What can you learn about teenage fashion from source one?

A woman who grew up in the 1950s writes source 1. She is talking in the 1980s therefore it is a secondary source. It tells us about teenage fashion in the 1950s, and the lengths that the teenagers went to, to keep up with the new fashions. Being something that played a huge role in a teenager's life. Although it is only one persons opinion about what happened in the 1950s. It tells us of the female fashion in the 1950s. The girls in the 1950s went to such lengths to buy a sewing machine. ‘When I first started work I bought a sewing machine'. Also the girls purchased new material every week to make new clothes ‘every week I'd buy material to make a dress for the weekend'. We can infer from this that the girls were desperate to stay up to date with the fashions of the time. The fashions were full skirts, and lots of petticoats. The amount of time that they spent on fashion was tremendous. If they made a dress every week, that is a lot of time to spend on fashion. The source stresses the importance of fashion in the minds of young women (teenage girls). It was so important to them that they had to make their own clothes. The idea that they made their clothes themselves lets us infer that the shops did not yet make the clothes that they wanted. It says that the ‘dress-makers were always busy'. But although this source tells us a lot about the fashions for women it neglects the male fashion. What the teenage boys were wearing is not explained in this source. Also the opinion of only one woman is expressed. From this source we cannot be sure that the woman speaking was the only person wearing those specific clothes. This source shows the opinion of one woman in the 1950s. But we have to speculate upon the fact that it may not be a routine followed by all the other teenage girls in England in the 1950s. IN WHAT WAYS DO SOURCES TWO AND THREE AGREE ABOUT LIFE IN THE 1950s The two sources are statistical; they do not say were they are taken from. Source 2 is about the average weekly wages during 1950 and 1960. Source 3 shows an increase in consumer spending in certain areas from 1948 to 1960. They both support each other in some way or another. Source 2 shows an average increase in the average amount of weekly wages from 1950 to 1960. Source 3 shows an increase in consumer spending. To be exact it shows an increase of about 6 times. Therefore as wages went up, they had more disposable income and there was more demand for goods that were previously unavailable to the general public. As wages went up so did the standard of living in the 1950s. We can infer from this that the standard of living increased in the 1950s. There are some limitations to the statistical sources, because as with most statistics they are not exact, they are averages, they are generalised and vague, it was unlikely they could have asked everyone (only a small percent of the British population) and they could have asked people in one particular area which might be different to another area. Both the sources show a major increase in money and spending. As before the war, the 1940s, the average person did not have much of a disposable income compared to the average person in the 1950s. In the 1950s more money was around so people could afford new things that they were previously unable to buy. Also consumer goods were getting cheaper because of mass production and the assembly line. Therefore in the 40s the children could not be teenagers because the teenagers need the money and the goods were expensive and in the 1940s there was not a lot of money around in Britain. In the 1950s there was more money around, so the general public could spend more money on luxuries. Rather than going without. SOURCES ONE, TWO AND THREE ARE ABOUTLIFE IN THE 1950S. HOW USEFUL ARE THEY ABOUT LIFE THEN? Source 1 tells us about the importance of fashion to female teenagers. Source 2 tells us about the average weekly wages in the country during 1950 to 1960. Source 3 tells us about the consumer spending on non-essential items. Although these sources have their strong points they also have their limitations. Source 1 tells us that fashion was very important to the female teenagers. Judging by the amount of time, effort and money that the woman in source 1 put in, fashion must have played a very big part in her life. She says that she spent her first wage on a ‘sewing machine'. She also brought new material every week, ‘every week I'd buy new material' she said. Also we can infer from this that if she bought the material and the sewing machine, the shops did not yet sell or even make for that matter make the clothes that the teenage girls wanted. Source 2 tells us that from 1950 to 1960 the average weekly wages rose from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½7.28 in 1950 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½14.10 in 1960. This tells us that the average person had more money to spend on non-essential items, more disposable income. We can infer from source 2 that people spent their money on recreational goods, and in source 3 this is confirmed. People spent more money on private transport in 1960 than in 1948. Radios, television sets, and electrical goods were spent more on during the same time period. These two sources, (sources 2 & 3), tell us only about the average person but not about the people who were not affected by the economic boom. They also do not give us a comparison with another time period. Source 1 is limited because it tells us a lot about the fashion for women; it neglects the male fashion (teenage boy's fashion). It is only the opinion of one woman expressed and from the source we cannot be sure that the woman speaking was the person wearing these specific clothes. The sources are not very useful about general life in the 50s, as they say nothing about the extremes of poverty or wealth. The information is not very specific, it's too broad. Also during the 50s judging from the sources no politics occurred. But obviously there is some sort of political news happening in Britain during the 50s. None of the three sources even speculate upon the fact of politics. In conclusion the three sources are not very good in telling us about life in the 1950s, as they do not talk about most things, such as politics. The sources are too narrow on what they say. They only talk about one thing that happened. By using the sources we learn that teenage girls made their own clothes, the averages wages in the country went up, and that spending on non-essential goods also went up. Surely there must have been more to the 1950s than this? Life is about loads of things e.g. crime, religion, unemployment, not just about money and fashion. There obviously was but the sources do not tell us this. DOES SOURCE FOUR SUPPORT THE EVIDENCE OF SOURCES 1 2 & 3? EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER. Source four is from the book, ENGLAND, HALF ENGLISH, written in 1961 by Colin Mcinnes. This source is therefore a secondary source. Sources 1 and 4 are slightly different as in source 1 it says, â€Å"dress-makers were always busy†. This shows that the dressmakers did not have time for teenagers and thought that they were a waste of time and that they were not important. But in source 4 it says that they were ‘studied with respect'. We can infer from this that the adults paid attention to the teenagers. The sources are probably contradicting themselves because of the time span, source one was about the 1950s and source four is about 1961. Source 4 says teenagers have lots of spare money, but source1 says she couldn't afford to buy new clothes and had to make her own. Source 2 supports source 4. This is because source two says that in 1960 the average weekly wages went up to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½14.10. In source 4 it says teenagers ‘are left with more spending money than most of their elders'. This is because the teenagers do not have the same amount of responsibilities, or as the source puts it, ‘obligations' that the adults have. Adults have families to worry about, adults have to put food on the table, and adults have to pay the bills. Where as teenagers do not have these ‘obligations' to worry about. The source clearly says that they only have to pay ‘a pound or two' to their parents, and this is considerably less than their elders have to pay out of their wages. Source 3 is about what consumers spend their money on. It says that in 1960 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½600 million was spent on motorcars and cycles, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½463 million on radios, television sets, and electrical goods and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½352 million up from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½169 million in 1948 on recreation. Source four supports this by saying that the entertainment industry studies the teenagers ‘with respect'. This shows that the entertainment industry values the teenagers because they are their number one target audience. Teenagers spend more money on entertainment and if the entertainment industry studies them ‘with respect'; it shows that the entertainment industry knows that teenagers are powerful and wealthy. In conclusion source four is a very strong source as the three sources support it some way or another. Although source one differs from source four slightly they have the same couple of points. But the sources 2 & 3 back up what is said in source four. HOW VALUABLE ARE SOURCES 5 & 6 AS EVIDENCE ABOUT THE IMPACT OF YOUTH CULTURE? Source 5 is very valuable in shoeing the impact of youth culture. Although it talks only about clothes and fashion. Source 6 talks about ‘teddy children', and it is quite valuable. But it is rather brief. Source 5 is from a ‘history of post war Britain', Peter Lane writes it in 1971 and therefore it is a secondary source. This source mostly talks about fashion mostly. This source also talks about the new slang that was first employed by teenagers and the shops in which they purchased their clothes. ‘Fab' and ‘gear' were the particular words used. ‘In the 1940s, Dior†¦had catered for the very rich and the less well to do had imitated these fashions'. We can infer from this that the less rich, the general public, did not have any designers specifically aimed towards them. But when the teenage revolution occurred in the 1950s the designers created clothes that were ‘simple' and also, most importantly ‘relatively cheap'. We can infer from this that the designers had seen the new culture of young people referred to as a ‘classless society'. They were called a ‘classless society' because where the adults were separated by lots of disposable income and not much disposable income. The youths had now received roughly the same amount of money as each other. So if you saw one youth in the street you could not distinguish between one or the other. Whether they had come from a richer or poorer family. The youths in the 1950s went to London's Carnaby Street for clothes. Carnaby Street became their ‘Mecca'. We can infer from the use of the word ‘Mecca' that the youths would go to Carnaby street in the thousands, fairly regularly. They would pilgrimage to Carnaby Street. Before the 1950s the designers, as I have said before, would design for the very rich and the poorer would imitate these styles. Then after 1950 the designers would design for the young girls and the styles would be copied by the older. But the older women would complain that they couldn't find the ‘clothes they needed'. Source 6 is taken from the broadsheet newspaper, THE TIMES, on the 12th May 1956. It is therefore a primary source. This source is quite valuable to find out the impact of youth culture. Where source 5 spoke of clothes and slang it did not talk of the money that the youth had. Source 6 says that the youths, or ‘teddy children', were ‘highly solvent'. We can infer from this that the youths had plenty of ready cash for their disposable. In conclusion as good as these sources may be they have their limitations. Sources 5 & 6 both neglect the music business. This is bad because music plays a vital part in a teenager's life. They both talk mostly about fashion mostly. Judging from these two sources one might say that fashion was the only thing in a teenagers life. This is not true as music and other factors play a vital role in a teenagers' life. Source 5 is useful in telling us about the money and teenage culture. But what they both do not tell us about the effect on society that teenagers had. HOW CAN SOURCES 4 5 6 & 7 BE USED TO HELP EXPLAIN WHY ADULTS SOMETIMES FOUND TEENAGERS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND? Source 4 is from a book ENGLAND, HALF ENGLISH by Colin Mcinnes, it is written in 1961. Source 5 is taken also from a book A HISTORY OF POST WAR BRITAIN by Peter Lane written in 1971, it is a secondary source. Source 6 is from an article in the times newspaper, on the date 12 may 1956. Source 7 is taken from another newspaper, a local newspaper, the Daily Dispatch, from the date 15 October 1954. The children in the 1950s were more privileged than their parents. In that the parents grew up during both the wars and in the 30s and the 40s where the children had no prospects, no job, and no money. During the war there was rationing and hardship. There was and still is a generation gap between the parents and their children. In the 50s the children, (teenagers), now had the money, the prospects, and the jobs. This was because of the economic boom. Whereas before in the 30s and the 40s the youths had no futures, now the youths had futures, money, and prospects. They had money to spend to spend on themselves. The parents had very different upbringings to that of their children. Also there were huge changes in the country that they were brought up in. Source 4 is taken from a book ‘England, Half English' by Colin Mcinnes. It is a secondary source. This source says ‘today, youth has money'. This implies that before the fifties, the children did not have money, or as much money as they have got in the 50s. The youth in the 50s had more money than their elders had. The teenagers have a new culture, which their parents do not understand because, they have never experienced it. Source 5 is taken from a book ‘A History of post war Britain', written by Peter Lane in 1971, this source is therefore a secondary source. It says that the fashions would start at the oldest and richest people and spread downwards to the rest of the general public. But in the 50s the fashion started at the teens and went upwards to the older generations of women. The older women complained that they found it ‘impossible to find the clothes that they needed'. We can infer from this that the middle-aged women did not understand the new fashions that were beginning to appear on Carnaby Street. Source 6 is taken from an article in THE TIMES it is in the edition that was published on 12 May 1956. This article is a primary source. This article expresses views that the children are now ‘highly solvent'. From this we can infer that the children have plenty of ready cash. This source shows that the children have a ‘strong sense of corporate identity'. This suggests that the businesses had respect for teenagers as most of their money came from them. ‘Simple†¦culture', this was when the article was talking about teenagers. It says ‘simple', that is ‘simple' to an adult. We can infer from this quote that adults found the youth culture ‘simple' and probably stupid as well. These adults might have had some fear about the youths because what people do not understand they fear. The adults did not understand the youths; they thought it was ‘simple'. Source seven is taken from a local newspaper, ‘the Daily Dispatch'; the article is taken out of the edition printed on 15 October 1954. This shows very clearly that adults found teenagers difficult to understand because there is a sense of bewilderment about it. ‘A crowd of idol worshippers' was the words that the reporter used to describe the concert. These words would not be used nowadays to describe a pop concert. We can infer from this that the reporter writing the article and many like him/her had ever experienced something like this before in their lives. They were brought up during the times of hardship, the war, and depression. At their times there was no such thing as ‘POP' music it was only in the 1950s where all this came in. it says the voice was one thing they ‘love and fear', this shows the amount of love that they had for this person, Laine the reporter says, ‘the adulation of this man bewilders me'. This shows again that this is a scene completely alien to him/her. We again can infer from this that the reporter and many others like him/her had never seen this type of concert before. In the adults times they went into a concert hall and listened to the music nice and quietly. Whereas in the 50s the audience went crazy at every word that the artist would sing or even for that matter say. If the artist told them to be quiet they would, the source says that the audience were silent at once Laine had told them to be. ‘Laine impressed upon his fans that they should remain silent during such a song'. This would again be something alien to the reporter. In their time they would listen to their parents like that, and these youths were obeying a complete stranger as a parent figure. Basically the adults were bewildered by what was going on. In conclusion adults found teenagers hard to understand because they were brought up completely differently. In the parents time there was no prospects, no jobs, and no money. But in the 50s there were prospects and jobs and most importantly money. There was a generation gap between the parents and their children. TEENAGE CULTURE EMERGED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE 1950s. HOW USEFUL ARE THESE SOURCES IN HELPING YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHY THIS HAPPENED? Youth culture emerged for the first time in the 1950s. It was then when people used the term ‘teenager'. Before this time no one knew what the term meant. Before in the 30s and 40s when the teenagers' parents were growing up there was no prospects, jobs or money. They were times of hardship, and rationing. They were times of hard work. The youth during the 40s did not do the kinds of things that teenagers do now or what teenagers did in 1950s. In the 30s/40s when a youth came to the age of 13 or 14 years old they stopped their education and started to find jobs, if they were boys with their fathers or if they were girls with their mothers at home. It was not a very happy time compared to nowadays. Whereas in the 1950s and now youths are a new age group, mutated from just youths or young adults to teenagers. The teenage culture in the 50s was about music, fashion, teddy boys, dancing, and money. The music industry had an effect on the emergence of teenagers because there was more variety of music for people to listen to. Different types of people (e.g. age groups-teenagers) were listening to different types of music. Teenagers could have a type of music that they could call their own. To increase the impact of music to help emerge teenagers was Radio. There were more radio stations, cheaper records (because of mass production) and more people had radios. Radio programmes were also aiming at teenage segments. Like music and Radio, TV had a similar affect. The technology had improved and there were a wide variety of programmes and channels that meant they could aim at different market segments, like youth (teenagers). This could help develop teenagers by giving them something they could feel was for themselves and others who were in the same boat. People were working fewer hours and had more free time along with more pay so that people could afford to buy luxury goods/entertainment (e.g. cinema), so that the teenager could have somewhere to go and be with others in their position and socialise. Source one is not the most helpful source that we are given as it is only one persons opinion of the 1950s. It talks about the fashion for a particular girl in the 1950s. We cannot be sure that the girl is the only person wearing this particular style. This source totally neglects talking about male fashion in the 50s. This source does not tell us anything about why teenage culture emerged in the 1950s. Source 2 is better at telling us why teenage culture emerged. It is a set of statistics telling us about the average weekly wages from 1950 to 1960. It helps us to understand why teenage culture emerged because it says wages increased in the 1950s. We can infer from this that as the wages increased so did the amount of disposable income that the teenagers had. Also this is reinforced by the main part of teenage culture being money. If there were more money in the country, there would obviously be more