The tensions inherent in the public representation of complex issues Essay

The tensions inherent in the public representation of complex issues - Essay Example The newspapers, television channels and the internet were filled with various speculations about the incident. As usual the inefficiency of the government was criticized heavily. The lack of transparency in the Malaysian governments operation, their subdued efforts to keep the relatives of the missing informed and the lack of any guaranteed report about hijack or crash fueled the media wheels effortlessly. They represented the issue as if it was the sole mistake of the Malaysian government. The frustrated relatives of the missing people were shown mourning constantly in every TV channel. The issue was represented in such a way flight travel in South Asian countries is risky, as the governments there function passively and are non-transparent. The discretion of President Razak in handling the issue with the domestic means he had and his timely decision to use the help from Australia, a country quite near the crash site rather than the US situated on the other half of the world, went unmentioned in nearly all the reports. As John Berger (1972) mentions, "what the modern means of reproduction have done is to destroy the authority". The international media reproduction about a flight crash simply crushed the image of a well developed country into that of a poor backward country without any authorization of proof. The influences of such representation were so high, that even the stock market of the country underwent a great blow. The way the issue was represented in the international media was absolutely partial and judgmental. The media highly overshadowed the diplomatic efforts taken by the Malaysian government to search for the flight on a multinational level, highlighting its efforts to decline help from the US government. This led to the extent of the US President Obama reconsidering his trip to Malaysia due to security reasons. Several rumors about a couple of people travelling

Google and Competitors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Google and Competitors - Essay Example Working with a mission 'to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful', the expert team of Google community diligently maintains an index of websites and other content, which can be searched by anyone having an internet connection. Though Google is known mainly for it search engine, but there are a number of other services like Google mail, Google Earth, Google News, Google Finance etc. being offered to the net-community. The concept came up in the mid-nineties when Stanford university graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page stuck upon the idea of providing a search engine which could return relevant information without wasting much time. Though there are a number of players in the fray giving competition to Google, but the key competitors of Google include Yahoo and MSN. Yahoo is mainly devoted on the search engines besides having the stake in other services as well. But for MSN, the primary focus area is the software development and of cours e. But the difference in the strength and popularity of Google and its nearest rival Yahoo can be gauged from the fact that during the fiscal year ended December 2006, while Google recorded revenues of $10,604.9 million, Yahoo could mop up about $6,425.7 million. Goog (Datamonitor, 2008a). Google is considered a leader in search engine technology offering search results in 158 domains and more than 100 languages (Datamonitor, 2007). The strength lies in its innovative format and the speed with which it comes out with relevant topics. As per the figures given out by Datamonitor (2007), in March 2007, Google sites captured 48.3% of the US search market, while the corresponding figures for Yahoo stand at 27.5%. Some of the key strong areas of Google include; Strong Market position: Google far outnumbers its rivals as far as popularity of its search engine is concerned. Well established brand identity: Brand identity forms a key strength in today's context, where visibility in media and easy identification features help in propagating the business prospects of the company. It is indeed quite surprising that Google, basically a service providing company, has even overtaken many well established product identity companies like, Microsoft, GE, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, IBM etc. According to Miillward Brown's 2007 ranking of brands2, Google is the topmost brand with a brand value of $m 66,434. Google has worked on its brand quite consistently is apparent from the fact that the brand value has undergone a change of about 77% from the previous years. On the other hand Yahoo ranks a distant 42nd with a brand value of $m13,201, registering a decline of 6% in its brand value. According to market research firm Miillward Brown, Google is the world's top ranked brand, overtaking Microsoft and some other wellestablished brands like General Electric Company, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart Stores and IBM. Proprietary technology and technological infrastructures: The search engine technology of Google has indeed provided the company an edge over its rivals. Based on its proprietary PageRank technology, the search engine is having the largest searchable index amongst all (Datamonitor, 2007) AdWords and AdSense programs: Google works up its online advertising programs with the help of its unique concept of AdWords and AdSens

Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Islam - Essay Example Polytheism mostly in the form of animism was rampant among the Bedouin tribes in the pre-Islamic Arabia (â€Å"Culture and Religion†). Their tribes or families sold women in pre-Islamic Arabia to their husbands in exchange for dowry. Pre-Islamic Arabia had unlimited polygamy. Divorce among the Arabs of the pre-Islamic peninsula was a totally unregulated male prerogative. Women were granted no rights with respect to divorce. Women were not given anything from inheritance. People would bury their daughters alive. Despite the gender discrimination, forces of cultural unity in the tribal structure existed in the pre-Islamic Arabia. Qasidah was a special style of Arabic poetry that celebrated the ethos of honor and bravery of the Bedouins. It is the very existence of Qasidah, recited at tribal gatherings and market fairs that â€Å"has convinced historians that the Arabs of the seventh century possessed a common poetic language that could be understood in different regions of the peninsula† (Cleveland and Bunton

Roe V Wade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Roe V Wade - Essay Example Roe’s claim charged that the abortion law in Texas was in violation of the constitutional rights of her and all other pregnant women. The Supreme Court decided for Roe effectively making abortion legal in the U.S. in the landmark case. The decision invalidated any state law that restricted a women to have or a doctor to perform an abortion during the first three months (first trimester) of a pregnancy. It also restricted abortions during the second-trimester unless a woman’s health was in jeopardy (Gale, 1997: 312). Though the case was then and remains today controversial, the Court’s decision was correct from a constitutional context. Critics of the decision have generally made arguments based on personal moral beliefs which are irrelevant when the language of the Constitution is examined. Their moral arguments against the Roe decision can be quickly invalidated by weighing the precedents of constitutional decisions reached by the Supreme Court in addition to reading the specific wordage contained in the Constitution. There are, however, valid questions regarding the Constitutional issues of the Roe decision that deserve answering. When most people speak disapprovingly of the Roe decision, they base their objection purely on moral grounds but scholars, lawyers and especially judges who condemn the decision should only do so based on constitutional grounds in addition to voicing their moral objections. The argument against the decision should address the 9th Amendment which states, â€Å"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people† (â€Å"Bill of Rights†, 2006). Those opposed have said that the ninth, or any other amendment, does not specifically mention abortion therefore the Constitution is not applicable when attempting to determine the legality of abortion rights. This opinion, however, very obviously

Compensation Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compensation Strategy - Essay Example However, any compensation strategy must bear the interest and goals of the company and the employee. As such, to achieve this balance, variant compensation strategies apply uniquely in a given company. This paper highlights and evaluates three compensation strategies that can apply in our manufacturing company. Moreover, it will recommend the modes of applying these compensation strategies while considering the company and employee’s interests. Introduction A compensation strategy refers to the planned utilization of the pay system as a fundamental integrating mechanism geared towards achieving company objectives and rewarding employees subject to limitations within the company (Gomez-Mejia, Berrone, & Franco-Santos, 2010). As the human resources manager in our manufacturing company, I have the mandate of evaluating the different compensation strategies that are available for adoption within our organization. Actually, the best compensation strategy will ensure attraction and retention of critical employees. Our manufacturing company has 120 employees and various compensation strategies can apply to them. The compensation strategies that I will evaluate in this paper include the Competitive strategy, Retention-based strategy, and the performance- based strategy. I will hence compare and contrast them with an aim of applying them in our organization. Indeed, the compensation strategies should be reasonable to both the employees and the company itself (Deb, 2009). I will therefore determine recommendations on how to implement them within our organization. Research findings I have done substantial research on the three compensation strategies and gathered relevant information that can help in the application of these strategies in our manufacturing company. Most specifically, in the competitive strategy, the company pays employees the market rate. On the other hand, in the retention-based strategy, the employees earn more as they stay in the company. Additi onally, in the performance- based strategy, the pay relates to the performance of an employee, the team or the entire organization. Specific findings on each compensation strategy follow here in. Findings on the competitive strategy It is notable that one of the main goals of any company is to remain competitive in the market and where possible gain competitive advantage over other competitors (Kumar, 2010). As such, the competitive strategy seeks to retain existing employees in offering them rewards that equal to industry standards. Additionally, this compensation strategy seeks to attract potential employees by motivating them to join the company as it offers compensation that meets what others in the industry offer (Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada, 2012). Nevertheless, the competitive strategy offers the reference company no competitive advantage over its competitors since its compensation rates are at par with those of its competitors. Hence, this strategy may not mo tivate employees to remain in the company for a long time. Indeed, this strategy keeps the management at risk of fluctuating wages, as the industry would dictate. As such, where the company cannot keep up with the escalating wages, then there is a high risk of employee turnover. Moreover, the existing employees are at a high risk of leaving the company if another company offers higher rewards than the reference com

