Monday, December 30, 2019

Movie Rental Services - 1207 Words

Which movie rental service was best? Everyone loves movies, and the best way to see every film is of renting. There was an age where people used brick and mortar stores to see the latest available movies. Currently, there are more choices open for film lovers of all ages. The World Wide Web has improved things drastically, and many physical rental stores have faded out of existence. Ultimately, this brings about where Netflix , Red Box, and Blockbuster comes into place considering the progression of film service. Blockbuster is a great example of a brick and mortar store, which opened in Dallas in the year 1985. Blockbuster has been providing the service of renting physical media off of its shelves for quite some time. At its peak Blockbuster was massive, but because the company constantly changes its price structures and late fee agreements, it has made renting films a costly and frustrating outlook. Red Box, on the other hand, has machines in many locations nationwide, allowing one to rent movies for only a dollar a night. Most of these machines are usually located in Wal-Mart, McDonalds, 7-11’s, and grocery stores. There are some drawbacks for this company, which include the limited product selection they have for their customers, and the extensive wait time to use the machines. Red Box customers are also subjected to the 28-day waiting period on some new released films. The future of Red Box is looking worthy of note, as video games are being presented in test marketsShow MoreRelatedNetflix Is The Worlds Largest Online Dvd Movie Rental Service1396 Words   |  6 Pagesthey focus on value, convenience and selection† (Choudhary, 2010). Netflix subscribers who pay $19.95 for unlimited rent are more than one million. These subscribers must rent 3 DVD at one time. Netflix is the world s largest online DVD movie rental service offering more than 26,000,000 members access to more than 100,000 titles. Netflix main strategy was to do better than the video shops that carried DVDs, and renting them as first come first serve. Netflix decided to ship the disc to customersRead MoreNetflix vs. Redbox1055 Words   |  5 Pagesprovides a subscription-style e-commerce service. Customers only need to sign up and pay $13.95-39.95 a month to borrow as many as 2-9 movies at a time with no monthly limit. If customers quickly watch the DVD and send them back, the monthly fee pays for quite a few movies. The relatively low monthly fee enables Netflix to compete with Blockbuster and other brick-and-mortar video rental business. Meanwhile, Netflix might keep the customers who try the service and happy with it continue paying the monthlyRead MoreNetflix : A Case Study By Sayan C.e. Carroll And David Spencer1519 Words   |  7 Pages NETFLIX A summary of the case study by Sayan C.E. Carroll and David Spencer Introduction In late February 2005, Netflix, the pioneer of the video rental business, faced a threat when Wal-Mart and Blockbuster attempted to copy their business model by launching their own online DVD rental service. The Netflix business model provided an online library of DVD titles that could be selected and rented by monthly subscribers. Once ordered, the DVDs were physically delivered at no additional cost andRead MoreNetflix SWOT Essay1331 Words   |  6 PagesCan you name the largest online entertainment subscription service? If you said â€Å"Netflix† then you are correct. Netflix started in 1997 by Reed Hastings and the subscription service started in 1999. The company headquarters is based out of San Francisco, California. There are over 100 shipping location in the United States. Netflix offers over 100,000 DVD titles and over 8,000 that are ready to be watched instantly on a subscribers PC. Netflix has over 1500 fulltime and 1100 part time employeesRead MoreNetflix Case Study Essay1334 Words   |  6 PagesNetflix Case Study The video rental industry began with brick and mortar store that rented VSH tape. Enhanced internet commerce and the advent of the DVD provided a opportunity for a new avenue for securing movie rentals. In 1998 Netflix headquartered in Los Gatos California began operations as a regional online movie rental company. While the firm demonstrated that a market for online rentals existed, it was not financially successfully. Netflix lost over $11 million inRead MoreNetflix Case Study943 Words   |  4 PagesSummary The movie rental industry is a living industry; there are constant changes with advances in technology, rights management, and the slow, but steady, move away from physical Media. Companies such as Netflix, Hulu, RedBox, and Blockbuster are being forced to look at new business models and try to keep up with these changes. Assignment Questions 1. How strong are the competitive forces in the movie rental marketplace? Do a ï ¬ ve-forces analysis to support your answer. Threat of New Competition:Read MoreSony And Panasonic : Video Rental Market1106 Words   |  5 Pagesplayers increased, video rental stores began to proliferate across the United States. Rental stores innovated the home video market offering customers a less expensive alternative to consuming media, and in the beginning faced no technological or competitive threats in the marketplace. In 1985, David Cook opened the first Blockbuster store in Dallas, Texas. Blockbuster initially began as a competitor to smaller mom-and-pop video stores, offering a larger selection of movie titles customized to eachRead MoreBusiness980 Words   |  4 PagesVideo rental industry Definition: Branch of the entertainment industry that engages in renting prerecorded video material for home and personal viewing Significance: After starting in 1979 