title: Business ethics

text: Economist Milton Friedman wrote that corporate executives' "responsibility ... generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to their basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom". Friedman also said, "the only entities who can have responsibilities are individuals ... A business cannot have responsibilities. So the question is, do corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, have responsibilities in their business activities other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible? And my answer to that is, no, they do not." This view is known as the Friedman doctrine. A multi-country 2011 survey found support for this view among the "informed public" ranging from 30 to 80%. Ronald Duska and Jacques Cory have described Friedman's argument as consequentialist or utilitarian rather than pragmatic: Friedman's argument implies that unrestrained corporate freedom would benefit the most people in the long term. Duska argued that Friedman failed to differentiate two very different aspects of business: (1) the "motive" of individuals, who are generally motivated by profit to participate in business, and (2) the socially sanctioned "purpose" of business, or the reason why people allow businesses to exist, which is to provide goods and services to people. So Friedman was wrong that making a profit is the only concern of business, Duska argued.


title: Business ethics

text: Peter Drucker once said, "There is neither a separate ethics of business nor is one needed", implying that standards of personal ethics cover all business situations. However, Drucker in another instance said that the ultimate responsibility of company directors is not to harm—"primum non nocere".


title: Business ethics

text: Another view of business is that it must exhibit corporate social responsibility (CSR): an umbrella term indicating that an ethical business must act as a responsible citizen of the communities in which it operates even at the cost of profits or other goals. In the US and most other nations, corporate entities are legally treated as persons in some respects. For example, they can hold title to property, sue and be sued and are subject to taxation, although their free speech rights are limited. This can be interpreted to imply that they have independent ethical responsibilities. Duska argued that stakeholders expect a business to be ethical and that violating that expectation must be counterproductive for the business.


title: Business ethics

text: Ethical issues include the rights and duties between a company and its employees, suppliers, customers and neighbors, its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders. Issues concerning relations between different companies include hostile take-overs and industrial espionage. Related issues include corporate governance; corporate social entrepreneurship; political contributions; legal issues such as the ethical debate over introducing a crime of corporate manslaughter; and the marketing of corporations' ethics policies.


title: Business ethics

text: According to research published by the Institute of Business Ethics and Ipsos MORI in late 2012, the three major areas of public concern regarding business ethics in Britain are executive pay, corporate tax avoidance and bribery and corruption.


title: Business ethics

text: Ethical standards of an entire organization can be damaged if a corporate psychopath is in charge. This will not only affect the company and its outcome but the employees who work under a corporate psychopath. The way a corporate psychopath can rise in a company is by their manipulation, scheming, and bullying. They do this in a way that can hide their true character and intentions within a company.


title: Business ethics

text: Fundamentally, finance is a social science discipline. The discipline borders behavioral economics, sociology, economics, accounting and management. It concerns technical issues such as the mix of debt and equity, dividend policy, the evaluation of alternative investment projects, options, futures, swaps, and other derivatives, portfolio diversification and many others. Finance is often mistaken by the people to be a discipline free from ethical burdens. The 2008 financial crisis caused critics to challenge the ethics of the executives in charge of U.S. and European financial institutions and financial regulatory bodies. Finance ethics is overlooked for another reason—issues in finance are often addressed as matters of law rather than ethics.


title: Business ethics

text: Aristotle said, "the end and purpose of the polis is the good life". Adam Smith characterized the good life in terms of material goods and intellectual and moral excellences of character. Smith in his "The Wealth of Nations" commented, "All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind." However, a section of economists influenced by the ideology of neoliberalism, interpreted the objective of economics to be maximization of economic growth through accelerated consumption and production of goods and services. Neoliberal ideology promoted finance from its position as a component of economics to its core. Proponents of the ideology hold that unrestricted financial flows, if redeemed from the shackles of "financial repressions", best help impoverished nations to grow. The theory holds that open financial systems accelerate economic growth by encouraging foreign capital inflows, thereby enabling higher levels of savings, investment, employment, productivity and "welfare", along with containing corruption. Neoliberals recommended that governments open their financial systems to the global market with minimal regulation over capital flows. The recommendations however, met with criticisms from various schools of ethical philosophy. Some pragmatic ethicists, found these claims to be unfalsifiable and a priori, although neither of these makes the recommendations false or unethical per se. Raising economic growth to the highest value necessarily means that welfare is subordinate, although advocates dispute this saying that economic growth provides more welfare than known alternatives. Since history shows that neither regulated nor unregulated firms always behave ethically, neither regime offers an ethical panacea.


title: Business ethics

text: Neoliberal recommendations to developing countries to unconditionally open up their economies to transnational finance corporations was fiercely contested by some ethicists. The claim that deregulation and the opening up of economies would reduce corruption was also contested.


title: Business ethics

text: Dobson observes, "a rational agent is simply one who pursues personal material advantage ad infinitum. In essence, to be rational in finance is to be individualistic, materialistic, and competitive. Business is a game played by individuals, as with all games the object is to win, and winning is measured in terms solely of material wealth. Within the discipline, this rationality concept is never questioned, and has indeed become the theory-of-the-firm's sine qua non". Financial ethics is in this view a mathematical function of shareholder wealth. Such simplifying assumptions were once necessary for the construction of mathematically robust models. However, signalling theory and agency theory extended the paradigm to greater realism.


title: Business ethics

text: Fairness in trading practices, trading conditions, financial contracting, sales practices, consultancy services, tax payments, internal audit, external audit and executive compensation also, fall under the umbrella of finance and accounting. Particular corporate ethical/legal abuses include: creative accounting, earnings management, misleading financial analysis, insider trading, securities fraud, bribery/kickbacks and facilitation payments. Outside of corporations, bucket shops and forex scams are criminal manipulations of financial markets. Cases include accounting scandals, Enron, WorldCom and Satyam.


title: Business ethics

text: Human resource management occupies the sphere of activity of recruitment selection, orientation, performance appraisal, training and development, industrial relations and health and safety issues. Business Ethicists differ in their orientation towards labor ethics. Some assess human resource policies according to whether they support an egalitarian workplace and the dignity of labor.


title: Business ethics

text: Issues including employment itself, privacy, compensation in accord with comparable worth, collective bargaining (and/or its opposite) can be seen either as inalienable rights or as negotiable.


title: Business ethics

text: Discrimination by age (preferring the young or the old), gender/sexual harassment, race, religion, disability, weight and attractiveness. A common approach to remedying discrimination is affirmative action.


title: Business ethics

text: Once hired, employees have the right to the occasional cost of living increases, as well as raises based on merit. Promotions, however, are not a right, and there are often fewer openings than qualified applicants. It may seem unfair if an employee who has been with a company longer is passed over for a promotion, but it is not unethical. It is only unethical if the employer did not give the employee proper consideration or used improper criteria for the promotion. Each employer should know the distinction between what is unethical and what is illegal. If an action is illegal it is breaking the law but if an action seems morally incorrect that is unethical. In the workplace what is unethical does not mean illegal and should follow the guidelines put in place by OSHA, EEOC, and other law binding entities.


title: Business ethics

text: Potential employees have ethical obligations to employers, involving intellectual property protection and whistle-blowing.


title: Business ethics

text: Employers must consider workplace safety, which may involve modifying the workplace, or providing appropriate training or hazard disclosure. This differentiates on the location and type of work that is taking place and can need to comply with the standards to protect employees and non-employees under workplace safety.


title: Business ethics

text: Larger economic issues such as immigration, trade policy, globalization and trade unionism affect workplaces and have an ethical dimension, but are often beyond the purview of individual companies.


title: Business ethics

text: Trade unions, for example, may push employers to establish due process for workers, but may also cause job loss by demanding unsustainable compensation and work rules.


title: Business ethics

text: Unionized workplaces may confront union busting and strike breaking and face the ethical implications of work rules that advantage some workers over others.


title: Business ethics

text: Among the many people management strategies that companies employ are a "soft" approach that regards employees as a source of creative energy and participants in workplace decision making, a "hard" version explicitly focused on control and Theory Z that emphasizes philosophy, culture and consensus. None ensure ethical behavior. Some studies claim that sustainable success requires a humanely treated and satisfied workforce.


title: Business ethics

text: Marketing ethics came of age only as late as the 1990s. Marketing ethics was approached from ethical perspectives of virtue or virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism, pragmatism and relativism.


title: Business ethics

text: Ethics in marketing deals with the principles, values and/or ideas by which marketers (and marketing institutions) ought to act. Marketing ethics is also contested terrain, beyond the previously described issue of potential conflicts between profitability and other concerns. Ethical marketing issues include marketing redundant or dangerous products/services, transparency about environmental risks, transparency about product ingredients such as genetically modified organisms possible health risks, financial risks, security risks, etc., respect for consumer privacy and autonomy, advertising truthfulness and fairness in pricing & distribution.


title: Business ethics

text: According to Borgerson, and Schroeder (2008), marketing can influence individuals' perceptions of and interactions with other people, implying an ethical responsibility to avoid distorting those perceptions and interactions.


title: Business ethics

text: Marketing ethics involves pricing practices, including illegal actions such as price fixing and legal actions including price discrimination and price skimming. Certain promotional activities have drawn fire, including greenwashing, bait and switch, shilling, viral marketing, spam (electronic), pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing. Advertising has raised objections about attack ads, subliminal messages, sex in advertising and marketing in schools.


