOVE Recovers and Relocates By 1981, MOVE had recovered from the 1978 shootout and relocated its growing membership into a house at 6221 Osage Avenue in Cobbs Creek, a predominantly African American middle-class subdivision in West Philadelphia. After turning the home into a virtually bulletproof fortress, MOVE began blasting profanity-laced messages and demands through bullhorns 24 hours a day. The group further disrupted the neighborhood by keeping a menagerie of animals- from dogs and cats to wild rats- around the house, leading to complaints about sanitation and health risks. Neighbors complained to police that they had been verbally and physically assaulted by MOVE members, and police reported that children living in the house were not allowed to attend school. The 1985 Bombing On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode dispatched police to execute warrants for the arrest of all residents of the MOVE compound. Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode at a press conference to discuss the aftermath of the bomb. Getty Images/Leif Skoogfors When the police arrived, MOVE members refused to respond to their demands to enter the home or to allow the children to come outside. Despite the presence of children, Mayor Goode and Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor decided the situation warranted the use of â€Å"military-grade weapons† and extreme physical force as required. â€Å"Attention MOVE: This is America!† police warned over loudspeakers. After initial attacks with water barrages from fire hoses and tear gas explosions failed to drive MOVE members from the house, shooting broke out. At the height of the firefight, a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter flew over the house dropping two small â€Å"entry device† bombs made of FBI-supplied water gel explosive in an attempt to destroy MOVE’s rooftop bunker. Fed by gasoline stored in the house, a small fire caused by the bombs grew quickly. Rather than risk having firefighters caught in the ongoing crossfire, police officials decided to allow the fire to burn out. Instead of going out harmlessly, the fire spread throughout the neighborhood, destroying more than sixty homes and leaving at least 250 Philadelphians homeless. Along with the destruction of a residential neighborhood, the MOVE bombing resulted in the deaths of six adults- including MOVE founder John Africa- and five children inside the home. Ramona Africa and  13-year-old Birdie Africa  were the only two MOVE members to survive the incident.   Select Commission Finds City at Fault With most of the attack covered on live television, many people in Philadelphia and across the nation questioned the decisions made by Mayor Goode and police officials. On March 6, 1986, an independent  Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission  appointed by Goode issued a report finding that police had used â€Å"grossly negligent† tactics in committing an â€Å"unconscionable† act by â€Å"dropping a bomb on an occupied row house.† The report was highlighted by two telling findings: â€Å"The city administration discounted negotiation as a method of resolving the problem. Any attempted negotiations were haphazard and uncoordinated.† â€Å"The Mayors failure to call a halt to the operation on May 12, when he knew that children were in the house, was grossly negligent and clearly risked the lives of those children.† The commission further found that the police would have been unlikely to use similar tactics in a white neighborhood. Despite the commission’s request for a grand jury investigation, no prosecutions resulted and Mayor Goode was reelected in 1987. The Aftermath of the Bombing Ramona Africa, the only adult MOVE member to survive the bombing, was convicted of rioting and conspiracy and served seven years in prison. In 1996, a federal jury awarded Ramona Africa and the relatives of two people killed in the bombing a total of $1.5 million in damages in a civil suit judgment. The jury also found that Philadelphia officials had authorized the use of excessive force and had violated MOVE members’  4th Amendment  constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Ramona Africa (R), the lone adult survivor of the 1985 MOVE tragedy, hugs Denise Garner (L) during a commemorative march in 2005. Getty Images/William Thomas Cain The New York Times reported that the City of Philadelphia also paid over $27.3 million in legal fees and the cost of rebuilding the houses destroyed in the bombing. In addition, the MOVE group itself was paid $2.5 million to settle wrongful death suits brought on behalf of the five children who died. In 2016, Ramona Africa, who continues to serve as spokesperson for MOVE, tied the group to the  Black Lives Matter movement, asserting that cases of brutality in the police killings of black men throughout the U.S. are â€Å"happening today because it wasn’t stopped in ’85.† Sources â€Å"Who was John Africa?† The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 8, 2010â€Å"About MOVE – On a Move.† onamove.com.â€Å"Report of Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission.† University Libraries. Temple UniversityTrippett, Frank (1985-05-27). It Looks Just Like a War Zone. TIME MagazinePhiladelphia, city officials ordered to pay $1.5 million in MOVE case.† June 24, 1996. CNN.comâ€Å"Philadelphia Bombing Survivor Leaves Prison.† Archives. The New York Times

Strategic bussiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Strategic bussiness - Essay Example The critical attributes of specifying task objectives are determined by various factors. In the first place, an organisation embarks on undertaking a specific project or task as a result of the need to fulfill certain objectives anticipated from the successful completion of the desired task. Indeed, there is need to keep in mind the main reason why an organisation has decided to undertake that task. During the contemporary period, organisations are in existence for various reasons and they seek to fulfill different objectives. As a result of the fact that organisations operate in a dynamic environment, they often find themselves confronted by situations which require them to change their usual way of conducting business. Against this background, the attributes of specifying the organisation’s attributes are mainly influenced by its core business and core competences. It follows from the argument that an organisation can only embark on initiating change when there are possible or foreseen benefits that can be enjoyed after the successful completion of the project. It is therefore very important for the organisation to consider its core competencies and the likely benefits which can be brought by the envisaged change. Another attribute includes the need to determine if the task is attainable. In some cases organisations may decide to embark on specific tasks as a way of trying to waiver negative impacts that may affect their operations but this may be suicidal if the set goals are difficult to attain. Whilst it may sound easy to embark on a particular project, it is also very important to ensure that the organisation has the requisite resources to achieve the objectives set. Broadly speaking, the resources range from human resources, financial resources as well as time. Failure to take this into consideration may negatively impact on the envisaged task. Resource management is primarily concerned with mapping out the allocation of the resources, identifying

American labor system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American labor system - Essay Example Thus, laborers are actually the real workers and builders who are at the back of every successful industry and organization. The origin of this occupation can be dated back to the dawn of civilization when man had to subordinate high class individuals to win food and security. Today a laborer expects much more than this: salary, shelter, security, respect, acknwoledgement, comfortability and assurance. Though these ideals are appreciated by all, they are found quite rare even in the developed and civilized countries as America (Kirkegaard, 2007). Struggling against its prior notority of ‘slave labor’ and ‘child labor’, this state has still a long way to go to get an ideal life for laborers and workers. Hundreds of unions and movements raising voices for the rights, demands and needs of the common laborers are emerging and actively working in United States of America, but still the condition of laborers is not much healthier (Hill, 1985). The most voiced comp lain against American labor system is the offering of lower wages and lesser facilities in return of much harder work and long working hours. These poor souls receive no sympathy from the side of employers and administrators, and they are treated rather like animals (Fletcher & Gapasin, 2008). They receive poor pay back for their tiring efforts and have to pay fine in the form of deduction from the expected salary for any mistake. They are deprived of basic rights related to humanly respect, empathy and acknowledgement, and their coordinators even regard them no more than mere machines who are not supposed to cater any emotions and feelings at all and whose function is just to run and produce. The working conditions are even not much better for the workers and laborers. Unhygenic environment, stinking smells of the materials and chemicals, over-crowded working places, deafening noises of the machineries, poorly lit working halls as well as long hours of duty are causing much distres s and frustrations among this community ("Inter-american labor system," 1975). Their problems are not catered and their complaints are not paid heed to. The economic crisis and the ever rising inflation throughout the world have also affected this community a lot and many of the workers are persuaded to opt for double shifts and part-time jobs, as a result of which their physical and mental healths are at stake. To fight against all these problems and to bridge the gap between the lower workers and the higher communities, American Labour Movement was started and laborer unions were formed (Dubofsky & Van Tine, 1987). This concept got its strength in the late nineteenth century, probably in 1866, and today it has got a much organized form. The workers of a factory select a representative among themselves by mutual consent who is considered to be responsible for conveying the messages and demands between the workers and the employers (Sheldon, 1947). The world politics has not spared it and today laborer union is regarded as a possible and most alarming threat against an industry. Other than holding strikes and causing troubles for the administrators, these representative groups are charged of demanding unfairly. According to the assisstant manager of a local firm, â€Å"Sometimes the union leaders cross the legal lines and demand for more than their rights. Obviously, the company cannot encourage such attitude that often erects hurdles for progress†. On the other hand, the union representatives claim that these

Arranged marriages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Arranged marriages - Essay Example (p.1176) In the world after 9/11, wearing a hijab can also be seen as a political sign. (Afshar, Aitken & Franks, 2005) Klausen (2005) has mentioned a case of Baroness Uddin, a member of the House of Lords, who admits wearing hijab for political reasons. (Klausen, 2005, p.185) Unfortunately, it has become a target of non-Muslims’ atrocities around the world, especially after the 9/11 attacks. Discrimination against hijab was also prevalent in the UK prior to 9/11, although it might not be to a great extent at that time. Geldart (1999) mentioned that in 1993, a head teacher in West Sussex pressurized a girl to remove her hijab. (Geldart, 1999) Currently, a debate is also going on in European countries about banning hijab to some extent. Fekete (2004) points out that European Nations â€Å"should not use state power to force on any individual a dress code, whether culturally or religiously determined†. (p.26) Beckman (2007) points out that if a hijab-wearing woman is asked to rem ove her hijab, it would bring her enormous embarrassment and a feeling of disrespect. (Beckman, 2007) As it will be seen in this research, hijab-wearing women are not willing to give away their right at any cost, and a ban can be harmful for the nations themselves. UK is a home to a majority of Muslims but it is a land where Muslim women face many tribulations and hurdles from other non-Muslim groups just because they cover their face. These atrocities vary in intensity and nature. While many people abuse verbally and psychologically, some may even go to the extent of physical torture. In one incident, comedian Shazia Mirza was â€Å"physically attacked by young men in a British Muslim audience in London’s Brick Lane.† (Tarlo, 2007, p.146) The recent attack on the veiling of Muslim women was made by ex-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the year 2006 when he criticised women who wear veils.