with a single retail outlet in Los Angeles, the video rental industry boomed during the 1980’s and became a fixture in consumers’ spending during the 1990’s, grossing an average of $1 billion yearly. With the arrival of digital versatile discs (DVDs) and the Internet during the 1990’s, the industry experiencedRead MoreThe Shocking Closing Of Blockbuster Video Stores1536 Words   |  7 PagesBlockbuster Video was a dominant entity of home rental entertainment from the mid-1980s through the end of the 20th century. With thousands of video choices ranging from family to action, Blockbuster Video provided affordable movie entertainment for those who chose to stay in and avoid the hustle and bustle of movie going. At its peak in 2004, there were 9,000 video stores across the United States (Newman, 2009). Blockbuster also began to provide video game rentals when their stores opened, which made greatRead MoreNetflix : The Dev elopment Of Information Technology817 Words   |  4 Pagescustomer service. This paper is going to discuss what IT Netflix has applied and analyze its influence. How Netflix use IT to develop a competitive advantage, and what should be improved in IT area in the future. Introduction Netflix is an online DVD rental company. It was founded in 1997 in California starting its business by subscription-based distribution through cooperation with USPS. Now with development of internet service and streaming technology, it provides more DVD rental business through

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Should Female Contruction Workers Earn the Same Wages as Male

Ever since women have been able to vote, there have been more rights for women everywhere in America. Somehow in construction working, women get lower paid than men. Should they be paid the same as men? The working area is the same, so why is it that women have lower payments because of their gender? This should be a new rule, for women have the same exact rights as men. Everyone is working the same, so why not? Finally, this can reduce women strikes. Working class women internalize their own oppression. These women learn the stereotypes that define their lives at an early age. Working class women strive to maintain the traditional feminine ideal while simultaneously struggling with the limitations of class. To a significant extent, the†¦show more content†¦Of the recent discussions, much of this has been influenced or at least based around Freuds theory of psychoanalysis and the his account of sexual development that follows from it. In very simplistic terms his account places masculine Is the inequality between men and women a human universal In this essay I will look at whether the inequality between men and women is a human universal, or whether there are or have been societies in which women shared ... sexuality at its centre, making the penis the only recognised and valued sexual organ (Smart). Female sexuality is constructed as lack of or a void because her genitals offer us nothing to see (Irigaray), thereby her desire is framed as an urge to come to possess the valued organ, which is the penis. Freuds account of sexuality was initially dismissed by Kate Millett in 1969 as she argued his ideas were self-interested and just plain silly, however in Human Sexuality Explain the components of Human Sexuality. In your explanation include the definition of Gender we constructed in class. The components of Human Sexuality ... 1974, Juliet Mitchell brought Freud back into feminism (Smart). She argued that his references to the penis shouldnt be taken so literally, in attempt to split the symbolic phallus from the biological penis, the problem however remerged because men have both power and penises, so penis continued collapsing in the phallusShow MoreRelatedProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pagesauthorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, e-mail: permcoordinator@wiley.com. Limit of LiabilityDisclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author

Friday, December 13, 2019

Julius Caesar Politically Correct or Politically Corrupt Free Essays

Julius Caesar: Politically Correct or Politically Corrupt? Morality: most commonly defined as a set of ideas developed in each individual’s head to decide whether something is wrong or right. On the smallest scale of moral code, being that of each individual, there are great variations. To someone who lives the life of a vegan, it is morally wrong to eat meat, dairy, or be involved with any products what-so-ever derived from an animal. We will write a custom essay sample on Julius Caesar: Politically Correct or Politically Corrupt? or any similar topic only for you Order Now On the other hand, to someone who does eat meat this is all perfectly okay. While this may not seem like a major moral conflict, it actually is because whether you agree or disagree with either of the two greatly affects your everyday life. If you take moral code to a larger scale, saying that of a whole society, there is a greater common trend of certain ideas. Under good morals: helping others, working hard, sharing, loyalty, and honesty. Under bad morals: stealing, lying, jealousy, hurting others, betrayal and revenge. Since moral ideals can differ from one person to the next, then logically they could change from each generation or time period to the next. So, how is the loss of morality within the political sphere of Julius Caesar to be judged? By today’s morals, or by those of its time period? Since no writer of today could possibly know what exactly was going through Shakespeare’s head at the time he wrote this play, then no one could possibly fully understand what was considered moral within this play or