title: Business ethics

text: Scholars in business and management have paid much attention to the ethical issues in the different forms of relationships between organizations such as buyer-supplier relationships, networks, alliances, or joint ventures. Drawing in particular on Transaction Cost Theory and Agency Theory, they note the risk of opportunistic and unethical practices between partners through, for instance, shirking, poaching, and other deceitful behaviors. In turn, research on inter-organizational relationships has observed the role of formal and informal mechanisms to both prevent unethical practices and mitigate their consequences. It especially discusses the importance of formal contracts and relational norms between partners to manage ethical issues.


title: Business ethics

text: Being the most important element of a business, stakeholders' main concern is to determine whether or not the business is behaving ethically or unethically. The business's actions and decisions should be primarily ethical before it happens to become an ethical or even legal issue. "In the case of the government, community, and society what was merely an ethical issue can become a legal debate and eventually law."


title: Business ethics

text: This area of business ethics usually deals with the duties of a company to ensure that products and production processes do not needlessly cause harm. Since few goods and services can be produced and consumed with zero risks, determining the ethical course can be problematic. In some case, consumers demand products that harm them, such as tobacco products. Production may have environmental impacts, including pollution, habitat destruction and urban sprawl. The downstream effects of technologies nuclear power, genetically modified food and mobile phones may not be well understood. While the precautionary principle may prohibit introducing new technology whose consequences are not fully understood, that principle would have prohibited the newest technology introduced since the industrial revolution. Product testing protocols have been attacked for violating the rights of both humans and animals. There are sources that provide information on companies that are environmentally responsible or do not test on animals.


title: Business ethics

text: The etymological root of property is the Latin 'proprius' which refers to 'nature', 'quality', 'one's own', 'special characteristic', 'proper', 'intrinsic', 'inherent', 'regular', 'normal', 'genuine', 'thorough, complete, perfect' etc. The word property is value loaded and associated with the personal qualities of propriety and respectability, also implies questions relating to ownership. A 'proper' person owns and is true to herself or himself, and is thus genuine, perfect and pure.


title: Business ethics

text: Modern discourse on property emerged by the turn of the 17th century within theological discussions of that time. For instance, John Locke justified property rights saying that God had made "the earth, and all inferior creatures, [in] common to all men".


title: Business ethics

text: One argument for property ownership is that it enhances individual liberty by extending the line of non-interference by the state or others around the person. Seen from this perspective, property right is absolute and property has a special and distinctive character that precedes its legal protection. Blackstone conceptualized property as the "sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe".


title: Business ethics

text: During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, slavery spread to European colonies including America, where colonial legislatures defined the legal status of slaves as a form of property. During this time settlers began the centuries-long process of dispossessing the natives of America of millions of acres of land. The natives lost about of land in the Louisiana Territory under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson, who championed property rights.


title: Business ethics

text: Combined with theological justification, the property was taken to be essentially natural ordained by God. Property, which later gained meaning as ownership and appeared natural to Locke, Jefferson and to many of the 18th and 19th century intellectuals as land, labor or idea, and property right over slaves had the same theological and essentialized justification It was even held that the property in slaves was a sacred right. Wiecek noted, "slavery was more clearly and explicitly established under the Constitution as it had been under the Articles". Accordingly, US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in his 1857 judgment stated, "The right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution".


title: Business ethics

text: Neoliberals hold that private property rights are a non-negotiable natural right. Davies counters with "property is no different from other legal categories in that it is simply a consequence of the significance attached by law to the relationships between legal persons." Singer claims, "Property is a form of power, and the distribution of power is a political problem of the highest order". Rose finds, "'Property' is only an effect, a construction, of relationships between people, meaning that its objective character is contestable. Persons and things, are 'constituted' or 'fabricated' by legal and other normative techniques.". Singer observes, "A private property regime is not, after all, a Hobbesian state of nature; it requires a working legal system that can define, allocate, and enforce property rights." Davis claims that common law theory generally favors the view that "property is not essentially a 'right to a thing', but rather a separable bundle of rights subsisting between persons which may vary according to the context and the object which is at stake".


title: Business ethics

text: In common parlance property rights involve a bundle of rights including occupancy, use and enjoyment, and the right to sell, devise, give, or lease all or part of these rights. Custodians of property have obligations as well as rights. Michelman writes, "A property regime thus depends on a great deal of cooperation, trustworthiness, and self-restraint among the people who enjoy it."


title: Business ethics

text: Menon claims that the autonomous individual, responsible for his/her own existence is a cultural construct moulded by Western culture rather than the truth about the human condition. Penner views property as an "illusion"—a "normative phantasm" without substance.


title: Business ethics

text: In the neoliberal literature, the property is part of the private side of a public/private dichotomy and acts a counterweight to state power. Davies counters that "any space may be subject to plural meanings or appropriations which do not necessarily come into conflict".


title: Business ethics

text: Private property has never been a universal doctrine, although since the end of the Cold War is it has become nearly so. Some societies, e.g., Native American bands, held land, if not all property, in common. When groups came into conflict, the victor often appropriated the loser's property. The rights paradigm tended to stabilize the distribution of property holdings on the presumption that title had been lawfully acquired.


title: Business ethics

text: Property does not exist in isolation, and so property rights too. Bryan claimed that property rights describe relations among people and not just relations between people and things Singer holds that the idea that owners have no legal obligations to others wrongly supposes that property rights hardly ever conflict with other legally protected interests. Singer continues implying that legal realists "did not take the character and structure of social relations as an important independent factor in choosing the rules that govern market life". Ethics of property rights begins with recognizing the vacuous nature of the notion of property.


title: Business ethics

text: Intellectual property (IP) encompasses expressions of ideas, thoughts, codes, and information. "Intellectual property rights" (IPR) treat IP as a kind of real property, subject to analogous protections, rather than as a reproducible good or service. Boldrin and Levine argue that "government does not ordinarily enforce monopolies for producers of other goods. This is because it is widely recognized that monopoly creates many social costs. Intellectual monopoly is no different in this respect. The question we address is whether it also creates social benefits commensurate with these social costs."


title: Business ethics

text: International standards relating to Intellectual Property Rights are enforced through Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In the US, IP other than copyrights is regulated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.


title: Business ethics

text: The US Constitution included the power to protect intellectual property, empowering the Federal government "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries". Boldrin and Levine see no value in such state-enforced monopolies stating, "we ordinarily think of innovative monopoly as an oxymoron. Further, they comment, 'intellectual property' "is not like ordinary property at all, but constitutes a government grant of a costly and dangerous private monopoly over ideas. We show through theory and example that intellectual monopoly is not necessary for innovation and as a practical matter is damaging to growth, prosperity, and liberty". Steelman defends patent monopolies, writing, "Consider prescription drugs, for instance. Such drugs have benefited millions of people, improving or extending their lives. Patent protection enables drug companies to recoup their development costs because for a specific period of time they have the sole right to manufacture and distribute the products they have invented." The court cases by 39 pharmaceutical companies against South Africa's 1997 Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, which intended to provide affordable HIV medicines has been cited as a harmful effect of patents.


title: Business ethics

text: One attack on IPR is moral rather than utilitarian, claiming that inventions are mostly a collective, cumulative, path dependent, social creation and therefore, no one person or firm should be able to monopolize them even for a limited period. The opposing argument is that the benefits of innovation arrive sooner when patents encourage innovators and their investors to increase their commitments.


title: Business ethics

text: Machlup concluded that patents do not have the intended effect of enhancing innovation. Self-declared anarchist Proudhon, in his 1847 seminal work noted, "Monopoly is the natural opposite of competition," and continued, "Competition is the vital force which animates the collective being: to destroy it, if such a supposition were possible, would be to kill society."


title: Business ethics

text: Mindeli and Pipiya argued that the knowledge economy is an economy of abundance because it relies on the "infinite potential" of knowledge and ideas rather than on the limited resources of natural resources, labor and capital. Allison envisioned an egalitarian distribution of knowledge. Kinsella claimed that IPR create artificial scarcity and reduce equality. Bouckaert wrote, "Natural scarcity is that which follows from the relationship between man and nature. Scarcity is natural when it is possible to conceive of it before any human, institutional, contractual arrangement. Artificial scarcity, on the other hand, is the outcome of such arrangements. Artificial scarcity can hardly serve as a justification for the legal framework that causes that scarcity. Such an argument would be completely circular. On the contrary, artificial scarcity itself needs a justification" Corporations fund much IP creation and can acquire IP they do not create, to which Menon and others have objected. Andersen claims that IPR has increasingly become an instrument in eroding public domain.


title: Business ethics

text: Ethical and legal issues include patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, patent and copyright misuse, submarine patents, biological patents, patent, copyright and trademark trolling, employee raiding and monopolizing talent, bioprospecting, biopiracy and industrial espionage, digital rights management.


title: Business ethics

text: Notable IP copyright cases include "A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.", "Eldred v. Ashcroft", and Disney's lawsuit against the Air Pirates.


title: Business ethics

text: While business ethics emerged as a field in the 1970s, international business ethics did not emerge until the late 1990s, looking back on the international developments of that decade. Many new practical issues arose out of the international context of business. Theoretical issues such as cultural relativity of ethical values receive more emphasis in this field. Other, older issues can be grouped here as well. Issues and subfields include:


title: Business ethics

text: Foreign countries often use dumping as a competitive threat, selling products at prices lower than their normal value. This can lead to problems in domestic markets. It becomes difficult for these markets to compete with the pricing set by foreign markets. In 2009, the International Trade Commission has been researching anti-dumping laws. Dumping is often seen as an ethical issue, as larger companies are taking advantage of other less economically advanced companies.


