Reflection Paper On Business Ethics - 2881 Words

Arion 1 Anthony Arion Reflection Paper Business Ethics Jeffrey Muldoon, PhD 1 December 2015 Declaring a major in college is a big deal, but declaring that one is majoring in Business gives a whole new meaning to the word. About midway through the class, like a light bulb turned on, the true realization that there is much more to a business when you consider where you want to work or where you want to shop is a direct result of my BU 293: Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability class. While I was aware of the business frauds that were committed over the last ten years and some of the effects it had on individuals I could not name those that were considered the worst; therefore, the top ten frauds of the century and the reasons why they reached this dubious rank was very interesting. In most cases, these frauds did not help, but actually hindered both the stakeholders as well as the shareholders. I did do additional research to make sure that I understood these businesses and how they imploded. Because I found them almost mind-blowing, I have included them in this paper. In the #10 spot is Qwest Communications. Qwest Communications was a telecommunications company operating in fourteen Western states. Qwest s stock traded as high as $64 in 2000 before dropping to less than $1 in 2002 because of a multiyear accounting fraud. The SEC and DOJ probe was prompted by a whistleblower letter. CEO Joseph Nacchio forfeited $44 million for insider trading andShow MoreRelatedStr 581 Ethics Reflection Paper1378 Words   |  6 PagesRunning head: Ethics Reflection Paper Ethics Reflection Paper University of Phoenix |Content |General Comments | |The paper explains the role of ethics and |The key elements of the assignment are covered in a substantive way. The content of your | |social responsibility in developing a |write up is comprehensive, accurate, and persuasive. 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Biography of Jeffrey Dahmer, A Murderer Essay - 1556 Words

Biography of Jeffrey Dahmer, A Murderer Jeffrey Dahmer was born May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had a typical family, which consisted of his father Lionel Dahmer, his mother Joyce Dahmer, and his little brother David. When Jeffrey was eight years old, he and his family moved to the small town of Bath Township, Ohio. Since Jeffrey didnt have any friends there, he would spend most of his time in the woods behind their house. There he would mutilate and decapitate small animals, mostly dogs, cats, and squirrels. His parents worried but figured it was just a boy thing. When Jeffrey started high school, everybody tried to keep their distance from him. They thought he was kind of†¦show more content†¦When Jeffrey thought his abandonment was over, his father came back on July 24, 1978, to tell him that he and Jeffreys mother were getting a divorce. Jeffrey took the divorce hard, as most children do. 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Siemens Violation of Ethics Free Essays

string(119) " theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization\." Volume 12 Issue 13 Version 1. 0 Year 2012 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-4588 Print ISSN: 0975-5853 Global Journal of Management and Business Research A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory By Zhu Wenzhong Fu Limin Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) Abstract – Hand in hand with prosper of International business brought by globalization, many ethical problems have been surfacing in the past decades: bribery, corruption, human rights issues, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Siemens Violation of Ethics or any similar topic only for you Order Now Business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is becoming the focal point of waged and animated debate. The increasing attention on it generates many relative theories, among which Freeman’s stakeholder theory stands out. This paper, backed by Freeman’s stakeholder theory, conducts a case study of Simens’ violation of business ethics by analyzing its recent bribery scandal in Argentina. After a detailed analysis of the interests of Siemens’ stakeholders, it draws a conclusion of Siemens’ severe violation of business ethics, and thus suggests some solutions. Keywords : Simens Telecommunication; Business Bribery; Stakeholder Analysis. GJMBR-A Classification : FOR Code: 150303,150301 JEL Code: M21 A CaseStudyofSiemensViolationofBusinessEthicsinArgentineBasedOnStakeholderTheory Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:  © 2012. Zhu Wenzhong Fu Limin. This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3. 0 Unported License http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3. /), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Zhu Wenzhong Fu Limin Abstract – Hand in hand with prosper of International business brought by globalization, many ethical problems have been surfacing in the past decades: bribery, corruption, human rights issues, etc. Business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is becoming the focal point of waged and animated debate. The increasing attention on it generates many relative theories, among which Freeman’s stakeholder theory stands out. This paper, backed by Freeman’s stakeholder theory, conducts a case study of Simens’ violation of business ethics by analyzing its recent bribery scandal in Argentina. After a detailed analysis of the interests of Siemens’ stakeholders, it draws a conclusion of Siemens’ severe violation of business ethics, and thus suggests some solutions. ? ? Keywords : Simens Telecommunication; Business Bribery; Stakeholder Analysis. II. Literary Review usiness ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. To put it in a simple way, business ethics involves the application of standards of moral behavior to business situations. Despite the fact that the concept â€Å"business ethics† was firstly proposed in 1970s and hailed as oxymoron, it witnessed a waged and animated debate as well as increased public awareness ever since. On one hand, there is a huge growth of number of businessmen who realize that pure profit-oriented corporate operation can not stand permanently in a global market where customers’ ethic awareness is increasing; on the other hand, more and more companies find themselves time and again stuck in ethic dilemmas. For instance, bribery, as one of the notorious business ethical problems, has surfaced as important issues in an increasingly interdependent world economy. The increasing attention on business ethics not only takes place in business practices, but also in Author ? PhD, Professor of School of English for International Business, research member of Research Center for International Trade and Economics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), No. 2, North Baiyun Avenue, Guangzhou 510420, China. E-mail : wenzhong8988@sina. com Author ? : Student of School of English for International Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), No. 2, North Baiyun Avenue , Guangzhou 510420, China. B I. Introduction a) Concept of Stakeholder The term â€Å"stakeholder† was first used in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research Institute. It was originally detailed by R. Edward Freeeman in the book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach in 1984. What is a stakeholder? The earliest definition offered by an internal report of Standford Research Institute in 1963, they define it as those groups that directly influence the organization’s existence. Freeman continues to employ this term by further defining it as those groups that are so vital to the organization that they dominantly affect the organization’s survival and success and can also be affected by the actions of the business (Freeman, 1984). The term â€Å"stakeholder† is a variant of the familiar and traditional idea of stockholders—the investors in or the owners of business. It has experienced an evolution and progress in its scope and range. In the traditional view, the stockholders or the shareholders are the owners of the firm, therefore, a firm has binding fiduciary duty to give the top priority to stockholders by satisfying their needs in the first place and increasing their output. It is based on the inputoutput model in which firms have to only address wishes and benefits of parties closely pertinent to its operation: investors, mployees, suppliers, and customers (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). However, along with the growth of corporation, the scope and range of stakeholder also expand, which  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I academic fields. Scholars’ study on business ethics also gave birth to a famous the ory: stakeholder theory, put forward by R. Edward Freeman, which in turn serves as the theoretical foundation of business ethics study. The theory attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts† by identifying the stakeholders in business ethics practices. Based on business ethics and stakeholder theory, this paper proposes to conduct a case study by analyzing Siemens’ latest business ethics violation—the Bribery Scandal in Argentina. Following the analysis, suggestions pertinent to this issue are also put forward. 75 Year 2012 A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory is typically presented in Freeman’s stakeholder theory. 76 theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. You read "Siemens Violation of Ethics" in category "Essay examples" It identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can give due regard to the interests of those groups. In short, it attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts. In Freeman’s stakeholder theory, stakeholder are not only those people who have direct stakes in the firm but also those who are equivalently influential as well, especially in affecting reputation and public image, but their stake is more representational of public than direct. Stakeholder theory argues that every legimate person or group participating in the activities of a firm do so to obtain benefits and that the priority of the interests of all legitimate stakeholders is not self-evident. From this perspective, the groups of stakeholders expand to government and social institutions etc. In his book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Freeman outlines groups of stakeholder in both internal and external environment. Internal stakeholders are as follows: employees, managers, and owners. External stakeholders are: suppliers, customers, society, government, creditor, shareholders, competitors, communities, academics, NGOs or activists, environmentalists, media, etc. As in Freeman’s Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach, the stakeholder theory is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. It identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can give due regard to the interests of those groups. In short, it attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts. In Freeman’s stakeholder theory, stakeholder are not only those people who have direct stakes in the firm but also those who are equivalently influential as well, especially in affecting reputation and public image, but their stake is more representational of public than direct. Stakeholder theory argues that every legitimate person or group participating in the activities of a firm do so to obtain benefits and that the priority of the interests of all legitimate stakeholders is not self-evident. From this perspective, the groups of stakeholders expand to government and social institutions etc. In his Strategic Management-Analytical Methods for Stakeholder Management, Freeman (1984) clearly comes out with the stakeholder management theory which refers to the management activities  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) b) Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory As in Freeman’s Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, the stakeholder theory is a Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I management of an enterprise carries out to balance the stake requirements of stakeholders. Compared to the traditional shareholders supremacists, this theory holds that the development of any enterprise is closely related to the investment and participation of each stakeholder and the pursuit of an enterprise is the entire stake of all stakeholders instead of some major stakes. Stakeholders not only include the shareholders, creditors, employees, consumers, suppliers etc. of the enterprise, but also pressure groups such as government, local residents, local communities, medias, environmentalists etc. even the natural environment, future generations etc. who may be directly or indirectly affected by the operation of the enterprise. These stakeholders are closely related to the development of the enterprise, they