Negative Impacts Generated from the Global Market Networking and Fraud as an Occupational Crime - Assignment Example

Journal Assignments 5-9 Journal Assignment 5: Globalization List of Most Expensive Personal Things 1. Car (Jaguar- UK) 2. Fridge (LG- France) 3. Mobile phone (Apple- US) 4. Bicycle (Bianchi- Italy) 5. Home theatre (LG- France) 6. Television (Samsung- Korea) 7. Digital Camera (Sony- US) 8. Laptop computer (HP- US) 9. Microwave (LG- US) 10. Washing machine (Siemens- Germany) From the list of items owned as briefly presented above, it appears that the origin for the different items is as diverse as the list is. It implies that the various countries of origin in the distribution are into the business of production of their respective items for overseas markets. Within the context of overseas business, it is clear that despite local production of certain products, it is not always possible to produce enough quantity for local demand. Internal demand and supply forces for the above items and many others are therefore subjected to the external forces coming from the international market. Globalization has affected the distribution of goods in the local market by enabling foreign goods to be readily available. Products from the remotest countries on the globe can be availed in the local market easily than it could be imagined before. Our local products are likewise presented at the international market due to the market system that globalization offers. Globalization as a business platform presents the world with a unique network that facilitates single market functionality. Countries present their products into the global market and the forces of demand and supply extend from the local setting to a more advanced level with overseas players. Perhaps one of the most important and gratifying phenomenon in world trade is the presentation of different commodities from across the globe with varying and competitive prices. Competition at the international market improves quality, variety, availability and costs among many other factors that may otherwise restrict local trade. In terms of the market demand and supply, production is guided by the internal capacity that individual countries have. Production for specific items across the countries may be conducted on a specialized format since costs of production are distributed differently based on the capacity held (Brewer and Hay 2011). As an illustration, Italy may be able to produce microwaves cheaply than the US due to the apparent differential technological capacity that both have. On the other hand, the US may be able to produce washing machines at a cheaper cost than Italy due to a different factor of production that it is endowed with better than Italy and other countries. Production specialization under this context follows the analysis of costs and capacity that allow an advantage while saving on expenditure. In terms of negative impacts generated from the global market networking under globalization, it is possible that the cheap production of foreign goods may kill local industries that may not match up with the cost competition. Such globalization forces may also transfer unfavorable forces from one country to another. Flooding the local market with cheap products is not beneficial to the local market and economy (Bagwell and Staiger, 2001). Cheap foreign products are not only likely to affect the local market but also directly compromise the quality of products to be produced in future. References Bagwell, K. & Staiger, W. R. (2001) “Shifting Comparative Advantage and Accession in the WTO,” Retrieved from: www.aida.econ.yale.edu/seminars/develop/tdw01/staiger-011105.pdf Brewer, T. & Hay, R. M. (2011) “David Ricardo and Comparative Advantage,” Retrieved from: http://iang.org/free_banking/david.html Niththyananthan, K. (2011). “Higher Fuel Costs to Hurt Airline Profits,” Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559604576175882383910242.html Journal Assignment 6: Leaders Movie What a Leader Looks Like (Braveheart Movie Analysis) Part A: Style of Leadership of William Wallace (Mel Gibson) William Wallace was a brave leader who did not get frustrated by the ruthlessness he witnessed in the hands of the tyrant English rule. Although William’s bravery may have been motivated by past experiences observed in the beginning of the play where his family is executed by the English invaders, his sense of accountability to his native Scotland is demonstrated better than vengeance motives. Rising to the occasion to rescue his countrymen on several separate occasions against the ruthless regime occupying his country can be said to be as a result of the deep selfless conviction that defined his character (Beale, 2001). Despite the overwhelming task ahead of the Scottish before the mighty English armies, Wallace’s strong belief as a leader enables him to rally enough support to dare the tyranny. A strong sense of judgment is depicted in the character of William in many occasions as is illustrated when he seeks assistance from Robert. Many leaders lose the fight due to sensitive errors of judgment from which William veers off as a strong leader. As such, William is displayed as a leader who values networks and teamwork which almost