ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Case Synopsis Business organizations should act ethically to add value to their stakeholders. Corporations engaging in ethical business practices have higher chances of realizing their potentials (Clark, 2015). However, many multinational firms engage in inappropriate business practices thus affecting their brand images. Nestle is one of the biggest food companies in the world today. However, the Swiss multinational company has been accused of numerous business malpractices over the past twenty years. The moral challenge that has emerged recently revolves around the use of child labor in its cocoa production processes. Different analysts have indicated that the firm tolerates the use of child labor in different cocoa-producing farms (Klopping, 2013). This challenge presents a major ethical issue that affects the image of the company. The latest report by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has shown clearly that many farms outsourced by the company use child labor and unfair practices such as low salaries for their workers (Clark, 2015). This issue is important because it presents a major concern for the multinational firm. Human rights activists and policymakers can use the case to ensure more companies engage in inappropriate business practices. Key Facts Nestle’s business history has been characterized by a wide range of business malpractices. The controversies associated with the firm have forced many analysts to examine every aspect of its business model (Klopping, 2013). To begin with, a study conducted by FLA outlined the major malpractices associated with this firm. FLA’s researchers visited over 250 farms in different African regions. The researchers observed that the company was embracing the use of child labor. The report published by FLA indicated that there were around 56 workers aged below eighteen. The number also included young children below the age of 15 (Clark, 2015). Although the Nestle’s code of conduct document prohibited the use of child labor, it later emerged that the company was doing very little to deal with the malpractice. The targeted respondents during the study indicated that many children working in such farms in Ivory Coast were not attending school. As well, some of the children were forced to work in hazardous environments. They were also “required to transport heavy loads and use dangerous machetes” (Clark, 2015). Similar concerns have been raised by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The organization has indicated clearly that many African children below the age of 17 work on different farms. This issue has become a major concern because more family members continue to suppo
Crises occur due to poor preparedness and control mechanisms. The drama of blaming and accountability begins whenever a crisis occurs. Somebody will have to receive the blame for allowing a disaster or crisis to happen. The public will blame another person(s) for failing to manage the crisis. Such individuals will blame their partners for the crisis. Many leaders and governments are the leading targets for these blame games. This analysis presents the concept of blame. Leaders must also negotiate the existing disagreement after a disaster. They should do so by restoring the faith of every stakeholder. Leaders must support the existing political and institutional structures. This situation forces leaders to navigate a responsibility-accepting position that will promote policy-oriented learning. Some leaders will navigate a responsibility-denying stance in order to deflect the blame 1 . The concept of blame and responsibility explains how leaders negotiate and address different crises. Some factors will definitely influence the way human beings allocate blame. The first factor is the extent to which individuals attribute blame for mismanagement or malpractice. The leadership styles embraced by those in power will determine how the public allocates the blame 2 . The manner in which such leaders respond to problems also influence the way people allocate the blame. The continued use of ineffective management strategies will also increase the level of blame. Leaders should use appropriate strategies in order to overcome every attribution error. The first strategy is forging the most appropriate pathway. Managers can cooperate with the public depending on the nature of the blame. Politicians can also acknowledge responsibility in order to get the public’s approval. Individuals can also resign in order to secure the confidence of the people. Public reactions should also be credible, acceptable, and adequate 3 . Policymakers can use new investigations in order to understand the targeted issue much better. A stronger justification of the crisis will overcome different attribution errors. The leadership strategy of a person will determine the success of every crisis management practice. Bibliography Boin, Arjen, and Paul’t Hart. “Public Leadership in Times of Crisis: Mission Impossible.” Public Administration Review 63, no, 5 (2003): 544-553. Boin, Arjen, Paul’t Hart, Allan McConnel, and Thomas Preston. “Leadership Style, Crisis Response and Blame Management: The Case of Hurricane Katrina.” Public Administration 88, no. 3 (2010): 706-723. Hart, Paul’t, Liesbet Heyse, and Arjen Boin. “Guest Editorial Introduction New Trends in Crisis Management Practice and Crisis Management Research: Setting the Agenda.” Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 9, no. 4 (2001): 181-188. Footnotes 1 Arjen Boin and Paul’t Hart,
Agency law refers to a set of business laws that govern contractual, quasi-contractual, and non-contractual fiduciary relations. They involve the principal, the third party, and the agent – a person working in the name of and the best interest of the principal (Macgregor 2020). Regarding employee commitments, the employee acts as an agent to their employer from the agency law, in this case, the employing company. The employee is therefore expected through the agency law to maintain the confidentiality of their company. Confidentiality includes avoiding sharing the company’s secrets such as their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and even the profits they accrue annually. Other companies may use such information to suffocate their employer in the market economically. The agency law also expects the employee to be obedient by performing their roles diligently and following the rules under which their company operates. According to the law, the employee should be accountable for all spent funds in the organization where need be. In light of the employee’s role concerning confidentiality, employees should be committed to their employing company. Even as they commit to any other company, they need to maintain confidentiality, obedience, and accountability to their employer. Failure to meet the above-stated needs calls for punishment as outlined by the company’s rules. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a body of laws that govern commercial and business transactions (Gabriel 2017). If a company decides to stop the shipment of products from their subcontract supplier, the decision must be taken with caution as it may attract legal repercussions. The company shipping products acts as a principal for its contractors and subcontractors. A breach of their contract with the subcontractors may force the shipping company to cater for the entire purchase of all the ordered goods, whether faulty or non-compliant and vice versa for the subcontractors if they break their contract. Because failure to comply as per the UCC as guideline attracts serious consequences, every party must be cautious with their commercial moves.