share the operation risk of the enterprise, some pay a cost for the operation of the enterprise, some supervise and constrain the enterprise, and the decisions of the enterprise must take their stakes into consideration and accept their constraints. In this sense an enterprise is the institutional arrangement of intelligence and management professionalization investment, the development of an enterprise relies on the quality of responses to the requirements of each stakeholder instead of only shareholders. This corporate management idea explains the corporate performance appraisal and the core of management, which lies foundation for the later theory of performance appraisal Year 2012 c) Stakeholder Theory and CSR CSR The Effect of Stakeholder Theory in the Study of The are many common grounds between CSR and stakeholder theory as both are concerned about the relatioship between the enterprises and their shareholders and the enterprises and individuals and social group apart from their stareholders; however the two are different concerpts. What they study and care are problems of different levels and categories. CSR considers the influence of enterprises on society from the perspective of the whole society and care the relationship between enterprises and the society; while stakeholder theory care more about the relationship between enterprises and stakeholders from the perspective of the enterprises. Ever since the establishment of CSR its supporters spread from various institutions, scholars and ordinary people, which helps in the development of CSR. However this theory encountered lots of problems in practice, and needs further study and improvement. In the process of seeking solution to these problems, we usually introduce stakeholder theory to help to resolve those problems. i. Modification of Shareholder Primacy Theory by The biggest barrier to the implementation of CSR is the Shareholder Primacy rule to some extent, Friedman et. holds that the only purpose for the Stakeholder Theory A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Economic Social Quality Investors Social Welfare Suppliers Legal Customers Enterprises Moral Environment Resources Employees World Sustainable Development Cultural Figure 2 : 1 Theoretical Model of CSR Source : Freeman, R. E: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach [M]. Boston, Pitman Press, 1984  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I existence of enterprises is to maximize the profit and shareholder benefits. Their three interrelated propositions are a. shareholders should reserve the right to control the enterprise; b. managers are entrusted the responsibility to singley serve the interest of shareholders; c. he object of enterprises is to maximize the wealth of shareholders; while stakeholder theory holds that i, stakeholders who are affected by the enterprise have the right to participate enterprise decision-making; ii, managers are entrusted with the responsibility to serve the interests of all stakeholders; iii, the object of enterprises is to enhance the interests of all stakeholder not just shareholders’. St akeholder theory holds that enterprises are ‘contract unities’ consisted of many a stakeholders and the investment comes not just shareholders but also employees, suppliers and creditors of the enterprise. Shareholders provide the material captial and other stakeholders provide not only material capital but also human capital which is equivalent to material capital in term of significance particularly in today’s knowledge economy. And in some aspects the siginificance human capital exceeds the siginificance of material capital. Enterprises are not simply the ‘aggregation’ of material capital any more but a kind of ‘institutional arrangement of goverance and management of professional investment’ and in essence they are the aggregations of various contracts. The risks of enterprises should not just be bore by shareholders ii. Indentification of Subjects for Shouldering Social Viewing from the various definitions of CSR, it is easy to conclude that the beneficaries of enterprises’ shouldering social responsibilities are people of the society including investors, employees, clients, creditors and beneficiaries of environement and resources, social security and welfare etc. Through shouldering corresponding social responsibilities and taking social benefits as target range, enterprises can maximize their contributions to the sustainable development. And the responsibilities they take are legal, economic, moral, cultural aspects, however today there still lots of people stand against CSR. Responsibility and Defining Responsibilities 77 Year 2012 and other stakeholders should also share the risks, as a result the owners of enterprisers should not be confined to shareholders and all the stakeholders are the owners of enterprises. The rights of stakeholders are equal and independent, they jointly own the enterpises. While challenging the shareholder priamcy principle, stakeholder theory clears the way for the development of CSR theory in that CSR theory has long been holding that the only mission of enterprises to increase shareholder interests should be changed and thinks that enterprises should view problems from a higher ground and consider their relations with all the stakehoders, the entire society and shoulder some social responsibility. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Year 2012 They start from the point where the subjects and contents of obligations of corporate social responsibility are vague and think that enterprises should not shoulder social responsibilities. Some business and law scholars even think there is not subjects for corporate social responsibility in that there are no satisfactory answers for questions such as the whom should enterprises responsible for, whom can be the subjects that urges enterprises to shoulder responsibilities? To vaguely say that customers, ordinary people and the social communities these enterprises belong to is not enough because the groups can hardly be obligees to exist meanwhile they also hold that the content of social responsibilities is also vague. Currently the understanding of stakeholders generally include the first class stakeholders that affect the existence of enterprises, and the secondary stakeholders who do not affect the existence of enterprises or are affected by the enterprises. Though the definition is extensive, it indentifies stakeholders as shown in the following basic framework: investors, employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, trade associations, local communities, political groups etc. Government Investors Creditors 78 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Suppliers Customers Enterprises Trade Associations Employees Communities Figure 2 : 2 Theoretical Model of Stakeholder Theory Source : Freeman, R. E: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach [M]. Boston, Pitman Press, 1984 Many foreign scholars studying CSR and stakeholder theory holds that stakeholder theory can be introduced to the study of CSR, Carroll (1991) thinks that stakeholder theory should be applied to the study of CSR and it can be used to identify the orientation of CSR, and by the identification of each relevant stakeholder group the range of CSR can be identified. Clarkson (1995) stakeholder theory can provide a ‘theoretical framework’, in which CSR can be identified as the relations between enterprises and stakeholders, for the study of CSR. Just as Evan and Freeman (1993) had it that ‘though it cannot replace CSR, stakeholder theory can be regarded as an important condition for the study of CSR and it can specify the subjects the enterprises should be responsible for’. In this stage when the theoretical research of CSR still needs to be carried further, we can adopt stakeholder theory to  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) define the range of responsibilities enterprises should carry. This is both possible and necessary and enterprises can be responsible for each stakeholders in the framework of stakeholder theory. ii. Case Description Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Siemens and its subsidiaries employ approximately 420,800 people across nearly 190 countries. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company with activities in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare. It is organized into six main divisions: Industr y, Energy, Healthcare, Equity Investments, Siemens IT Solutions and Services and Siemens Financial Services (SFS). A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory For government, iv. Case Analysis Bribery has been defined as â€Å"the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties. † (Fritzsche, 1998). The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient’s conduct and the outcomes of decisions wherein the nature and extent of the influence are not made public. The item of value may be direct payments of money or property. It may also be in the form of a kickback after a deal has been completed. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity. Based on Freeman’s stakeholder theory, the first step in the analysis of this case is to identify the a) Stakeholders of Siemens Firstly, the bribery would reduce freedom of choice by altering the conditions under which a decision is made. Its appeal of additional gains for some government officials would lure them to select the less attractive alternative which provides less total satisfaction. By doing so, it adversely would disrupt the official’s decision and undermined fair competition among the industry. If the De La Rua administration’s doubt that the cost of each electronic ID reported by Siemens was twice what the government estimated is true, then the government has to pay the price for the hidden payment with more governmental expenditure, which leads to a greater loss of money of the government. Secondly, it would damage the authority, prestige and force of laws and regulations. The bribery circumvented the legal system and obtained illegal interest, which is a contempt against laws and is detrimental to the implementation of laws. Thirdly, it would undermines attempts by governments to improve the overall wealth of the nation, diminish the image of government and governing party, and further lose people’s trust.  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I On Dec. 3, 2011, The Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven former Siemens executives with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for their involvement in the company’s decade-long bribery scheme in Argentina to retain a $1 billion government contract to produce national identity cards for Argentine citizens. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U. S. District Court in Manhattan, the scheme lasted from approximately 1996 to early 2007. Initially, in the 1990s, Menem government planned to implement all national electronic ID cards, known as Documentos Nacionales de Identidad (DNI) for every Argentine citizen. In order to obtain the contract which is total of 1. 