in the pockets of the young people that worked. Source 3 is also a statistical source. It is also good because it tells us again of the money situation in England in the 50s. This source tells us about consumer spending; it shows that in 1960 more money was spent on recreation, electrical goods and private transport. It says ‘1960 recreation à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½352 million' in contrast to ‘1948 recreation à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½169 million'. We can see from this that as consumer-spending rose so did the wages, which is true. We can also infer from this that teenagers were spending more on recreation facilities as they had more disposable income to spend on it. Source 4 is much more useful. It is taken from a book, England, half English, written by Colin Mcinnes in 1961. It talks directly about the youth. It says that the youth has money and that they have become a ‘power'. We can infer from this that the youth were beginning to be recognised as a group of people rather than just young people, or mini versions of their parents. We can also infer that teenagers had their own point of view things and didn't listen to their parents all the time. It supports source 3 because it says that the ‘youths are studied with respect' by the ‘entertainment industry'. We can infer from this that they are spending more on the entertainment and the industry tries to bring in things that the youths will want. It supports source 2 by saying that youths have money. Source 5 is again useful because it talks about fashion and the language that teenagers use. It is taken from a book called ‘A History of post war Britain', written in 1971. Fashion is a very important thing to a teenager in the 1950s and source 5 talks mostly about fashion mostly. New words like ‘fab' and ‘gear' were used for the first time in the 1950s. Before the 50s there probably was no teenage slang, or much slang for that matter. Nowadays there is ‘bad' & ‘wicked' etc. this source shows the amount of love that teenagers had for fashion. Source 6 is an ok source but not the best because it shows teenagers had a culture but not why it emerged. This source is taken from THE TIMES on 12 May 1956. ‘Highly solvent', again this is another source saying that the youths had more money than ever before. ‘Tremendously vigorous culture', we can infer from this that the teenage culture was very vibrant and a new and fresh thing that the adults had trouble understanding. They had a ‘strong sense of corporate identity'; this shows that teenagers had businesses trying hard to make new products aimed specifically at teenagers. Source 7 is about music and how it affects teenagers in the 50s. It is not very useful in telling us about why teenage culture emerged. Although it does talk a lot about music, it says a ‘crowd of idol worshippers', we can infer from this that the audience was loving everything that the artist, Laine, did, his words, his movements etc. this source shows the amount of bewilderment that adults had for a scene like this. It says ‘the adulation of this man bewilders me'. The reporter is shocked and astounded by what he/she sees. This source tells us not about why teenage culture emerged. Source 8 tells us about the type of music that the teenagers listened to. But again not why teenage culture emerged. This source is taken from a book by CAR Hills, ‘growing up in great Britain in the 1950s', written in 1983. It is therefore a secondary source. This source tells us that there were a lot of pop singers. ‘Legions of young pop singers', we can infer from this that lots of people had decided to make some money out of these youths, who now have money to spend, upon non-essential goods. They had probably realised that music was important to the youths. In conclusion the reason that teenage culture emerged was because of the economic boom that happened in this country in 1950s. Because the youths had some money to spare they decided to spend it on recreational items and products that they wanted to purchase. If they had been under the obligations of their parents, who had to look after more than just themselves the teenage culture would probably not have emerged.

A study of Compensation Management Essay

In spite of the multiple benefits and advantages of compensation management and its impact on employee’s performance, it cannot still be said that having compensation management policy is a panacea for success in appraising, and managing employee’s performance. It is therefore the duty of all managers to ensure that the use of compensating policy meets employee’s expectation in order to have good and effective performance. The first basic requirement for effective and functional performance system is to have a common understanding of the standards of performance required from each job holder, performance required from each job holder and compensation management should be in relation with organizational goals and objectives. One of the primary responsibilities of management is to make compensation policy a veritable tool for optimizing the potentials of employees and human resources manager or practitioners should be in the driving seat in ensuring that the system is run in line with the principles of fairness and equity. SUMMARY The study was aimed at examining the impacts of compensation management practices on employees’ performance at the Nigeria Port Authority, Apapa. Questionnaires were administered to selected staff of Nigeria ports Authority, Apapa. The entire population was estimated at 340 people comprising of senior and junior staff and out of this population a sample of 100 respondents were randomly selected for intensive study and analyzed. The responses obtained from the questionnaire that was personally administered and the test of hypothesis Using chi square (x2 distribution) statistical method of analysis form the basis of the finding of this research survey. Some of the findings are, 1. That the Nigeria ports authority (NPA) has a well-organized and efficient compensation management system which is applicable to all the employees. 2. That compensation management system has a great impact on employee’s efficiency and performance at the Nigeria ports authority (NPA). 3. There is a relationship between compensation management policy and employee’s performance and that compensation management will lead to positive impact on employee’s performance. 4. That employee’s performance can also be determined through the use of some factors which are not monetary inclined like motivation, leadership, communication, objective, control, sense of belonging and decision making in relation to compensation management practices. 5. That despite the significant impact of compensation management system, performance of some employees is not up to the set standard of the organization.

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Was The Black Panther Party a successful force for change during the Essay

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IPhone 6 - Research Paper Example As such, Apple discharges an item when it’s great and complete (Boxall para2) Apple usually releases a new iPhone around September (Lutlow para3). This time, it is said that Apple is going to break that cycle. It is said because the iPhone 6 is to a great extent a complimentary item to the iPhone 5S, giving individuals a decision of screen sizes, the debates I going on in the market place that Apple will be releasing another model of smartphone shortly (Lutlow para4). So far it is speculated that the release date of iPhone 6 would be around May, June and July. The information is conflicted so nobody knows the actual launch date (Johnson para1). In May it was generally reported that Apple will propel the iPhone 6 in August. (Judge para2) Inventory network sources in Taiwan affirmed a 4.7 inch rendition of the iPhone 6 might propel in August with a bigger 5.5 inch new model in late September (Johnson para1) Approximately 80 million iPhone 6 handsets will be handled before the end of 2014, as indicated by sources identifying with the Economic Daily News. (Johnson para3) An August launch might be a break from custom for Apple, the iPhone 5, 5s and 5c all released in September. Usually the design of a product that is used by Apple is applicable for two iterations, before it brings out something different and new. (Lutlow para2) It can be seen in iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s and now Apple is going for a new look for iPhone 6, which is understandable (Lutlow para1). According to one rumor the designs of iPod Nano and iPhone 5C are taken by Apple for the iPhone 6. (Goodwin para3) Another rumor was published in the Japanese blog Macotakara which stated that Apple will replicate the colors of iPhone 5C, which will give people the choice of selecting colors for their phones (Goodwin para3). The body of iPhone 5C was made of plastic which might not be the reasonable choice for iPhone 6 since it’s a high-end smartphone. (Epstein para2) This

Intellectual property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intellectual property - Essay Example Erik Sherman in his article in The Chief Executive states that securing intellectual property is the only way to stay on the rapidly developing marketplace these days. The companies that do not have time or money for licensing their inventions end up bankrupts very soon nowadays, as the ideas that are not patented or copyrighted are soon plagiarized by the competitors, who spare neither trouble nor expense to get the legal rights on the invention. Thus, in some time, the company may even be sued for using its own invention. In addition, selling the rights to use the intellectual property may become a very good source of profit, especially for the small companies. The Ambient Devices, a company, producing consumer electronics can be brought as an example here, as today it gets 15% of its income just from granting other companies the rights to use its intellectual property, and the managers hope that in the next year this number may grow to the 50%. Andrea. L. Foster, the author of Who Should Own Science emphasizes the importance of sharing the scientific and technology data in order to make the research process more effective. Unfortunately, he forgets about thousands of companies who build their business and research strategies grounding on the existing system of licensing the intellectual property.