always deliver results when goodwill and responsibility exist. However, too much trust and reliance on colleagues can sometimes frustrate such leaders as is manifested at the battlefront when William’s allies betray him leading to a lost battle. Interestingly, further alliances built come to his rescue timely enough to save his own life. Undying spirit of leadership enables William to regain his stance a few years later where he meets his fate. However, his legacy remains among the Scots who continue with deliverance war against the English (Gibson & Wallace, 1995). Personal Opinion on Following William Wallace and Reasons I would follow William in his well organized quest for liberation of Scotland. One of the reasons is his willingness to ensure that justice is done to the suffering Scots by ending the English tyranny. His leadership qualities as observed above present him as a leader worth following, which is further reinforced by the fact that his death and premature end to his noble course is as a result of lack of undivided cooperation. Greed from one of the Scot leaders for the selfish sake of rise to power for his son Robert stood as a huge obstacle for William to rally support for the liberation course. It therefore implies that lack of such cooperation would have been overturned if selfless devotion was availed. Part B: Personal Leadership Experience Being chosen as the group leader in a virtual team working on a project at college presented me with one of my most memorable leadership experiences that I always share. Virtual group work is different from other forms of assignments since the group is not easily physically convened due to geographical distance but work is shared out and progress expected to be harmonized. The work of the group leader is to look for ways to keep in touch with the group despite the physical absence of the members and ensure normal functioning. My role as the project coordinator in the class group work was not cut out since my group was different from the rest of the groups. The group assignment was supposed to be conducted over the holidays and seemingly, our group had more than one foreign student and all of them had to go back home. While the rest of the groups could easily arrange for meeting days during the holiday for group work, ours was almost impossible unless the foreign students opted not to travel back home. I had to ensure that I compressed our timetable before everyone went home and the remainder was to be conducted using social media communication and constant follow-up. Thanks to the internet, virtual group management was effective in completing the remainder of the assignment. Success and Reasons of Success Our group posted the best results despite the challenge of absence of some of our members. The reason for my success as the group leader was devotion and undivided attention for the task ahead. I understood the opportunity that the internet provided to us in the communication needed and establishing the correct timeline before dismissal for holidays enabled me to create the necessary network needed for the assignment. However, I felt in the end that my contribution was overly bloated but the team was recognized as a unit. Learnt Lessons for Future Change in Leadership Assignment Despite the possibility of managing the virtual team to astounding excellence, there is also the risk of overstretching contribution and making too many sacrifices than the ordinary leader’s expectation. In future, I will add more effort to making sure that the leadership style adopted leads the group members to embrace unique contribution input with minimum supervision. Although different personalities and characters among the group members may hamper such an ending, this will be approached from the premise that too much leader indulgence may kill team spirit. References Beale, P. (2001). Films in focus: focusing on Braveheart Mel Gibson, once were warriors Lee Tamahori, Heavenly Creatures Peter Jackson. Sydney, Australia: St. Claire Press Pty Ltd Gibson, M. & Wallace, R. (1995). Braveheart [Motion picture] USA: Icon Entertainment International. Resume-Dictionary (n.d) “How to Show Attention to Detail” Retrieved from: http://www.resumedictionary.com/how-to-show-attention-to-detail/ Stevens, D. (2003) “Finish Line Leadership- Qualities for Successful Leadership” Retrieved from: http://www.expertmagazine.com/EMOnline/030103/finishline.htm Yoskovitz, B. (n.d) “10 Essential Business Leadership Skills” Retrieved from: http://www.instigatorblog.com/10-essential-business-leadership-skills/2007/04/16/ Journal Assignment 7: Ethical Situation Part 1: Fraud as an Occupational Crime Corporate ethics is a topic that many employees may have had a rough encounter with when their competence was brought to test in one or many instances. There is a tendency for the corporate world to strongly respond to the entropy law of thermodynamics that explains disorderliness in a system, particularly when it is about unethical behavior (Friedrichs, 2002). Unethical conduct in the corporate world has since antiquity involved a group of occupational crimes that have been defined by criminal law over the years. When considering unethical conduct by the various levels of personnel in the