26 billion U. S. dollars, Siemens bribed Argentine government officials with 70 million U. S. dollars through intermediary. Menem government finally signed the contract with Siemens in 1998. But a change in Argentine political administrations foiled the contract: after the next President Fernando De La Rua came into office, some officials questioned the contract on the ground that the cost of each electronic ID reported by siemens was twice what the government estimated. Therefore, the government announced the suspension and cancellation of the contract. In a political change and economic crisis, Duhalde succeeded De La Rua as the president. During his term of office, Simens was told by the intermediary that a 27 million U. S. dollars bribery could â€Å"resurrect the contract†. In order to revive the contract, Siemens paid additional bribes in a failed effort to Kirchner government until 2004. When the company later instituted an arbitration proceeding to recover its costs and expected profits from the canceled contract, Siemens paid additional bribes to suppress evidence that the contract originally had been obtained through corruption. elevant stakeholders and determine the positive and negative impacts on the stakeholders. The stakeholders affected by Siemens’ bribery in this case include Simens’ stockholders; Siemens’ employees; Siemens’ supplier; Local community; the Argentine government; Argentine community; Simens’ competitor; Siemens’ competitors’ employees and stockhol ders. For Siemens’ stockholders, the contract with the Argentine government would increase profit and gain market share for them. Even though bribery was needed to win the contract, the profit yielded in the contract can not only cover the bribery but also trigger more. For Siemens’ employees, the profit yielded from the contract would also benefit themselves a lot. It is likely that their pay got increase, bonus and allowance met a growth, working environment had much improvement etc. For Siemens’ suppliers, the growth of Siemens means the growth of themselves as long as they are in a cooperative business relationship. The increase of Siemens’ business would lead to more orders to Siemens and more profit for them. For the local community, the contract would bring cascade effect: it would create more jobs for local people. The local community would benefit from the employment of its citizens which would bring money into the community and provide additional tax revenues. The prosper of Simens’ business can also cast a positive influence to relative industries. b) Impact on stakeholders 79 Year 2012 A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory For Argentine community, 80 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I From the perspective of whole economy system and environment, it would: ?. inder fair and just competition and disrupt the order of the whole economic system. Instead of gain market share with quality, businesses would turn to shortcuts like relationship with government officials ?. Result in allocating more resources to a less desirable alternative. The failure of the allocation system would lead to stagnation of technology, service and the whole industry structure. ?. Increase the cost of tr ansaction, and do harm to public’s interest. The higher cost would result in higer prices or even monopoly. From the whole society, it would: ?. Cast damage to social redit and rot the social conduct. On one hand, the prevalence of bribery destroys the mutual trust and equity of businesses; on the other hand, businesses with good compliance to laws are suppressed and discouraged. ?. Violate code of ethics. ?. Breed more and more relative crimes. Bribery is always accompanied with business secret theft, deception and evasion of taxes. For Argentine people, the greater expense on the ID project would result in more outflow of taxpayers money from their pocket in that the misconduct and wrongdoings of officials would be shared by all the community. The bribery would harm taxpayers as well as undermine public support for governments. For Siemens’ competitors, Siemens’ bribery would deprive them of fair competition in this project, and further distort trade The loss of the competitors is invisible, though, but solid. For Siemens’ stockholders, employees and local community, the loss of the contract would provide lower profits for the stockholders, fewer jobs for the employees and less money in the competitors’ local community. Taking the interest of all stakeholders into account, Siemens violated business ethics seriously, even though it brought some illegal benefits to its own stockholders. V. different actions of organization. The four stages are: ethical awareness, ethical reasoning, ethical action, and ethical leadership. i. Ethical awareness Ethic Awareness is the foundation of an ethical climate. Through ethical awareness, employees learn how to identify problems and how to resolve them. In this stage, code of conduct must be established to support ethic awareness. Formal statement that defines how the organization expects and requires employees to resolve ethical questions must be delivered. A code of conduct typically addresses issues pertaining to; preferred style of dress, avoiding illegal drugs, following instructions of superiors, being reliable and prompt, maintaining confidentiality, not accepting personal gifts from stakeholders as a result of company role, avoiding racial or sexual discrimination, avoiding conflict of interest. ii. Ethical reasoning Since codes of conduct cannot detail a solution for every ethical situation, so corporations provide training in ethical reasoning. Courses in Ethical Reasoning teach employees to reason in a principled way about moral and political beliefs and practices, and to deliberate and assess claims for themselves about ethical issues. Students examine the competing conceptions and theories of ethical concepts such as the good life, obligation, rights, justice, and liberty with a focus on developing the ability to assess and weigh the reasons for and against adopting them to address concrete ethical dilemmas. Employees in these courses may encounter a value system very different from their own that calls attention to their own ethical assumptions. iii. Ethical action Ethical action involves helping employees recognize and reason through ethical problems and turning them into ethical actions. It takes preparing, assessing, deciding, implementing, and reflecting. Whenever employees encounter ethical dilemmas or problems, Siemens should help them out by applying their code of conduct to practice: identifying the issues, assessing them, deciding solutions, implementing solutions and reflecting them. The current Siemens’ bribery scandal is good example for its employees to review and retrospect the ethical problems concerning bribery, and encourages them to probe into the hidden reasons and seek more proper solutions. iv. Ethical leadership In this stage, executives must demonstrate ethical behavior in their actions. Leaders are first and foremost members of their organizations and stakeholder groups. Since they hold most of the senior positions and are decision makers, their values, vision and ethical standard case great impact on subordinates and thus impact the whole organization. To shape Year 2012 Suggestion organizational ethical Siemens’ bribery scandal is by no means the first violation of business ethics. Back to 2008, its decades-long bribery scheme with 1. 3 billion U. S. dollars shocked the world. Subsequently, it was accused of posting business secret of competitors. Its continuous scandal is an indication that Siemens fails to form an ethical corporate culture and ethical environment. To make a change of the current scandal and prevent any further ones, shaping organizational ethical environment should be Siemens’ top priority. Shaping organizational ethical environment goes through four stages, each of which demands  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) ) Internally: shaping environment A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory ethical conduct in an organization, leaders’ behavior, actions are needed to demonstrate their support and determination. In Siemens’ bribery scandal, most of the unethical behaviors were con ducted by senior executives, which attribute the frequent news of its violation of business ethics. Thus, in Siemens, to shape ethical conduct and maintain ethical culture, leaders must firstly own their ethical criteria and behave ethically accordingly. Apart from the internal improvement, external supervision is also in need. The external supervision involves first and foremost the initiatives aiming to combat bribery. These initiatives include: †¢ Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts †¢ The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention †¢ The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) †¢ Transparency International To counter bribery, wider cooperation must be conducted between countries and these conventions and organizations. Under the globally accepted guidance and principles, Signatories countries must adopt national legislation to fight against bribery. Government should take regular review of business’ and officials’ compliance to these laws by establishing stricter supervision system. Secondly, external supervision involves power of media. Media is the oral power of reining any unethical behavior. Thus, media should pay more close attention on business ethical issues, track and make more exposure of unethical firms, and encourage those ethical ones. Thirdly, the whole society should also participate in this campaign. When the whole society establish a common principle of â€Å"zero tolerance† to bribery, and monitor it ceaselessly, businesses dare not commit bribery because of their consideration of corporate image. The more and more serious social attitude towards bribery would make businesses think twice before they leap. VI. References References Referencias 1. Carroll, Buchholtz (2002). â€Å"Business Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management†. Mason. Thomson Learning. 2. Freeman. R. E (1984). â€Å"Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Theory†. Boston, MA: Pitman. 3. Freeman. R. E (1991). â€Å"Business Ethics: The State of The Art†. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. Fritzsche. D. J (1998). â€Å"Business Ethics: A Global and Managerial Perspective†. New York: McGrawHill. 5. Li, Y. H (2011). China Coporate Citizenship AntiCorruption and Anti- Bribery Research Report. The Coporate Social Responsibility. 6(1), pp. 42-51. 6. Mitchell. C (2009). â€Å"Internatinal Business Ethics†. Petaluma: World Trade Press. 7. Mitchell. C (2000). â€Å"Internatinal Business Cultures†. Petaluma: World Trade Press. 8. Weiss. J. W (2003). â€Å"Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach†. Beijng: China Renmin University Press. Conclusion This paper conducts a case study of Siemens’ violation of business ethics by employing Freeman’s stakeholder theory. Based on Freeman’s theory, stakeholders of a firm should not only include its stockholders, instead, it covers a wide range from its internal employees to external suppliers, government, society, and even competitors. In the case of Simens’ bribery scandal in Argentina, the present author outlines its stakeholders and conducts a detailed analysis of the impact of Simens’ bribery on each stakeholder. The conclusion follows the analysis is that Siemens seriously violated business ethics by terribly detrimenting the interest of its stakeholders.  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Year 2012 b) Externally: strengthening supervision The analysis of Siemens’ unethical bribery scandal also triggers the author’s further discussion about an international issue: bribery Bribery, as one of the notorious business ethical problems, has surfaced as important issues in an increasingly interdependent world economy. No longer seen purely as a morality play, the accepted world view of corruption and bribery today is that they hinder competition, distort trade and harm consumers and taxpayers as well as undermine public support for governments. Therefore, to fight against bribery, suggested solutions are also provided. On one hand, internal ethical environment shaping is of urgent need; Simens should immediately follow the four stages of the structure of ethical environment from ethical awareness to ethical leadership to improve its current ethical predicament. on the other hand, external supervision and cooperation from international and 81 national community to media is also in demand. Although business ethics is in an actual fact as old as business, however, it didn’t got enough attention until 1970s. As the ethical problems keep surfacing and disrupting the business order, business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is on its way of gaining momentum. To probe into it and make this oxymoron a better guide of business code of conduct, more and more efforts are still in much need. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Year 2012 82 This page is intentionally left blank  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) How to cite Siemens Violation of Ethics, Essay examples