European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

European Union Law - Essay Example Negligence need not be proved. Any damages so awarded should include an element for pain and suffering and also for loss of wages past, present and future. The Act excludes liability for loss of wages. It also imposes the burden of proof on the victim to prove his/her case. Both the Directive and the Act were intended to replace the existing national laws of negligence in relation to the Product. In May 2004, Byrd was prescribed a mild sedative by his doctor as he was suffering from work-related stress. The Product was manufactured by Omnia Pharma PLC (â€Å"Omnia†) a company registered in England. Two weeks after starting the treatment, Byrd developed a skin complaint, suppurating psoriasis, which was painful and also unpleasant to look at. As a result, he became a recluse and was dismissed for persistent absence by his employers. Thereafter, he attempted to commit suicide but was discovered in time. He is still very disturbed mentally. The starting point is to consider what directives are, how they are implemented and what the overall effect of directives is. In order to deal with the above it is necessary to examine the law regarding the binding nature of Directives. It is also necessary to examine the implementation of the Directive and discuss whether there has been any breach by the company. If a breach is established it will then be possible to assess what losses the company will be liable for in respect of the claim by Byrd. A discussion on direct and indirect effect is also essential in order to establish whether Byrd can claim under either of these headings. In order to be able to assess whether Francovich damages would be the most effective claim against the UK there needs to be a discussion on what Francovich damages are and when these can be claimed. To be able to decide whether a directive is binding it is necessary to understand what a directive is. A directive has been

The Effects of Prison Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Effects of Prison Economy - Research Paper Example Siegel (2009) has clearly and simply proffered the basic mechanics of the existence of a courtroom workgroup by averring that the prosecution and defense unite to work out a criminal case in a collaborative and cooperative juncture to arrive at an agreement amenable to both parties (20). The benefits that the courtroom workgroup would generate on all parties involved are deemed to outweigh the costs of going through the entire judicial proceedings of a trial. If people are to be made more aware of the essential ingredients, approach and pronounced benefits of courtroom workgroup, sentencing decisions and agreed settlement of criminal cases would be facilitated at the most appropriate time frame. The effect of courtroom workgroup on the outcome of criminal cases would be evaluated and assessed in terms of factors that influence the decision. In this regard, the current research aims to proffer issues relative of courtroom workgroups by expounding and exploring its definition, the basi c components of the workgroup, the essential ingredients to make it work. One would delve into the roles and functions of the components of the workgroup to determine the impact on sentencing decisions. Finally, the impact of courtroom workgroup would be closely analyzed from different perspectives as seen in diverse points of views. Do criminal justice outcomes arrived at by courtroom workgroups serve the best interests of all parties involved? Definition and Goals Courtroom Workgroups To clearly provide a greater understanding of courtroom workgroups, the exact definition of the terms would be presented. The research conducted by Haynes, Ruback and Cusick (2008) cited the studies made by Eisenstein and his colleagues (Eisenstein et al., 1988; Eisenstein & Jacob, 1977; Nardulli, Eisenstein, & Flemming, 1988), who averred that â€Å"courtroom workgroups consist of individuals who share a common workplace, who interact in the performance of their jobs, and whose collective purpose i s to dispose of case† (Haynes, et.al, 2008, 5). Vuolo (2007) expounded on the composition of the courtroom workgroup as â€Å" prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and occasionally police (who) work together with the mutual interest of getting the job done as efficiently as possible† (10). The author, likewise, emphasized that although there is a degree of cooperation, some level of restraint and control in the level of behavior of the participants. As Siegel (2009) indicated, the people who comprise the courtroom work group have established a degree of familiarity despite assumption of disparate roles and considered to have acquired competencies and expertise in their respective functions that their objective is to streamline the system to eliminate unnecessary delays and to circumvent costs related to trials. The study of Eisenstein and his colleagues, cited by Haynes, et.al (2008) have prompted the focus on the perception of courtroom workgroups, in terms of offen ders and cases, as significantly affecting the outcome of sentencing. Therefore, to answer the research question as the goal of the current study, a closer examination of the composition, function, and factors that influence courtroom work groups’ decision would provide the key to the response. The factors that need to be considered in courtroom work groups are the degree and extent of familiarity among the members, as well as â€Å"the context in which the court is located, and the county legal culture (i.e.,

Health and Nutrition Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Health and Nutrition Worksheet Essay Use Ch. 1, 2, 3 of Visualizing Nutrition, supplemental course materials, the University Library, the Internet, or other resources to answer the following questions. Your response to each question should be 75 to 100 words. 1.What is nutrition? Why is nutrition essential to our daily lives? For me nutrition would be eating the right types of food in order to maintain your body healthy. Nutrition is very essential to our daily lives because without proper nutrition our bodies would be fully functional. Either you would be tired or weak everyday no matter how much sleep you get or how long youre at the gym for, again without the proper nutrition’s your body wouldn’t be fully functional. 2.What is the connection between nutrition and health? The connection between nutrition and health is that no matter what you do, everything starts with a foundation. In a house the â€Å"basement† would be the foundation, the part that’s holding the house up. But with our health, proper nutrition would be our foundation to a healthy lifestyle. 3.What is the relationship between poor nutrition and disease? The relationship between poor nutrition and disease is that with poor nutrition you are going to be more prone to catching a disease because your body is going to be weak and isn’t going to stand a chance against a virus. 4.What does it mean to eat a balanced diet? Why is food choice important for good nutrition? For me a balanced diet would be eating the right types and amounts of foods and drinks to help your body get the right amount of nutrition it needs, this means that if your body needs just 1 cup of wheat and 2 cups of fruits then that’s what you’re getting, not more or not less. Food choice is important for good nutrition because if you don’t get the right food that will satisfy your â€Å"pyramid† then you’re going to have too  much of one thing and not enough of the other which will lead to an unbalanced diet. 5.Why is physical activity important to a person’s health? What changes, if any, should you make to ensure you get enough physical activity? Physical activity is important because it can improve your health and reduce the risk you developing certain kind of diseases. Also by being active it will also help you stay fit and prolong your life rather than just being at home and being a couch potato which will hurt you a lot, because I am in the military I believe that I am already fit, sometimes I even think I’m getting too much physical activity, we workout 5 days a week and 4 out of the 5 days we work out in the morning and afternoon. 6.What influences your food choices? Why? What influences the food I pick would be a variety of things such as how it smells, looks, taste and most of all my culture. Im Puerto Rican so I was brought up eating rice and beans for me food wasnt food unless rice and beans were included. But around ten years old I moved to New York where its multicultural so thats where I started tasting all different kinds of food such as Italian, Dominican, and real Chinese food, and realized that in order for something to be food rice and beans didnt have to be included. What also influences the food I pick depends on my son, me and my wife wont usually cook something that he doesnt like but hes so picky at times that we just make something healthy for all of us and he wont eat it, I would have to feed it to him in order for him to eat it. 7.What is the difference between digesting protein and carbohydrates? Which would make you feel fuller longer? Why? The difference between digesting protein and digesting carbohydrates is that proteins are digested into amino acids while carbohydrates are digested into simple sugars. Also carbohydrates are converted into glucose which are then stored in the body and Proteins are broken down into amino acids which then are used to build and repair body tissues. I believe that protein will make you feel fuller because you don’t have to eat as much in order to satisfy your hunger. 8.How does today’s society affect our nutritional habits? Our society today affects our nutritional habits tremendously It’s so hard to control our food portion because of the food industries in the United States. Right now for example we could go down the street to McDonalds and order a Big Mac meal. Now the Big Mac alone has about 550 calories but then they give you some fries with the Big Mac and a fountain drink. Now if you were brought up like how I was, which was your mother or father yelling at you and telling you, you need to eat everything on my plate, then of course you are going to inherit those habits and youre going to be eating everything they give you, and that of course unhealthy. Youre going to be eating a lot more than what you’re supposed to, making us gain weight and even have health issues. 9.How are nutrients used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP)? Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, acts as a source of fuel within your cells. Formed from a series of chemical reactions, carbohydrates, proteins and fats can all be converted into ATP following digestion. One type of food that provides a source of ATP is meat and fish. These foods contain several animal cells, with each cell containing preformed ATP. The nutrients found within meats and fish may also provide a source of ATP within your body. Upon consumption, the fatty acids and proteins in meats and fish are digested and absorbed. If your body requires an immediate source of energy, these nutrients are used to make ATP within your own cells, helping to fuel your body. 10.Consider your personal dietary habits. What are some modifications you might make to promote good health? My personal dietary habits are eating only two meals a day and just drink water or powerade throughout the rest of the day. Which I know now that is a terrible idea, skipping meals isn’t good for us. In them two meals I eat a day, since I’m always at the gym I eat a lot of meat to intake a lot of protein, and with the meat I would eat about 1.5 cups of rice and .5 cups of beans, which is diffidently not maintaining a balanced diet at all. Some modifications I might make to promote good health would be to not skip meals, and maintain a balanced diet, not too much and not too less.