title: Business ethics

text: Ethical issues often arise in business settings, whether through business transactions or forming new business relationships. It also has a huge focus in the auditing field whereby the type of verification can be directly dictated by ethical theory. An ethical issue in a business atmosphere may refer to any situation that requires business associates as individuals, or as a group (for example, a department or firm) to evaluate the morality of specific actions, and subsequently, make a decision amongst the choices. Some ethical issues of particular concern in today's evolving business market include such topics as: honesty, integrity, professional behaviors, environmental issues, harassment, and fraud to name a few. From a 2009 National Business Ethics survey, it was found that types of employee-observed ethical misconduct included abusive behavior (at a rate of 22 percent), discrimination (at a rate of 14 percent), improper hiring practices (at a rate of 10 percent), and company resource abuse (at a rate of percent).


title: Business ethics

text: The ethical issues associated with honesty are widespread and vary greatly in business, from the misuse of company time or resources to lying with malicious intent, engaging in bribery, or creating conflicts of interest within an organization. Honesty encompasses wholly the truthful speech and actions of an individual. Some cultures and belief systems even consider honesty to be an essential pillar of life, such as Confucianism and Buddhism (referred to as sacca, part of the Four Noble Truths). Many employees lie in order to reach goals, avoid assignments or negative issues; however, sacrificing honesty in order to gain status or reap rewards poses potential problems for the overall ethical culture organization, and jeopardizes organizational goals in the long run. Using company time or resources for personal use is also, commonly viewed as unethical because it boils down to stealing from the company. The misuse of resources costs companies billions of dollars each year, averaging about 4.25 hours per week of stolen time alone, and employees' abuse of Internet services is another main concern. Bribery, on the other hand, is not only considered unethical is business practices, but it is also illegal. In accordance with this, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was established in 1977 to deter international businesses from giving or receiving unwarranted payments and gifts that were intended to influence the decisions of executives and political officials. Although, small payments known as facilitation payments will not be considered unlawful under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if they are used towards regular public governance activities, such as permits or licenses.


title: Business ethics

text: Many aspects of the work environment influence an individual's decision-making regarding ethics in the business world. When an individual is on the path of growing a company, many outside influences can pressure them to perform a certain way. The core of the person's performance in the workplace is rooted in their personal code of behavior. A person's personal code of ethics encompasses many different qualities such as integrity, honesty, communication, respect, compassion, and common goals. In addition, the ethical standards set forth by a person's superior(s) often translate into their own code of ethics. The company's policy is the 'umbrella' of ethics that play a major role in the personal development and decision-making processes that people make with respect to ethical behavior.


title: Business ethics

text: The ethics of a company and its individuals are heavily influenced by the state of their country. If a country is heavily plagued with poverty, large corporations continuously grow, but smaller companies begin to wither and are then forced to adapt and scavenge for any method of survival. As a result, the leadership of the company is often tempted to participate in unethical methods to obtain new business opportunities. Additionally, Social Media is arguably the most influential factor in ethics. The immediate access to so much information and the opinions of millions highly influence people's behaviors. The desire to conform with what is portrayed as the norm often manipulates our idea of what is morally and ethically sound. Popular trends on social media and the instant gratification that is received from participating in such quickly distort people's ideas and decisions.


title: Business ethics

text: Political economy and political philosophy have ethical implications, particularly regarding the distribution of economic benefits. John Rawls and Robert Nozick are both notable contributors. For example, Rawls has been interpreted as offering a critique of offshore outsourcing on social contract grounds.


title: Business ethics

text: Laws are the written statutes, codes, and opinions of government organizations by which citizens, businesses, and persons present within a jurisdiction are expected to govern themselves or face legal sanction. Sanctions for violating the law can include (a) civil penalties, such as fines, pecuniary damages, and loss of licenses, property, rights, or privileges; (b) criminal penalties, such as fines, probation, imprisonment, or a combination thereof; or (c) both civil and criminal penalties.


title: Business ethics

text: Very often it is held that business is not bound by any ethics other than abiding by the law. Milton Friedman is the pioneer of the view. He held that corporations have the obligation to make a profit within the framework of the legal system, nothing more. Friedman made it explicit that the duty of the business leaders is, "to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom". Ethics for Friedman is nothing more than abiding by customs and laws. The reduction of ethics to abidance to laws and customs, however, have drawn serious criticisms.


title: Business ethics

text: Counter to Friedman's logic it is observed that legal procedures are technocratic, bureaucratic, rigid and obligatory whereas ethical act is conscientious, voluntary choice beyond normativity. Law is retroactive. Crime precedes law. Law against crime, to be passed, the crime must have happened. Laws are blind to the crimes undefined in it. Further, as per law, "conduct is not criminal unless forbidden by law which gives advance warning that such conduct is criminal". Also, the law presumes the accused is innocent until proven guilty and that the state must establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. As per liberal laws followed in most of the democracies, until the government prosecutor proves the firm guilty with the limited resources available to her, the accused is considered to be innocent. Though the liberal premises of law is necessary to protect individuals from being persecuted by Government, it is not a sufficient mechanism to make firms morally accountable.


title: Business ethics

text: As part of more comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies have formulated internal policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees. These policies can be simple exhortations in broad, highly generalized language (typically called a corporate ethics statement), or they can be more detailed policies, containing specific behavioral requirements (typically called corporate ethics codes). They are generally meant to identify the company's expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling some of the more common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business. It is hoped that having such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, consistency in application, and the avoidance of ethical disasters.


title: Business ethics

text: An increasing number of companies also require employees to attend seminars regarding business conduct, which often include discussion of the company's policies, specific case studies, and legal requirements. Some companies even require their employees to sign agreements stating that they will abide by the company's rules of conduct.


title: Business ethics

text: Many companies are assessing the environmental factors that can lead employees to engage in unethical conduct. A competitive business environment may call for unethical behavior. Lying has become expected in fields such as trading. An example of this are the issues surrounding the unethical actions of the Salomon Brothers.


title: Business ethics

text: Not everyone supports corporate policies that govern ethical conduct. Some claim that ethical problems are better dealt with by depending upon employees to use their own judgment.


title: Business ethics

text: Others believe that corporate ethics policies are primarily rooted in utilitarian concerns and that they are mainly to limit the company's legal liability or to curry public favor by giving the appearance of being a good corporate citizen. Ideally, the company will avoid a lawsuit because its employees will follow the rules. Should a lawsuit occur, the company can claim that the problem would not have arisen if the employee had only followed the code properly.


title: Business ethics

text: Some corporations have tried to burnish their ethical image by creating whistle-blower protections, such as anonymity. In the case of Citi, they call this the Ethics Hotline. Though it is unclear whether firms such as Citi take offences reported to these hotlines seriously or not. Sometimes there is a disconnection between the company's code of ethics and the company's actual practices. Thus, whether or not such conduct is explicitly sanctioned by management, at worst, this makes the policy duplicitous, and, at best, it is merely a marketing tool.


title: Business ethics

text: Jones and Parker wrote, "Most of what we read under the name business ethics is either sentimental common sense or a set of excuses for being unpleasant." Many manuals are procedural form filling exercises unconcerned about the real ethical dilemmas. For instance, the US Department of Commerce ethics program treats business ethics as a set of instructions and procedures to be followed by 'ethics officers'., some others claim being ethical is just for the sake of being ethical. Business ethicists may trivialize the subject, offering standard answers that do not reflect the situation's complexity.


title: Business ethics

text: Following a series of fraud, corruption, and abuse scandals that affected the United States defense industry in the mid-1980s, the Defense Industry Initiative (DII) was created to promote ethical business practices and ethics management in multiple industries. Subsequent to these scandals, many organizations began appointing ethics officers (also referred to as "compliance" officers). In 1991, the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association —originally the Ethics Officer Association (EOA)—was founded at the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University as a professional association for ethics and compliance officers.


title: Business ethics

text: The 1991 passing of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 1991 was another factor in many companies appointing ethics/compliance officers. These guidelines, intended to assist judges with sentencing, set standards organizations must follow to obtain a reduction in sentence if they should be convicted of a federal offense.


title: Business ethics

text: Following the high-profile corporate scandals of companies like Enron, WorldCom and Tyco between 2001 and 2004, and following the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, many small and mid-sized companies also began to appoint ethics officers.


title: Business ethics

text: Often reporting to the chief executive officer, ethics officers focus on uncovering or preventing unethical and illegal actions. This is accomplished by assessing the ethical implications of the company's activities, making recommendations on ethical policies, and disseminating information to employees.


title: Business ethics

text: The effectiveness of ethics officers is not clear. The establishment of an ethics officer position is likely to be insufficient in driving ethical business practices without a corporate culture that values ethical behavior. These values and behaviors should be consistently and systemically supported by those at the top of the organization. Employees with strong community involvement, loyalty to employers, superiors or owners, smart work practices, trust among the team members do inculcate a corporate culture


title: Business ethics

text: Many corporate and business strategies now include sustainability. In addition to the traditional environmental 'green' sustainability concerns, business ethics practices have expanded to include social sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on issues related to human capital in the business supply chain, such as worker's rights, working conditions, child labor, and human trafficking. Incorporation of these considerations is increasing, as consumers and procurement officials demand documentation of a business's compliance with national and international initiatives, guidelines, and standards. Many industries have organizations dedicated to verifying ethical delivery of products from start to finish, such as the Kimberly Process, which aims to stop the flow of conflict diamonds into international markets, or the Fair Wear Foundation, dedicated to sustainability and fairness in the garment industry.