Australian Engineering Practice-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Questions: 1.Discuss Engineers' roles, responsibilities and the need to employ principles of Sustainable Development. 2.You have now been working on your team project for many weeks. Reflect on the roles and responsibilities you have taken on in your team and how that relates to what you have read in the Trevelyan textbook. 3.How do you understand sustainability in engineering? Discuss one way in which sustainability can lead to a 'better' engineering solution? How did you define better? 4. Your values are important in determining how you might respond if you found yourself in a situation of ethical conflict. Try to identify at least two values that you believe have an impact on how you live and work. Answers: 1.The process of enduring of the biological system that is productive and remain diverse is often defined as the Sustainability. But in 21st century the definition of Sustainability has gone too far, now it focuses on the need of development of the sustainable model requirement for the well maintenance of earth and for the human race to survive. It is a balanced act that values the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generation as stated by the United nation in 1987. Figure 1: Three dimensions of Sustainable development Engineering is referred as the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to benefit man. The words engineer and ingenious are derived for the Latin root ingenerate meaning to create. As stated by a popular individual. Engineering is associated by a large body of special knowledge. Preparation for this professional practice includes substantial amount of training to gain the knowledge of this applications. The art where necessary judgment is required for the adaptation of the science and to practice on purpose, there requires imagination to conceive an original solution to any kind of logical problems and should have the ability to predict performance and performance along with effective cost of new devices. The role of the experimenter or scientist is to analyze and identify the problems, while the engineer has the role to solve the problem accordingly. The scientists provides products and new variety of items in the store, provides systematized knowledge of the real world, while the engineers brings the knowledge to solve the practical problems. This field of the study has basic principles based on the chemistry, physics and mathematics; the extension in the material science and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics transfers and rates the system analytics, computer programming, processes, electronics and robotics. 2.Engineers role and responsibilities: To make engineers vision broad at first they are made technically strong to think logically. Where engineering study and codes make sure that the integrity and safety of the development are helping them to develop and give the society a sustainable solution to any problems regarding the environment. The primary role of the engineer is to analyze and identify the problems and then seek out the best solution that lead to the best development of the environment and society that may include the need and consumption of the resources from the environment. There should be a balance between the resources used and the development of the society such that there are enough for the development for the future generation. Excessive use of the resource may lead to scarcity in further use. Engineers are not allowed to select the problems but when problem rises they have the permission and ability to solve them and thus satisfy the requirements conflicting. Ther e are two kinds of resources to be employed- energy and material. Due to the limitation of the resources there is a great concern amongst the engineers upon the conceptual development of new resources and the effective use and utilization of the existing resources. The engineering activities are for the welfare of man by furnishing food, comfort and shelter. And these are done by marinating and developing the work, transportation and communication mush safer and reliable. Scope of the guide: Sustainable development and engineering are closely related and linked, form many aspects of sustainability depends directly and the significance are appropriate, so timely actions of engineers are always required. In a journal of The University of Engineering, The Royal Academy of Engineering 2000- It has been explained that Engineering design plays a vital part for the extension of the engineer process such that for the analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating and executing. The input of sustainable development solution should always be provided in the partnership. The issues concerned are described as the engineering input starts to participate in the framing of the problems. 3.Engineering refines the products and try to make them sustainable. The Sustainable development is the way to move human activities to such a pattern that can be utilized. Sustainable engineering gains the environmental engineering concepts to some better place by concentrating over the links and interaction between ecological, technical, social and economical systems and hence by avoiding the shifting problems in each area. The concept of life cycle thinking, industrial ecology and sustainable systems engineering are important elements in the work practice and education of the sustainability in engineering. The engineers are tends to search for the effective and historic solutions for the protection of the environment and the crucial lives presenting a support system and at the same time meet the needs of the rapidly growing human population. This is how the word better can be defined. 4.If there is situation of ethical conflict, it is important to determine the reaction or response of someone in that situation defines the word value. Identifying the most important values that are believed to have impact on someone are: live and work. Honesty, respect, integrity and dignity are some of the characteristics of the person in a professional field. The impact of these values are in such a way that adapting these values may make ones social life better and stronger that results in good living and working environment. Manage information and documentation. a) Having many members of a team work on a project together means that you can achieve a great deal more than if you were working by yourself. However, it also creates some challenges. One challenge is ensuring version control of reports and drawings. What processes has your team put in place to share information and ensure that everyone works on the most recent version of a document? Communication is a very effective medium of communicating information. In todays date there are numerous ways that are available for communication. Some of the modern means of communication are cell phone texting, calls and emails or via social networking sites of internet. To cope up with the challenges of communication people make groups on a social site and are using this sources to communicate. The workflow of the DMS encapsulates business rules and metadata. Every day new and variety of information re added in the groups and is sent via emails or texts messages regarding updates. These messages are sent to all group members. The group members have chosen social media sites as the medium for communication since this sites are used by everyone daily basis. This helps in keeping updates every minute. This idea has gained success in keeping the communication simple and effective and hence the communication problems are solved in an easy manner. The Document management system is focused primarily on the storage and retrieval of self-contained electronic data resources in the document form. Communicate effectively across a range of context a) It is important as a professional that you learn to communicate appropriately with a range of stakeholders and mediums. Email is one medium that is commonly used in current practice. Give an example of an email you have sent to either your team or facilitator that demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively and professionally. What do you think makes this an effective communication? Give an example of an email that you think is unprofessional it does not need to be a genuine email, you can write a mock email. There is a sharp difference in professional and non-professional communication. Professional communication specializes in writing and taking care of the rule of the writing. This makes the audience understand the authors vividly without any ambiguity. Example: here is an email showing professional communication. From: anonymous@gmail.com To: groupmember1@mail.com Cc: groupmember2@gmail.com Subject: XYZ Project and Communication Guideline Dear XYZ Project Team Member, Welcome to XYZ Project. I look forward to work with each of you. The project will be starting soon and I have selected all of you because you people have potential to bring out the creative solution and implementing the principal of engineering to give your idea a physical existence. Im expecting all of you to yield maximum output of your expertise. I will be heading up this project. I need to set some ground rules for project communication using this thread: Only communicate with project members. Focus on one thought per email. If the email isnt about the project dont include it in this thread. If you have a question, review the entire thread to make sure someone hasnt already answered it. Let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Anonymous XYZ Project Team Lead An example of non-professional Same as letter head. Subject Get things done on time!!! Member 1!!! What is wrong with you? You dont seem to have gotten anything done If it kept going on like that I will exclude you from the project and then you will find yourself in trouble. LL Bibliography Barkemeyer, R., Holt, D., Preuss, L. and Tsang, S., 2014. What happened to the developmentin sustainable development? Business guidelines two decades after Brundtland. sustainable development, 22(1), pp.15-32. Bezos, J.P., Spiegel, J.R. and McAuliffe, J., Amazon. Com, Inc., 2014. Services for enabling users to share information regarding E-commerce transactions. U.S. Patent 8,744,929. Borenstein, J., Herkert, J. and Miller, K., 2017. Self-Driving Cars: Ethical Responsibilities of Design Engineers. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 36(2), pp.67-75. Haapala, K.R., Zhao, F., Camelio, J., Sutherland, J.W., Skerlos, S.J., Dornfeld, D.A., Jawahir, I.S., Clarens, A.F. and Rickli, J.L., 2013. A review of engineering research in sustainable manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 135(4), p.041013. Luederitz, C., Lang, D.J. and Von Wehrden, H., 2013. A systematic review of guiding principles for sustainable urban neighborhood development. Landscape and Urban Planning, 118, pp.40-52. Miller, T.R., Wiek, A., Sarewitz, D., Robinson, J., Olsson, L., Kriebel, D. and Loorbach, D., 2014. The future of sustainability science: a solutions-oriented research agenda. Sustainability science, 9(2), pp.239-246. Reid, D., 2013. Sustainable development: an introductory guide. Routledge. Smith, J., Gardoni, P. and Murphy, C., 2014. The responsibilities of engineers. Science and engineering ethics, 20(2), pp.519-538

Hemingways Themes Essays - The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's Themes Hemingways Themes by Rachel Spreng Hemingways greatness is in his short stories, which rival any other master of the form(Bloom 1). The Old Man and the Sea is the most popular of his later works (1). The themes represented in this book are religion (Gurko 13-14), heroism (Brenner 31-32), and character symbolism (28). These themes combine to create a book that won Hemingway a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and contributed to his Nobel Prize for literature in 1954 (3). Santiagos ordeal, first in his struggle with the big fish, and then in fighting against the sharks, is associated by Hemingway with Christs agony and triumph, (Bloom 2). When Santiago sees the second and third sharks coming, he shouts Ay, and Hemingway notes: There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just such a noise as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hand and into the wood (Waldmeir 28). Santiago is often regarded [as] a Christ figure, and his love for all living creatures and forbearance in physical pain are attributes that support this [idea]. However, Santiago shares few traits with Christ (Brenner 38). In his book The Old Man and the Sea: Story of a Common Man, Gerry Brenner states: Christ is a fisher of men, but Santiago is merely a fisherman; Christ is a figure with a divine mission, Santiago one with a secular mission (to bring back an oversized fish); Christ is a martyr who willingly but reluctantly dies for his convictions, Santiago is a persevering champion who is willing to die only to win a battle with a fish; Christ is a teacher of spiritual and ethical wisdom, Santiago is a professional with skill and slogans to impart (38). The Hemingway hero is often religious, but their religion is rarely central to their lives (Gurko 13). Santiago is Cuban, at once devout and credulous (13). However, neither his religion nor his superstitious beliefs play a role in his ordeal with the great marlin (13). God is sometimes prayed to by the Hemingway hero in a time of crisis, but He is never depended upon (Waldmeir 29). When Santiago says his prayers, he also says, I am not religious, even as he says his prayer (29). After forty-five hours of struggle have passed, Santiago says, Ill say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys. But I cannot say them now. (Waldmeir 29-30) For those who see this as evidence of Santiagos Christ symbolism, one must suggest that his not saying the promised prayer provide contradiction to that interpretation (Wagner 117). It is difficult to disentangle Santiago and Hemingway, and it can render a reader quite uncomfortable (Bloom 2). Hemingway, like Santiago, denies his religious values (Linck 1). Hemingway, however, did not turn religious to write The Old Man and the Sea (Waldmeir 33). He has always been religious, although his religion is not of the orthodox variety (33). He celebrates, and always has celebrated, the Religion of Man (33). Along with the Christian symbols woven throughout the novella, numerology also adds to the religious symbols in the book (Waldmeir 28). As the story opens, we are told that Santiago had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish (Wilson 119). If we add this to the three days covered by the books action, we get a span of eighty-seven days. Shortly after, the boy recalls, remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.(119) In this way, Hemingway establishes two separate time spans of eighty-seven days that are important in the old mans life. (119) There is also a more intricate form of numerology in the novella (Waldmeir 28). Three, seven, and forty are key numbers in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible (28). As the story opens, Santiago has fished forty-four unsuccessful days alone and forty more with Manolin. The great ordeal with the marlin lasts three days; Santiago catches the fish on the seventh attempt; seven sharks are killed; and the old man rests seven times from the weight of the mast. To be a hero means to dare more than other men, to expose oneself to greater dangers, and therefore more greatly to risk the possibilities