not. Ultimately, one such writer would be forced to use morals that are based within modern times. Within the play, Julius Caesar, the goal of the major political figures was deemed honorable by some but not by others thus causing a greater focus on their corrupt reasoning and the loss of morality within the political sphere of this play. Jealousy: the mental instability brought upon oneself by resentment or fear of another’s good fortune leading to unfaithfulness. By this definition, jealousy would be considered morally wrong. Cassius’s contribution to the loss of morality within the politics of this play is shown through his jealousy of Caesar. Cassius does not see Caesar as other people see him. Many others see Caesar as a great, strong, noble, and god-like leader. Cassius believes Caesar is no greater than him, much weaker, and far less noble and deserving of all the attention and respect that is given to him. Seeing Caesar as a man just like the other men of the senate, Cassius believes that more power and influence should be given to the others. He also believes that if Caesar were to become king, they would be stripped of what little power they do have. Cassius’ jealousy of Caesar’s greater reputation is shown especially when he says this in reference to Caesar, â€Å"Alas, it cried, ‘Give me some drink, Titinius,’ as a sick girl. Ye gods! It doth amaze me a man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone. † (Shakespeare, I, ii, 127-130) Cassius also expresses jealousy and resentment towards Caesar when he states, â€Å"Did I the tired Caesar- and this man is now become a god, and Cassius is a wretched creature, and must bend his body if Caesar carelessly but nod on him. (I, ii, 115-118) No political atmosphere can survive when there is such jealousy among its leaders. This morally corrupted mentality of ‘coveting thy neighbor’ is what leads to Cassius’ aid in planning and seeing through the plan of assassinating Julius Caesar. Disloyalty and betrayal: the violation of allegiance or trust. These are another couple characteristics that are deemed immoral. Through these traits, Brutus aids in the loss of morality within the politics of this play. Unlike Cassius though, Brutus actually loves Caesar. This fact is blatantly obvious when Cassius questions him and Brutus responds in reference to Caesar, â€Å"I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well. † (I, ii, 88) Despite this love for his friend, Brutus still agrees to join the other conspirators and assassinate Caesar. What makes this betrayal so much worse, in addition to the fact that Brutus allows himself to be persuaded by others, is that he knows just how very wrong it is and still goes through with the plan. Right up to the very end there was a great part of Brutus with which this plan did not sit well. His love for Caesar is still evident as he becomes a nervous wreck and very worrisome prior to the assassination. On the night before the ides of March, in response to his wife, Portia, Brutus says,† You are my true and honourable wife, As dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit my sad heart. † (II, i, 288-291) It’s obvious that Brutus can tell what he is doing is wrong, yet he still follows through. As justification to the people of Rome, Brutus states, â€Å"If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer-not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. † (III, ii, 17-19) Even though he gives a ‘for the greater good’ explanation, this does not make his morals any less corrupt. If the politicians can’t count on each other’s loyalty, then any and every sense of order within a government is going to fall apart. Revenge: to punish another for a wrong doing in a vindictive spirit. Yet another one of the more commonly deemed immoral personality traits. It was by this state of mind and his abuse of power that Marc Antony contributed the loss of morality within the political aspects of this play. Being a great admirer and friend of Caesar, Antony sought out revenge upon the conspirators after learning of the assassination. By making his eulogy more emotionally charged and getting the opportunity to speak after Brutus, Antony was able to uproot what his pier said and get the revenge he was seeking. Throughout his speech, Marc Antony described Caesar’s wounds in ways such as, â€Å"Look, in this place ran Cassius’ dagger through. See what a rent the envious Casca made. Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb’d. † (III, ii, 176-178) This inspired grief and anger within the Roman people that was then pointed directly at the conspirators. Until the end of the play, Antony is continuously seeking revenge and he does obtain the ultimate revenge when both of the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, die. This strong desire for revenge is masked to look like justice for the assassination of a great leader, but is it really? In the end, there is no benefit. Yes, Caesar’s death has been avenged but all the great political minds that could have taken his place after his assassination have also been killed and the couple left have been even more corrupted after going through this whole ordeal. Now those who are in charge and not accustomed to such a position of power are morally corrupting the political sphere even more. For example, Marc Antony says, â€Å"He shall not live. Look, with a spot I damn him† (IV, i, 7). This is pretty much seen as tyranny which is what was trying to be avoided from the beginning. The fixation on the corruption of these great men within the plot shows the tragedy of lost morality in the political sphere of this play, Julius Caesar. Each character beginning the story a better person that how they finish. Starting out as a respectable political leader and ending up an exiled trader who eventually dies. Beginning as one of the more beloved friends, only to become a despised enemy that ultimately kills himself. Built up into a strong government then having it crumble into pieces. The only way any one person or system could sue come to such a low level after being so high is by being morally and inwardly corrupt. How to cite Julius Caesar: Politically Correct or Politically Corrupt?, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