Background information, purpose, thesis, outlines and scopes Global business environment has for many years been dominated by multinational corporations. These are businesses operating in more that one country. Multinational corporations have contributed greatly to the economic growth of the countries they operate in. firstly they have contributed a lot to the employment sector of many countries. They also boost economic growth by making goods available to the local countries. These corporations used to be given privileges over the local companies. The aim of government in this case was to encourage investments by these multinational companies in to the local sector. The local companies in many countries can now produce goods that are competitive in the market that those of multinational companies making them less preferable by local consumers. Countries like china experienced the impact of the multinational corporations but currently, the trend has changed. They are no longer accorded the privileges they used to enjoy. The objective and purpose of this essay is to evaluate the implication multinational corporations in today’s international business. The evaluation is based on the article the “Challenge for Multinational Corporations in China: Think Local, Act Global” Challenge For Multinational Corporations in China and Today’s international Business Multinational corporations in china have increased in china since 1970s. Around this period, the economy of china expanded the market for the foreign direct investment. Companies like Volkswagen, Coca Cola and 3M were among the first firms to take advantage of the market. Others like Motorola, Philips and NEC entered the market 10 years later. To encourage foreign direct investments by these companies, china halved corporate tax and eliminated the import duty for capital goods in favor of these companies. Both the government and the consumers had positive view of these multinational corporations (MNCs) until lately in 2000 and 2001when their perceptions changed (Roth & Morrison, 1992, 716). This is around time when china enjoyed a per capita GDP of over US$1,000 and incorporates World Trade Organization as an integral part of its economy. The projects manned and owned by the MNCs are under close scrutiny to ensure that they are in keeping with the national interest (China Statistical Yearbook) (Vaupel & Curhan, 1969, 8). They are no longer enjoying special treatment with regard to the corporate tax, competition standards among others. The consumers rate the products by MNCs as of the same value and quality as for the local companies (Solvell & Zander, 1998, 7). Despite the current view of the MNCs by both the Chinese government and the consumers, the contribution of MNCs to the economic growth and development of china is notable (UNCTAD, 2003, 2). They have contributed greatly both to the industrial output and the tax revenue. They have also contributed to the transfer of technology and managerial skills to china (Sluyterman, 1998, 4) The goal of china in opening up its economy to the MNCs was based on the expectation that they will bring in cash, know-how and skills that ar
One of the many understood facts about life is that human beings gradually become old. After the vitality and naivety of early life, there comes wisdom and weariness of old age. Most of the things fluctuate in the course of a person’s lifetime, for instance, physical strength, love concerns, and net worth, to mention a few (Ayuso, Guillén, & Pérez-Marín, 2014). Some people have coined the saying that only a couple of things are indisputable- taxes and death. It is reasonable for insurance companies to charge young male drivers much higher rates until they turn 25. Insurance companies charge varying rates to dissimilar groups of drivers, particularly the male and youthful ones. Gender and age are the two main aspects that influence car insurance charges. The two factors can result in a young male driver paying as high as 50% more for insurance when judged against a female one (Ayuso, Guillén, & Marín, 2016). This is because young male drivers are considered high-risk and unskilled (and it is truly so). On this note, young male drivers pay the highest insurance rates not just in the US but across the globe. Studies show that young male drivers have the highest likelihood of being irresponsible behind the wheel than any other category of drivers. In reality, research has established that inexperienced drivers (predominantly the young and males ones) have a high probability of filing a claim or getting a traffic infringement, for example, a speeding ticket (Ehsani et al., 2015). In this regard, the majority of insurance companies prefer that drivers wait until they attain 25 years of age for them to start paying normal adult insurance rates. Although young drivers are charged a high premium, they are just getting into the labor force and have a low likelihood of affording costly insurance. On average, it may appear illogical that a 21-year-old male driver is anticipated to pay nearly twofold the rate that a 26-year-old driver is charged for similar car insurance (Allen, Murphy, & Bates, 2017). However, though young male drivers below 25 years of age are either entering into employment or beginning to work their way up the rank, they should be charged more because they have a higher possibility of being involved in accidents or intentionally going against traffic rules than their older counterparts. This is a factor that insurance companies consider while determining how high risk is to ensure young or older drivers. Anchored in the insurer’s facts and earlier experience having insured other drivers, it is evident that the greater is the number of years that a driver has been driving, the less probable it is that she or he will be involved in an accident and claim for compensation. This characteristically insinuates that it is less risky to insure drivers above 25 years old, which translates to a cheaper rate (Ehsani et al., 2015). Nevertheless, the moment drivers turn 60 years old, the tendency starts to gradually reverse because old age and sluggish reflexes have a negative