title: Business ethics

text: As mentioned, initiatives in sustainability encompass "green" topics, as well as social sustainability. There are however many different ways in which sustainability initiatives can be implemented in a company.


title: Business ethics

text: An organization can implement sustainability initiatives by improving its operations and manufacturing process so as to make it more aligned with environment, social, and governance issues. Johnson & Johnson incorporates policies from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, applying these principles not only for members of its supply chain but also internal operations. Walmart has made commitments to doubling its truck fleet efficiency by 2015 by replacing 2/3rds of its fleet with more fuel-efficient trucks, including hybrids. Dell has integrated alternative, recycled, and recyclable materials in its products and packaging design, improving energy efficiency and design for end-of-life and recyclability. Dell plans to reduce the energy intensity of its product portfolio by 80% by 2020.


title: Business ethics

text: The board of a company can decide to lower executive compensation by a given percentage, and give the percentage of compensation to a specific cause. This is an effort which can only be implemented from the top, as it will affect the compensation of all executives in the company. In Alcoa, an aluminum company based in the US, "1/5th of executive cash compensation is tied to safety, diversity, and environmental stewardship, which includes greenhouse gas emission reductions and energy efficiency" (Best Practices). This is not usually the case for most companies, where we see the board take a uniform step towards the environment, social, and governance issues. This is only the case for companies that are directly linked to utilities, energy, or material industries, something which Alcoa as an aluminum company, falls in line with. Instead, formal committees focused on the environment, social, and governance issues are more usually seen in governance committees and audit committees, rather than the board of directors. "According to research analysis done by Pearl Meyer in support of the NACD 2017 Director Compensation Report shows that among 1,400 public companies reviewed, only slightly more than five percent of boards have a designated committee to address ESG issues." (How compensation can).


title: Business ethics

text: Similar to board leadership, creating steering committees and other types of committees specialized for sustainability, senior executives are identified who are held accountable for meeting and constantly improving sustainability goals.


title: Business ethics

text: Introducing bonus schemes that reward executives for meeting non-financial performance goals including safety targets, greenhouse gas emissions, reduction targets, and goals engaging stakeholders to help shape the companies public policy positions. Companies such as Exelon have implemented policies like this.


title: Business ethics

text: Other companies will keep sustainability within its strategy and goals, presenting findings at shareholder meetings, and actively tracking metrics on sustainability. Companies such as PepsiCo, Heineken, and FIFCO take steps in this direction to implement sustainability initiatives. (Best Practices). Companies such as Coca-Cola have actively tried improve their efficiency of water usage, hiring 3rd party auditors to evaluate their water management approach. FIFCO has also led successfully led water-management initiatives.


title: Business ethics

text: Implementation of sustainability projects through directly appealing to employees (typically through the human resource department) is another option for companies to implement sustainability. This involves integrating sustainability into the company culture, with hiring practices and employee training. General Electric is a company that is taking the lead in implementing initiatives in this manner. Bank of America directly engaged employees by implement LEED (leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings, with a fifth of its building meeting these certifications.


title: Business ethics

text: Establishing requirements for not only internal operations but also first-tier suppliers as well as second-tier suppliers to help drive environmental and social expectations further down the supply chain. Companies such as Starbucks, FIFCO and Ford Motor Company have implemented requirements that suppliers must meet to win their business. Starbucks has led efforts in engaging suppliers and local communities where they operate to accelerate investment in sustainable farming. Starbucks set a goal of ethically sourcing 100% of its coffee beans by 2015.


title: Business ethics

text: By revealing decision-making data about how sustainability was reached, companies can give away insights that can help others across the industry and beyond make more sustainable decisions. Nike launched its "making app" in 2013 which released data about the sustainability in the materials it was using. This ultimately allows other companies to make more sustainable design decisions and create lower impact products.


title: Business ethics

text: As an academic discipline, business ethics emerged in the 1970s. Since no academic business ethics journals or conferences existed, researchers published in general management journals and attended general conferences. Over time, specialized peer-reviewed journals appeared, and more researchers entered the field. Corporate scandals in the earlier 2000s increased the field's popularity. As of 2009, sixteen academic journals devoted to various business ethics issues existed, with "Journal of Business Ethics" and "Business Ethics Quarterly" considered the leaders. "Journal of Business Ethics Education" publishes articles specifically about education in business ethics.


title: Business ethics

text: The International Business Development Institute is a global non-profit organization that represents 217 nations and all 50 United States. It offers a Charter in Business Development that focuses on ethical business practices and standards. The Charter is directed by Harvard, MIT, and Fulbright Scholars, and it includes graduate-level coursework in economics, politics, marketing, management, technology, and legal aspects of business development as it pertains to business ethics. IBDI also oversees the International Business Development Institute of Asia which provides individuals living in 20 Asian nations the opportunity to earn the Charter.


title: Business ethics

text: In Sharia law, followed by many Muslims, banking specifically prohibits charging interest on loans. Traditional Confucian thought discourages profit-seeking. Christianity offers the Golden Rule command, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."


title: Business ethics

text: According to the article "Theory of the real economy", there is a more narrow point of view from the Christianity faith towards the relationship between ethics and religious traditions. This article stresses how Christianity is capable of establishing reliable boundaries for financial institutions. One criticism comes from Pope Benedict by describing the "damaging effects of the real economy of badly managed and largely speculative financial dealing." It is mentioned that Christianity has the potential to transform the nature of finance and investment but only if theologians and ethicist provide more evidence of what is real in the economic life. Business ethics receives an extensive treatment in Jewish thought and Rabbinic literature, both from an ethical ("Mussar") and a legal ("Halakha") perspective; see article "Jewish business ethics" for further discussion.


title: Business ethics

text: According to the article "Indian Philosophy and Business Ethics: A Review", by Chandrani Chattopadyay, Hindus follow "Dharma" as Business Ethics and unethical business practices are termed "Adharma". Businessmen are supposed to maintain steady-mindedness, self-purification, non-violence, concentration, clarity and control over senses. Books like Bhagavat Gita and Arthashastra contribute a lot towards conduct of ethical business.


title: Business ethics

text: Business ethics is related to philosophy of economics, the branch of philosophy that deals with the philosophical, political, and ethical underpinnings of business and economics. Business ethics operates on the premise, for example, that the ethical operation of a private business is possible—those who dispute that premise, such as libertarian socialists (who contend that "business ethics" is an oxymoron) do so by definition outside of the domain of business ethics proper.


title: Business ethics

text: The philosophy of economics also deals with questions such as what, if any, are the social responsibilities of a business; business management theory; theories of individualism vs. collectivism; free will among participants in the marketplace; the role of self interest; invisible hand theories; the requirements of social justice; and natural rights, especially property rights, in relation to the business enterprise.


title: Business ethics

text: Business ethics is also related to political economy, which is economic analysis from political and historical perspectives. Political economy deals with the distributive consequences of economic actions.


title: The Sopranos (season 5)

text: The fifth season of the American crime drama series "The Sopranos" aired on HBO from March 7 to June 6, 2004. The fifth season was released on DVD in region 1 on June 7, 2005.


title: The Sopranos (season 5)

text: The story of season five focuses on the return of two prominent members of the DiMeo family, Tony Blundetto and Feech La Manna, who are released from lengthy stays in prison and struggle to reintegrate themselves back within the family and the life of crime. Several prominent members of the Lupertazzi family return from prison, most notably Phil Leotardo.


title: The Sopranos (season 5)

text: The subsequent power vacuum caused by the death of boss Carmine creates a growing rift between the New York and New Jersey crime families. Tony and Carmela adjust to their new lives and each other following their separation, which greatly affects their son A.J. Uncle Junior's mental health starts to deteriorate, and Adriana's guilt over her role as an FBI informant grows.


title: The Sopranos (season 5)

text: The show's fifth season has a 93% approval rating with an average score of 9.30/10 based on 14 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with the following critical consensus: "The penultimate season of "The Sopranos" hurtles toward the series' climax without sacrificing the compelling stories and vibrant characters that made it an acknowledged television classic."


title: United States Army enlisted rank insignia

text: The chart below shows the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Army, with seniority, and pay grade, increasing from right to left. The enlisted ranks of corporal (E-4) and higher are considered non-commissioned officers (NCOs). The rank of specialist is also in pay grade E-4, but does not hold non-commissioned officer status; it is common that a soldier may never hold the rank of corporal, and instead be promoted from specialist to sergeant, attaining junior NCO status at that time.


text: In the beginning, U.S. Army enlisted rank was indicated by colored epaulets. The use of chevrons came into being in 1821, with the orientation changing over time from point-down to point-up and back again, to the point-down orientation seen in the American Civil War. Around the turn of the 20th century, point-up wear of chevrons returned and has remained so.


text: From the creation of the United States Army to 1821, non-commissioned officer (NCO) and staff non-commissioned officer (SNCO) rank was distinguished by the wearing of usually worsted epaulets.


text: From 1775 to 1779, sergeants and corporals wore one epaulet on the right shoulder, corporals of green color, sergeants of red color. From May 1778, the newly created ranks of SNCOs (i.e., sergeants major, quartermaster sergeants, drum majors, and fife majors) wore a red epaulette on each shoulder.