CQ Implementing System

Question: Discuss about the CQ Implementing System. Answer: Introduction CQ is implementing a system for its medical center. This document illustrates how the system is model based on the case study provided and then a logical design of the system is derived from the ERD. All the relations in the logical design are in 3NF. Entity Relationship Diagram The following is the relationship diagram for the CQMC system. Business rules and assumptions For CQMC to be operational, the following business rules are followed. A customer visits a general medical practitioner and is referred to a CQMC specialist using a referral letter. The customer visits or calls CQMC to make an appointment. The customer does not need to have the referral letter from the general medical practitioner to make an appointment if they go to the center. When the patient makes an appointment, their details are captured in the system. These details include, the name, gender, age and address. After making an appointment a consultation is created and the patient is informed the date. If the patient has the referral letter, details are recorded. These details include the date of the referral, and details of general medical practitioner who are identified by their unique number. The patient visits CQMC on the day of his/her consultation and presents the referral letter from the general medical practitioner if he had not presented it during the day of making an appointment. The specialist attending to the patient gets detail of the consultation from the referral letter from where the specialist conducts procedures and tests on the patient. These tests and procedures have to be recorded. Based on the results the specialist may prescribe multiple prescriptions to the patient. The prescriptions are given after the specialist has checked the history of the patient for cases of allergic reactions to certain drugs. The prescribed medications are recorded in the system. After treatment, the patient makes payments. The patient pays a consultation fee of $120. The other payments are based on the services provided by the specialist. There is a standard price for every service as shown in the table below. Type Fees/Charges Biopsy $75 Excision $175 Laser $250 Other additional charges on the patient are for the medication if any were prescribed. The specialist may offer a discount to the patient. If a patient would like to know the qualifications of the specialist they can get the details from the system. From the case study a number of assumptions were formulated while creating the ERD. These assumptions are justified in the points below; A patient can only visit CQMC with a referral letter from a general medical practitioner. This is rule only applies during the consultation day patients can make appointments without a referral letter but for the to see a specialist they have to present their referral letter. The general medical practitioners who refer patients to CQMC are known and their details exist in the CQMC system thus to identify them a practitioner number is used. This is why a practitioner number is used to identify a referral letter from a patient during a consultation. Tests and procedures done on a patient are solely based on the referral letter presented by the patient. This is because the referral letter always acts as the guide to the specialist If the patient is visiting CQMC for the first time and no details of their history in the system, the specialist has to ask from the patient without referring to the system from where they can update the system. This is because the specialist cannot refer to the system for the patient history if the patient is on first time visit. The specialist decides who gets a discount during payment. This is to enable discounts to be attributed to a specific specialist based on the specialist ID. This will give CQMC accountability over issuance of discounts. Payment for the test and procedures is done based on the table shown above. There are no other prices for those services. The patient gets medication at CQMC for the diagnosis so payment is inclusive of the medication. This helps in totaling the total payment the patient owes CQMC. Justifications. For the business rules and assumptions to work in a real-world application all the rules must work as defined for the system to work correctly. For referrals, every customer must present a referral letter. This makes it easy to create consultations. For discounts, a specialist is responsible for the discounts they give. This ultimately makes everyone responsible on how they issue the discounts as they will be accountable. For the general medical practitioners, it makes much more sense for CQMC to have their details so that a referral letter can be identified based on the practitioners unique ID. All the rules are justified as they facilitate to a correct logical design of the system Logical design From the entity relationship diagram the following relations are gotten. Patient (patientID, name, age, gender, address, phone,email) Appointments (appointmentID, patientID, date, type) foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID) generalPractioner (GPID, name, phone, address, postalCode) patientAllergyHistory (allergyID, patientID, allergyName) foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID) patientSurgeryHistory (surgeryID, patientID, name, dateConducted) foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID) patientHistoryMedications (medicationID, patientID, name, amount) foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID) consultations (consultationID, patientID, referralID, date, specialistID) foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID), foreign key (referralID) references referrals (referralID), foreign key (specialistID) references specialists (specialistID) referrals (referralID,GPID,date,patientID) foreign key (GPID) references generalPractioner (GPID), foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID) specialist (specialistID, name, phone, age, address, postalCode, experienceYrs) patientTests (tID, testID, patientID, consultationID, specialistID) foreign key (testID) references tests (testID), foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID), foreign key (consultationID) references consultations (consultationID), foreign key (specialistID) references specialist (specialistID) patientProcedures (pID, procedureID, patientID, consultationID, specialistID) foreign key (procedureID) references procedures (procedureID), foreign key (patientID) references patient (patientID), foreign key (consultationID) references consultations (consultationID), foreign key (specialistID) references specialist (specialistID) tests (testID, name) procedures (procedureID,name) payments (paymentID, consultationID, amount,type, date) foreign key (consultationID) references consultations (consultationID) discounts (discountID, amount, paymentID), foreign key (paymentID) references payments (paymentID) specialistQualifications (qID, details, specialistID) foreign key (specialistID) references specialist (specialistID) All the relations are in 3NF because theyre already in 2NF and all non-key attributes are dependent on the key attribute for every relation.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Underwriting and Underpricing Essay Example

Underwriting and Underpricing Essay Underwriting spread represents the net proceeds that the underwriter will realize from the investment. It is the difference between the price per share that is paid to an issuing corporation by an underwriter or underwriting group, and the public offering price that the underwriter offers to the public. While traditionally the underwriting spread was viewed as compensation for underwriting the issue, it now has been introduced as an incentive fee where it act as bonus for investment bank when they performance better than expected.There has been evidence of clustering of spreads internationally, in the US spread is clustered at 7%( Chen+Ritter 2000), in Hong Kong 95% of fees are clustered at 2. 5%( torstia 2003) and in Europe fees range from 3-4%. In general, the more clustering presented in a country, the smaller the spread, vice versa. Furthermore, Esho et al (2004) analyzed the underwriting spread in Euro market found out that there is a positive and direct relationship between the fee charged by the investment banks and the reputation of the investment bank. (link to underpricing Underpricing refers to the first trading day closing price typically exceeds price at which the shares were offered to the public. Over 20 years, researchers investigated the underpricing puzzle associated with initial public offerings (IPOs). Ibboston1975, Ibbostson and Jaffe 1975 and Ritter 1984, among others, all document convincing evidence that initial public offerings are, on average underpriced. There are sufficient evidence of underpricing in UK (increase over time, from 3. 8% to 19%, Chambers and Dimson 2009), USA (40% between 1999-2003) and internationally(gt;15%).Visas offering in March 2008 is a good example of how IPOs are strategically underpriced. Although the IPO of Visa was an almost certain success, the price was kept at a low $44. As buyers ran in, the stock jumped to $69 and, although it fell back to $56. 40 by the close, there was a 28. 4% underpricing, thus lea ving a huge amount of the issuer’s money on the table. However, compared to the overpricing Facebook 2012 which made investors unhappy and damage the bank’s reputation, it can contribute to the reason why underwriters underprice the shares. Therefor it is clear that both underpricing and underwriting spread are costs for the issuer.Chen and Ritter (2000) explained the cost, by stating that underwriting spread was the direct compensation for IBs underwriting the issue and the level of underpricing was an indirect compensation. Smith (1986) also argued that the issuer seeks to maximize the issuer proceeds when it sells securities in an underwritten issue, and is not separately concerned about the underwriting spread or the offer price. Although underpricing and spread are both costs to issuers, issuers still consider the underwriting spread and underpricing together in an IPO based on the following reasons.The issuer’s objective is to minimize the underpricing and spread costs associated with its IPO of its common equity. More concerted effort by the underwriter or the choice of underwriters could reuce the underpricing costs associated with the offering. For instance, banks that specialize in underwriting firms from certain industries, or reputational investment banks may provide greater certification value for firm’s IPO and hence reduce its underwriting costs. In return, such banks could be expected to demand a higher spread as compensation.The spread could also be a function of the risk associated