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS FOR BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS FOR BUSINESS - Essay Example In this context we will look at the costs incurred in the production of Apple’s new generation iPads. The company has basically two models of the new generation iPad models; one that is equipped with 32 GB on NAND flash memory and the other that is equipped with 64 GB NAND flash memory and both with a 4G long term evolution (LTE) wireless capability. These are just but the major brands of the new generation iPads. What stands out is the difference in the price of production of the two different models. Looking at the bill of materials of these two, we find that the new iPad 32 GB carries a total of $364.65 and an additional cost of about $10.75 which covers the cost of manufacturing one unit so that the total bill of materials for this iPad to be at $375.10. The 64 GB one’s bill of materials is just $22.85 more than that of the 32 GB model. Looking at these new models, it is simply the prices of their parts that make them so expensive. â€Å"For instance the NAND flash memory prices range from $16 to $67 and are one of the key profit generating components for Apple in the new iPad line† A. Rassweiler (2012) noted. The iPads display and touch screen are also expensive at $120 according to Andrew Rassweiler (2012) too. Some other parts include the $23 A5X processor manufactured by Samsung and which makes up 6.3% of the total BOM, a $41.50 camera similar to the one installed in the iPhone 4 modules, and an improved capacity lithium polymer battery that cost $32.00per piece. This new battery can support 42.5 watt hours which is about 75% from the previous 25 watt hours in the iPad 2. This new battery costs only about 40% more than the old model which costs about $22.75. All in all, basically the 2nd generation iPads cost about$271.00 to produce, about 9 percent cheaper than the 3rd generation ones. According to IHS iSuppli’s Fred Straker (2012). Apple has chosen to leave the price difference at only $71 in order to make it difficult for any other company to beat the price of the iPad 3 given how expensive its production cost is. The average variable cost of producing these new model iPads is just about $360 which is a very high price per unit produced. This however means that on the other hand Apple won’t be able to make quite the profit margin that it was evidently used to with the sale of every iPhone unit, although they will not be too much at loss as most of their profits will be from the 64 GB versions of the new iPads, that is if they sell. The cost of making a 64 GB version just beats that of making the 16 GB one by about $50, with the retail price difference being over $200 due to the added 4G LTE networking technology. This is basically an upgrade that pushes up the retail price of the 64 GB version way beyond the cost of the actual upgrade. This actually means that the more expensive iPads if sold will comfortably cover for the not so much profits earned by the company through the selling of the sl ightly affordable ones. Specifically the 64 GB8with no 4G and the 16 GB9 up to the 64GB11 are Apple’s most expensive iPads and if sold will earn the highest of profits. These are the models that can earn the company the profit margins they are looking forward to. Also the retail price of the iPad 3 is about $629 and that gives Apple a marginal profit of about 51% which is slightly less than that of the 3G iPad2

Developmental Milestones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developmental Milestones - Essay Example Children have widely individual characteristics and develop different skills at different paces. â€Å"The interactive influences of genes and experience literally shape the architecture of the developing brain, and the active ingredient is the ‘serve and return’ nature of children’s engagement in relationships with their parents and other caregivers in their family or community† (NSCDC, 2007:1). For the most part, parents’ instincts are usually the best indicator that development is not going right. Parents should therefore trust these instincts, and not be overly stressed because babies can feel and react to stress in their caregivers. What is important is for parents to provide their babies with sufficient care and stimulation, to make sure that they eat and sleep well, and most of all, to show them that they are loved. Children bask in the love of their parents, and affection conveyed through words, touch, and â€Å"just being there† is pr obably the best stimulus for development that any young child could ever

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS FOR BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS FOR BUSINESS - Essay Example In this context we will look at the costs incurred in the production of Apple’s new generation iPads. The company has basically two models of the new generation iPad models; one that is equipped with 32 GB on NAND flash memory and the other that is equipped with 64 GB NAND flash memory and both with a 4G long term evolution (LTE) wireless capability. These are just but the major brands of the new generation iPads. What stands out is the difference in the price of production of the two different models. Looking at the bill of materials of these two, we find that the new iPad 32 GB carries a total of $364.65 and an additional cost of about $10.75 which covers the cost of manufacturing one unit so that the total bill of materials for this iPad to be at $375.10. The 64 GB one’s bill of materials is just $22.85 more than that of the 32 GB model. Looking at these new models, it is simply the prices of their parts that make them so expensive. â€Å"For instance the NAND flash memory prices range from $16 to $67 and are one of the key profit generating components for Apple in the new iPad line† A. Rassweiler (2012) noted. The iPads display and touch screen are also expensive at $120 according to Andrew Rassweiler (2012) too. Some other parts include the $23 A5X processor manufactured by Samsung and which makes up 6.3% of the total BOM, a $41.50 camera similar to the one installed in the iPhone 4 modules, and an improved capacity lithium polymer battery that cost $32.00per piece. This new battery can support 42.5 watt hours which is about 75% from the previous 25 watt hours in the iPad 2. This new battery costs only about 40% more than the old model which costs about $22.75. All in all, basically the 2nd generation iPads cost about$271.00 to produce, about 9 percent cheaper than the 3rd generation ones. According to IHS iSuppli’s Fred Straker (2012). Apple has chosen to leave the price difference at only $71 in order to make it difficult for any other company to beat the price of the iPad 3 given how expensive its production cost is. The average variable cost of producing these new model iPads is just about $360 which is a very high price per unit produced. This however means that on the other hand Apple won’t be able to make quite the profit margin that it was evidently used to with the sale of every iPhone unit, although they will not be too much at loss as most of their profits will be from the 64 GB versions of the new iPads, that is if they sell. The cost of making a 64 GB version just beats that of making the 16 GB one by about $50, with the retail price difference being over $200 due to the added 4G LTE networking technology. This is basically an upgrade that pushes up the retail price of the 64 GB version way beyond the cost of the actual upgrade. This actually means that the more expensive iPads if sold will comfortably cover for the not so much profits earned by the company through the selling of the sl ightly affordable ones. Specifically the 64 GB8with no 4G and the 16 GB9 up to the 64GB11 are Apple’s most expensive iPads and if sold will earn the highest of profits. These are the models that can earn the company the profit margins they are looking forward to. Also the retail price of the iPad 3 is about $629 and that gives Apple a marginal profit of about 51% which is slightly less than that of the 3G iPad2

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

Wilsonianism - Essay Example Since Woodrow’s fourteen points provided a succinct plan for world peace, they formed part of the Treaty of Versailles. Notably, not all points were encompassed in the treaty, which ultimately resulted in its partial success. Although the Treaty of Versailles was successful, it failed substantially in its enforcement and its inherent human element. Woodrow’s fourteen points invigorated the idealistic notion of peace in the absence of victors. Woodrow’s fourteen points incorporated in the Treaty of Versailles include self determination and the League of Nations augmenting idealistic notions that concluded that the war’s aim was to end all other wars. The treaty reflected European countries’ need to end Germany’s power and affirm their own. Through the self-determination point, Woodrow points showed that some of the causes of the war, for instance, imperialism and nationalism were avoidable. This was because, theoretically, countries demanding recognition would acquire it through the world ruling countries; the US, France, Italy, France and Britain. Conversely, Woodrow’s point on the League of Nations argued that the influence of the League of Nation would unite the countries of the world and deter the incident of another war. In addition to self determination and the establishment of democracy through the League of Nations, Treaty of Versailles also incorporated Woodrow’s points on free trade, as well as open agreements. Notably, Woodrow’s points 1-13 were not encompassed in the treaty in order to give leeway for the incorporation of the League of Nations in the final treaty (Niall 74). Since the treaty failed to incorporate the first to the thirteenth points, the treaty failed to address the real causes of the war and left an imbalance of power in Europe, thereby paving the way for another war during which Germany claimed that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair. The treaty should

Does Society Have An Obligations Essay Example for Free