The Pazzi Conspiracy Essay Example for Free

The Pazzi Conspiracy Essay Abstract: On a sunny Sunday in April of 1478, assassins from the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de’ Medici and his brother Giuliano. Giuliano lay bleeding on the cathedral floor, and later bled to death. Lorenzo, however managed to get to safety—not a good thing for the Pazzi family. Up to this point the Pazzi clan had been considered one of the most noble and well-respected clans. They were financiers who â€Å"feared and resented the Medici’s swaggering new role as political bosses. † 4 This failed assassination attempt doomed the Pazzi family. The Medici’s put forth swift and brutal revenge. Each of the Pazzi family who had taken part in the assassination attempt was either hanged or beheaded, and the bodies were hung from the windows of the governmental palace. As if this wasn’t punishment enough, the Pazzi’s were forced to change their surname. Every remnant of evidence that the Pazzi family had once been a well-respected clan was wiped out by the Medici’s. 4 It was Easter Sunday within the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Priest was just bringing the Mass to a close, when assassin’s attacked the de’Medici brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano, brutally stabbing them. Giuliano was stabbed a horrifying nineteen times, and the blood drained from his body right there on the cathedral floor. Lorenzo, however, was stabbed only once in the neck, a cut that apparently missed any major arteries, and he fought his attackers with all his might until he got free and ran away to hide. 5 Of course there was chaos within the cathedral, and some brave soul ran to pull the bell pull to send out a distress call and summon other Florentines to help ward off the coup attack taking place within the cathedral walls. Shortly thereafter every church in Florence was also tolling their bells, call the men of Florence to â€Å"defend their Republic.† Who were these Medici’s who had taken control of their government? It is believed that they were descendants of apothecaries—today’s pharmacists—and were relatively unknown in the 14th century. Giovanni Medici was the mastermind of the family and his business acumen and sheer boldness brought the Medici family from the shadows directly to the forefront of the political world in Florence. 6 Giovanni was one of five sons. He lived with their mother, a poor widow woman. A wealthy cousin of Giovanni’s acquired a position for Giovanni as an employee of the Medici Bank in Rome, and it was not long before Giovanni, demonstrating his boldness and business prowess, moved straight to the top in the bank, actually displacing his own cousin. Giovanni was a blatant risk taker, and began laundering money for Baldasarre Cossa, commonly known as a pirate. Giovanni even went so far as to put up the money to allow Cossa’s bid for the Papacy, and in 1410 Cossa was actually elected Pope John XXIII. Of course the former pirate felt obliged to reward his good friend Giovanni by making the Medici family the new Papal Bankers. Giovanni became known as â€Å"God’s Banker.† This turned out to be quite a lucrative venture for both parties involved—the former pirate, and the former nobody who rose to such a high position. The Medici bank received a hefty ten percent of everything the Church brought in. At this time in history there was a rather unscrupulous debt collection service run by the church itself. If people didn’t pay, they were promptly excommunicated, a very powerful motivator. Soon the Medici family were the third wealthiest family in Florence, much to the dismay of the older, more established families who saw the Medici family as money-grubbing interlopers. Giovanni Medici soon built an entire network of thugs and thieves who both demanded and rewarded unconditional loyalty. He set up the banks so the managers shared a stake in their bank, and even banned loans to Kings or Princes, as he felt they were absolutely the worst risks. He often advised his descendants to â€Å"Always keep out of the public eye—never show pride.† 6 It would have been better for all involved if they had taken this advice to heart. Giovanni’s son, Cosimo de Medici was trained from a very early age to take over the banking empire from his father. Cosimo was a dedicated learner, â€Å"studying classic texts, attending lectures and becoming one of the first generation of Humanists. Cosimo urged his father to turn the family’s wealth to civil patronage.† 6 When Cosimo inherited the position of Capo from his father, the Albizzi family, another wealthy, powerful, family made up treason charges against him out of sheer jealously and Cosimo was actually sentenced to death for these false claims. Luckily he bribed his way from prison and hid out for a while, later returning to Florence more powerful than ever. However, shortly after Cosimo returned, he was attacked in a dark alleyway and his attackers cut his face from ear to ear. He lived, but bore the scars known as â€Å"che brutta figura†, which translates into â€Å"revenge through humiliation.†6 Cosimo, much like his own father well understood how politics and power worked. His own advice to his heirs, which was much like his father’s advice to him was, â€Å"Do not seek power. Wait until they call you.† Cosimo had two sons, Giovanni and Piero. Giovanni was certainly his father’s favorite, and was obviously being groomed to take over the family business while Piero was sickly, and stayed out of the public limelight because of his ill health. Piero devoted himself to learning, and became well-respected as a diplomat. In fact, King Louis XI had such a high opinion of Piero that he gave him the specially bestowed honor of â€Å"permitting Piero to stamp the lilies of France on one of the balls of the Medici arms—this one ball colored blue for that purpose.† 6 When Piero’s brother Giovanni died unexpectedly, Cosimo began grooming his grandson, Lorenzo to take over because he felt Piero’s health was unstable and that he couldn’t handle the job. Piero had two sons, Lorenzo and Giuliano. Lorenzo, at the tender age of seventeen was well known for his courage and boldness, â€Å"single-handedly foiling a Pitti family plot to assassinate his father Piero.† 6 Lorenzo was indeed well educated in banking and diplomacy in order to follow in the family footsteps, but he apparently also had a lust for the other side of life; wine, women and song.   He married at nineteen and fathered seven children, two of them adopted. Lorenzo was a patron of the arts and promoted such artists as Bottcelli and Leonardo DeVinci, even going so far as to take a young Michelangelo into his own home and â€Å"raising him like a son.† 6 Lorenzo’s trademark phrase was somewhat different from that of his father and grandfather: â€Å"He who wishes to be happy let him be so, for of tomorrow there is no knowing.† Giuliano de Medici was Lorenzo’s younger brother, and shared Lorenzo’s passion for life. He fathered an illegitimate child in his youth, and when he was murdered on that fateful Easter Sunday Lorenzo later adopted that son. While Giuliano loved his older brother, there was also some natural resentment involved in their relationship. As for the Pazzi family, consider this heritage: â€Å"During the First Crusade in 1088, as Christian soldiers scaled the walls of Jerusalem, a fighter named Pazzo Pazzi was the first man over the top. Pazzo was often known as â€Å"the madman.† 11 As a reward for his courage, he was gifted three small stones from the Holy Sepulcher.† 7 The Pazzi were an old Florentine family, and two of the family members were even named in â€Å"Divine Comedy,† by Dante. There were also boasts of having a knight in each generation. The Pazzi arms which reflected their long and noble history contained â€Å"crescents, battlement towers and twin dolphins on a blue field with nine crosses.† 7 The arms represented Christian faith, generosity and freedom, and the Pazzi’s displayed it proudly. Andrea de Pazzi entered into banking in the fourteenth century. He was a sharp businessman and quickly amassed a fortune. However, being one of the â€Å"grande† names in the area they were excluded by Florentine law from participating in their own government. Because of this law, Andrea decided to relinquish the status of â€Å"grande† and give his own sons the opportunity to hold public office. 7 During a visit in 1443 by Pope Eugene IV to the Pazzi family, the Pope made a deposit of 4000 florin into the Pazzi bank, showing that there were â€Å"Papal accounts that could be pried away from Medici control.† Andrea left three sons, Antonio, Piero and Jacopo, all of whom were well-educated in the banking trade and all of whom held a large fortune and extensive assets. Jacopo was the only son who would live long enough to â€Å"become enmeshed in the conspiracy to assassinate the Medici brothers.