with the security and the size of the offering among other factors. If we consider the spread and underpricing from the underwriter’s view, according to the principal-agent theory, underwriter faces a trade off between the level of underpricing and the fee. This is because if they underprice they face less risk of not being able to sell the issue, but the fee can be dependent on the value of the issue. This shows there is a trade off between spread and underpricing.And the theory suggests the issuer should delegate the decision of deciding the fee and the level of underpricing to the underwriter so they can balance the costs. Because the issuers do not have enough information, do not actually decide. This view can be supported by early studies focus on asymmetric information, which is one of the reasons of underpricing. Baron (1982) argues that asymmetric information exists between underwriters(better informed) and the issuers(less informed), therefore, underwriters are able to price new issues below the market equilbrium to reduce the probability that they will absorb losses due to unsold shares.Another theory which is the efficient contract hypothesis, whereby banks do not compete on the fee/spread, this is fixed, but compete on other quality variables such as underpricing certification and reputation. This once again highlights there is a relationship between spread and underpricing, as if spread is fixed , underpricing is a means for competing against other underwriters. Evidence of this was found by Honsen (2001) where____ issues where spread was fixed at 7%, there was a higher variation of underpricing, suggesting underwriters were competing on underpricing as they were not on the spread charged.Both principal-agent theory and efficient contract hypothesis showed evidence that there is negative correlation between spread and underpricing. However, Kim et al. found out that there is strong evidence that over the long term, underpricing and underwriting spreads are positively related. In particular, low-quality issuers are charged both higher underwriting spread and initial returns as compared to high-quality issuers. This was specifically prominent in low quality issuers who were charged fee of 7. 3% and underpricing of 45. 21%, whilist high quality issuers were charged fees of 7. 39% and underpricing of 18. 92%. This suggests a complementary relationship between spread and underpr icing particularly for low quality issuers. However, Yeoman(2001) suggested net proceeds maximisation theory, whereby the spread and underpricing are substitutes and negatively related. The found evidence of this in his research of IPOs from 1988 to 1933, where there are trade offs that the underwriter must decide between.This was further supported by Ljungquist(2003) who also found a negative relationship between spread and underpricing and therefore as initial returns increased the spread decrease and vice versa. Therefore, there is mixed evidence on ____initial returns and underwriting spreads in IPOs are complements or substitutes, ___evidence found of both a positive and negative effect. However, it is clear that there is a strong relationship returns, that must be managed by both issuers and underwriters.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Institutional Accountability Dispersion of Power and Delegation of Responsibilities

Institutional Accountability Dispersion of Power and Delegation of Responsibilities Introduction Governance and accountability is a critical concept to the development of states. Accountability in governance is a vital practice. It encourages effectiveness in discharge of duties and equitable allocation of resources. Accountability in different institutions has a close link with the way power is distributed in organizations. The loci of power in institutions are useful parameters for assessing the level of accountability in the organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Institutional Accountability: Dispersion of Power and Delegation of Responsibilities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Decentralization of power is highly encouraged in most liberal democracies across the world. Decentralization of power is manifested in a number of managerial practices in institutions like the delegation of the organization’s duties and responsibilities (Brinkerhoff et al. 2009). This paper looks into the aspects of centralization and decentralization of power in different institutions and how these two aspects of governance encourage accountability. In this paper, it is argued that institutions’ accountability is better attained through dispersion of power and the delegation of the organization’s responsibilities rather than through centralization of power and control. Accountable governance in liberal democracies Having mentioned liberal democracies, it is imperative to explain how the distribution of power encourages accountability in such nations. One vital characteristic of liberal democracies in the todays world is the high decentralization of power. Power and ability to make decisions in such countries do not lie in the hands of some individuals. Liberal states decisions are made through consultations between different arms of the government. This means that different arms of the government discuss, consult with each other and deliberate on the issues before the final decision is reached (Ezzamel et al. 2007). Decisions reached through consultation and deliberations are better weighed than those that are made unilaterally. Different bodies which deliberate on the issues and come up with certain suggestions are also involved in the implementation of such decisions (Brinkerhoff et al. 2009). Therefore, there is a low possibility of manipulating decisions in the middle phases of implementation. This encourages checks, ensuring that there is a balance in the implementation process. It is easy to detect anomalies in the implementation of the decisions because of the many observers monitoring the process.