Free Essays on Justice

In The Republic, Plato attempts to demonstrate through the character and discourse of Socrates that justice is better than justice is the good which men must strive for, regardless of whether they could be unjust and still be rewarded. His method is to use dialectic, the asking and answering of questions which led the hearer from one point to another, supposedly with irrefutable logic by obtaining agreement to each point before going on to the next, and so building an argument. Early on, his two young listeners pose the question of whether justice is stronger than injustice, what each does to a man, and what makes the first good and the second bad. In answering this question, Socrates deals directly with the philosophy of the individual's goodness and virtue, but also ties it to his concept of the perfect state, which is a republic of three classes of people with a rigid social structure and little in the way of amusement. Although Socrates returns time and again to the concept of justice in his discourse on the perfect city-state, much of it seems off the original subject. One of his main points, however, is that goodness is doing what is best for the common, greater good rather than for individual happiness. There is a real sense in which his philosophy turns on the concepts of virtue, and his belief that ultimately virtue is its own reward. His first major point is that justice is an excellence of character. He then seeks agreement that no excellence is achieved through destructive means. The function of justice is to improve human nature, which is inherently constructive. Therefore, at a minimum, justice is a form of goodness that cannot be involved in injuring someone's character. Justice, in short, is a virtue, a human excellence. His next point is that acting in accordance with excellence brings happiness. Then he ties excellence to one's function. His examples are those of the senses each sensory organ is excellen... Free Essays on Justice Free Essays on Justice Justice is showing fairness and equality for every student or person you encounter. Fairness, however, is not the same for each student because each student or person is different; they are different culturally, academically, morally, and in gender, so justice must be adapted accordingly. For example, if a male student of Middle Eastern descent in you class hit a female student out of anger, before issuing punishment, you would have to consider his background and culture. Perhaps in his culture males are expected to dominate over women. If this is true, then you should not punish the male student immediately; hitting women is how he was reared, therefore you cannot take actions against something he was taught in the home. You would have to explain to him the culture he is in and the rules of the classroom for inflicting harm on another student. After you are positive the child understands the culture and the rules of the environment to which he currently exists, if he hits anoth er student, male or female, you would have the right to punish him. I find this to be a fairly accurate definition of justice because as a student my professors and coaching teacher always emphasize the uniqueness of each child or situation. If the individual development of each child is considered when teaching children an academic lesson, then their morals, age , cultural background, gender, and cognitive levels should all be regarded when determining what is just. According to Piaget, children on the preoperational level of though can only focus their thoughts on one portion of a problem (Berk p 319-322). In relating my standards of justice as an Early Childhood Educator to those of my students, I know they firmly believe in equality. The also only see the actions of others, not their intentions (Educational Psychology p 102-103, Berk p 482); I believe this is why children tattle tell on one another constantly. Children know rules are in place and... Free Essays on Justice Of course I looked â€Å"justice† up in the dictionary before I started to write this paper and I did not find anything of interest except of course a common word in every definition, that implies being â€Å"fair†. This implies that justice would have something to do with being fair. I thought that if one of the things the law and the legal system are about is maintaining and promoting justice and a sense of â€Å"fairness†, they may not be doing a spiffy job. An eye for an eye is fair? No, that would be too easy, too black and white. I could cite several examples where I thought a judge’s or jury’s ruling was not fair, but I won’t cause frankly, we’ve all seen those. I actually believe in our legal system and I believe in justice. I believe in justice as an ideal that we strive for and that is what it means to me. The legal system, when looked at closer is not just justice but instead- judgement. You can be punished when found guilty , in a number of ways, but who knows if they’re â€Å"fair â€Å"punishments, its all a matter of opinion. Is life in jail, say 25 years, going to be enough punishment for the parents charged with brutally murdering their daughter Farah Khan? Her life was brief, but whoever killed her also mutilated her body parts. The possibilities for her life were endless, she could have lived to age 95. So is 25 years enough for her killers? They’ll be able to walk free at the end of their term, and perhaps few will remember them then and what they did. Why is justice important then? Because although the legal system is not always right, it needs that lofty ideal of justice something to strive for, something to hope gets accomplished, the hope for every victim of a crime in any nature. The seeking of justice is a tiring and long quest akin to the seeking of truth, for they are closely linked and without one there may not be the other. Without the understanding of what really happ ened in an event or place and time ju... Free Essays on Justice Aristotle once said,  ¡Ã‚ °It is in justice that the ordering of society is centered. ¡Ã‚ ± Justice is also defined as the use of authority and power to uphold that which is right or lawful. Justice separates the good from the evil in court while abiding by the laws through which we live our everyday lives. However, justice does not always prevail, and occasionally can send an innocent person to prison or death. Justice can also lead to a sentence in prison when it is gained through revenge or the personal satisfaction of a person. In the federal court, there is a prosecutor and a defense. The prosecutor ¡Ã‚ ¯s job is to prove the person is guilty through the use of evidence. The defense ¡Ã‚ ¯s job is to protect the person on trial from whatever sentence he or she is going to receive. They both interview witnesses, and try to win their care through the decision of the jury. A person will go to court because he or she broke one of our many American laws. A sentence is given by the judge. Depending on which crime is committed, determines the length of the sentence. For example, a person will most likely be put to death for treason, receive a life sentence for rape or murder, or receive a less amount of years for theft or assault. This is how justice keeps our country strong and together through the use of laws in a federal court. However, our country could be a much safer place to live if we did not have to fill up our prisons with criminals. Justice does not always send guilty people to jail. It can put innocent people in jail for many years of their lives. In the Shaw Shank Redemption, a man was sent to jail for life even though he was completely innocent. Justice prevails through evidence and witnesses. Sometimes the evidence is stacked up against the person, and witnesses can claim the person is guilty, but there is still a small chance he or she can be innocent. Justice is what keeps this nation together, but it ... Free Essays on Justice The subject matter of the â€Å"Republic† is the nature of justice and its relation to human existence. Book I of the â€Å"republic† contains a critical examination of the nature and virtue of justice. Socrates engages in a dialectic with Thrasymachus, Polemarchus, and Cephalus, a method which leads to the asking and answering of questions which directs to a logical refutation and thus leading to a convincing argument of the true nature of justice. And that is the main function of Book I, to clear the ground of mistaken or inadequate accounts of justice in order to make room for the new theory. Socrates attempts to show that certain beliefs and attitudes of justice and its nature are inadequate or inconsistent, and present a way in which those views about justice are to be overcome. Traditionally justice was regarded as one of the cardinal virtues; to avoid injustices and to deal equitable with both equals and inferiors was seen as what was expected of the good man, but it was not clear how the benefits of justice were to be reaped. Socrates wants to persuade from his audience to adopt a way of estimating the benefits of this virtue. From his perspective, it is the quality of the mind, the psyche organization which enables a person to act virtuously. It is this opposition between the two types of assessment of virtue that is the major theme explored in Socrates’ examination of the various positions towards justice. Thus the role of Book I is to turn the minds from the customary evaluation of justice towards this new vision. Through the discourse between Cephalus, Polemarchus and Thrasymachus, Socaretes’ thoughts and actions towards justice are exemplified. Though their views are different and even opposed, the way all three discourse about justice and power reveal that they assume the relation between the two to be separate. They find it impossible to understand the idea that being just is an exercise of power and that true human... Free Essays on Justice In The Republic, Plato attempts to demonstrate through the character and discourse of Socrates that justice is better than justice is the good which men must strive for, regardless of whether they could be unjust and still be rewarded. His method is to use dialectic, the asking and answering of questions which led the hearer from one point to another, supposedly with irrefutable logic by obtaining agreement to each point before going on to the next, and so building an argument. Early on, his two young listeners pose the question of whether justice is stronger than injustice, what each does to a man, and what makes the first good and the second bad. In answering this question, Socrates deals directly with the philosophy of the individual's goodness and virtue, but also ties it to his concept of the perfect state, which is a republic of three classes of people with a rigid social structure and little in the way of amusement. Although Socrates returns time and again to the concept of justice in his discourse on the perfect city-state, much of it seems off the original subject. One of his main points, however, is that goodness is doing what is best for the common, greater good rather than for individual happiness. There is a real sense in which his philosophy turns on the concepts of virtue, and his belief that ultimately virtue is its own reward. His first major point is that justice is an excellence of character. He then seeks agreement that no excellence is achieved through destructive means. The function of justice is to improve human nature, which is inherently constructive. Therefore, at a minimum, justice is a form of goodness that cannot be involved in injuring someone's character. Justice, in short, is a virtue, a human excellence. His next point is that acting in accordance with excellence brings happiness. Then he ties excellence to one's function. His examples are those of the senses each sensory organ is excellen...