† 7 Interestingly, however, Jacopo happened to also be a strong supporter of Piero de’ Medici, Lorenzo’s father. Jacopo was known throughout for his great generosity to the poor, and although he began as an observer, he eventually allowed his nephew, Francesco, son of Antonio, to draw him into the assassination plot. Francesco, Jacopo’s nephew was known as â€Å"diminutive, pale and driven,† but apparently he harbored great resentment for the Medici’s, in fact it soon became apparent to all that his hatred of the Medici’s had overtaken every aspect of his life, and even allowed him to conveniently forget that he was in fact related to the Medici through marriage. 7 This urgency that Francesco displayed, along with his intense hatred for the Medici clan became the driving force for the assassination plot. So, now we know about the Medici clan and the Pazzi clan. The other factor in this triangle were the Pope and his court. The conspiracy planned by the Pazzi actually had the blessing of the church because Pope Sisto IV â€Å"contemplated to demolish the dominion of Medici and for this purpose he sustained the groups led by Pazzi’s family which had replaced de Medici in the office of bankers.† Francisco della Rovere was destined from his very childhood for the Franciscan order. 8 On the death of Pope Paul II, he was elected pope and called Pope Sixtus IV. Unfortunately Pope Sixtus used his position as Pope to further his own family members by obtaining political appointments for them. When Lorenzo â€Å"refused Sixtus’ demand on the Medici bank for a loan of 40,000 ducats to purchase the town of Imola,† the conspiracy was set into motion. 8 Sixtus wanted to acquire the town in order to give it to his nephew, Riario. Girolamo Riario was the nephew of Sixtus and was one of the key plotters in the assassination attempt on the Medici brothers. Riario married the daughter of the Duke of Milan, and used this marriage to attempt to sabotage the relationship between the Duke and Lorenzo. â€Å"Riario fueled Francesco de Pazzi’s inner fire by intimating that the Pazzi family would play a large part in the next government of Florence, while coveting the future Dukedom of Florence for himself.† Archbishop Francesco Salviati was born into one of Florence’s most active political families and was related by marriage to the Pazzi, Medici, Vettori, and other very powerful families. 8 Salviati was a â€Å"flatterer, a gambler, and lusted for the power that could be attained through church favour.† 8 He easily became a co-conspirator in the attempted assassinations. Count Riario himself summoned Battista to meet with himself and the Archbishop Salviati. Salviati strongly persuaded the others to agree with him about wanting a â€Å"coup d’ tat in Florence, and Riario and Salviati then outlined what they considered to be Lorenzo’s evil intentions against each of them, telling Battista repeatedly that when the Pope died, Riario and his state would be in grave danger from Lorenzo. 10 Riario and Salviati finally bluntly told Battista that the only thing to do was to â€Å"cut Lorenzo and Giuliano to pieces, to have troops ready in secret, and to go into Florence and do this thing.† 10. Battista was reluctant, believing they were discussing something very big, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to become involved, but the other two were persuasive. Although nobody knew at the time, there were literally hundreds of mercenary troops settled firmly within the borders of Tuscany, â€Å"poised to invade the city at a signal that never came.† It was Salviati and Francesco de Pazzi who masterminded the plot to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano. Riario, always working behind the scenes, remained in Rome. Interestingly enough, the plan was hardly a secret, and was fairly widely known. The Pope reportedly even stated that â€Å"I support it—as long as no one is killed.† 11 Rather a silly statement when the plot is an assassination plot. When Lorenzo escaped the assassination attempt, he locked himself in the sacristy. â€Å"A coordinated attempt to capture the Gonfaloniere and Signoria was thwarted when the archbishop and the head of the Salviati clan were trapped in a room whose doors had a hidden latch.† 11 The assassination attempt had failed, and â€Å"enraged Florentines seized and killed the conspirators.† 11 Jacopo Pazzi was tossed from a window, and if that weren’t enough to kill him, he was finished off by the angry mob, then dragged naked through the streets and eventually thrown in the river. 11 The entire Pazzi family were stripped of all their worldly possessions, and every â€Å"vestige of their name effaced.† 11. Salviati, even though he was an archbishop was summarily hanged on the walls of the Pallazo. Lorenzo actually appealed to the crowd to show mercy, but to no avail, as many of the conspirators and even those only accused of being co-conspirators were killed. Lorenzo managed to save the nephew of Sixtus and two other relatives of the plotters, and the main conspirators were hunted down throughout Italy. During the assassination plot, Marsilio Ficino, who was the son of Cosimo Medici’s physician, became important in his own right. In 1478, largely as a result of the war which resulted from the assassination plot, the plague broke out in the city of Florence. Ficino published a very different sort of work; a practical guide to the treatment of the plague, and was written in Tuscan to be readily accessible to his fellow citizens. 12 This work went on to be translated into Latin and published â€Å"alongside Galen’s work on fevers, as a standard medical work. It is easy to forget that all Ficino’s works of profound contemplation and leisurely presentation were written against a backdrop of intense social and political disturbances.† Another player in this era was Caterina Storza, an illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza who ended up married, at the age of fourteen, to Girolamo Riario, the nephew of Sixtus, and a primary player in the assassination attempt on the Medici family. Caterina came to be known as the â€Å"Machiavellian mother† in Machiavelli’s works. 1 Eventually, after the assassination attempt, the tables were turned and Riario was murdered by a group of conspirators in his own home, just after lunch. The murderous group then took Caterina, her mother, her two half sisters, an illegitimate son of Girolamo’s and her six children, captive. Although the aim of the assassination attempt was to get rid of the Medici family, and show Lorenzo in a bad light, the aftermath of the fateful Easter Sunday actually showed quite the opposite. Lorenzo had kept his head during the entire chaotic episode, and he would show time and time again as things progressed that he was intelligent and calm in the very worst of circumstances. When the conspiracy fell apart, Sixtus was furious and drew up â€Å"an ecclesiastical censure against Florence, withdrawing sacraments and the right to a Christian burial from all the citizens of Florence.† He excommunicated Lorenzo all on his own, which actually had little effect, so he formed a military alliance with King Ferrantes of Naples and began planning an attack on Florence itself. 3 The allies that had previously helped the Medici were not anxious to help the Medici fight the Pope, and even though it seemed there would be another disaster, Lorenzo’s â€Å"brilliant tact,† averted it. â€Å"Switching effortlessly from avenger to peace-maker, he personally traveled to Naples to confer with the King, and an understanding was achieved without resorting to war. From then on Lorenzo became known as the Savior of Florence.† Lorenzo followed closely the policy which was begun by his grandfather Cosimo. He managed to â€Å"maintain a balance of power between the five chief Northern Italian states, forming defensive alliances and thus keeping a check on invasions from foreign powers.† 3 The Medici Bank had been somewhat neglected since Cosimo’s time, as he had turned more and more to politics, and though Lorenzo did his best to turn this around, he found himself, for perhaps the first time in his life, in financial difficulties. To keep himself afloat, â€Å"he resorted to embezzling Public Funds, and it was this that later undermined his rule.† Although we have all been led to believe that â€Å"history belongs to the victors,† it is still very sad to understand that every trace of the Pazzi family, one of Florence’s oldest and most respected families, was wiped out following the attempted coup. 13 â€Å"The Pazzi coat of arms was torn off their buildings. A special governmental commission spent the next two years disentangling Pazzi assets with a view to confiscation. Anyone with the name of Pazzi was forced to change it. Women of the family were forbidden to marry in Florence, which was as good as not allowing them to wed at all. No portrait of any Pazzi adult is known to have survived.