Short essay writing is something that we learn from the very first day that we learn our ABC’s. Upon learning how to combine these letters into words and then attending school to learn how to form sentences on a page, short essay writing becomes a part of our lives while teaching us a number of things that we would not normally learn in school.  1. It helps students develop vital learning skills. Short essay writing helps students learn the rudiments of writing. It introduces the potential writer to a world of topics and interests that they can use as vital learning tools.  2. It is an imaginative exercise. Since a short essay is normally no more than two pages in length, the writer tends to talk about light-hearted topics like how they enjoy a particular hobby or interest. Sometimes, the short essay is all about an interesting event that happened in his life. Whatever the topic, a short essay tends to indulge the writer’s imagination as he tells of stories or activities that others may find of interest to read about.  3. Short essay writing could be the start of something big . Most of the popular novelists today did not attend formal writing classes. Yet, they became well-known names in their business. How did that happen? Quite simply, they spent most of their early years as short essay writers. Ask any of these well-known names now, and they will tell you all about their little notebooks filled with their early short essay works. Whatever a person’s reason for short essay writing, the one constant is that the activity is one that promotes learning on a wide scale. Short essay writers are highly imaginative people who know how to use the gift of gab on two pages or less.
Introduction Literary sources are often important materials reflecting the characteristics of the cultural and social development of society. The poem Beowulf is a masterpiece of Old English literature and one of the most famous long epics. It was created in the first half of the ninth century, over 1200 years ago (Greenblatt 29). Beowulf is an example of a heroic poem but also reflects important aspects of the cultural development of the Germanic people. In particular, the poem describes the relationship between tribes and the role of ethnos in the development of early kingdoms. Additionally, the poem illustrates the social values on which the society of that period was built. Finally, it describes the interplay of pagan and monotheistic beliefs, as well as the relationship between lord and followers. Ethnicity and Intertribal Relations The poem, in particular, reflects the social structure of the early medieval kingdoms, as well as inter-and intro-tribal relations. Neidorf argues that “ethnic tensions in Beowulf do not involve animosity toward an entire group, but rather toward particular individuals” (857). The Finn episode, which refers to the conflicts between the Frisians and Danes, is extremely illustrative in this respect. In particular, after a stalemate in the first battle, the Danish survivors enter into the service of Finn and stay there for a long time. To ensure the peaceful existence of two ethnic groups, “Both sides then sealed their agreement” (Greenblatt 56). It is further argued that any provocation of revenge for the murdered lord is a violation of the peace. However, if Danes “stirred up bad blood with insinuations or taunts about this, the blade of the sword would arbitrate it” (Greenblatt 57). Therefore, the episode illustrates that for the society of that period, intertribal relations were more important than blood feuds. The open animosity between ethnic groups in the poem is rather expressed in hostility between families or individuals. In particular, the period of the early medieval kingdoms was marked by the definition of the principles of authority and government, political and social changes (Bonafede 20). Thus, for people of that period, political and social ties are more important than ethnicity. They form beneficial alliances through marriage or serve foreign lords, emphasizing their tolerant attitude towards foreign culture and ethnicity (Bonafede 12; Neidorf 858). Neido