Decision Making Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Decision Making Process - Essay Example Doing this entails a thorough understanding of the micro and macro environment that defines the given consumers that a firm needs to serve. The most important point to note is the fact that consumer buying choices and decisions making process are things that get influenced by external factors which need to be handled by internal processes that could take place through social interactions. Consumer decision-making process has more to do with the patterns of behaviour that are preceded by consumers, determining and making them follow certain decisions with the sole aim of satisfying their individual or group needs based on products and services (Wu-Chung & Tzung-Cheng, 2010, pp.3530-3540). The mortgage market is experiencing numerous changes and has grown more volatile following the current financial crisis that has been most of the times blamed on poor handling of mortgages by various firms and stakeholders. This paper looks at the consumer decision-making process for the purchase of an appropriate mortgage following acquisition of some sufficient capital sourced from an uncle. The transaction will thus be analysed based on this theory in order to establish what went on as far as my decision-making process was concerned regarding the mortgage transaction. ... I happened to get enough information regarding the mortgage market, something that I do often before engaging myself into a purchasing process. First I sought credibility of this company as the dealer in mortgages. I then went to the industry analysis on the mortgages. I wanted also to take advantage of any incentives that would have come with choosing the best mortgage dealer. Many companies do provide mortgages but differ in various issues especially rates charged on these mortgages. There are repayment mortgages and interest only mortgages. I realized that interest on mortgages played a very important role in the choice of mortgage option. I also learnt of the mortgage regulation by the Financial Services Authority which sees to it that confidence in the financial system is maintained, public understanding is promoted, consumers are well protected and that financial crimes are avoided. There are also high interest rates on the mortgages placed by banks because of the need to cut o n liquidity in the market (London & Country Mortgages, 2011). I then had to make my decision on the mortgage choice and payment. This is where things became hot! Decision-Making Process on Purchase of an Appropriate Mortgage Property in London A consumer undergoes various stages in his or her buying decision-making process which are comprised of motivation to buy the product or service, problem or need recognition that is to be addressed, search for information, evaluating alternatives that are available in the market, and making a final purchase based on the choice made. Rational decision theory indicates that consumers as decision-makers do make many strategies and tend to use some logical procedures aimed at solving

Business Employment Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Employment Law - Case Study Example Notably, Mr. Dunlap presented claims that showed the aspects of priority given to the white over the black people, irrespective of them having better qualifications and work experiences than the white people. However, Mr. Dunlap failed to prove the case regarding disparate impact. The case later proceeded to the U.S. Court of Appeal with the legal issue being, to establish whether Dunlap fulfilled the burden of proof in the case, in addition to establishing the correctness of the District Court findings. The Court of Appeal confirmed the decisions of the District Court in the case, as they cited the insufficient evidence for disparate treatment. They also upheld the decision on awards for the damages and fees. However, the Court of Appeal reversed the verdict on disparate impact.Why the plaintiff’s disparate, impact claim failedMr. Dunlap suit alleged that TVA manipulated the process of selection, causing the disparate impact on the minority candidates. He alleged he was a vic tim of intentional disparate treatment that both violate the Title VII. In the analysis, the impact theory expects the employee or job applicant to ensure they demonstrate that an apparent employment practice affects a given group harshly. In addition, that the employment practice favors the other side without justification. The countering side, that is the employer, in this case, TVA should show that the manifest procedure relates to the employment process, an argument called â€Å"business necessity† justification.

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Paper - Essay Example The gendered roles of men and women institutionalized the supremacy of men which was further reinforced by the fact that being the bread-earners, they were naturally the heads of their families. This kind of male dominance prevailed since centuries, until the mid-twentieth century, when women’s rights activists initiated historical movements. Up till then, women did not have many chances of getting high education as compared with men. However, with the passage of time, they became aware of their political and social rights and sought to fight for them. In many countries of the world, women were deprived of their inheritance, and so much was to be done to earn their birth rights. For instance, the right to express themselves; the right to have a voice or opinion; the right to earn or work; the right to marry the person of their choice; the right to have or not to have children; the right to vote; the right to divorce; the right to adopt a religion; or simply the right to live t heir own lives, rather than being dictated by the norms of society or the patriarchal system. Prior to this awareness, they had no rights over their own bodies or sexuality. Having right over your own body means having the power to decide for yourself. Self determination was denied to women since ancient times; but the dynamics of the twentieth century changed the mindset of all and sundry, once various movements in different parts of the world gained momentum. Perhaps the first step was to step out of the domestic domains and enter the work force with men. As their roles changed, there developed a natural urge to change their social and political status. After a long journey, women today can claim to enjoy equal benefits at workplace, access to therapeutic abortion, maternity leave, etc. The health exception drew additional legitimacy from Britain’s passage of a therapeutic law in 1967. In the late 1960s, reformers succeeded in securing laws for therapeutic abortion in a num ber of states, which set up complicated processes heavily supervised by medical committees that allowed women to end pregnancies in â€Å"hardship cases† involving rape, incest, the probability of a deformed child, or the threat of death. (Stansell, 315) The Abortion Law is yet a controversial topic in many parts of the world. However, women’s rights’ activists that were in favour of this law hailed the decision of the government in this regard. The official law prevented women from aborting themselves at home that posed severe health risks for them. However, abortion by choice is yet not a simple task in many states and is only performed where necessary. If the reasons of abortion are primarily for the health or honour of women, or in case of a deformed child, then women are granted this right. Conservative societies, like Japan were reluctant to change their attitude towards women, as demanded by the women’s rights’ activists. Regarding the abort ion rights in Japan, during the 70’s and 80’s, a massive change was witnessed among women who fought for women’s rights. This movement spread awareness among women about their rights whether to have a baby or not. â€Å"...women in the reproductive health movement diligently prevented the revision of the national law that would have limited access to abortion. The revision would have legally nullified women’

Implications For Classroom Teachers Education Essay

Implications For Classroom Teachers Education Essay Learning is the process that results in a relatively enduring change in a person or persons (Alexander et al, 2009: 186). According to Winn, 1990, learning is a dynamic process whereby the students knowledge and skills are different when compared before to after learning. Since teaching is the promotion of learning, our knowledge of learning and the corresponding theories in how we learn should inform our teaching (Muijs, 2007). Understanding how knowledge is developed can allow teachers to shape the methodological delivery of their subject content to match the theoretical frameworks underpinning how knowledge is enhanced. Attending to the way students learn can be used to foster effective teaching practices, allowing teachers to improve their practice, and ultimately enhacne the quality of the learners experience (Macleod Golby, 2003). A number of educational researchers, including Vytsgosy 1986, Piaget, 1976, Skinner 1974; Bandura 1986 amongst others, offer learning paradigms to explain how individuals learn. For the purposes of this assignment the extremes of this learning theory spectrum, which are represented by the Behaviourist and Constructivist theories of learning, will be discussed. Inevitably, learning and teaching poses a synergistic relationship, reinforcing the need for teachers to teach with an approach that reflects how students naturally learn (Muijs, 2007), and subsequently consider the implications of the learning theories on their classroom practice. The behaviouristic theory of learning Learning, according to behaviourists (Skinner 1974; Bandura 1986), is defined as the acquisition of new behaviour. The focus of behaviourism is the conditioning of observable human behaviour and revolves around the principal conception that a reaction is made in response to a specific stimulus (Prittard, 2009). This reaction leads to a consequence. If the consequence is pleasant and positive, the behaviour change becomes reinforced via positive reinforcement. With consistent reinforcement, the behaviour pattern becomes conditioned and is automatically activated upon stimuli presentation. Physiologically, behaviourist theories propose that learning is achieved through reinforcement of a particular neural pathway, which links the stimuli and response in the brain. This repeated activation and reinforcement ultimately strengthens the neural pathways and connections between the stimuli and specific responses, resulting in a faster, smoother implementation of certain responses (Pritchard, 2009). Behaviourists identify this form of learning as conditioning, where with consistent reinforcement the behaviour pattern becomes conditioned. Classical conditioning involves the reinforcement of a natural reflex or behaviours which occur naturally as a response to a specific stimulus. In contrast, operant conditioning involves reinforcing behaviour by praising it, or discouraging undesirable behaviour with punishment (Prittard, 2009). Constructivist advocates, including Vygotsky 1986 and Piaget (1970; 1976) amongst others, began to criticise the behaviourist approach, as it was seen too teacher centred and directed, void of meaningful learning and the teacher process was focused too much on individual rather than collaborative group work. In addition, the constructivist theorists challenged the behaviourist proposed separation between mental processing and knowledge, which had to be bridged by the role of a teacher (Prittard, 2009). The Constructivist Theory The constructivist movement was formed on Piagets (1976) and Vygotsky (1986) work who viewed learning as the effect of mental construction, whereby learners combined their existing knowledge with new information, to construct meaning and formulated their understanding (Cholewinski, 2009). The constructivist theory proposes that learning is an active, contextual process, a social activity, centred on constructing meaning and regards the learner as a responsible agent in their knowledge acquisition (Loyens 2007; Cholewinski 2009). In constructivist learning, individuals use world-based experiences in an effort to make sense of what they perceive and establish their understanding of their surroundings (Harris, 1994). Since constructivism involves learners to interact with their immediate learning environment, learning has been considered to be situation-specific and context-bound activity (McInerney and McInerney, 2002). Constructivism is an umbrella term to encompass the wide range of constructivist perspectives, which can be separated into two branches; cognitive constructivism (Piaget, 1976) and social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1986). Both sub-types believe that knowledge is actively constructed by individuals (Birenbaum 2003), however through the use of different mediums; either through a series of internal, intellectual stages (cognitive constructivism), or by social interaction (social constructivism). The numerous perspectives on constructivism within these two sub-types could be essentially grouped around a rooted assumption about learning. That is, knowledge is actively constructed by the learner (Birenbaum 