modern day corporate environment, it is almost correct to think of fraud. In practice, this category of unethical conduct constitutes a spectrum of malpractices that are manifested by non-violent practices conducted with the intention of misappropriating the company’s resources. Ethical considerations arise in the topic of fraud and other related corporate crimes due to the disguised subtle nature of the crimes. Employees commit such crimes following their willful and intentional diversion of funds or assets from the ordinary accounts of the corporation to their personal interests (Holtfreter, 2005). Business ethics are outlined by the corporate fraternity in order to facilitate the appropriate conduct of the employees with an intention of drawing the line in terms of discerning corporate and personal interests which may conflict at times. Employees are guided by ethics to carry themselves in such a manner that they will not cross the line when dealing with corporate assignments and resources. Employees of all cadres are expected to follow certain regulations when dealing with corporate resources as outlined in various codes of conducts that are formulated with respect to ethical reasoning. Among such codes is the manner in which employees of all levels should disclose their interest in resources belonging to the employing corporation. To ensure that such compliance exists or at least controlled, various mechanisms are availed to the management team. Perhaps one of the basic mechanisms as briefly highlighted is the business ethics that appear to be a general or express assumption for the business fraternity. Secondly, professional codes of conduct that are specific to various types of industries are applied to regulate conduct within a specific field of corporate world. While professional codes of conduct highlight various items of observation in general, dealing with specific ethical areas of trade resources belonging to the employer is also emphasized. From these basic regulations, internal control standards may be designed to assist in defining punishing errant conduct. Through set out internal control systems, it is possible for the management to diagnose and detect as well as preventing instances of corporate crime such as fraud. All of these considerations and tools are used at the localized level where the management is the enforcer of the outlined disciplinary procedures. Perhaps the most definite system is the more external tool which involves the criminal justice system enforced by the laws of the land (Block and Weissmann, 2007). Where the unethical behavior amounts to a criminal offense with liabilities that the management is not willing to risk, the law enforcement agencies are engaged in criminal proceedings with an aim to fairly end the impasse. Generally, the judiciary makes the final verdict on the liability of the offending employee, making several references to internally applicable regulations that are in line with the law of the land in order to arrive at the appropriate decision. Fraud as an unethical conduct may be complex where the upper cadre employees such as the managers are involved in concealment of the crime. As observed in the various tools that may be used to facilitate ethical conduct in dealing with employers’ property and resources, a huge fraction is enforceable by the management. This implies that the junior cadre employees are over more scrutiny and oversight than what the managers have (Lane, 1953). This exposes the corporate world to more risky fraud and other occupational crimes at the hands of the management which has little appraisal authority to report to when compare to the junior staff. In terms of the magnitude of risk exposed to the corporation at the hands of the two employee levels, it is clear that the juniors are likely to have petty unethical cases but mangers may have fewer but more weighty. Professional assistance in dealing with unethical conduct among employees is perhaps important than any other mechanism. Whereas other mechanisms may offer solutions to the problem at hand, it may not be possible to quantify the actual impact made to other factors of operations. Professionally accredited mechanisms enable appropriate measures to be taken to protect the profession against various negative forces such as fraud. As an illustration, audit and accounting standards proposed by the respective professional bodies assist in thorough and updated definition of all crimes in which fraud and other vices may present (AICPA, 2011). References AICPA (2011). “Fraud Prevention, Detection and Response,” Retrieved from: http://www.aicpa.org/INTERESTAREAS/FORENSICANDVALUATION/RESOURCES/FRAUDPREVENTIONDETECTIONRESPONSE/Pages/default.aspx Block, J. A. & Weissmann, A. (2007). “White-Collar Defendants and White-Collar Crimes,” 116 Yale Law Journal Pocket Part 286, Retrieved from: http://thepocketpart.org/2007/02/21/weissmann_block.html Friedrichs, D. O. (2002). “Occupational Crime, Occupational Deviance, and Workplace Crime: Sorting Out the Difference,” Criminal Justice, 2,243–256 Holtfreter, K. (2005). “Is Occupational Fraud “Typical” White Collar Crime? A Comparison of Individual and Organizational Characteristics,” Journal of Criminal Justice, 33:353-365 