text: In 1779, sergeants were authorized two silk epaulets, corporals one worsted to wear on the right shoulder. The color was white (infantry), yellow (artillery), or blue (cavalry). In practice it seems the prescribed blue epaulettes for cavalry NCO never came in wide use while the wearing of white epaulettes prevailed.


text: By 1783/84, the Continental Army was discharged. For a few weeks, only 55 artillerymen at West Point and 25 men at Fort Pitt were to remain. In August 1784, the 700 men strong First American Regiment (including two companies of artillery) was organized as kind of an army substitute. In October 1786 by approval of Congress, this force should expand to a "Legionary Corps" of additional infantry, rifle troops, artillery, and dragoons. But this project never materialized. In 1791, the Second Regiment of Infantry was raised and organized as the First Regiment. Both units amalgamated in 1792 with the Legion of the United States, including artillery and dragoons (the first federal mounted force since the discharge of the Continental Light Dragoons in 1783), that then transformed into the US Army in 1796.


text: From 1787, SNCOs wore silk epaulets, sergeants two worsted and corporals one worsted. In the same year, the epaulets' color of cavalry NCOs officially changed from blue to white. At that time the federal mounted force of two troops of dragoons existed only on paper and never got beyond the planning stage (see above). The sergeant major insignia included a brass half-crescent placed on the skirt of the epaulet.


text: In 1799, red worsted epaulets were prescribed for all NCOs in all branches: SNCOs on both shoulders, sergeants on the right shoulder, corporals on the left. Chief musicians were identified by two white epaulets. Shortly after, in the year 1800, the color of the epaulets was changed to yellow, for chief musicians in to blue. In reality, the artillery NCOs ignored the order of 1799 and maintained their yellow epaulets, as did a company of bombardiers, sappers, and miners recruited during the War of 1812. In 1808 also the infantry NCOs switched back to their former white epaulets as did the newly raised light dragoons (whose remaining men and officers were folded into the Corps of Artillery, in 1815)., SNCOs wore two worsted epaulettes with crescent, sergeants had two plain worsted epaulettes, while corporals wore one epaulette on the right shoulder.


text: Between 1821 and 1895, the U.S. Army insignia of rank for enlisted soldiers above the grade of private was generally the chevron—a "V"-shaped piece of cloth or braid, typically worn on the sleeve. With exceptions from 1832 to 1846 (when chevrons were abolished), and from 1847 to 1851 (chevrons worn points up), the chevrons were a worn point down.


text: From 1821 to 1832, enlisted personnel (except staff, artillery, and engineers) wore dark blue "wings" trimmed in yellow (infantry, in white) on each shoulder and a horizontal row of four gold (infantry, silver) buttons on each cuff. Additionally, senior NCOs (quartermaster sergeant, sergeant major, drum major, and fife major) wore a single point-up yellow (infantry, white) chevron on each upper sleeve (from 1825 a chevron and arc), sergeants wore their chevrons on the lower sleeves (from 1825 on the upper sleeves), corporals had just a single chevron on the right upper sleeve (but from 1825 one chevron on both lower sleeves). This system echoed the grading system of company-grade officers from 1821 to 1832 (except general staff, artillery, engineer, and field officers who wore epaulets instead of "wings").


text: For enlisted personnel in staff, artillery, and engineers the system of epaulets (yellow for all grades) was retained: senior NCOs were indicated by a pair of epaulets with a brass crescent, sergeants with no crescents, and corporals just a single epaulet on the right shoulder.


text: From the early days of the Continental Army, the wearing of a sword and a crimson worsted sash had served as a badge of rank for all sergeant grades. Since 1821 the worsted sash became a privilege to first sergeants and above only. In 1872, sashes would cease being worn by all ranks (except for general officer ranks who retained their buff sashes until 1917). The wearing of the M1840 NCO sword would be abolished by general orders No. 77 dated August 6, 1875.


text: These parallel existing systems were superseded in 1832. From then on to 1851 (since 1846 only with dress uniform), enlisted personnel wore a pair of yellow (infantry, white) cloth epaulets with 2 1/2" long and 1/8" in diameter worsted fringe (privates, very short fringe). Contrary to this, senior NCOs wore epaulets with gold fringe (but from about 1835 worsted bullion with a metal crescent) and a coat with two rows of ten buttons, that ended 3 1/2" above the knees while all other enlisted personnel had single-breasted coats with nine buttons, that ended 7" above the knees.


text: In addition, there were on the cuffs a slashflap with yellow (infantry, white) lace and a vertical row of several golds (infantry, silver) buttons depending on grade: senior sergeants wore four flaps and buttons, sergeant wore three flaps and buttons, corporals and privates wore two flaps and buttons. A sergeant-major had a red plume on the dress hat; a quartermaster sergeant had a light blue plume. The orderly sergeant had no plume but wore a red waist sash.


text: After the two regiments of light dragoons were first amalgamated into one and then transferred to the artillery in 1814/15, a federal mounted force ceased to exist. In 1832, a battalion of United States Mounted Rangers was formed, just to be disbanded and replaced by the United States Regiment of Dragoons in 1833. In place of worsted epaulets, enlisted dragoon ranks wore metal (brass) shoulder scales, thus inspiring yellow as new branch color for mounted units.


text: Complementary, for undress a new system of yellow (infantry: white) chevrons was introduced in 1846. In 1846 the chevrons were pointed down, from 1847 to 1851 they were pointing up. All sergeants were indicated by three chevrons: Sgt. Maj. and Qm. Sgt. additionally with a gold shoulder cord (1846) but from 1847 instead of three chevrons with three arcs below for Sgt. Maj., for Qm. Sgt. with three bars below. Orderly Sgt. (i.e. 1st Sgt.) in 1846 three chevrons and a red worsted waist sash, from 1847 a hollow diamond below the three chevrons and no waist sash. Corporals wore two chevrons, privates none.


text: However, in 1851, the Army changed to point down wear for all enlisted grades and directed that chevrons would be worn in the new branch-of-service colors of sky blue for the infantry, dark green for riflemen and mounted rifles, orange for dragoons (from 1851 to 1861), yellow for cavalry, red for artillery, and green for the medical department.


text: In 1895, the Army introduced a new enlisted rank system that became the basis for the system used in World War I.


text: Metal branch-of-service insignia was first adopted in 1832—the hunting horn being adopted as the infantry's insignia. They are worn on the cap with the regimental number inset in or just above it.


text: Smaller rank insignia that were to be worn point up was introduced in 1902, but with the transition from the older, larger point down insignia to the new versions, there was some confusion concerning the proper manner of wear of the new insignia. War Department Circular 61 of 1905 directed that the points be placed up and designated certain colors for each branch of the military, for uniformity.


text: During World War, I troops overseas in France used standard buff stripes inset with trade badges in the place of colored branch stripes or rank badges. Rank grades were numbered from the top-down, from the general of the army, as number 1, to corporal, number 19; NCO ranks were grades 13 through 19. Confusingly, pay grades were different, less senior ranks with more technical training being paid more than senior staff NCOs.


text: On 22 July 1919, the military approved "an arc of one bar" (a trade badge over a single arc "rocker") for a private first class. This was later changed to a single chevron in 1920.


text: The Joint Service Pay Readjustment Act of 1922 (Public Law 67-235; June 10, 1922) divided the grades into inverse "pay grades" for enlisted personnel (grades 7 through 1) and "pay periods" (periods 1 through 8) for officers. The pay rates would stay the same from July 1, 1922, to May 1942.


text: In 1920, the rank system was simplified, and the rank stripes were reduced to 3.125 inches in width. The rank of sergeant major was discontinued and the confusing system of trade badges and rank insignia was abolished. Branch-of-service colored stripes were abandoned in favor of standard buff-on-blue stripes. The use of bars under chevrons to designate senior support arm NCOs was abolished, and all branches used arcs under chevrons to denote senior NCOs. The rank insignia was reduced to seven grades and eight ranks (the first sergeant was considered a senior grade of technical sergeant) and were numbered from "G1" for the highest rank (master sergeant) to "G7" for the lowest (private second class). Subdued olive-drab-on-khaki stripes were created for wear with the class C khaki uniform.


text: The rank of specialist was adopted. It was grade G-6 but received a pay bonus from $5 (specialist sixth class) to $25 (specialist first class). Specialists had the same single chevron of a private first class but were considered between the ranks of private first class and corporal in seniority. This was very confusing, as the difference between a private first class and a specialist could not be determined at first glance, in addition to any specialty they may have had, as trade badges had been eliminated. Unofficial insignia adopted by post commands granted specialists one to six arcs under their chevron (ranging from one for specialist sixth class to six for specialist first class) to indicate their grade, and trade badges inset between their stripes to indicate their specialty.


text: In 1942, there were several reforms. The pay was increased for all ranks for the first time in two decades, and combat pay was introduced. The rank of the first sergeant was now considered a junior version of master sergeant and the confusing specialist ranks were abolished. The specialist ranks were replaced by the distinct ranks of technician third grade (equivalent to a staff sergeant), technician fourth grade (equivalent to a sergeant), and technician fifth grade (equivalent to a corporal). Technicians were inferior to non-commissioned officers of the same grade but superior to all grades below them. They had the same insignia as the regular rank of their grade, but with a cloth "T" inset below their stripes. The subdued insignia was abolished, but could still be worn with the Class C khaki uniform until they wore out.