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Up to this point, it is imperative to say that liberal democracies encourage institutions’ accountability. Powers are decentralized from the top governance, leaving institutions with no other optio n, but to implement such structures (Mulgan,2003). Having talked about liberal democracies, it is vital to mention autocratic governance. Autocratic governance is the least desired form government in the modern society. Autocracy means the centralization of power. A few individuals are vested with decision making power, leaving other people as mere enforcers of the decisions reached. Channels of deliberating on issues are closed making most people rubber-stamp these decisions. The quality of decisions is put in jeopardy. Therefore, the level of accountability is often low in regimes which do not embrace democracy (Trechsel,2010). Governance and accountability in decentralized institutions Research shows that most people in the world are against the centralized system of governance. There are several reasons for the resentment. One of the strongest reasons is that centralized governance kills institutional accountability through the encouragement of unilateral decision making (Ezzame l et al. 2007). In centralized governance, there is one locus of power. Institutional functions are coordinated from a single point. In some instances, all the powers to make key decisions are left under the control of one individual. The result of this is that one person takes advantage of the power to make certain decisions, which might not be favourable to the whole country/institution (Kaler,2002). A deep look into the modern practices of institutional management shows that most organizations embrace decentralized structure of management. Delegation of authority and responsibility can be traced in a wider range of institutions. This is one form of decentralizing power and encouraging sharing of organizational power and responsibilities. This practice is replicated at almost all levels of governance in countries that embrace democracy. Notable examples can be traced in the United States, Western Europe, and Australia (Curtin, Mair Papadopoulos, 2010).Advertising We will w rite a custom essay sample on Institutional Accountability: Dispersion of Power and Delegation of Responsibilities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These are the benchmark regions in as far as institution’s accountability is concerned. The question that should be asked is how the decentralization of power and delegation of responsibilities contributes to a higher accountability. Another issue that should be discussed at this point is how the centralization of power and responsibilities kills institutional accountability. These questions can be sufficiently answered by taking a deeper look into institution’s administration from two perspectives centralized and decentralized governance (Schillemanns, 2008). Decentralized institutional governance: its role in bringing about accountability Steets (2010) observed that institutional accountability was often measured by the level at which institutions planed and assigned resources ef fectively in order to get the desired results. Accountability means that employees in an institution embrace ethics in their work (Shearer, 2002). The application of decentralized principles in organizations entails the redistribution of authority in institutions’ management. In such institutions, power is shared among different people. Therefore, decisions are not made by a single authority. Each department is given powers to come up with their own suggestions that may be efficient. Each section of an organization has a head who leads it in coming up with decisions and implementing them using the available resources. Perhaps, one point should be noted here. Decentralized authority does not mean that there is no centre of power. Numerous centres of power exist within an organization. However, each centre of power is given autonomy in a number of duties. This is where the aspect of responsibility starts. Leaders of departments work closely with the organization’s member s. Institutional workers keep close checks on each other and on the overall duties that are assigned to them (Kaler,2002). Organizational tasks are not left in the hands of a few individuals but distributed among other segments of the organization. Leaving the task of decision making to fewer people has numerous consequences on institutions’ administration. One of the effects is that centralization of authority and responsibility causes flooding. Flooding encourages haphazardness in the discharge of institutional duties.