Does Society Have An Obligations Essay Welfare is aid in the form of money or necessities for those who need it. Obligation means duty or responsibility. It binds morally. The question then turns to be does Society have a moral duty to help the needy? Lets first consider what argues against such a responsibility. What I earn through my own hard work is mine and no one has the right to take it away from me. It is morally wrong to take something from me unless I choose to give by free will. Everybody has the same chances in life. And since we all start from the same equal starting point. It is the ones who did not take their chances and those who are lazy who benefit from welfare. It cannot be good to support such behavior. We would propagate laziness in future generations. Children will see that their parents receive money and goods without any effort, for doing nothing. Therefore, they will consider such behavior as just and misuse the welfare system too. Thereby we continuously grow generations of lazy and independent people. There is one essential argument that I consider being much stronger than all the contra arguments. To choose whether we as a society have the moral obligation to provide welfare to the needy one needs to use John S. Mills approach. To decide we need to be in a state during which we do not know anything about our personal circumstances, the so-called veil of ignorance. We do not know whether we are rich or the poorest of the poor, healthy or ill. Placed in such situation everybody would choose a system, which provides the needy with support. Even though they would have to pay for it if they turn out to be rich. Everyone wants to have at least the chance on improvement. If provided with some help the needy may acquire an improvement and become independent of welfare. Ideally then a system that provides every member of society with a minimal starting point from which they may work their way up is required. A basic level of support is essential. It would be hard to obtain education if one has to live under a bridge and hunger. Provided with the sine qua non it is possible to reach an independent stage in which one does not require any welfare. Furthermore it is very idealistic to assume that everybody in todays society is provided with equal opportunities. Not everybody has equal chances to education. Although, if one works from generation to generation, there is a chance to improve gradually. The poorest family is not able to finance their childrens education. Here society has the duty to help with their education so that if they work hard they and their children will not be dependant on society but rather support society in its obligations. Lets consider another example. A person with a job supporting society, for example a surgeon, relies wholly on their body, the surgeons hand. Surely he provides society not only with his/ her service but also pays taxes. If through some accident this person looses the ability to work in their profession, for instance the surgeon is incapable of operating, he can neither support himself nor society anymore. If now society provides such a person with enough support, e.g. training in another job than he/ she will be able to work and support society again. In conclusion society welfare distribution needs to be strictly regulated and monitored to prevent misusage. However, society has the duty to provide every member with a chance and the necessary support to become or re-become a person capable to perform all duties and responsibilities to society and therefore to provide welfare.

Morality and Cognitive Decision Making Experiment

Morality and Cognitive Decision Making Experiment Moral Ethical Development Chapter II: Literature Review Researching the moral development, ethical decision making approaches, and the adoption of utilitarian ethics on the part of Taiwanese CPAs begins with a thorough literature review of these specific topics. The intent of this chapter is to evaluate the research instruments used for supporting and validating the hypotheses of this study as well. For purposes of clarity, this chapter is organization into three sections, starting with a review of moral development theories. The second section concentrates on the most commonly used instruments for completing measurement of ethical judgment and decision-making, with the last section of the chapter presenting an overview of empirical studies designed specifically to measure Taiwanese CPAs’ relationship to ethical evaluation and ethical intentions and overall moral development. Introduction to Moral Development Much of the foundational work completed in moral development is attributed to theorists who together have refined the key aspects of this field in the last twenty-five years. The evolution of moral development theories has concentrated on increasingly on its role in defining psychological aspects of moral development (Rest, 1979). Adding to the body of knowledge on moral development are the works of Kohlberg (1976) and Piaget (1932). In conjunction with Rest (1979), the works of these two theorists show specifically how the development of moral delineations and definitions are formative and not absolute, and have specific attributes associated with each. As accountancy is a field that relies heavily on trust and the fulfillment of fiduciary responsibilities, the importance of ethical judgments in the field of study is clear. Accountants and CPAs need to be the sustainers of public trust in the accounting and auditing professions. Ironically however one of the world’s largest scandals, Enron, was architected by accountants and auditors, which lead the U.S. government to legislate into law the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002. Later in this literature review the basis of the SOX Act will be discussed. As a result of the importance of ethical judgments in the accounting profession, several studies that are empirically based have had as their objective an assessment of the development of moral judgment, moral frameworks, and skills at assessing the ethical dilemmas that occur in the fulfillment of their professions. In researching and defining the moral development of organizations, the work of Paiget (1932) serves as a foundation, based on his assessment of how children form ethical and moral values through the study of their respect for rules. Paiget (1932) wrote The Moral Judgment of the Child to add to the field of knowledge on moral development. Paiget writes that â€Å"all morality consists in a system of rules, and the essence of all morality is to be sought for in the respect which the individual acquires for these rules† (p.13). Relying on observation as a research approach and completing interviews with a cross-section of boys to see how their comprehension of rules influencing the game was completed, Paiget was able to construct theories of moral development and the development of moral judgment. Paiget defined the concept of children developing morally through a progression from heteronomy, through stages of autonomy, finally to equity. Based on this research Paiget created a specific framework which describes the stages in conceptualization of moral decision-making and judgment, leading to the finding of rules presence and consciousness of rules as the foundation for developing moral judgment (Ponemon, 1990). The development of stages of Cognitive Developmental Theory (Piaget, 1997) are defined as follows. The first phase is where sensory-motor intelligence (younger than two years old) is prevalent. The second stage is pre-operational thought (two to seven years old) that serves as the foundation for creating more concrete concepts in the future. The third stage is called concrete operations and occurs between seven to eleven years old, with the fourth stage being formal operations that occur from eleven to adulthood. Paiget observed that by age 7, children begin playing with and cooperating with one another. Secondly Paiget observed children in the 11 to 12 age range see rules as permeable, capable of being negotiable and mutually agreeable. Theorizing that children are not born with the ability to understand and apply moral standards yet learn them over progressive stage, Piaget (1997) began creating a moral development theory that forms the foundation of Kohlberg’s creation of his own theories of moral development as well. Kohlberg refined and developed a six-stage sequence mode model and subsequently and empirically proved the assumptions of Piaget (1997), (Kohlberg 1976). His moral reasoning theory is a cognitive developmental theory that seeks to understand the reasoning behind how adults decide what course of action in morally right or wrong. Furthermore, Kohlberg’s theory develops sequentially through three levels of moral development,, with each level subdivided into two stages (Table 1), Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory is today regarded as a model and framework for ethics education according to Baxter and Rarick (1987) and Shenkir (1990). (Baxter Rarick, 1987; Shenkir, 1990) It’s clear that Piaget had a significant influence on the findings and conclusions of Kohlberg. This is evident for example in the second and third stages Kohlberg defines, which are exactly the same as Piaget’s. Despite this same approach to defining the specific level of moral development, Kohlberg differs from Piaget on the fourth through sixth stages of development. The factors that are driving the differences are the interpretations of internal moral convictions justice and that Kohlberg sees as overriding social expectations, norms, and values. Kohlberg’s work on moral development provided a foundation for further analysis of moral development and the formation of moral judgment as well. Specifically focused the measurement of the changes by stage of morale development, Kohlberg had defined a hypothesis that over time and throughout maturity children, then adults, become more attuned to moral development.(Kohlberg, 1981). Throughout the remainder of this life Kohlberg concentrated his efforts on moral education and the propagation of his theories. Despite the alignment of Kohlberg’s findings and analyses to Piaget (1997) and others in the area of normative moral development being aligned to the developmental phases of a child’s then adults’ life there are many critics of this view including the following academicians and theorists (Gilligan, 1993, , 1998; Gump, Baker, Roll, 2000; Reimer;, Paolitto, Hersh, 1990; Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999, , 2000; Shweder, 1982; Spohn, 2000; Sullivan, 1977). Specifically these theorists have centered on four specific questions that form the foundation of their critique of Kohlberg’s theories (et.al.). First do the processes involved in moral reasoning foster and sustain moral behavior over time? Theorists remark that Kohlberg’s theory supports critical thinking regarding morality yet does not concentrating on what ought to be done versus what is actually accomplished (Sullivan, 1977). As part of this argument theorists contend that the lack of longitudinal empirical evidence to support the claim that the higher the level of moral judgment, the higher the level of moral behavior. During his lifetime, this was often discussed and presented as a critique of his work, an assessment he agreed with saying â€Å"I understand the theory of justice reasoning to be necessary but not sufficient for defining the full domain of what is meant by moral development† (Kohlberg, 1984). Whether or not knowing is equal to doing, knowing must typically come before doing, and so Kohlberg states that â€Å"the study of moral reasoning is valuable in its own right† (Kohlberg, 1984). Second, the suppositions that the only aspect of moral reasoning is justice when in fact there are many other factors to consider. The theorists have said that Kohlberg’s theories tend to overemphasize the perception of justice as the foundation for making decisions. Theorists have long argued that in addition to justice, additional factors including compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in moral reasoning. (Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999; Spohn, 2000) The third major question of Kohlberg’s analysis is the minimal amount of empirical evidences for post-conventional level thinking , a critical assumption that underscore much of what Kohlberg based his analysis on(Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999)The fourth question that emerges from the analysis is an assessment of Kohlberg’s theories and the over-reliance on the role and influence of Western culture. Critics and theorists contend that there is equally if not more emphasis specifically from Eastern cultures as well that have not been taken into account (J. C. Gibbs, 2003; Spohn, 2000). As a result of these critiques specific to his work, in 1985 Kohlberg decided to eliminate the sixth stage of his work, citing a lack of empirical evidence and proven causality once thought to be present. In addition, there appears to be a dearth of evidence of support the fifth stage of his model, and in fact theorists pointed to little support from previous empirically derived research. In addition to the above points, theorists contend that there is a dearth of evidence for the fifth level of scoring as defined by Kohlberg (Snarey, 1985). Gibbs (1979) is credited with being a co-developer of the scoring system and concentrates on moral judgment development throughout the fourth stage of the Kohlberg framework. In addition, Kohlberg defended the empirical data for the fifth and sixth stages stating that statistically significant findings had supported his framework, despite the critics and the lack of empirical studies that could be replicated by other theorists. The fifth and sixth stages are clearly centered on post conventional thinking, which is a limitation of Kohlbergs framework. The book Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and Controversy (Modgil Modgil, 1986) defines the shortcomings of the fifth and sixth stages of the Kohlberg model in depth, with several of the theorists mentioned in this literature review being the primary critics of Kohlberg’s theories. Analysis of Rest’s Theories James Rest (1979) developed a revision of the developmental process of moral judgment by looking at the shortcomings of Kohlberg (et.al.) and Piaget (1997). As a result, Rest’s moral judgment model is significantly different than Kohlberg’s (Rest, 1979). According to theorists, â€Å"For the measurement of moral reasoning, Rest’s model assesses an individual’s tendency to use concepts of justice based on social cooperation in his or her moral thinking, while Kohlberg’s model assesses an individual’s use of justice concepts, focusing more on exchange and individual interests† (Elm Weber, 1994), p. 346) Rest (1986) consequently a Four Component Model that captures for types of psychological processes must take place for an individual to experience moral behavior. The Rest Four Component Model is summarized by the key points below: Moral Judgment: the individual must make judgment on what should be the right thing to do. In other words, a person should be able to determine the appropriate action that is morally correct. Moral Sensitivity: This is defined as the interpretation of individuals’ actions in terms of responding to their overall assessment of situation. The intent of this aspect of the model is to refer to how an individual’s conduct is analyzed in terms of how is going to influence themselves and those who are associates and friends. Moral Motivation: the essence of defining and prioritizing moral decisions over competing contextual perceptions of morality. Moral values are, according to this model, above personal values. Moral values are always thought about first when making a decision. Moral Action: The sense of this specific element of the model requires the development of competence in the development and use of strategies that develop a moral foundation. According to this specific aspect of the model, the individual needs to have the integrity and self-determination to stay in alignment with their need for behaving morally and ethically over time. The point of this specific aspect of the model is that self-determination is a critical aspect of the total model. Assessing the Cognitive Moral Decision-Making Model The ethical decision-making of accounting, auditing and financial professionals have increasingly come under fire due to the major ethical lapses of these professionals that led to some of the largest scandals in history. Enron, MCI, Tyco and many other scandals are directly responsible for SOX legislation in the U.S. and a marked rise in compliance globally, preceded by the savings loan debacle of the 1980s, have together served as the catalyst of high levels of interest in the ethics of CPAs and finance professions (Cohen Pant, 1993; Lampe Finn, 1992; McNair Milam, 1993; Ponemon Gabhart, 1990; Shaub, 1994) From this body of research with regard to compliance surrounding ethics, Lampe and Finn (1992) have defined three dominant types of ethical decision making models. These are defined with the context of audits, and include agency models, cognitive models, and professional code-implied models. The intent of the study is primarily focused on the cognitive model component first, as it is the most pervasively used in evaluating the decision-making process of auditors (Ponemon Gabhart, 1993). Accounting ethics research, in the majority of studies is based on a cognitive moral decision making model as first analyzed and published by Rest (1986). Modeling the individual moral decision processes that include the reasoning and action processes in completing and carrying out ethical decisions and actions is defined in the model as well. According to the theory the person with a strong sense of morals is that that evaluates an ethical dilemma and situation to ensure that actions are evaluated for their ethicity first. In defining this model Rest (1984) states that interpreting the situation including the decision to try and decide which choices are, and if and how a decision might affect others (i.e., they try to determine if an ethical issue exists). The analysis next begins with an assessment that the use of moral judgment is also critical for the development of doing what ought to be done. The next step is to develop the moral intent and define just what exactly needs to be done. As part of this step the relative strengths and weaknesses of each decision is weighed by the emotions, perceptions, and socialization of the decision-maker. The final step is the selection of a given alternative that may or may not be taken based on the ethical judgment of the leader. (Rest, 1984). Recognize Moral Issue (Moral Sensitivity) Make Moral Judgment (Moral Judgment) Establish Moral Intention (Moral Motivation) Act Moral Behavior (Moral Action) In summary, the defined model of cognitive moral decision making, which is often referred to as Rest’s four component model, is used pervasively through the majority of accounting ethics research, and is also used for the insights into causality it provides. As a result of its pervasive use, this model serves as the foundation of the analysis of survey results completed as part of this dissertation as well. The Cognitive Ethical Decision Making Model is specifically focused on the development of the research plan and methodology in addition to analyzing the key results and findings from this research effort. Illustrating the Defining Issues Test (DIT) One of the other major contributions Rest (1979) made in ascertaining the ethics levels of respondents throughout his research was the development of the Defining Issues Test (DIT), which is also used in the research completed on this dissertation as a means of measuring theory of moral reasoning. Rest contends that the DIT model continues to supplant and enhance knowledge in the key area of empirical ethics research (Rest, 1979). How the DIT is constructed begins with a measurement of the individual’s responses to moral dilemmas often defined in the context of scenarios or short vignettes that explain the key concepts behind the concepts being tested. Through the use of these scenarios or vignettes, the respondents’ views of ethics and morality emerge (Rest 1979). The test is typically written yet has also been placed on websites to make it possible for respondents from many different locations geographically to take the test at the same time. It is considered one of the more effective tests at standardizing moral and ethical dilemmas and issue questions. The test is constructed with six dilemmas (three in the short version) is accompanied by 12 stage specific questions (items). The respondent next reads the dilemma and chooses one of three decisions that align with their perception of the situation. Following this, the respondent rates the importance of each of the 12 items to their decision. Finally, the respondent is asked to rank the four most important items using multiple choice questions. The Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) is a comparable test and allows the respondent to specifically respond with their statements about moral and ethical dilemmas presented. As is true with most research methods, the use of multiple-choice questions is more sound from a methodological standpoint and therefore improves the reliability factor of the DIT instrument over the MJI. The MJI requires the interviewer to assess the subject’s response and assign a value to that response, introducing bias into the analysis of results (Elm Webber, 1994). This method of scoring used in MJI could potentially influence the reliability of the results since the analyst who is interpreting the responses of the subject rather than the subject choosing a response from alternatives (Elm Webber, 1994). A typical structure of the DIT is a multiple-choice questionnaire that contains multiple scenarios or vignettes, and has been designed to have up to 12 moral arguments in each dilemma relating to moral reasoning. Each of the questions on the questionnaire asks the subjects to select the most illustrative or definitive response for each situation given their perspective of it. The DIT then uses a point system on a four-point scale to measure the overall responses and create a score that indicates the respondents’ moral and ethical reaction to the points made. A score of four points is given for the most important response, and one point given for the least important response. Both manually-based and machine-based approaches are used for tallying and analyzing the scores, with statistical analysis programs increasingly being used to manage this process. Often the scores are also measured as a series of indices as well. The Principled Index (P index or P score) is the most commonly used one in this field of research today (Rest, 1979). The first score mentioned is often the â€Å"P† score (principled morality) which defines the level of a respondents’ ethical cognition. This is a metric that quantifies the level of respondents’ reaction to scenarios and vignettes