text: In 1948, the pay grades were broken up into seven "E" (enlisted and non-commissioned officer), two "W" (warrant officer), and eleven "O" (officer) grades. The technician's ranks were abolished and were absorbed into their equivalent line ranks. The rank of private was divided into the ranks of private (Grade E7), private second class (Grade E6), and private first class (Grade E5). Corporal was regraded as Grade E4. Sergeant (Grade E3) was a career soldier rank and its former three-chevron insignia was abolished and replaced with the three chevrons and an arc of the rank of staff sergeant. The rank of staff sergeant was discontinued and the rank of technical sergeant (Grade E2) was renamed sergeant first class. The rank of first sergeant (Grade E1) was absorbed into the senior rank of master sergeant (Grade E1).


text: Also in 1948, the old buff-on-blue insignia was abolished. In their place was a new system of smaller (2 inches wide) and narrower chevrons and arcs that were instead differenced by color called the "Goldenlite" system - with subdued dark blue stripes on bright yellow backing for combat arms and yellow stripes on dark blue for support arms. They were not popular. Combat-arm NCOs found their stripes were hard to identify unless the viewer was very close, making it hard to rally and lead troops. Support-arm NCOs found their stripes too small to be easily seen at a distance, making it hard to tell their seniority at a glance. When the US Army entered the Korean War, it was found that troops in combat abandoned the new insignia. They either used the support arm stripes, purchased the old larger buff-on-blue stripes from post exchanges or Army / Navy stores, or used hand-cut or tailor-made copies. The small "Goldenlite" stripes were abandoned in February 1951 and the dark-blue-on-yellow insignia was abolished. Larger 3-inch-wide olive-drab-on-dark-blue stripes were adopted for servicemen.


text: In 1950, the Women's Army Corps (WAC) were issued new Goldenlite yellow-on-brown insignia for wear with the taupe WAC uniform. It was the same size as the men's small 2-inch-wide Goldenlite stripes. (Female personnel would wear the smaller 2-inch insignia until 1998, well after male personnel was issued larger, 3-inch-wide insignia in 1951.) In 1951, WACs were assigned surplus men's Goldenlite-yellow-on-dark-blue stripes for wear with olive drab or fatigue uniforms. Also in 1951, the optional white WAC dress uniform was now authorized for wear by enlisted and NCO ranks and 2-inch Goldenlite yellow-on-white stripes were created to be worn with it.


text: The 1950s brought a lot of changes. In 1951, the pay grade numbering was reversed, with the lowest enlisted rank being numbered "1" and the highest enlisted rank is "7". By 1955 (as stated in Army Regulation 615–15, dated 2 July 1954), new grade structures were announced reactivating the specialist rank: specialist 3rd class (E-4, or SP3), specialist 2nd class (E-5, or SP2), specialist 1st class (E-6, or SP1) and master specialist (E-7, or MSP). The specialist insignia was the same smaller and narrower size as the old Goldenlite stripes to differentiate specialists from non-commissioned officers.


text: In 1956, the Army began wearing polished black leather boots instead of the traditional unpolished russet leather (as late as the early 1980s, older soldiers who had served before 1956 said they were in the "brown boot" army.), and the army green uniform (with Goldenlite-Yellow-on-green rank stripes) was adopted. The new enlisted rank insignia were then used on all Army uniforms (e.g., green, khaki, and fatigue). Enlisted rank insignia with a blue background was worn on the army blue dress uniform.


text: In 1957, a 2-inch-wide set of Goldenlite-yellow-on-blue stripes were worn with the new optional army blue WAC dress uniform. In 1959, a 2-inch-wide set of Goldenlite-yellow-on-green stripes were worn with the new army green WAC duty uniform; they replaced the taupe WAC service uniform by 1961. Although the WAC was disestablished in 1978, the army green WAC uniform would be in use until 1985.


text: In 1958, as part of a rank restructuring, two pay grades and four ranks were added: sergeant (E-5) returned to its traditional three chevron insignia, E-6 became staff sergeant, which had been eliminated in 1948 (with its previous three chevrons and one arc insignia), sergeant first class became E-7, master sergeant became E-8, which included first sergeant and specialist 8; and E-9, which included sergeant major and specialist 9. In 1959, the specialist insignia was made the same size and width as non-commissioned officer's stripes. In 1961, the wearing of large Goldenlite-yellow-on-green stripes was adopted for use on all Army uniforms (green, khaki, and fatigue) except for the Army dress blue uniform, which used large insignia with a blue background. In 1965, the ranks of specialist 8 and specialist 9 were discontinued, and private first class was briefly termed lance corporal.


text: In 1966, the rank of Sergeant Major of the Army was established, its holder an assistant to the Army chief of staff. Considered a higher grade than sergeant major (or than command sergeant major from 1968), the Sergeant Major of the Army didn't receive its unique rank insignia until 1979. In 1968, the rank of command sergeant major was established as an assistant to the commanding officer at battalion, brigade, division, and corps levels. Also, that year the insignia of the private first class received one arc under the chevron. In 1978, the rank of specialist 7 was discontinued. In 1979, brass enlisted rank pins were created for wear on black epaulets with the Army green shirt and black "wooly-pully" sweater. In 1985, the ranks of specialist 5 and specialist 6 were discontinued.


text: In 2006, the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU) was adopted to replace the army green uniform, and the yellow-on-blue stripes were reintroduced.


text: Subsequently, the blue uniform was returned to formal dress use only in 2020, as the army reintroduced a green daily service uniform modeled after the pinks and greens officers service uniform from World War II. The enlisted insignia on this uniform is pale tan stripes on an olive green background.


text: The headquarters of each company-sized unit is assigned a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) who, as the highest-ranking enlisted person in the company/battery/troop, monitors the enlisted personnel and is their advocate with the commanding officer. This position is known as the "first sergeant," though the person carrying that title does not have to have that rank. In a battalion or larger unit, the senior NCO is a sergeant major. The rank of sergeant major is usually carried by the senior NCO of the S-3 staff section in a battalion, regiment, or a brigade, and in most staff sections in larger units. The command sergeant major fills an advisory function, assisting the commander of a battalion, regiment, brigade, or higher formation in personnel matters. The Sergeant Major of the Army has a similar role assisting the Army Chief of Staff.


text: In terms of command, the rank of a person typically determines what job and command the soldier has within a unit. For personnel in US Army mechanized infantry, a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (M2A2) is commanded by a Staff Sergeant, the gun is manned by a Specialist or Sergeant and the driver is Specialist or below. For armor, the Abrams main battle tank (M1A2) is commanded by a captain, lieutenant, sergeant first class or staff sergeant, the gunner is a staff sergeant or sergeant, and the driver and loader are specialists or below.


text: Forms of address specified in Army Regulation AR 600-20 "Army Command Policy" are: "Sergeant Major" and "First Sergeant" for those holding those ranks, and "Sergeant" for master sergeants, sergeants first class, staff sergeants, and sergeants. Corporals and specialists are addressed by their rank. Privates first class and privates (both PV1 and PV2) can all be addressed as "Private".


text: In some cases, informal titles are used. "Top" is commonly used as an informal address to first sergeants or anyone serving as a company first sergeant. In field artillery units a platoon sergeant (usually an E-7) is informally referred to as "Smoke" (from "chief of smoke", a reference to when units fired as whole batteries of between four and six guns, and the senior NCO position was "Chief of Firing Battery"). The junior E-7 position is designated as "Gunnery Sergeant" and similar to the USMC usage, is typically referred to as "Gunny". Field artillery cannon sections are led by section chiefs (usually an E-6) are often informally called "Chief". This does not seem to be common in other section-based unit subdivisions such as staff sections. In some smaller units, with more tight-knit squads, soldiers might call their squad leader "Boss", or a similar respectful term. A habit that has all but died out is the addressing of a platoon sergeant, in any unit other than artillery, being affectionately called a "platoon daddy" in casual conversation or jest (but never in any official communication of any type). In some training units (BCT and AIT or OSUT), trainees are called "Private", regardless of the rank worn. Special titles, such as "drill sergeant" and "gunnery sergeant" are specific to certain jobs (position title), and should not be confused for actual rank. Other services differ, such as the Marine Corps, which address each other by full rank.


text: Some terms are used jokingly when referring to a soldier's rank. For instance, specialists are sometimes jokingly referred to as "The E-4 Mafia" (referring to their pay grade of E-4), "Command Private Major", "Specialist Major", "Full-Bird Private" (from the eagle on their shield), "Sham Shield" (from their stereotype of "shamming it", or malingering), "PV4", or "Spec-4" (about the old specialist grades, which at one point went up to Specialist 9).


text: Privates (PV2) rank insignia are sometimes called "Mosquito Wings" (from the appearance of the single chevron). Privates are called "Buck Privates" because they are the lowest rank of private. An E-1 Private may be referred to as "E-Nothing", or "PV-Nothing" (as opposed to PV2, the next rank) due to their lack of rank insignia. E-1 Privates were also called a "Fuzzy" or "E-Fuzzy" during the War on Terror era due to the bare velcro patch-holders on the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).


title: Dive bar

text: A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele. The precise definition of a dive bar is something on which people rarely agree, and is the subject of spirited debates. The term "dive" was first used in the press in the U.S. in 1880s to describe disreputable places that were often in basements into which one "dives below".