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In such situations, it is easy for an institution to attain improved performance. In delegation, institutional responsibilities are assigned to people across the institution in such a way that no person is left with a wide load of work. This exercise depends on the abilities and skills of the institution’s workers. Therefore, it is easy to narrow on a person whenever anomalies occur in the institution. However, anomalies rarely occur because every individual is involved in the institution’s production. Institutions are seen in terms of their ability to serve the society and not in terms of power and dominance (Hood,2010). Power is a minor element in situations where there is a higher delegation of duties and responsibilities. In other words, power is replaced by responsibility. People work hard to accomplish their tasks as they are responsible for any task assigned to them. Most organizations in liberal democracies thrive in the global economy due to high levels of per formance. The highest level of performance comes from the fact that there is a high level of organizational responsibility due to delegation of duties and responsibilities (Steets, 2010). According to Behn (2001), a number of people argue that accountability can still be attained in institutions that have centralized operations. Their argument is that centralization promotes bureaucracy, which in turn encourages accountability in institutions. While there is some weight in the argument, the biggest portion of the argument is refuted. This comes from the numerous study outcomes. Those results show that bureaucracy does not encourage accountability. Most functions in bureaucratic institutions are centralized. Delegation of responsibility is a rare practice in such institutions. Conclusion Institutional accountability is closely associated with decentralized systems of governance. This system of governance is synonymous with liberal democracies. Liberal democracies encourage the decent ralization of power and delegation of administrative responsibility. Most institutions in liberal democracies embrace the democratic principles of management. These principles include delegation of institutional power and responsibilities. This system governance is synonymous with autocratic regimes. In such regimes, institutions’ accountability is quite low due to the failure to enhance delegation of authorities. Institution’s power is also highly centralized. From this discussion, it is imperative to say that there is a close relation between decentralization of institutions’ power and attainment of institutions’ accountability. Reference List Behn, R D 2001, Rethinking democratic accountability, Brookings Inst. Press, Washington, D.C. Brinkerhoff, D W, Johnson, R W, Hill, R, Merrill, S, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute Army War College (U.S.) 2009, Guide to rebuilding governance in stability operations: A role for the military, Army War College, U.S. Curtin, D, Mair, P Papadopoulos, Y 2010, Accountability and European Governance, Routledge, New York. Ezzamel, M, Robson, K, Stapleton, P McLean, C 2007, ‘Discourse and institutional change: ‘Giving accounts’ and accountability’, Management Accounting Research, vol. 18, no. 2, 150-171. Hood, C 2010, â€Å"Accountability and Transparency: Siamese Twins, Matching Parts, Awkward Couple?†,West European Politics, vol. 33 no. 5, 989-1009. Kaler, J 2002, â€Å"Responsibility, accountability and governance†, Business Ethics: A European Review, vol. 11 no. 4, 327-334. Mulgan, R G 2003, Holding power to account: Accountability in modern democracies, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Schillemanns, T 2008, â€Å"Accountability in the Shadow of Hierarchy: The Horizontal Accountability of Agencies†, Public Organization Review, vol. 8 no. 2, 175-194. Shearer, T 2002, â€Å"Ethics and Accountability: From the For-Itself to the For-the-O ther†, Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 27 no 6, 541-573. Steets, J 2010,Accountability in public policy partnerships, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Trechsel, A H 2010, â€Å"Reflexive Accountability and Direct Democracy†, West European Politics, vol. 33 no. 5, 1050–1064.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

HEALTH AND BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

HEALTH AND BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES - Lab Report Example as no difference found in the motivation of two groups, but the groups with the fewer choices were more satisfied with their decision and they also reported less difficulty levels. Do you have more variety of this product? I think we should visit the corner shop because my friend was telling me that they have a wide collection. I can apply for only a few colleges†¦ I wish I could apply for more college. How many times we have heard or used these sentences or similar kinds of statements. The importance of choices in our lives is very important and it is often realized. People always variety as they feel that it helps them in their decision making process. There are no two thoughts on the fact that choices are very important for us. The effect that choices have on our lives is misinterpreted or misunderstood many a times. Too many choices may not be as beneficial for us as we think they are. It is found that excess of choices can decrease the motivation to buy (Iyengar & Lepper, 2000). Psychology informs us today that choice between two desirable options can lead to dissatisfaction and stress (Huffman, 2008). These results are not in line with the common notion regarding choices. The ability to choose from a variety of alternatives is considered necessary for a better decision. Studies have also suggested that choices are very necessary for human beings and they increase the life satisfaction of people (Deci & Ryan, 1985). These studies have contradicting results and they may confuse a lay man. These results have also added obscurity on the subject of variety and choices to some extent. It is important to understand that variety is very important for people and their survival. However too many choices can lead to dissatisfaction and decrease in motivation. The problem with too many choices is that it increases the stress level of the people as they want to choose the best option (Moushart, 2008). Too many choices actually hinder in decision making by confusing