that are identified as Stage 5 and Stage 6 in the Rest’s theory. In addition to the â€Å"P† score, the â€Å"D† score quantifies responses fro all stages rather than just those identified in Stages 5 and 6. Critics have contended that the â€Å"P† score is more reliable and therefore more trustworthy as a measure of ethical cognition, a point that Rest has agreed with from his analysis (Rest, 1990). In re-assessing the value of â€Å"P† as a measure of ethical cognition, Rest wrote â€Å"†¦represents the sum of the weighted ranks given to principled items and is interpreted as the relative importance given to principled moral consideration in making a moral judgment. (p.101). Further supporting the reliability of the DIT test are the inclusion of control variables, or items that are purely included to provide a random check of consistency of responses (Rest, 1990). In more advanced research instruments, this approach to ensuring that the responses are consistent is commonly used. When incongruent or inconsistent responses are found they are given a code of â€Å"M† and tallied at the end of the survey. If this specific factor score is too high then the individual survey is considered unusable. Since its initial development, the test has been used in more than 500 documented studies globally, as claimed by its author (Rest, 1990). In quantifying the value of the research instrument from a reliability standpoint, there have been a series of internal validity measures completed as well, with a test-retest methodology used to track internal validity. Scores on these tests using the statistical technical called Chronbach’s alpha index deliver a consistently high level of reliability, with a .70 on the score of this specific statistical metric (Rest, 1986). One of the findings that Rest (1990) has seen from the work completed cumulatively is that the DIT scores tend to have a high correlation level to education and a low correlation to gender, religious beliefs and affiliates, and gender. The ability to empirically test moral development has been achieved with the DIT methodology, and by 1999 Rest and his colleagues created a new version, DIT-2 which is a revised updated stories and issue statements, was introduced. This new instrument is an improved version of the DIT, specifically including more measures of reliability and validity and the purging of questions that could lead to erroneous results despite the presence of control variables (Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999). The DIT was chosen as the moral development instrument has the DIT-2 version has not been thoroughly tested enough therefore limited comparative data is available. This is especially true for accountant specific studies undertaken since the introduction of this second rating methodology. Secondly, while the DIT-2 generally is considered to be just as reliable as DIT given the latters’approach to managing reliability (Rest Narvaez, 1998). This specific dissertation will then focus on DIT as the measurement instrument for evaluating the ethics of Taiwanese CPAs. Empirical Analysis of Accountants through the use of DIT The concepts of moral development theory have provided the financial accounting profession with much opportunity for empirical research and investigation. While specific empirical studies have defined the current level of moral development of business majors including finance and accounting students, professional auditors, tenured and lecturing accounting educators, CPAs, and CMAs, there are many other empirically-derived studies that have focused on the relationship between moral development and various accounting specific behaviors. The intent of this area of the literature review is to represent the specific aspect of moral development research that has been conducted with respondents who are accountants. The impact of the six stage theory Kohlberg has often discussed and analyzed in the works cited in this research are also analysed using Rest’s four component model as foundation for completing an analysis using DIT results as the foundation for these efforts to create a pragmatic approach to analyzing the research. Validation of the DIT research instrument for use in conjunction with analyzing the ethical development of CPAs has been pioneered by Armstrong (1987) through the use of two samples of respondent group CPAs who were given the DIT. Using the mean DIT P scores of each respondent group and then comparing their relative means through the use of large samples of undergraduate college students, college graduate students, and adult respondents as reported by Rest (1979). After completing the analysis and calculating the mean DIT P scores, the results showed scores between the two CPA respondent groups as 37.1 and 38.5 respectively. Calculated mean DIT P scores of the three respondent audiences were as follows: college students (42.3), college graduates (53.3), and the adults in general (40.0). Armstrong (1987) stated that with the CPAs averaging only 1.1 years of post graduate education there was a significantly lower DIT P score reported and achieved by the CPAs. What also was found from the Armstrong analysis was that significantly lower DIT P scores obtained from CPAs occurred compared to both college students and adults as a general respondent group. From this analysis it’s clear that there is a normal progression in moral development that generally takes place in college, yet did not take place with the CPA groups. Their moral development, as measured by the DIT, had not progressed beyond that achieved by the general adult population. In addition to the research completed by Armstrong (1987) there has been significant work completed on the topic of moral development and theories of moral maturity relating to accounting students and professionals (St. Pierre, Nelson, Gabbin, 1990). This second study defined a respondent base of 479 seniors divided into 10 groups by major who were then given the DIT instrument to measure their level of cognitive ethical development. What is unique about this specific study is the definition of specific disciplines in the study as well including math, psychology, and social work. What is noteworthy from this student is that the mean DIT P scores for the respondent base of accounting majors were significantly below those of psychology majors. The researchers list the mean DIT P scores of 38.75 for the respondents who are male accountants and 45.85 for respondents are female accountants. This finding supported previous empirical studies relating to the development of ethical cognition in students, with female students receiving significantly higher scores, attributable to the previous results of empirical studies. Exacerbating these findings were also the DIT P score median value of 43.19 for college seniors. The use of the â€Å"M† value to ascertain the reliability of the study was also completed to better manage the sampling bias and potential errors. Based on these factors the research showed that there were no significant differences in DIT PI scores based on the exposure or not to an ethics course. Clearly the DTP P scores were seen as delineators of cognitive ethical development independent of formalized processes; there is in fact indication that ethically-oriented people do tend to gravitate towards majors that have a relatively high level of accountability, as psychology does for example. In an ancillary study, the work completed by Ponemon (1990) illustrated that through the study of 52 accountant respondents who ranged in position levels of staff, supervisor, manager, and partner were given the MJI to ascertain the relationship between moral stage development and hierarchical position. The results of the survey showed statistically significant results with the mean stage level increase from 3.4 at the staff level to 3.7 at the senior level and then to 4.1 at the supervisor level. While the MJI peaked at the supervisor level, mean stage levels decreased to 3.6 at the manager level and to a low of 2.9 at the partner level. Clearly the decline in MJI scores in this specific study contradicts the core concepts of moral development theory. Citing both a decline due to socialization and self-selection, Ponemon (1990) has stated that the results of this specific project do not necessarily refute ethical moral development theories. Following this research an paradigm (independence level) and the DIT were next analyzed (Ponemon Gabhart, 1990) in an empirical study of 119 respondents in a CPA firm group of audit managers and partners. Results of this specific analysis indicate that managers and partners who achieved low DIT P scores had the propensity to be more cognitively focused on the potential penalties than those respondents who have higher DIT P scores from the research. Not surprisingly there is a key finding from this research, that shows a significant negative relationship between rank and DIT P scores (managers-35.7; partners=30.1) in addition to the age and experience of respondents relative to their age and experience scores. Ponemon and Glazer (1990) also completed empirical research that attempted to add insights into the effects of a liberal college curriculum relative to the level of moral development. Respondents in this study are alumni practitioners in addition to two groups of students including freshmen, and accounting seniors. To ensure the study would be representative, respondents were randomly selected from two institutions that offer accounting degrees. The first institution included in the survey drew respondents from a private college where the accounting major curriculum is part of the liberal arts program. The second institution is a state university where accounting majors were not required or encouraged to take liberal arts courses. There were 143 total respondents in the study that completed the DIT, and the analysis of the results highlighted statistically significant scores between respondent groups. Further, the analysis revealed mean DIT P testing of freshman from both learning institutions was not significantly different between each of the learning institutions. At both the senior and alumni levels, the mean DIT P scores increased. Paradoxically the institution that had accounting as part of the liberal arts program had the higher DIT P scores than the institution that specifically focused on accounting as a core curriculum. In analyzing the results of the survey differences the researchers stated that to â€Å"†¦suggest that liberal learning in college may be an important factor in the development of the student’s and accounting practitioner’s moral reasoning† (p.204). The integration of accounting curriculum in liberal arts broader learning institutions has since become a foundational element in ethics research, and is relied on as a theoretical construct of the research completed in this dissertation. The dynamics involved in the moral development and perception of â€Å"whistle blowing† was studied in an empirical study that had 106 internal auditors as respondents by Arnold and Ponemon (1991) These researchers relied on