title: Dive bar

text: Once considered a derogatory term, "dive bar" is now a coveted badge of honor bestowed by aficionados looking for authenticity in such establishments. Devotees may describe a bar as "very divey" or "not divey" and compose rating scales of "divey-ness". One such devotee is Steve Vensen, founder of a California group called the DBC (Dive Bar Conoisseurs) who says, "Every dive bar is like a snowflake: diverse and unique. . . you always get local subculture and every time is an adventure." Author Todd Dayton offers the following: "Dives [dive bars] are like pornography: hard to define but you know it when you see it". As to what distinguishes a dive bar from an ordinary bar, Dayton says:


title: Dive bar

text: Dive bars adhere to a minimal level of effort needed to provide guests with drinks; i.e., they typically do not advertise, provide parking, or have fancy signage. Dive bars are not known for their food. They often don't serve food beyond pretzels and snacks. For example, a popular Nashville dive bar has a hand-written menu taped to the refrigerator and lists only pork rinds, popcorn, peanuts and microwaved corn dogs (US $1). True dive bars are "cash only" and would not have computerized registers. Bathrooms in dive bars are notoriously shabby and may have a shower curtain stall. The owner or one of his family members is often working the bar. Dive bars usually have a clientele from all walks of life, including some old locals who have been drinking there for decades.


title: Dive bar

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s, U.S. cities closed down bars and food service establishments and many dive bar owners made repairs and cleaned up while they were closed down. Rick Dobbs, author of a 2019 book "Local Spirit: Neighborhood Bars of Orleans Parish", said, "A dive can absolutely be cleaned up but still be a dive... it's the character and spirit of the space that counts".


title: Toyota Venza

text: The Toyota Venza is a five-passenger mid-size crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Toyota primarily for the North American market. The first-generation model was based on the XV40 series Camry platform and sold between 2008 and 2017. It also shared the platform with the AL10 series Lexus RX. The second-generation model is a rebadged Japanese-market XU80 series Harrier and has been sold since September 2020.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The first-generation Venza was unveiled at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It was designed at the Calty Design studios in Newport Beach, California, based on the FT-SX concept car and primarily engineered at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Venza's production began at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) in Georgetown, Kentucky in November 2008. The 2.7 L model was launched in February 2009.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The first-generation Venza is based on the XV40 series Camry chassis (K platform) and is similar to the Mark X ZiO in concept. It was powered by either a 2.7 L "1AR-FE" four-cylinder engine or a 3.5 L "2GR-FE" V6 engine, both mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive were available as options. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimated fuel economy of in the city and in the highway with the 2.7 L engine.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The Venza had a single trim level, with numerous packages and options. Standard features include fog lamps, 19-inch alloy wheels (2.7 L), 20-inch alloy wheels (3.5 L), HomeLink, XM satellite radio, 6-disc CD changer, dual-zone climate control, electrochromic auto-dimming rear-view mirror, 8-way power drivers seat, steering-wheel mounted audio controls, Hill-Start assist control and the Toyota Star Safety System.


title: Toyota Venza

text: Options include automatic high beams with HID lighting, heated side view mirrors, power liftgate, leather seat surfaces, 4-way power passenger seat, panoramic glass moonroof, smart key system, 13-speaker JBL sound system with Bluetooth, voice-activated touch-screen DVD navigation system, backup camera and a rear DVD entertainment system with a 9-inch display and two wireless headphones. The Touring Package, which included HID headlights, push button start, Navigation and JBL Package were only available on the 3.5 L all-wheel drive configuration. The Premium Package contained the moonroof and backup camera was available on all but the 2.7 L front-wheel drive configuration, while the leather package was available on all models.


title: Toyota Venza

text: For 2010, the Venza received a standard USB audio input and Bluetooth hands-free phone capability. Due to this addition, a single-CD player unit replaced the previously standard in-dash 6-disc CD changer.


title: Toyota Venza

text: For 2012, the Venza featured LE, XLE and Limited trim levels for the US market, replacing the single-grade line with various option packages. The LE and XLE trims were available with all powertrain combinations: 2.7 L, 3.5 L, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive; the Venza Limited comes with the 3.5 L engine only, in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive configurations. Canadian models retained the single trim level, adding only a Convenience Package for the 2.7 L all-wheel drive trim.


title: Toyota Venza

text: In 2012, for the 2013 model year, the Venza received a mid-cycle facelift. It was revealed at the New York International Auto Show in April 2012 and went on sale during May 2012. 2.7 L models receive restyled 19-inch alloy wheels. The 2013 model also added Toyota's Entune System.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The Venza was equipped with vehicle stability control, traction control system, electronic brakeforce distribution, emergency brake assist, anti-lock braking system, smart stop technology as well as hill-start assist control, tire-pressure monitoring system, active head restraints for front-seat occupants, 3-point seat belts and headrests for all seats, emergency locking retractors (ELR) for all seats, automatic locking retractors (ATR) for all seats (except driver's), front seatbelt pretensioners with force limiters. LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) for rear outboard seats and seven standard airbags, including dual-stage front airbags, driver's knee airbag, front seat-mounted side airbags, 2-row side curtain airbags and fuel pump cut-off switch with airbag deployment. The rear bumper system was awarded Toyota's top honor for innovation, and safety.


title: Toyota Venza

text: Some Venza owners have reported a safety concern because the sun visor can suddenly sag and obscure the driver's vision while driving. The visor must be replaced once this occurs. An online petition was created to encourage Toyota to issue a safety recall due to the failing sun visors.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the Venza its "Top Safety Pick" rating in 2009. The Venza is also rated "Good" in the roof strength test, as a result the Venza also received the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety "Top Safety Pick" in 2010 and 2011 when roof strength became a criterion for receiving the award.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The first-generation Venza began production at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) on November 11, 2008, with over 70 percent of the Venza's components coming from US suppliers. Toyota projected sales of between 75,000 and 100,000 units of Venza per year. The first-generation Venza was one of the two North American built Toyota automobiles (alongside the Avalon) not to be sold in Mexico.


title: Toyota Venza

text: TMMK stopped production of the Venza in the American market in June 2015. Production of the vehicle remained there for export until 2017.


title: Toyota Venza

text: During the 2008 vehicle launch, Toyota marketed Venza under the campaign "You're More than One Thing. So is Venza".


title: Toyota Venza

text: In Canada, the Venza was featured as a prize in the 2009 Tim Hortons "Rrroll up the rim to win" promotion.


title: Toyota Venza

text: Determining whether the Venza is a crossover SUV or wagon isn't clear; some journalists regard it as the "Camry station wagon" (the successor to the 1991-1996 Camry wagon which was the last iteration to offer this style in Canada and the US) while other sources often describe it simply as new type of "crossover". Toyota states the Venza blends the "styling and comfort of a passenger car with the flexibility of a sport utility vehicle". According to Toyota, Venza is neither a station wagon nor SUV, rather it is targeted at customers who want more room and flexibility than the Camry sedan but desire a smaller size than the Highlander, a three-row mid-size crossover SUV. Toyota lists the Venza's competitors as the Honda Accord and Nissan Altima on their website's comparison page, both being popular mid-size sedans. Meanwhile, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified the Venza as a sport utility vehicle.


title: Toyota Venza

text: Toyota told automotive magazine Motor Trend that it forwent entering the Venza in the publication's SUV of the Year competition. Toyota requested that the Venza compete in the Car of the Year competition. Motor Trend decided that the Venza should not compete in any competition at all since its ride height is too high to be qualified as a car.


title: Toyota Venza

text: In 2015, Toyota announced that the first-generation Venza would be discontinued after the 2015 model year. According to Toyota, there are three factors that contributed to this decision: customer preference, competitiveness within the segment and deteriorating sales. Production of US models ended in June 2015 and export models ended production in 2017.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The second-generation Venza is a rebadged Japanese-market XU80 series Harrier, released for the North American market for the 2021 model year. It was initially planned to be revealed at the April 2020 New York International Auto Show but it was instead unveiled online in North America on May 18, 2020. Unlike the Harrier, the Venza for this market is only available with a all-wheel drive hybrid powertrain. While the first-generation model was produced in the US, the North American second-generation model is produced in Japan.


title: Toyota Venza

text: The second-generation Venza is also sold in China by GAC Toyota and produced at the Guangzhou factory, with alterations on the front fascia.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: The Volkswagen Group MQB platform is the company's strategy for shared modular design construction of its transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout (optional front-engine, four-wheel-drive layout) automobiles. It was first introduced in the Volkswagen Golf Mk7 in late 2012. Volkswagen spent roughly $8bn developing this new platform and the cars employing it. The platform underpins a wide range of cars from the supermini class to the mid size SUV class. MQB allows Volkswagen to assemble any of its cars based on this platform across all of its MQB ready factories. This allows the Volkswagen group flexibility to shift production as needed between its different factories. Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen Group marketed the strategy under the code name MQB, which stands for "Modularer Querbaukasten", translating from German to "Modular Transversal Toolkit" or "Modular Transverse Matrix". MQB is one strategy within VW's overall MB (Modularer Baukasten or modular matrix) program which also includes the similar MLB strategy for vehicles with longitudinal engine orientation.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: MQB is not a platform as such, but, rather, a system for introducing rationality to different platforms that have transverse engines, regardless of the ten body configurations the company manufactures for any of its eleven vehicle brands. Thus MQB coordinates a core "matrix" of components across a wide variety of platforms — for example, sharing a common engine-mounting core for "all" drivetrains (e.g., gasoline, diesel, natural gas, hybrid and purely electric), as well as reducing weight. The concept allows different models to be manufactured at the same plant, further saving cost.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: Ulrich Hackenberg, chief of Volkswagen’s Research and Development (Head of Audi Development until 2015), called MB a "strategic weapon."