2003; Harris and Alexander 1998). Piagets (2001) developmental stage theory, which represents cognitive constructivism, presents four age-referenced development stages which provide a theory of gradual cognitive development up to the age of eleven years old. The stages refer to an explicit age range and characterise the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. Social constructivism emphasises the role of language in the process of intellectual development. Vygotsky considered dialogue, usually with a more knowledgeable other, as a vehicle by which concepts are considered, shared and developed. The dialogue, which is based on learners pre existing and current knowledge (schemas), is then exploited to develop and construct new ideas and understanding. Vygotsky advocates that the process of learning involves moving into and across a zone of proximal development, which is aided by the intervention of another through support. The zone of proximal development is a theoretical space of understanding which is just above the level of an individuals current understanding. The process of giving support to learners at the appropriate time and level of sophistication to meet the individual needs is termed scaffolding. Scaffolding can allow the movement from one zone to another and assists in the passing through the zone of proximal development. From reviewing the literature, educational researchers which employ these constructivist principles select aspects from both strands of this learning theory (Biggs, 1979), and use constructivist theories as a generalised term. Therefore, for the purpose of this assignment, the term constructivism will reflect a collaboration of both social and cognitive strands; however specific branches and the implications of these strands are highlighted where necessary. Critique of learning theories and associated implications upon classroom practice A review of the literature suggests that behaviouristic learning does not offer students the chance to develop deep meaning and understanding (Entwistle Smith, 2002), but instead has a tendency to promote superficial learning of skills (Fosnot, 1996). Making a correct response and remembering content does not necessarily imply understanding, and consequently the actual understanding achieved through behavioural approaches is challenged. Marton et al, (1997) and Entwistle and Smith (2002) conclude that the use of rote memorisation represents a learning approach to a surface level of understanding, whilst establishing links with current knowledge, as encouraged by constructivists, reflects an approach for a deeper level of understanding. This suggests that academic and subject knowledge learning, based on the behaviouristic theory, may not be academically supported. Furthermore, from a constructivist perspective, the principle of learning using prior experience is also beneficial in promoting a deeper and richer understanding (Pressley, Harris Marks, 1992). Demerici 2009 advises that information which is connected to a learners prior experiences is more likely to be retained, explaining higher retention rates when a constructivist approach is adopted. (Demirici and Yavuz, 2009). Research suggests that learning through such constructive mediums, like discussion, participation and practice, are academically successful and associated with learning gains and knowledge retention (Demirci Yavuz, 2009). Dericimi also reported a significant difference in post-test grades and retention learning tests grades, with the constructivist approach being more efficient than the conventional, behaviouristic approach. Cumulatively, the research suggests that constructivist approaches lead to a richer and deeper understanding. It is therefore plausible to suggest that the quality and depth of understanding associated to a constructivist teaching approach is more likely to exceed that of the behaviourist approach. However, as Entwhistle and Smith (2002) identify, the association between memorisation and surface approach learning may be weak. Kember, (1996) and Watkins and Biggs (1996) reported that memorisation can be used to learn unfamiliar terminology, as the first stage to establishing understanding. This concept, where memorisation is part of meaningful learning, is defined as memorising with understanding (Marton, Watkins, Tang, 1997; Meyer, 2000) and has been conducted by students as a successful revision tool (Entwistle Entwistle, 2001). Controversially, Fox (2001) suggests that the constructivist theory may imply that remembering is not important, and that learning is solely centred on understanding concepts. However, neither of these are true, and being able to remember knowledge is an important prerequisite of learning. In addition, Biggs, (1998) and Jin and Cortazzi, (1998) have reported that constructivist teaching approaches dont consistently guarantee teaching effectiveness. Instead, traditional, more behaviourist approaches to learning in large classes has proven to be successful internationally, such as in China. Fox, 2001, argues that constructivism neglects the role of memorisation and mechanical learning techniques Arguably, due to the varying nature of meaning which is uncontrollably constructed by students, in some cases, rote learning and memorisation may be more useful when teaching factual concepts and where clarity in understanding is required. Rote learning may be used to help students cope better with some aspects of work that they find difficult. In addition, Smith (2001, 2002) affirms that rote learning can contribute to understanding. However, teachers must consider that rote learning is not an approach to develop understanding and therefore where possible, should be followed by attempts to encourage and promote understanding. For example teachers could consider engaging with the subject content and provoking discussion of the content in an effort to encourage more meaningful understanding. Group work may play a very important role in reinforcing subject knowledge and working to gether and collaborating with peers could be a useful teaching and learning tool. Ultimately, it appears that behaviouristic learning approaches can be beneficial for particular tasks such as establishing classroom behaviour (Prittard, 2009). For example, Muijs Reynolds (2003) report that standard school and classroom routines and expectations for behaviour can be successfully learnt through behaviouristic approaches. Therefore, teachers need to consider whether the learning is academic or behavioural before teaching the class. In the case of behaviour management, a strategy to quieten the class, such as raising of the hand, or counting down from three could be effectively used. In this case, the stimulus, such as the teacher raising their hand or calling out the number three, must be fully explained to the class. In addition, the stimuli must be fully visible and audible to the students, which is possible with a clearly risen hand or an assertive voice. The response desired, such as a student raising of the hand and silence, must be fully understood by students. It is important that the stimulus-response occurrence is repeated by the teacher and used regularly. The same strategy should be employed every time the teacher wants to quieten the class, establishing consistency of stimuli and behavioural response. This repeated activation strengthens the pathways, affording for a smoother and faster implementation of the response. Pupils should be made aware of the negative and positive consequences if they do not respond to the stimuli as desired and the consequences need to be kept consistent. Therefore, consistency of behaviour management strategies is crucial and classroom practice must adhere to the same strategise as the same stimuli is presented for a specific response. Behaviourism relies on reinforcement which is employed to condition the behaviour, and therefore is essentially the tool which brings about learning. Therefore rewards and punishments for behaviours must play a crucial role and actively administered within classroom practice. Behaviourism may therefore stimulate and encourage more use of positive reinforcement which has been a well recognised effective classroom practice (Elliott and Busse, 1991). However teachers must consider that rewarding children who are already highly motivated may not be as effective, and may actually lead to a loss of interest (Prittard, 2009) Rewards and praise have been shown to enhance motivation, and serve as an effective behaviour management tool, however, praising students may not come naturally to teachers. Behaviouristic approaches to learning appear to be more favourable to certain individuals, and teachers need to consider the pupils concerned and whether this approach to learning suits their learning styles, needs and ability. For example, Prittard (2009) reports that behaviouristic methods are more advantageous for those pupils who display anxious tendencies and low motivation. In contrast, those of higher academic ability perceive simplistic drill and practice unsatisfying and dull (Prittard 2009). In addition, some students demand understanding, yet adhering to behaviouristic learning approaches does not accommodate this requirement. In other situations, the concepts of learning without understanding can fuel frustration, lead to misconceptions and generate a difficult learning environment (Prittard 2009) Another important consideration is that behaviourist approaches dont take account of mental cognitive processing involved in learning. In contrast, constructivism emphasises that the learners must develop their understanding for themselves and constructivist researchers advocate that mental activity is the lifeblood of learning and the extent of what is learnt (Jonassen Rohrer-Murphy, 1999). However, the constructivist theory may imply that all individual differences in learning come down to the consequences of each learners history of learning (Loyens, 2008). Furthermore, although we do learn by acquiring knowledge from our environments through interacting with the external world, Fox highlights that the environment also acts upon learners. That is, we act and react, and learning can be achieved from both experiences. However, constructivism appears to fail to acknowledge adaptive instinctive responses as reactive forms of learning (Fox, 2001) and the role of talent in cognitive development. Furthermore, Fox (2001) and Bredo, (2000) argue that constructivism discounts the role of innate, motivational and genetic factors in knowledge construction, which have been proven to play a role in cognitive development and learning (Carey Spelke, 1994). Teachers therefore cannot assume that the products of learning are solely the teachers effort and thought; instead learning is externally and internally influenced. Importantly, teachers need to provide activities which engage and challenge learners. This demands a board array of work which is differentiated to the learners intellect.. Teachers need to offer scope of activities where the accustomed effort and activity falls on the learners responsibility. Differentiation is a critical implication in the classroom to assure that all pupils have to apply mental effort and take an active role in their own learning. Such opportunities would afford learner engagement and optimise the possibility of effective lasting learning taking place (Prittard, 2009). Personalisation is also crucial to ensure all learners, despite genetic and innate differences which may affect their learning are accounted for. If a pupil is set tasks which do not require thought or challenge, learning constructively will fail. Piagets stage developmental theory offers guidance covering the level of complexity that may be expected in a childs thought processes at approximate stages in their development. Piagets Theory may guide a teachers differentiation as to the ability of pupils, and the required scaffolding and support in order to facilitate the movement between zones of cognitive development. Whilst Piagets developmental stage theory influences principally primary school teaching practices, given the ages this theory is related to, the appreciation and awareness that cognitive ability develops with age is important to consider when teaching all ages. The exactness of the Piaget (2001) stage of development has been criticised since in it unclear and presumptuous to assume children will pass through the stages at specific ages, however, as a developmental process; this theory is useful in teaching practices Another implication for teachers is the questioning they employ within the classroom. To allow pupils to construct their own knowledge and understanding, questions need to be higher order and exploratory Moursund (2003), in accordance with Blooms Taxonomy (1956) , to include command words such as evaluate and synthesise. Moreover, questions need to be open-ended and allow pupils to develop their personal understanding though answering the questions, rather than simple closed questions, where the answers are already pre-determined. Pupils need to be given the opportunity to gradually learn processes and construct their own answers. Teachers can promote this using questions which encourage students to gradually construct their understanding, such as evaluate, synthesise and analytical