the DIT research instrument to specifically assess the moral development in the context of experimental scenarios and vignettes surrounding a fraud case and experimental treatments that elicited the perception of internal auditors of â€Å"whistle blowing†. The results of this research illustrated the fact that internal auditors who scored low on the DIT P scale perceived the act of â€Å"whistle blowing† from the standpoint of personal punishment as a risk of unethical behavior than those with high DIT P scores. Clearly this supports the fact that the DIT P measurement instrument supports the contention that those internal auditors that have higher DIT P scores have a higher level of ethical cognition relative to those with lower DIT P scores. The internal auditors who scores lower on DIT P scores saw the act of â€Å"whistle blowing†, it can be inferred, as an external event that had negative consequences if a person was caught. This leads to the observation that internal auditors with low DIT P scores significantly externalize the ethical role of whistle blowers, while those with higher DIT P scores have already internalized ethical cognitions and see whistle blowing as incidental. Paradoxically however the main affiliation factors including punishment of others had little if any influence on the perc Morality and Cognitive Decision Making Experiment Morality and Cognitive Decision Making Experiment Moral Ethical Development Chapter II: Literature Review Researching the moral development, ethical decision making approaches, and the adoption of utilitarian ethics on the part of Taiwanese CPAs begins with a thorough literature review of these specific topics. The intent of this chapter is to evaluate the research instruments used for supporting and validating the hypotheses of this study as well. For purposes of clarity, this chapter is organization into three sections, starting with a review of moral development theories. The second section concentrates on the most commonly used instruments for completing measurement of ethical judgment and decision-making, with the last section of the chapter presenting an overview of empirical studies designed specifically to measure Taiwanese CPAs’ relationship to ethical evaluation and ethical intentions and overall moral development. Introduction to Moral Development Much of the foundational work completed in moral development is attributed to theorists who together have refined the key aspects of this field in the last twenty-five years. The evolution of moral development theories has concentrated on increasingly on its role in defining psychological aspects of moral development (Rest, 1979). Adding to the body of knowledge on moral development are the works of Kohlberg (1976) and Piaget (1932). In conjunction with Rest (1979), the works of these two theorists show specifically how the development of moral delineations and definitions are formative and not absolute, and have specific attributes associated with each. As accountancy is a field that relies heavily on trust and the fulfillment of fiduciary responsibilities, the importance of ethical judgments in the field of study is clear. Accountants and CPAs need to be the sustainers of public trust in the accounting and auditing professions. Ironically however one of the world’s largest scandals, Enron, was architected by accountants and auditors, which lead the U.S. government to legislate into law the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002. Later in this literature review the basis of the SOX Act will be discussed. As a result of the importance of ethical judgments in the accounting profession, several studies that are empirically based have had as their objective an assessment of the development of moral judgment, moral frameworks, and skills at assessing the ethical dilemmas that occur in the fulfillment of their professions. In researching and defining the moral development of organizations, the work of Paiget (1932) serves as a foundation, based on his assessment of how children form ethical and moral values through the study of their respect for rules. Paiget (1932) wrote The Moral Judgment of the Child to add to the field of knowledge on moral development. Paiget writes that â€Å"all morality consists in a system of rules, and the essence of all morality is to be sought for in the respect which the individual acquires for these rules† (p.13). Relying on observation as a research approach and completing interviews with a cross-section of boys to see how their comprehension of rules influencing the game was completed, Paiget was able to construct theories of moral development and the development of moral judgment. Paiget defined the concept of children developing morally through a progression from heteronomy, through stages of autonomy, finally to equity. Based on this research Paiget created a specific framework which describes the stages in conceptualization of moral decision-making and judgment, leading to the finding of rules presence and consciousness of rules as the foundation for developing moral judgment (Ponemon, 1990). The development of stages of Cognitive Developmental Theory (Piaget, 1997) are defined as follows. The first phase is where sensory-motor intelligence (younger than two years old) is prevalent. The second stage is pre-operational thought (two to seven years old) that serves as the foundation for creating more concrete concepts in the future. The third stage is called concrete operations and occurs between seven to eleven years old, with the fourth stage being formal operations that occur from eleven to adulthood. Paiget observed that by age 7, children begin playing with and cooperating with one another. Secondly Paiget observed children in the 11 to 12 age range see rules as permeable, capable of being negotiable and mutually agreeable. Theorizing that children are not born with the ability to understand and apply moral standards yet learn them over progressive stage, Piaget (1997) began creating a moral development theory that forms the foundation of Kohlberg’s creation of his own theories of moral development as well. Kohlberg refined and developed a six-stage sequence mode model and subsequently and empirically proved the assumptions of Piaget (1997), (Kohlberg 1976). His moral reasoning theory is a cognitive developmental theory that seeks to understand the reasoning behind how adults decide what course of action in morally right or wrong. Furthermore, Kohlberg’s theory develops sequentially through three levels of moral development,, with each level subdivided into two stages (Table 1), Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory is today regarded as a model and framework for ethics education according to Baxter and Rarick (1987) and Shenkir (1990). (Baxter Rarick, 1987; Shenkir, 1990) It’s clear that Piaget had a significant influence on the findings and conclusions of Kohlberg. This is evident for example in the second and third stages Kohlberg defines, which are exactly the same as Piaget’s. Despite this same approach to defining the specific level of moral development, Kohlberg differs from Piaget on the fourth through sixth stages of development. The factors that are driving the differences are the interpretations of internal moral convictions justice and that Kohlberg sees as overriding social expectations, norms, and values. Kohlberg’s work on moral development provided a foundation for further analysis of moral development and the formation of moral judgment as well. Specifically focused the measurement of the changes by stage of morale development, Kohlberg had defined a hypothesis that over time and throughout maturity children, then adults, become more attuned to moral development.(Kohlberg, 1981). Throughout the remainder of this life Kohlberg concentrated his efforts on moral education and the propagation of his theories. Despite the alignment of Kohlberg’s findings and analyses to Piaget (1997) and others in the area of normative moral development being aligned to the developmental phases of a child’s then adults’ life there are many critics of this view including the following academicians and theorists (Gilligan, 1993, , 1998; Gump, Baker, Roll, 2000; Reimer;, Paolitto, Hersh, 1990; Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999, , 2000; Shweder, 1982; Spohn, 2000; Sullivan, 1977). Specifically these theorists have centered on four specific questions that form the foundation of their critique of Kohlberg’s theories (et.al.). First do the processes involved in moral reasoning foster and sustain moral behavior over time? Theorists remark that Kohlberg’s theory supports critical thinking regarding morality yet does not concentrating on what ought to be done versus what is actually accomplished (Sullivan, 1977). As part of this argument theorists contend that the lack of longitudinal empirical evidence to support the claim that the higher the level of moral judgment, the higher the level of moral behavior. During his lifetime, this was often discussed and presented as a critique of his work, an assessment he agreed with saying â€Å"I understand the theory of justice reasoning to be necessary but not sufficient for defining the full domain of what is meant by moral development† (Kohlberg, 1984). Whether or not knowing is equal to doing, knowing must typically come before doing, and so Kohlberg states that â€Å"the study of moral reasoning is valuable in its own right† (Kohlberg, 1984). Second, the suppositions that the only aspect of moral reasoning is justice when in fact there are many other factors to consider. The theorists have said that Kohlberg’s theories tend to overemphasize the perception of justice as the foundation for making decisions. Theorists have long argued that in addition to justice, additional factors including compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in moral reasoning. (Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999; Spohn, 2000) The third major question of Kohlberg’s analysis is the minimal amount of empirical evidences for post-conventional level thinking , a critical assumption that underscore much of what Kohlberg based his analysis on(Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999)The fourth question that emerges from the analysis is an assessment of Kohlberg’s theories and the over-reliance on the role and influence of Western culture. Critics and theorists contend that there is equally if not more emphasis specifically from Eastern cultures as well that have not been taken into account (J. C. Gibbs, 2003; Spohn, 2000). As a result of these critiques specific to his work, in 1985 Kohlberg decided to eliminate the sixth stage of his work, citing a lack of empirical evidence and proven causality once thought to be present. In addition, there appears to be a dearth of evidence of support the fifth stage of his model, and in fact theorists pointed to little support from previous empirically derived research. In addition to the above points, theorists contend that there is a dearth of evidence for the fifth level of scoring as defined by Kohlberg (Snarey, 1985). Gibbs (1979) is credited with being a co-developer of the scoring system and concentrates on moral judgment development throughout the fourth stage of the Kohlberg framework. In addition, Kohlberg defended the empirical data for the fifth and sixth stages stating that statistically significant findings had supported his framework, despite the critics and the lack of empirical studies that could be replicated by other theorists. The fifth and sixth stages are clearly centered on post conventional thinking, which is a limitation of Kohlbergs framework. The book Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and Controversy (Modgil Modgil, 1986) defines the shortcomings of the fifth and sixth stages of the Kohlberg model in depth, with several of the theorists mentioned in this literature review being the primary critics of Kohlberg’s theories. Analysis of Rest’s Theories James Rest (1979) developed a revision of the developmental process of moral judgment by looking at the shortcomings of Kohlberg (et.al.) and Piaget (1997). As a result, Rest’s moral judgment model is significantly different than Kohlberg’s (Rest, 1979). According to theorists, â€Å"For the measurement of moral reasoning, Rest’s model assesses an individual’s tendency to use concepts of justice based on social cooperation in his or her moral thinking, while Kohlberg’s model assesses an individual’s use of justice concepts, focusing more on exchange and individual interests† (Elm Weber, 1994), p. 346) Rest (1986) consequently a Four Component Model that captures for types of psychological processes must take place for an individual to experience moral behavior. The Rest Four Component Model is summarized by the key points below: Moral Judgment: the individual must make judgment on what should be the right thing to do. In other words, a person should be able to determine the appropriate action that is morally correct. Moral Sensitivity: This is defined as the interpretation of individuals’ actions in terms of responding to their overall assessment of situation. The intent of this aspect of the model is to refer to how an individual’s conduct is analyzed in terms of how is going to influence themselves and those who are associates and friends. Moral Motivation: the essence of defining and prioritizing moral decisions over competing contextual perceptions of morality. Moral values are, according to this model, above personal values. Moral values are always thought about first when making a decision. Moral Action: The sense of this specific element of the model requires the development of competence in the development and use of strategies that develop a moral foundation. According to this specific aspect of the model, the individual needs to have the integrity and self-determination to stay in alignment with their need for behaving morally and ethically over time. The point of this specific aspect of the model is that self-determination is a critical aspect of the total model. Assessing the Cognitive Moral Decision-Making Model The ethical decision-making of accounting, auditing and financial professionals have increasingly come under fire due to the major ethical lapses of these professionals that led to some of the largest scandals in history. Enron, MCI, Tyco and many other scandals are directly responsible for SOX legislation in the U.S. and a marked rise in compliance globally, preceded by the savings loan debacle of the 1980s, have together served as the catalyst of high levels of interest in the ethics of CPAs and finance professions (Cohen Pant, 1993; Lampe Finn, 1992; McNair Milam, 1993; Ponemon Gabhart, 1990; Shaub, 1994) From this body of research with regard to compliance surrounding ethics, Lampe and Finn (1992) have defined three dominant types of ethical decision making models. These are defined with the context of audits, and include agency models, cognitive models, and professional code-implied models. The intent of the study is primarily focused on the cognitive model component first, as it is the most pervasively used in evaluating the decision-making process of auditors (Ponemon Gabhart, 1993). Accounting ethics research, in the majority of studies is based on a cognitive moral decision making model as first analyzed and published by Rest (1986). Modeling the individual moral decision processes that include the reasoning and action processes in completing and carrying out ethical decisions and actions is defined in the model as well. According to the theory the person with a strong sense of morals is that that evaluates an ethical dilemma and situation to ensure that actions are evaluated for their ethicity first. In defining this model Rest (1984) states that interpreting the situation including the decision to try and decide which choices are, and if and how a decision might affect others (i.e., they try to determine if an ethical issue exists). The analysis next begins with an assessment that the use of moral judgment is also critical for the development of doing what ought to be done. The next step is to develop the moral intent and define just what exactly needs to be done. As part of this step the relative strengths and weaknesses of each decision is weighed by the emotions, perceptions, and socialization of the decision-maker. The final step is the selection of a given alternative that may or may not be taken based on the ethical judgment of the leader. (Rest, 1984). Recognize Moral Issue (Moral Sensitivity) Make Moral Judgment (Moral Judgment) Establish Moral Intention (Moral Motivation) Act Moral Behavior (Moral Action) In summary, the defined model of cognitive moral decision making, which is often referred to as Rest’s four component model, is used pervasively through the majority of accounting ethics research, and is also used for the insights into causality it provides. As a result of its pervasive use, this model serves as the foundation of the analysis of survey results completed as part of this dissertation as well. The Cognitive Ethical Decision Making Model is specifically focused on the development of the research plan and methodology in addition to analyzing the key results and findings from this research effort. Illustrating the Defining Issues Test (DIT) One of the other major contributions Rest (1979) made in ascertaining the ethics levels of respondents throughout his research was the development of the Defining Issues Test (DIT), which is also used in the research completed on this dissertation as a means of measuring theory of moral reasoning. Rest contends that the DIT model continues to supplant and enhance knowledge in the key area of empirical ethics research (Rest, 1979). How the DIT is constructed begins with a measurement of the individual’s responses to moral dilemmas often defined in the context of scenarios or short vignettes that explain the key concepts behind the concepts being tested. Through the use of these scenarios or vignettes, the respondents’ views of ethics and morality emerge (Rest 1979). The test is typically written yet has also been placed on websites to make it possible for respondents from many different locations geographically to take the test at the same time. It is considered one of the more effective tests at standardizing moral and ethical dilemmas and issue questions. The test is constructed with six dilemmas (three in the short version) is accompanied by 12 stage specific questions (items). The respondent next reads the dilemma and chooses one of three decisions that align with their perception of the situation. Following this, the respondent rates the importance of each of the 12 items to their decision. Finally, the respondent is asked to rank the four most important items using multiple choice questions. The Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) is a comparable test and allows the respondent to specifically respond with their statements about moral and ethical dilemmas presented. As is true with most research methods, the use of multiple-choice questions is more sound from a methodological standpoint and therefore improves the reliability factor of the DIT instrument over the MJI. The MJI requires the interviewer to assess the subject’s response and assign a value to that response, introducing bias into the analysis of results (Elm Webber, 1994). This method of scoring used in MJI could potentially influence the reliability of the results since the analyst who is interpreting the responses of the subject rather than the subject choosing a response from alternatives (Elm Webber, 1994). A typical structure of the DIT is a multiple-choice questionnaire that contains multiple scenarios or vignettes, and has been designed to have up to 12 moral arguments in each dilemma relating to moral reasoning. Each of the questions on the questionnaire asks the subjects to select the most illustrative or definitive response for each situation given their perspective of it. The DIT then uses a point system on a four-point scale to measure the overall responses and create a score that indicates the respondents’ moral and ethical reaction to the points made. A score of four points is given for the most important response, and one point given for the least important response. Both manually-based and machine-based approaches are used for tallying and analyzing the scores, with statistical analysis programs increasingly being used to manage this process. Often the scores are also measured as a series of indices as well. The Principled Index (P index or P score) is the most commonly used one in this field of research today (Rest, 1979). The first score mentioned is often the â€Å"P† score (principled morality) which defines the level of a respondents’ ethical cognition. This is a metric that quantifies the level of respondents’ reaction to scenarios and vignettes that are identified as Stage 5 and Stage 6 in the Rest’s theory. In addition to the â€Å"P† score, the â€Å"D† score quantifies responses fro all stages rather than just those identified in Stages 5 and 6. Critics have contended that the â€Å"P† score is more reliable and therefore more trustworthy as a measure of ethical cognition, a point that Rest has agreed with from his analysis (Rest, 1990). In re-assessing the value of â€Å"P† as a measure of ethical cognition, Rest wrote â€Å"†¦represents the sum of the weighted ranks given to principled items and is interpreted as the relative importance given to principled moral consideration in making a moral judgment. (p.101). Further supporting the reliability of the DIT test are the inclusion of control variables, or items that are purely included to provide a random check of consistency of responses (Rest, 1990). In more advanced research instruments, this approach to ensuring that the responses are consistent is commonly used. When incongruent or inconsistent responses are found they are given a code of â€Å"M† and tallied at the end of the survey. If this specific factor score is too high then the individual survey is considered unusable. Since its initial development, the test has been used in more than 500 documented studies globally, as claimed by its author (Rest, 1990). In quantifying the value of the research instrument from a reliability standpoint, there have been a series of internal validity measures completed as well, with a test-retest methodology used to track internal validity. Scores on these tests using the statistical technical called Chronbach’s alpha index deliver a consistently high level of reliability, with a .70 on the score of this specific statistical metric (Rest, 1986). One of the findings that Rest (1990) has seen from the work completed cumulatively is that the DIT scores tend to have a high correlation level to education and a low correlation to gender, religious beliefs and affiliates, and gender. The ability to empirically test moral development has been achieved with the DIT methodology, and by 1999 Rest and his colleagues created a new version, DIT-2 which is a revised updated stories and issue statements, was introduced. This new instrument is an improved version of the DIT, specifically including more measures of reliability and validity and the purging of questions that could lead to erroneous results despite the presence of control variables (Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, Bebeau, 1999). The DIT was chosen as the moral development instrument has the DIT-2 version has not been thoroughly tested enough therefore limited comparative data is available. This is especially true for accountant specific studies undertaken since the introduction of this second rating methodology. Secondly, while the DIT-2 generally is considered to be just as reliable as DIT given the latters’approach to managing reliability (Rest Narvaez, 1998). This specific dissertation will then focus on DIT as the measurement instrument for evaluating the ethics of Taiwanese CPAs. Empirical Analysis of Accountants through the use of DIT The concepts of moral development theory have provided the financial accounting profession with much opportunity for empirical research and investigation. While specific empirical studies have defined the current level of moral development of business majors including finance and accounting students, professional auditors, tenured and lecturing accounting educators, CPAs, and CMAs, there are many other empirically-derived studies that have focused on the relationship between moral development and various accounting specific behaviors. The intent of this area of the literature review is to represent the specific aspect of moral development research that has been conducted with respondents who are accountants. The impact of the six stage theory Kohlberg has often discussed and analyzed in the works cited in this research are also analysed using Rest’s four component model as foundation for completing an analysis using DIT results as the foundation for these efforts to create a pragmatic approach to analyzing the research. Validation of the DIT research instrument for use in conjunction with analyzing the ethical development of CPAs has been pioneered by Armstrong (1987) through the use of two samples of respondent group CPAs who were given the DIT. Using the mean DIT P scores of each respondent group and then comparing their relative means through the use of large samples of undergraduate college students, college graduate students, and adult respondents as reported by Rest (1979). After completing the analysis and calculating the mean DIT P scores, the results showed scores between the two CPA respondent groups as 37.1 and 38.5 respectively. Calculated mean DIT P scores of the three respondent audiences were as follows: college students (42.3), college graduates (53.3), and the adults in general (40.0). Armstrong (1987) stated that with the CPAs averaging only 1.1 years of post graduate education there was a significantly lower DIT P score reported and achieved by the CPAs. What also was found from the Armstrong analysis was that significantly lower DIT P scores obtained from CPAs occurred compared to both college students and adults as a general respondent group. From this analysis it’s clear that there is a normal progression in moral development that generally takes place in college, yet did not take place with the CPA groups. Their moral development, as measured by the DIT, had not progressed beyond that achieved by the general adult population. In addition to the research completed by Armstrong (1987) there has been significant work completed on the topic of moral development and theories of moral maturity relating to accounting students and professionals (St. Pierre, Nelson, Gabbin, 1990). This second study defined a respondent base of 479 seniors divided into 10 groups by major who were then given the DIT instrument to measure their level of cognitive ethical development. What is unique about this specific study is the definition of specific disciplines in the study as well including math, psychology, and social work. What is noteworthy from this student is that the mean DIT P scores for the respondent base of accounting majors were significantly below those of psychology majors. The researchers list the mean DIT P scores of 38.75 for the respondents who are male accountants and 45.85 for respondents are female accountants. This finding supported previous empirical studies relating to the development of ethical cognition in students, with female students receiving significantly higher scores, attributable to the previous results of empirical studies. Exacerbating these findings were also the DIT P score median value of 43.19 for college seniors. The use of the â€Å"M† value to ascertain the reliability of the study was also completed to better manage the sampling bias and potential errors. Based on these factors the research showed that there were no significant differences in DIT PI scores based on the exposure or not to an ethics course. Clearly the DTP P scores were seen as delineators of cognitive ethical development independent of formalized processes; there is in fact indication that ethically-oriented people do tend to gravitate towards majors that have a relatively high level of accountability, as psychology does for example. In an ancillary study, the work completed by Ponemon (1990) illustrated that through the study of 52 accountant respondents who ranged in position levels of staff, supervisor, manager, and partner were given the MJI to ascertain the relationship between moral stage development and hierarchical position. The results of the survey showed statistically significant results with the mean stage level increase from 3.4 at the staff level to 3.7 at the senior level and then to 4.1 at the supervisor level. While the MJI peaked at the supervisor level, mean stage levels decreased to 3.6 at the manager level and to a low of 2.9 at the partner level. Clearly the decline in MJI scores in this specific study contradicts the core concepts of moral development theory. Citing both a decline due to socialization and self-selection, Ponemon (1990) has stated that the results of this specific project do not necessarily refute ethical moral development theories. Following this research an paradigm (independence level) and the DIT were next analyzed (Ponemon Gabhart, 1990) in an empirical study of 119 respondents in a CPA firm group of audit managers and partners. Results of this specific analysis indicate that managers and partners who achieved low DIT P scores had the propensity to be more cognitively focused on the potential penalties than those respondents who have higher DIT P scores from the research. Not surprisingly there is a key finding from this research, that shows a significant negative relationship between rank and DIT P scores (managers-35.7; partners=30.1) in addition to the age and experience of respondents relative to their age and experience scores. Ponemon and Glazer (1990) also completed empirical research that attempted to add insights into the effects of a liberal college curriculum relative to the level of moral development. Respondents in this study are alumni practitioners in addition to two groups of students including freshmen, and accounting seniors. To ensure the study would be representative, respondents were randomly selected from two institutions that offer accounting degrees. The first institution included in the survey drew respondents from a private college where the accounting major curriculum is part of the liberal arts program. The second institution is a state university where accounting majors were not required or encouraged to take liberal arts courses. There were 143 total respondents in the study that completed the DIT, and the analysis of the results highlighted statistically significant scores between respondent groups. Further, the analysis revealed mean DIT P testing of freshman from both learning institutions was not significantly different between each of the learning institutions. At both the senior and alumni levels, the mean DIT P scores increased. Paradoxically the institution that had accounting as part of the liberal arts program had the higher DIT P scores than the institution that specifically focused on accounting as a core curriculum. In analyzing the results of the survey differences the researchers stated that to â€Å"†¦suggest that liberal learning in college may be an important factor in the development of the student’s and accounting practitioner’s moral reasoning† (p.204). The integration of accounting curriculum in liberal arts broader learning institutions has since become a foundational element in ethics research, and is relied on as a theoretical construct of the research completed in this dissertation. The dynamics involved in the moral development and perception of â€Å"whistle blowing† was studied in an empirical study that had 106 internal auditors as respondents by Arnold and Ponemon (1991) These researchers relied on the DIT research instrument to specifically assess the moral development in the context of experimental scenarios and vignettes surrounding a fraud case and experimental treatments that elicited the perception of internal auditors of â€Å"whistle blowing†. The results of this research illustrated the fact that internal auditors who scored low on the DIT P scale perceived the act of â€Å"whistle blowing† from the standpoint of personal punishment as a risk of unethical behavior than those with high DIT P scores. Clearly this supports the fact that the DIT P measurement instrument supports the contention that those internal auditors that have higher DIT P scores have a higher level of ethical cognition relative to those with lower DIT P scores. The internal auditors who scores lower on DIT P scores saw the act of â€Å"whistle blowing†, it can be inferred, as an external event that had negative consequences if a person was caught. This leads to the observation that internal auditors with low DIT P scores significantly externalize the ethical role of whistle blowers, while those with higher DIT P scores have already internalized ethical cognitions and see whistle blowing as incidental. Paradoxically however the main affiliation factors including punishment of others had little if any influence on the perc