†   It is an entire piece of history completely destroyed as a result of one act. The aftermath of the Pazzi Conspiracy continued for many, many years after the event itself. As stated, Lorenzo became something of a hero, despite his embezzlement problems, and when he died at the young age of forty three, there was a â€Å"massive display of public grief and the entire population attended his funeral. He was buried in the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo, where his brother Giuliano already rested.† 3 Lorenzo left behind quite a legacy however; his second son Giovanni and his nephew Giulio (the illegitimate son of Giuliano, who had been captured with Caterina after Giuliano’s death) were later to become very powerful popes, Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII. 3 Works Cited 1. Hairston, Julia L. â€Å"Skirting the Issue: Machiavelli’s Caterina Sforza.† Renaissance Quarterly, Volume53, Issue 3, (2000) http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=printdocId=5001097598 (October 17, 2006) 2. History of Florence. â€Å"The Pazzi’s Conspiracy.† (2004). http://www.aboutflorence.com/pazzi-conspiracy.html. (October 13, 2006). 3. Lorenzo. â€Å"Lorenzo the Magnificent.† 2005. http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-19-2004-53113.asp (October 16, 2006). 4. Martinez, Lauro. â€Å"April Bood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici.† Oxford University Press, USA; (April 1, 2003). 5. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Pazzi Conspiracy† (2005). http://www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazzi.html (October 15, 2006). 6. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Medici.† (2005). http://www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-medici.html (October 15, 2006). 7. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Players, The Pazzi.† (2005). http://www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-pazzi.html (October 15, 2006). 8. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Pope and His Court.† (2005). http://www3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-pope.html. (October 15, 2006) 9. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Conspiracy.† (2005). http://www3.telus.net/Auattrocento_Florence/pazzi-conspiracy.html (October 15, 2006). 10. McClelland, Aaron D. â€Å"The Second Meeting.† (2005). http://www3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazzi-second.html (October 15, 2006). 11. Pazzi. â€Å"Pazzi Conspiracy.† (2005). http://www.answers.com/topic/pazzi (October 17, 2006). 12. Rees, Valerie. â€Å"Marsilio Ficino Renaissance Man.† History Today, Volume 49, Issue 7, July, 1999. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=printdocId=5001275749 (October 13, 2006). 13. Walters, Colin. â€Å"A Florentine Family Tires of Medici Rule.† The Washington Times, May 18, 2003. http://www.questia.com/PM.gst?action=printdocId=5001929719 (October 14, 2006).

Prospects of Insurance | Insurance Business Analysis

Prospects of Insurance | Insurance Business Analysis This is the law of nature that people have to live and play with hazards and to some extent insurance policy can free people from those frustrations. Even if this is true, people of Bangladesh still dont prefer to insure themselves. One may think that the people of Bangladesh are risk lover; on the other hand other may contradict by saying that their low purchasing power doesnt permit them to avail insurance policy. Here we will try to find out the problems of insurance business in Bangladesh and will try to suggest some steps for overcoming these problems. What is insurance? Insurance in its basic form is defined as A contract between two parties whereby one party called insurer undertakes in exchange for a fixed sum called premiums, to pay the other party called insured a fixed amount of money on the happening of a certain event. In simple terms it is a contract between the person who buys Insurance and an Insurance company who sold the Policy. By entering into contract the Insurance company agrees to pay the Policy holder or his family members a predetermined sum of money in case of any unfortunate event for a predetermined fixed sum payable which is in normal term called Insurance Premiums. Insurance is basically a protection against a financial loss which can arise on the happening of an unexpected event. Insurance companies collect premiums to provide for this protection. By paying a very small sum of money a person can safeguard himself and his family financially from an unfortunate event. For Example if a person buys a Life Insurance Policy by paying a premium to the Insurance company , the family members of insured person receive a fixed compensation in case of any unfortunate event like death. There are different kinds of Insurance Products available such as Life Insurance , Vehicle Insurance, Home Insurance, Travel Insurance, Health or Mediclaim Insurance etc. Types of Insurance Any risk that can be quantified probably has a type of insurance to protect it. Among the different types of insurance are: Automobile insurance, also known as auto insurance, car insurance and in the UK as motor insurance, is probably the most common form of insurance and may cover both legal liability claims against the driver and loss of or damage to the vehicle itself. Over most of the United States purchasing an auto insurance policy is required to legally operate a motor vehicle on public roads. Recommendations for which policy limits should be used are specified in a number of books. In some jurisdictions, bodily injury compensation for automobile accident victims has been changed to No Fault systems, which reduce or eliminate the ability to sue for compensation but provide automatic eligibility for benefits. Boiler insurance (also known as Boiler and Machinery insurance or Equipment Breakdown Insurance) Casualty insurance insures against accidents, not necessarily tied to any specific property. Credit insurance pays some or all of a loan back when certain things happen to the borrower such as unemployment, disability, or death. Financial loss insurance protects individuals and companies against various financial risks. For example, a business might purchase cover to protect it from loss of sales if a fire in a factory prevented it from carrying out its business for a time. Insurance might also cover failure of a creditor to pay money it owes to the insured. Fidelity bonds and surety bonds are included in this category. Health insurance covers medical bills incurred because of sickness or accidents. Liability insurance covers legal claims against the insured. For example, a homeowners insurance policy provides the insured with protection in the event of a claim brought by someone who slips and falls on the property, and brings a lawsuit for her injuries. Similarly, a doctor may purchase liability insurance to cover any legal claims against him if his negligence (carelessness) in treating a patient caused the patient injury and/or monetary harm. The protection offered by a liability insurance policy is two-fold: a legal defense in the event of a lawsuit commenced against the policyholder, plus indemnification (payment on behalf of the insured) with respect to a settlement or court verdict. Life insurance provides a cash benefit to a decedents family or other designated beneficiary, and may specifically provide for burial and other final expenses. Annuities provide a stream of payments and are generally classified as insurance because they are issued by insurance companies and regulated as insurance. Annuities and pensions that pay a benefit for life are sometimes regarded as insurance against the possibility that a retiree will outlive his or her financial resources. In that sense, they are the complement of life insurance. Total permanent disability insurance provides benefits when a person is permanently disabled and can no longer work in their profession, often taken as an adjunct to life insurance. Locked Funds Insurance is a little known hybrid insurance policy jointly issued by governments and banks. It is used to protect public funds from tamper by unauthorised parties. In special cases, a government may authorize its use in protecting semi-private funds which are liable to tamper. Terms of this type of insurance are usually very strict. As such it is only used in extreme cases where maximum security of funds is required. Marine Insurance covers the loss or damage of goods at sea. Marine insurance typically compensates the owner of merchandise for losses sustained from fire, shipwreck, etc., but excludes losses that can be recovered from the carrier. Nuclear incident insurance damages resulting from an incident involving radioactive materials is generally arranged at the national level. (For the United States, see Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act.) Political risk insurance can be taken out by businesses with operations in countries in which there is a risk that revolution or other