questions. Another pitfall of the constructivist theory is that it assumes students actively seek resources and experiences, and therefore students understanding is dependent and anchored by their experiences and pre-existing knowledge. In addition, it is assumed that learners utilise the construed data to actively construct their knowledge (Renkl, 1999). Therefore, this approach to learning relies on students encountering experiences and applying these experiences to their pre-existing knowledge to develop their understanding. However, such experiences and world-based interactions may not be feasible or available to students due to their lifestyle circumstances. Consequently, teachers need to be aware that understanding and meaning is limited to the individual experiences of the students. In accordance with this assumption, the constructivist theory can explain why pupils conceptions and meaning do vary between each other (Taber, 2000). In addition, if the construction of knowledge is the acti vity of the learner, then the learner can only understand what they have constructed (Duffy Cunningham). Therefore, constructivism may be seen as subjective and relative (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996). This may lead to marking criteria discrepancies, confusion and inconsistency, and student misconceptions, which do not match reality. In addition, Duffy and Cunningham propose that if the constructions and meanings are different amongst students, the little shared understanding may challenge the ease of communication between learners and the class. This may jeopardise the effectiveness of class discussions and social interactions as a tool to enhance learning. Similarly, as construction is activity on part of the learner (Bruner 1966, 1971), what is constructed cannot be controlled by the teacher. Instead the learner has autonomy and self-regulates what understanding is established. Therefore the students constructed understanding may not parallel with other students, with reality or with the teachers construction and understanding, resulting in multiple understandings (Choleweskni, 2009). Consequently, teachers must not assume that the construction and understanding of a concept is universal between all students. Instead teachers must actively access and consider the alternative perceptions and understanding of the learners, hence why a transmission teaching approach is fruitless. On the other hand, teachers come into the classroom with their own construction and conceptions of subject content, and according to Patrick (1988), are not neutral. Therefore, a teachers understanding can colour the students understanding, and together, Patrick (1998) and Marton and Booth (1997) suggested that some teachers moulded the students construction of a concept to align with their concept interpretation. Einsworth and Collins (2002) conclude that the form of understanding impressed onto students is largely dependent on the teachers personal interpretation of the subject content. Therefore, although the constructivist theory assumes that the construction of understanding is the product of the learners interpretation exclusively, the constructivist theory does not account for the interplay between teachers and learners comprehension. To accommodate these pre-requisites of learning, the individuals knowledge needs to be continually assessed. As a regular classroom practice, formative assessment could be used as a regular approach to assess existing and new understanding, before moving to the next lesson. Formative assessment is a regular, informal mode of assessment, allowing teachers to monitor students progress, gain an appreciation of what has been learnt and adapt their teaching practices to optimise further learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Accordingly, given that learning is an active and evolving processes, formative assessment can be used by teachers to assess, monitor, challenge unclear perspectives and adapt classroom practices to accommodate the constructivist principles of learning. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that constructivist approaches to learning favour the use of formative assessment and may prompt its use in the classrooms, which Atkin et al, (2001) reports as being very valuable. Since formative assessment alone is associated with learning gains, (Black and Wiliam 1998), learning is positively influenced indirectly via adopting teaching strategies which are aligned to learning constructively. Formative assessment may be undertaken through questioning, teacher and pupil discussion, peer and self assessment and interaction with peers. Formative assessment will also identify pupils individual learning needs, supporting teachers conduct in differentiation to assure pupils are moving forward, across their ZPD and optimise learning gains. However, with behaviourism, the opportunities for feedback are confined to only whether the response desired is correct or not. There is little scope for learning, or how to improve in order to meet the desired response. Therefore, under behaviourist approaches, feedback cannot be used for learning purposes, therefore opportunities for assessment for learning, which have shown to enhance learning, may not be fruitful. Consequently, limited feedback combined with the objective outcomes of behaviourist approaches mean that individual student needs are not necessarily part of the formulae when considering teaching strategies and subject content. The need to consider individual needs is undeniable, therefore such constraints of feedback extent presents a multitude of problems to the teaching and learning of students. Importantly, to help progressive learning and avoid developing misconceptions, teachers need to provide a clear focus and goals, with explicit learning objectives (Clarke, 2001), which are rooted within pupils existing knowledge. The clear objectives allow students to construct their ideas using current knowledge and understand the overarching direction and progression of their learning. Activating prior knowledge is important to elicit pre-knowledge, allowing teachers to decipher the students current levels of understanding. Teachers need to highlight the links between students existing knowledge and the new subject knowledge, to help the learner form bridges and facilitate their mental construction and cognitive processes (REF). By forming these links, students can activate and recall their pre-existing knowledge, and use this foundation to build and integrate new concepts. Teachers should encourage students to relate new knowledge to current knowledge and external experiences, allowing the new subject content to become embedded within the existing knowledge structures, contributing to or amending to the students schema. Since learning constructively is based on the addition of new content to current knowledge, the learner must have sufficient levels of understanding before new content can be used to construct more complex meaning and progress. Teachers and educators need to recognise and appreciate that new content cannot be built up until the foundations, such as current knowledge, is secured. Therefore constructive pedagogies include regular formative assessment to assure students understanding. When constructing new concepts and developing understanding, reviewing and reflecting on what has already been learnt also helps to establish and secure students previous knowledge. In addition, by asking what students understand before embarking on a new concept would help students form links between new and previous knowledge (Fulton). This reviewing could be done as a starter, but also plays a role at the end of the lesson, forming a plenary. Teachers should consider, incorporate and plan for well managed plenary to consolidate knowledge. Time to reflect upon what has been undertaken, the processes and the content gives the opportunity for internalisation and for a deeper level of understanding to be developed. Similarly, learning is most effective when learners become engaged, which means that teachers need to adopt an active approach to learning and involve engaging tasks to promote learning in the classroom. Learning using authentic tasks, which allow pupils to relate to their own experience inside and outside the classroom (Selinger, 2001) increases the probability of engagement with the task and supports findings that learning in a familiar context is most effective. Authentic tasks are likely to hold the attention and interest of children, and lead to a deeper level of engagement than with non-authentic or less authentic tasks (Fulton). Favourably, the constructivist principles match those fundamentals associated with effective contextual learning. Evidence suggests that learning occurs in real-life contexts and learning is actually linked to a context, as deduced by Macleod and Goldby 2003. Children working with new ideas in a familiar content are more likely to engage with the ideas, than if the same ideas were present in an alien context. Therefore teachers should strive to include more authentic tasks and set learning concepts which are aligned with students familiar contexts. If a learning activity falls beyond the cultural understanding of the learning, then learning is likely to be less successful than if it had been situated in a more familiar setting. .Meaningful contexts for learning are very important; however, what is meaningful for a teacher is not necessarily meaningful for the student. The association between the concept of learning being situated and the need for authentic learning tasks is evidence (McFarlane, 1997). However, the recommended approach to situation learning in meaningful contexts (e.g. Lave Wenger, 1991) has been argued against. Walkerdine, 1988, for example argued that if school learning became situated solely within the lived world of daily experiences, the opportunities for abstract reasoning and reflective activity, which are all constituents of constructivism, would become limited and sacrificed, whilst confining students to their local environment. An active learning approach can be achieved by encouraging students to explore concepts and ideas, and to follow their instincts (Wray and Lewis, 1997). Given that exploration can promote sequential development of ideas, it is likely to assist in the construction of new knowledge; the roots to constructivism. Classroom practice could be based on a discovery-based approach (Huitt, 2004);, where students can find answers out for themselves, answer their own questions through experimenting with new ideas and discuss their beliefs and thinking patterns with their peers. Importantly, engaging with each other reflects social interactions, which can be a vehicle to develop understanding using social interaction. Unlike behaviourist approaches where the teacher is the primary resources of knowledge and is influenced by their interests and perspective; knowledge construction offers the opportunity of learning to become dynamic and varied (Sudizna, 1997). The use of resources promotes more interactive learning and interest, which are both shown to positively influence learning. Supported by Winn (1990), student knowledge is dynamic and changes, that is knowledge and skills are different before learning to after instruction and Behaviourist approaches have been criticised for not addressing this dynamic nature of learning. In addition, behaviourism theory does not appreciate that students come into classrooms with prior knowledge. Conversely, the constructivist theory acknowledges that pre-existing knowledge is requisite of learning and that students enter classrooms with pre-conceptions, knowledge and beliefs which they deploy in constructing new understanding. (Jones, Carter, Rua, 1999) As already discussed, scaffolding is crucial for the learner to pass through their zone of proximal development, and can be undertaken by the teacher. Scaffolding can be practiced in the classroom in many ways, and teachers need to appreciate that this is fundamental to the educational progression of students and how this may be achieved. Support materials need to be widely available, such as a writing frame to support a particular style of prose, or a list of words to help in the process of completing an exercise, designed to assist understanding The provision of practical apparatus, especially in science, may help to explain the solution to a problem and is an engaging approach. Students can evidence reality and attach a sense of perspective and reality to their learning. Given the exploratory nature of constructivism, classroom practice needs to be supportive and generate an environment where the student feels safe to ask for help and comfortable in approaching the teacher. The teacher must be aware of the different supportive needs of the class, and meet these through differentiation and allowing time for class discussion, misconceptions and any lack of understanding. To help the teacher identify those who need more support than others, formative assessment can be incorporated to highlight the students individual needs that need to be addressed. Ultimately, this will allow tasks to be designed and geared towards the individuals learning ability. Unlike, behaviourism theories, constructivist theory appreciates the important rol