Introduction In the evolving set-up that is society, the expectations levied upon the different age groups in the society have also changed. The changes, to a large extent, have affected the teen and the youth who find themselves in the middle of this quagmire. In the end, the values and principles that the previous generations adhered to and even held sacred are shrinking and disappearing in the thick fog that is time. The other factor is that the norms that governed relationships in the different family and societal set-ups such as in the school and the workplace are being challenged (Klein, 1995). The aspects of society that ensured a smooth transition between the age groups and social classes are either deteriorating or changing, people’s lifestyles are becoming more unorthodox and their predictability is waning too. Other aspects that govern the characters of people the society natures are external, inclusive of which is the labor market (Venkatesh, 1997). The maturity gap in today’s young adults has considerably increased due to many factors such as unemployment. All in all, these factors have a great impact on the relationship between family members, they affect one’s chances at getting a formal education, one’s participation in both the job and labor market, and their general lifestyles. These problems are not only concentrated in the developed nations, rather, but they are also an issue even in the developing countries. Developing countries, in themself, exert pressure on the young adults in their transition to independence. Factors that affect their economies such as an ever-expanding population, poor or inadequate housing, biting poverty, lack of formal reliable employment, overpopulation in the urban areas, the collapse of the general family structure, and poor quality of education being offered with overstretched facilities are the major issues the youth have to grapple with, these end up defining their characters and personalities in the long run (Dzikus, 1996). Irrespective of which sex the youth may be, today’s world exposes him to many opportunities; some good and others detrimental. More often than not, society in general has its own perceptions about the youth in general, and as such it takes advantage of the whole scenario when the youth breaks the law through some act such as drug addiction and taking part in violent crime such as fighting, stealing. Nobody takes time to find out what the course of the whole problem may, they are blamed squarely when their character is a summation of what they have gone through in life, what experiences their life stories tell and their history. The result of these actions is mainly the society normally pulls away from such characters, victimizes them and segregates against them. These people are often marked by society and are often suspects wherever they go, giving them very few opportunities to interact and maybe change their characters for the better. Assumptions surrounding Juvenile delinquency Assumptions abound
The article written by Tina Trujillo (“The Modern Cult of Efficiency: Intermediary Organizations and the New Scientific Management”) is a case study that involves one educational intermediary organization. The author thoroughly analyzes the historical and contemporary trends in the field to locate the organization within the context and to explain the driving forces of its reforms. The article relies on policy studies to assess the agency within the framework of managerialism. Another perspective that is taken into account is educational: Education reforms and markets are evaluated to understand how the policies of the organization fit the trends. The major purpose of the author was to find out how and why the organization addressed educational tensions and responded to the policy environment, implementing monitoring systems of managerial data as the key mechanism of its reforms. Other aspects of concern included: 1) how the organization framed leadership in the provided discourse; 2) why it decided to rely on business logic, language, and roles; 3) how this policy created its competitive edge in the educational field; 4) and what the leaders did to keep the industry niche. Therefore, the article states two key research questions. Question 1: What characteristics did the reforms implemented by the intermediary have? Question 2: Why did the leaders of the organization opt for these reforms? The author claims that the behaviors of the intermediary under the analysis are similar to those demonstrated by the efficiency experts during the times of the industrial revolution. As a result, it was found out that the organization took data for knowledge and therefore committed some serious errors of judgment. Its policy relied not on the bulk of evidence about limitations of managerial reforms but rather on ungrounded beliefs in technocratic management. The case shows how the intermediary dealt with competitive pressures of the industry to improve the quality of education it provided (especially to minority representatives and other needy groups of students). The researcher identified that the organization applied data analysis in the form of graphical displays (rubrics, checklists, etc.) and narrowed its conceptualization to managerial aspects and terms. The intermediary implemented not only business leadership models but also business logic, language, and role distribution. Consequently, the focus of education was reductive. All activities were split into a set of discrete, easily measurable tasks, which is deprived of a larger context, making the process of school management linear and oversimplified. Since the school opted for standardized tests and the standard content of the curriculum, not only children but also teachers and leaders were deprived of their opportunities as the structure of their interaction was strictly predetermined and prescribed by the standards. The study therefore allows experts from the field to reconsider how knowledge and judgment are different from data collection, which is far from being enough. The major mistake committed by the intermediary was to rely too heavily on various forms of assessment, the accuracy and pre