Lane, R. E. (1953). “Why Businessmen Violate the Law,” Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 44:151-165 Part 2: The Turn of the Tide: Experience at the Public Park 1. Listen Carefully Initial Perceptions Initially, I thought that the Public Park was a weekend or a public holiday visiting place where we could go and have snacks and ice cream together in the blazing sun. It was strange now that someone had sent me there alone in the morning; I thought it was going to get my condition worse. Bearing in mind that the usual ways of driving the midmorning boredom (music and conversations) were canceled out, I was bracing myself for a tough encounter with deep restlessness of relocating my lost self. Experience I sat in the middle of the park as I read the prescription number one ordering me to listen carefully. Initially, I figured out what a difference it would have been if it was an ordinary outing that there I loved back when I was little. It was difficult to listen to emptiness of a bare park, with only a distant school bell standing out from a few things that I could hastily pick out. Reading once more that I was supposed to think carefully, I slightly gained momentum to figure out that there were swaying trees branches nearby and sooner I reckoned that there were birds too singing softly on the trees. Deep concentration sooner enabled me to pick several other sounds that my hasty judgment had earlier overlooked including the wind whistling past the trees, a few chattering monkeys and a distant lawn mower. Results In the end of the listening assignment, I was capable of extending my auditory sense to imagine how so many proceedings cascaded in a single space of time without my notice. I realized that while I felt isolated by my low moods, things did not stop to happen even if it appeared so like in the “empty” park. 2. Try Reaching Back Initial Perceptions I had obtained energy to listen more attentively by the time I read my second prescription to try and reach back in time. Initially, I thought listening at the proceedings of the park could only allow me to access what I was seeing at that minute. I had never imagined retrieving life events would make much sense unless I did that for what was necessary for my immediate memory usage. Keeping in touch with the past was not meaningful to me now that the present was already troubling my sense of belongingness. Experience I traced myself in back in time anyway, making contact with a couple of visits at the park. Those days were more energetic than on that day, as I thought of how kids love to see their parents in such a setting. I could relive those days from arrival at the park, unload our staff from the car onto a trolley, run about past mum and dad with my elder brother as we headed to our favorite spot and have fun all day till evening. I recalled a few days when we found our favorite spot occupied and had to relocate. As I recounted how we spent time there, conversations at the park could vividly appear unlike any other memory retrieval I ever attempted. Results I was astonished how reliving a moment under such a conditioned setting could reveal so much past detail. It became increasingly clear to me that the more I stretched my account of events in terms of vivid visitation, the clearer it got within a short time. 3. Reexamine Your Motives Initial Perceptions I thought the prescription note was misplaced since as much as I recalled, the assistance I sought before had nothing to do with my motives. Motives and feelings of low spirits could not quickly add up to my earlier state of absence and complete loss of being. Sooner, I was able to connect with the pace set forward by the previous prescriptions and I reckoned that something was amiss. Experience Thinking of how disoriented one can be in a world full of quick events in succession can be overwhelming and draining. I figured out how my motives in life under the complete blackout had been disoriented and I indulged in a moment of self-pity. In many cases that I was able to diagnose my inadequacy, I realized a familiar pattern of misplaced priorities and disoriented motives that could eventually lead to loss of vision. Results Reexamining my motives made me come to terms with the responsibilities I had with regard to ensuring that my goals and dreams are achieved. Overwhelming moments of life could easily be translated into impossibilities if focus was not paid to the real issues at stake. 4. Write Your Troubles on the Sand Initial Perceptions Full understanding of the fact that the issues in life posing as stumbling blocks could be weathered away had finally dwelled on me. I needed to offload my burden as easily as possible by identifying them and allowing my life to roll back. Experience It was easy to point at the troubling factors in my life and I was willing to write them on a temporary surface where they would be blown off or trampled upon by people. People were passing by the park from their work and I could imagine how they would trample upon my troubles and erase them with their feet as they passed by. Results It was a relieving experience of recollection where I was assured that the troubles in my life were gone into the thin air and would never reappear on