The Importance of Law Enforcement Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Importance of Law Enforcement - Article Example As quoted by Schuster (2007) from the American Judicature Society, â€Å"misidentification by the eyewitness was the leading cause of wrongful conviction in more than 75% of the first 183 DNA exonerations in the United States†. From this statement, questions arise on the effectiveness of the methods used by the police in letting the eyewitness identify suspects from photographic and live lineups that are commonly used in the US police departments. There are two kinds of lineups: simultaneous and sequential. In a simultaneous lineup, the eyewitness views all the people or photos at the same time, while in a consequential lineup, people or photographs are presented to the witness one at a time. Both lineups have their disadvantages. In the simultaneous lineup, most preferred by law enforcers, Schuster (2007) quoted that witnesses use â€Å"relative judgment† rather than their memory. This means that they just compare the lineups with each other and choose the one that closely resembles the perpetrator. This becomes a problem most especially when the perpetrator is not present in the lineup because the eyewitness can just pick anyone that closely resembles the perpetrator. In a consequential line-up, on the other hand, a decision should be made about the current lineup before moving to the next. As such, the eyewitness oftentimes relies on the use of â€Å"absolute judgment† in which witnesses compare each lineup on what he or she thinks the offender looks like. Aside from the disadvantages, Schuster (2007) also quoted variables that can affect the outcome of police lineups. These are the pre-lineup instructions given to the witness, the physical characteristics of the fillers, similarities or differences between the witness’ and suspect’s age, race, or ethnicity, and incident characteristics such as the use of force or weapons.

Global Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global Business Plan - Essay Example Checking inflation, lowering the deficit, and bettering the efficiency of public sector continue to be vital challenges confronting the government. (The Economy of Costa Rica) Costa Rica continues to be one of the safest and most attractive countries for foreign investment in Latin America. The Costa Rican government, its ministries and F.I.s keep up a distinctly pro-US and continental position with regard to financial security and tax laws. The avowed objective is to attract mainly the companies that are on the technological forefront to leverage Central America's most educated, computer literate and highly disciplined workforce together with the modern production infrastructure the nation is presently building. Currently, the economy is being changing over from its long-term dependence on coffee, bananas and cattle rearing to electronics like microprocessor production and high-tech telecommunication services. The pro-investment friendly climate and government policy of transforming the country into the Silicon Valley of Latin America has lured major companies like Acer, Microsoft, GE, Intel Corporation to make considerable investments in the country bot h financially as well as physically, with major production and distribution facilities. (Doing Business in Costa Rica) During 1998, in the course of its entire history, Costa Rica is set to earn a major part from high technology exports than from coffee or bananas or from the flourishing tourism industry. The World Bank has highly rated the country in terms of political and financial health. In the annual conference, the World Bank commended the nation as possessing one of the most stable and robust democracies among the Latin American countries. World Bank also praised the country because of the healthy growth rate and some of the best social indicators in the continent. The country is one of the strongest advocates of continental trade zone, and already possesses its own agreement with Mexico and other nations of the region. The number of tree trade zones of the country and tax holiday opportunities is lucrative. They extend benefits like exemption from import duties on capital goods, components, raw material; unlimited profit repatriation, exemption of tax on profits for 8 years and a 50% exempti on for the subsequent four years. (Doing Business in Costa Rica) Even though the country is not an offshore financial centre in the conventional sense, it favourable tax structure implies that it could have been categorized as a tax haven some decades ago. But it was not until recently that the government came to know of its tax haven potential and started to enact laws and market this sector of economic activity. The country possess a lot of characteristic feature which renders it a distinct advantage compared to other offshore jurisdictions inclusive a perceived on shore jurisdictional status, rock bottom taxes and a fiscal policy that does not differentiate between residents and non-residents for taxation purposes. Off-shore activity is at present booming in Costa Rica and a number of popular companies have established operations, however the industry is yet just in its early stages. A major offshore banking industry is not present primarily due to the fact that the industry came out of the shackles of state control in the year 1996. (Offshore Business Activities in Costa Rica) The financial institutions in the