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: British magazine "Car" said "the idea heralds a return to basic principles of mass production in an industry where over the last 100 years, complexity has spiralled out of control. By creating a standardised, interchangeable set of parts from which to build a variety of cars, (the company) plans to cut the time taken to build a car by 30%."


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: The car blog "Jalopnik" said "The biggest feature is the uniform position of all motors and transmissions" and that "by fitting all motors into the same place (the company) hope(s) to cut down on engineering costs and weight/complexity when porting the car over to other models." Around 60% of the development costs occur between gas pedal and front wheels, including the engine.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: MQB models range from superminis to large family cars. The MQB architecture replaces the PQ25, PQ35 and PQ46 platforms.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: All MQB cars will share the same front axle, pedal box and engine positioning, despite varying wheelbase, track and external dimensions.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: The "second-generation" MQB debuted in 2016, which also introduces three different types of the platform grouped by size/segment. The introduction of the MQB A0 category enables the platform to be used on smaller and cheaper vehicles in the B-segment.


title: Volkswagen Group MQB platform

text: A low-cost variation of the A0 platform for the Indian market was introduced in 2019 and utilized for vehicles released from 2021.


title: Taylor Cole

text: Cole was born in Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas. Cole attended Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, where she traveled with the Junior Olympics volleyball squad and also got her start as a model. Cole later moved to New York to further her modeling career. She has appeared in commercials and advertisements for Crest toothpaste, Old Spice, and Dooney & Bourke handbags.


title: Taylor Cole

text: After visiting her mother, Deborah Quinn, and stepfather, actor Shawn Christian (parents of her half-brother Kameron Christian), Cole landed an audition for the WB series "Summerland". She won the role of Erika Spalding in 2004, relocating to Los Angeles to film the series.


title: Taylor Cole

text: Cole appeared in Ryan Cabrera's "True" music video, Bullet for My Valentine's video for "Tears Don't Fall" and Papa Roach's video for "Scars".


title: Taylor Cole

text: She guest-starred in The WB show "Supernatural" episode titled "Provenance", where she played Sarah Blake, an art dealer and later reprised the role in Season 8's "Clip Show" episode. She had a guest role in an episode of the CBS show "NUMB3RS" and appeared in an episode of "" as Bianca. She starred as Desiree in the horror remake, "April Fool's Day". Cole had a part in the film "12 Rounds", produced by WWE Films and starring John Cena.


title: Taylor Cole

text: In December 2008, Cole appeared as Private Rachel Mills in the "Heroes" webisode series, "The Recruit", and subsequently joined the main series in a recurring capacity playing the same character as at the start of 2009. She starred alongside Tiffany Shepis in "The Violent Kind". She played the role of "Hot Neighbor" in the short-lived TV show "Secret Girlfriend" in 2009.


title: Taylor Cole

text: In April 2010, she guest-starred in the "NCIS" episode "Guilty Pleasure" as DC escort Charlotte Cook. From September 2010 to May 2011, she starred in "The Event" as Vicky Roberts, an assassin for a covert group.


title: Taylor Cole

text: In October 2011, she starred in the music video for "The Walk" by Mayer Hawthorne. In November 2011, she was cast in "" in the recurring role of Samantha Owens, a lab technician. In 2012, she had a recurring role in the A&E series "The Glades" as Jennifer Starke.


title: Taylor Cole

text: Since 2016, Cole has starred in several Hallmark Channel made-for-TV movies including "Appetite for Love", "My Summer Prince", "Christmas In Homestead", "The Art of Us", "Christmas Festival of Ice", "One Winter Weekend", "Falling For You", "One Winter Proposal", "Matching Hearts", and a recurring role as Ruby Herring in the "Ruby Herring Mysteries".


title: Taylor Cole

text: On June 20, 2020, Cole and producer Cameron Larson were married in a livestream ceremony from Lake Tahoe.


title: Robert Miles

text: Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwide.


title: Robert Miles

text: Miles became proficient at playing the piano during his youth in Friuli, Italy, in the small town of Fagagna, where his family moved when he was young, and had been in the music scene since 1984. He worked as a DJ in some Italian clubs and private radio networks, and in 1990 he used his savings to establish his own recording studio and a pirate radio station.


title: Robert Miles

text: In 1994, Miles wrote a trance and chill-out piece based on acoustic guitar chords and soft synthesizer effects, "Children", which was later developed into a dream house song featuring a piano theme on top. The single picked up sales slowly, but within two weeks of its official release in 1995, it had sold more than 350,000 copies all over Europe and topped the charts in many countries. The single received an unprecedented "Essential Tune of The Week" three weeks in a row on Pete Tong's show, causing a furious bidding war. It was then signed to Deconstruction Records in the UK by Giles Goodman of Dynamik Music (who represented Platipus Records the initial UK licensee). After occupying the Euro Top 100 chart number 1 spot for thirteen consecutive weeks , by 1997, "Children" had sold more than five million copies worldwide. It earned Miles platinum records in many countries, a Brit Award (Robert Miles is, to date, October 2022, the only Italian artist who has received the award) as Best International Male Newcomer 1997, a World Music Award as World's Best Selling Male Newcomer, and various other awards.


title: Robert Miles

text: Miles' next single was "Fable". Part of this song was used in the theatrical trailer for the U.S. movie "Ever After" starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. His debut album "Dreamland" was released on 7 June 1996 in Europe, and released in the United States about a month later. The album included a cover of "One and One" featuring British singer Maria Nayler. This cover became very popular (it reached number 1 in the Euro Top 100 Singles Chart during the Christmas period and remained in the top spot for six consecutive weeks) and was later released as a single in Europe and the U.S.


title: Robert Miles

text: In November 1997, Miles released another track, "Freedom", which was one of the key tracks on his second album "23am", featuring vocals provided by Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge. Containing a different feel from the previously more club-oriented "Dreamland", "23am" incorporated more lyrics-driven songs than its predecessor while maintaining Miles' trademark piano sound from the first album.


title: Robert Miles

text: After splitting from Deconstruction, BMG and his former management in London, he set up his own independent record label Salt Records (stylised as S:alt Records, with S:alt being short for suitably:alternative) in 2001 and released his third album, "Organik", featuring the new single "Paths" with vocals provided by Nina Miranda of Smoke City. Guests on the album included Trilok Gurtu, Bill Laswell and Nitin Sawhney. Music from "Organik" was used on various movie soundtracks such as "The Bourne Identity", "Derrida", and "City of Ghosts". It was licensed to Narada Productions' Shakti Records label in the USA. In 2002, an album containing mainly remixes of songs found on "Organik" was released. The album, appropriately entitled "Organik Remixes", contained remixes by the winners of the remixing contest held on Robert Miles's Web site, as well as remixes from well-known artists such as Future Sound of London, Riton, and Alexkid among others. The album also had one new track, "Bhairav", which featured the vocals of Amelia Cuni.


title: Robert Miles

text: In 2004, Miles released "Miles Gurtu", his fourth album, which was a collaboration with percussionist Trilok Gurtu and included jazz and electronica elements. Also guesting on the album were Nitin Sawhney, Jon Thorne, Mike Patto and Paul Falloon.


title: Robert Miles

text: Miles' fifth album, entitled "Thirteen," was released worldwide on Salt Records in February 2011. For this album, Miles produced a blend of alternative and progressive rock with ambient and electronic soundscapes.


title: Robert Miles

text: In 2012 Miles finished working on the soundtrack for the movie documentary "The Turn of THIS Century", directed by Peter Beyak and featuring the photography of Life Magazine. He founded a new FM and online alternative radio station, "Open Lab", broadcasting from Ibiza, a project bringing together culture, arts, media, technology and innovation.


title: Robert Miles

text: Miles’ Open Lab station was taken off-air shortly afterwards, pending discussions on the future of the station. After receiving many messages from people expressing dismay at the station's suspension, it was announced that the station would be returning soon in 2019, starting with a live radio stream in January 2019 and followed by a reboot to radio on 106.4 FM in Ibiza in April 2019.


title: Anomalisa

text: Anomalisa is a 2015 American adult stop motion animated psychological comedy-drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, who co-directed with Duke Johnson. It was based on Kaufman's 2005 audio play of the same name under his alias Francis Fregoli, which is considered an exploration of the Fregoli delusion. "Anomalisa" follows British middle-aged customer service expert Michael Stone (David Thewlis), who perceives everyone (Tom Noonan) as identical but Lisa Hesselman (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whom he meets in a Cincinnati hotel.


title: Anomalisa

text: Kaufman's audio play premiered in Los Angeles, and featured the voices of Thewlis, Noonan, and Leigh. He opposed adapting the play into a film, fearing loss of artistic merit, but began exploring the idea in 2012 after incorporating edits to the script. Filming faced delays as Starburns Industries initially secured production funding on Kickstarter only to adapt the play as a short film, with animation beginning in late 2013. The filmmakers faced struggles with stop-motion technology, a notoriously laborious medium. This was alleviated after Paramount Animation joined production, enabling the film to be expanded to a feature.


title: Anomalisa

text: "Anomalisa" premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2015, and was theatrically released in the U.S. on December 30 by Paramount Pictures. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for its screenplay, direction, and thematic content. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the first R-rated animated film to be nominated in this category, and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, the first animated film to do so.