the loose sand in the park. My stress was gone and I felt fresh for another run of time. References Cameron, K. & Whetten, D. (1993) Developing management skills. New York, NY: HarperCollins Checklist for Life (2002) Checklist for life for women. Nasville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers Journal Assignment 8: We Are Marshall Perhaps one of the most intriguing tragedy movies based on a true story, the movie We Are Marshall depicts the power of the society picking its pieces together after an adversary and pulling together to weather off the aftermath. In 1970, a total of 75 athletes belonging to Marshall University’s football team referred to as the Thundering Herd lost their lives in a plane crash and McG relived the strengths of a tragedy to the society in 2006’ movie We Are Marshall. Several positive points can be picked from where the reorganization theme can be developed from the movie as applied by the coach. Before an unsuspected tragic journey ahead for the Thundering Herd, the team was taking part in an away game in North Carolina that had the team perform poorly. Boarding the fateful chartered plane to Huntington, West Virginia, the team’s morale was very injured and none among the 37 players and their student supporters would have liked the outcome to last in their memories. While every player seems is demoralized as the game proceeds, the coaches still find reason to hold on to the game. Perhaps coaching training instills the resilience skills demonstrated by the coaches, which are particularly manifested when the team is seemingly under pressure to prove their worth on the pitch. Deep inside, the team coaches knew that they had the team’s future in their hands and were hopeful that they would work on that but unfortunately their journey would not come to and end. In the heat of the devastating loss experience, it appears that only a few people had the nerve to hold their heads high in hope of turning the loss into a stepping stone for future victory. The tragedy occurs when the plane crashes killing all the people on board, wiping off virtually every team member. Grief and somber mood engulf not only the West Virginia institution but the whole state as well as the entire country. Just as the devastated team felt the pressure after the loss of the game, it appears that the community and the country come down as well with only a few courageous people holding themselves together in motivation. Apparently, while the society or a group comes under intense pressure and stressing moments, it calls for leadership that rises beyond the frustration in order to revive the entire group. During such a moment, the emotional attachment after the loss and frustration exposes people to make judgment errors which may further dampen the morale boosting and recovery process. Denial and anger in grief and loss are manifested in the early stages which may result in poor decision making, if a sober mind is not assumed towards recovery. As it appears in the film, the university management quickly opts to withdraw the institution from such competitions. Some sections of the bereaved families place undue pressure on the management to erase the memories of the accident by scrapping the program in the institution. These instances present the denial aspect when coming to terms with the loss which only superficially solves the case. A spirited fight by the team’s remnants that missed the fateful trip by virtue of being injured and unfit to participate in the game bears fruit as the university management finally drops the decision of withdrawal. New team coaching staff is put in place but the initial fears of reminders of the tragedy make the revival of the team a tall order for the head coach and his staff. This is demonstrated by the team recruitment that faces a challenge from senior players forcing the coaching staff to hold their belief and constitute a team of ineligible freshmen. The new season begins sooner before sufficient preparation time is allowed for the new team mates to gel together as a team as witnessed in the loss of the first away game Morehead State Eagles. The coaching staff has a difficult time in ensuring team work and group harmony amid pressure from different sources and the low start of the season further dampens the team’s spirits to recovery. Using the tragic past as a motivational barrier that must be overcome in the team, the coaching staff is able to eventually turn things around from the first home game against Xavier University. Revalidation of the daunting task to package an honorable send off to the fallen heroes of the tragic crash becomes a theme of motivation that allows the coach to strike the winning formula. It is clear that past devastation can finally form part of the motivation if the society is willing to allow picking positives from negative events. Eventual growth and rehabilitation of the team by the coaching staff enables the team to rise above all odds and make the community proud of their history despite the tragic attachment that the memories brought through a spell of victorious displays in the history of American college football. References Henchard Press (2007). The Marshall Story” college football’s greatest comeback. New York, NY: Indigo Publishers Iwanyk, B. & McG, M. (2006). We Are Marshall [Motion picture]. USA: Warner Bros. Picture Presentation McDonagh, M. (n.d). “We Are Marshall: Review” Retrieved from: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/NJANE/Desktop/journal/285027.htm Journal Assignment 9: Communication Part 1: You’ve Got Mail (Movie Analysis) In the movie You’ve Got Mail, Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox meet through an online e-mail chat and start a relationship without revealing their true identity. As it turns out, their true identities present them as business rivals in bookstore business where Joe’s bigger shop is committed to close down Kathleen’s rivalry. The financial muscle possessed by Joe’s family bookstore business enables Joe to set forward a plan for a bigger discount shop steal customers from their business rivals such as Kathleen (Arthurblcok, 2009). Joe and Kathleen meet in a business event but their business rivalry does not allow them to make any concrete rapport that can help them in their unsuspected relationship. Meanwhile, Kathleen is busy shaping up her online affair behind her boyfriend’s back which eminently leads to a break up between them. The affair continues through exchange of e-mails; little is it known to Kathleen that the secret affair leads her to someone who is out finish her career as a bookstore businesswoman. Joe comes to unravel the secret identity of his online lover just to his amazement, he has to come over his secret tag and love Kathleen having broken from their relationships (Ephron & Nonner, 1998). Apparently, communication failures depicted by the anonymity theme of the affair causes many things to proceed into bad dead ends. As an illustration, breakups emerge from the lack of constructive communication between the couples which could be arrested if full disclosure of identities was present. In such a scenario, it would have been difficult for Kathleen to reach a desperate end of closing down her shop as Joe would have looked for ways to assist her if he meant true love for her. Frank would not have felt miserable upon the breakup if he knew in time what was going on behind his back through the e-mail chats. Jobs would also have been saved for all the employees at Kathleen’s shop while a better relationship would have been established between the two. Perhaps, making a deal to take over Kathleen’s shop would have been beneficial in terms of business that Joe’s family wanted to achieve, only if appropriate communication was given a chance. Part 2: Communication Barrier Experience One of the simplest but very important communication barriers that I have witnessed at school was in a case of group work assignment where paying attention to important detail almost failed one of the class groups. Communication flow is supposed to be successful when the receiving party decodes the message in its intended version for appropriate response. However an assignment was allocated to that particular group where the group leader was to pick the instructions from the teacher and ensure that the group came up with some presentation. The assignment required the group to isolate an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence except a certain quoted line and deliver their analytical views. However, having repeatedly dealt with the Declaration of Independence before, the group leader hastily felt that instruction details implied an ordinary assignment for the group and was happy to have internalized the question ahead of the group. He did not even carry the question print out due to the overconfidence with which he approached the assignment. Unfortunately, instead of isolating an “excerpt” from the Declaration of Independence, the group leader had hastily interpreted the “except” quotation to be the actual requirement for analysis. Failure to detect the difference of a single letter “R” in the spelling caused a massive communication breakdown for the group. Minutes to the submission time for the assignment, the group leader came across the print out and after a closer look at the instruction, he was dumbfounded that the 99 percent complete presentation was based on a the wrong assumption. Without alerting the rest of the group, he was able to rush to the teacher’s office and explained the communication breakdown thereby securing a submission extension. In a group summon from the teacher, emphasis on detail in important communication notices such as instructions was made. The group leadership was changed as a consequence of missing important detail in a group assignment which implies that a single communication failure can cost an entire group and perhaps the entire world of much needed results. Simple mistakes in communication involving overlooking of the most important detail may cause the entire communication system to come down crumbling. Leadership in terms of communication therefore constant requires alertness and focus to detail for purposes of delivering the expected results. References Arthurblcok (2009) “Synopsis for You’ve Got Mail” Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128853/synopsis Ephron, N. & Nonner, S. L. (1998) You’ve Got Mail. [Motion picture]. USA: Warner Bros. Picture Presentation Read More