political conditions will result in a loss. Professional Indemnity Insurance is normally a mandatory requirement for professional practitioners such as Architects, Lawyers, Doctors and Accountants to provide insurance cover against potential negligence claims. Non licensed professionals may also purchase malpractice insurance, it is commonly called Errors and Omissions Insurance and covers a service provider for claims made against them that arise out of the performance of specified professional services. For instance, a web site designer can obtain EO insurance to cover them for certain claims made by third parties that arise out of negligent performance of web site development services. Property insurance provides protection against risks to property, such as fire, theft or weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, inland marine insurance or boiler insurance. Terrorism insurance Title insurance provides a guarantee that title to real property is vested in the purchaser and/or mortgagee, free and clear of liens or encumbrances. It is usually issued in conjunction with a search of the public records done at the time of a real estate transaction. Travel insurance is an insurance cover taken by those who travel abroad, which covers certain losses such as medical expenses, lost of personal belongings, travel delay, personal liabilities.. etc. Workers compensation insurance replaces all or part of a workers wages lost and accompanying medical expense incurred due to a job-related injury. A single policy may cover risks in one or more of the above categories. For example, car insurance would typically cover both property risk (covering the risk of theft or damage to the car) and liability risk (covering legal claims from say, causing an accident). A homeowners insurance policy in the US typically includes property insurance covering damage to the home and the owners belongings, liability insurance covering certain legal claims against the owner, and even a small amount of health insurance for medical expenses of guests who are injured on the owners property. Potential sources of risk that may give rise to claims are known as perils. Examples of perils might be fire, theft, earthquake, hurricane and many other potential risks. An insurance policy will set out in details which perils are covered by the policy and which are not. History of Insurance business in Bangladesh: Insurance is not a new business in Bangladesh. Almost a century back, during British rule in India, some insurance companies started transacting business, both life and general, in Bengal. Insurance business gained momentum in East Pakistan during 1947-1971, when 49 insurance companies transacted both life and general insurance schemes. These companies were of various origins British, Australian, Indian, West Pakistani and local. Ten insurance companies had their head offices in East Pakistan, 27 in West Pakistan, and the rest elsewhere in the world. These were mostly limited liability companies. Some of these companies were specialised in dealing in a particular class of business, while others were composite companies that dealt in more than one class of business. The government of Bangladesh nationalised insurance industry in 1972 by the Bangladesh Insurance (Nationalisation) Order 1972. By virtue of this order, save and except postal life insurance and foreign life insurance companies, all 49 insurance companies and organisations transacting insurance business in the country were placed in the public sector under five corporations. These corporations were: the Jatiya Bima Corporation, Tista Bima Corporation, Karnafuli Bima Corporation, Rupsa Jiban Bima Corporation, and Surma Jiban Bima Corporation. The Jatiya Bima Corporation was an apex corporation only to supervise and control the activities of the other insurance corporations, which were responsible for underwriting. Tista and Karnafuli Bima Corporations were for general insurance and Rupsa and Surma for life insurance. The specialist life companies or the life portion of a composite company joined the Rupsa and Surma corporations while specialist general insurance companies or the genera l portion of a composite company joined the Tista and Karnafuli corporations. The basic idea behind the formation of four underwriting corporations, two in each main branch of life and general, was to encourage competition even under a nationalised system. But the burden of administrative expenses incurred in maintaining two corporations in each front of life and general and an apex institution at the top outweighed the advantages of limited competition. Consequently, on 14 May 1973, a restructuring was made under the Insurance Corporations Act 1973. Following the Act, in place of five corporations the government formed two: the sadharan bima corporation for general business, and jiban bima corporation for life business. The postal life insurance business and the life insurance business by foreign companies were still allowed to continue as before. In reality, however, only the american life insurance company. continued to operate in the life sector for both new business and servicing, while three other foreign life insurance continued to operate only for servicing their old policies issued during Pakistan days. Postal life maintained its business as before. After 1973, general insurance business became the sole responsibility of the Sadharan Bima Corporation. Life insurance business was carried out by the Jiban Bima Corporation, the American Life insurance Company, and the Postal Life Insurance Department until 1994, when a change was made in the structural arrangement to keep pace with the new economic trend of liberalisation. The Insurance Corporations Act 1973 was amended in 1984 to allow insurance companies in the private sector to operate side by side with Sadharan Bima Corporation and Jiban Bima Corporation. The Insurance Corporations Amendment Act 1984 allowed floating of insurance companies, both life and general, in the private sector subject to certain restrictions regarding business operations and reinsurance. Under the new act, all general insurance businesses emanating from the public sector were reserved for the state owned Sadharan Bima Corporation, which could also underwrite insurance business emanating from the private sector. The Act of 1984 made it a requirement for the private sector insurance companies to obtain 100% reinsurance protection from the Sadharan Bima Corporation. This virtually turned Sadharan Bima Corporation into a reinsurance organisation, in addition to its usual activities as direct insurer. Sadharan Bima Corporation itself had the right to reinsure its surplus elsewhe re outside the country but only after exhausting the retention capacity of the domestic market. Such restrictions aimed at preventing outflow of foreign exchange in the shape of reinsurance premium and developing a reinsurance market within Bangladesh. The restriction regarding business placement affected the interests of the private insurance companies in many ways. The restrictions were considered not congenial to the development of private sector business in insurance. Two strong arguments were put forward to articulate feelings: (a) Since the public sector accounted for about 80% of the total premium volume of the country, there was little premium left for the insurance companies in the private sector to survive. In this context, Sadharan Bima Corporation should not have been allowed to compete with the private sector insurance companies for the meagre premium (20%) emanating from the private sector; (b) Being a competitor in the insurance market, Sadharan Bima Corporation was hardly acceptable as an agency to protect the interests of the private sector insurance companies and should not have retained the exclusive right to reinsure policies of these companies. The arrangement was in fact, against the principle of laissez faire . Private sector insurance companies demanded withdrawal of the above restrictions so that they could (a) underwrite both public and private sector insurance business in competition with the Sadharan Bima Corporation, and (b) effect reinsurance to the choice of reinsurers. The government modified the system through promulgation of the Insurance Corporations (Amendment) Act 1990. The changes allowed private sector insurance companies to underwrite 50% of the insurance business emanating from the public sector and to place up to 50% of their reinsurance with any reinsurer of their choice, at home or abroad, keeping the remaining for placement with the Sadharan Bima Corporation. According to the new rules the capital and deposit requirements for formation of an insurance company are as follows: Capital requirements: for life insurance company Tk 75 million, of which 40% shall be subscribed by the sponsors; for mutual life insurance company Tk 10 million; for general insurance company Tk 150 million, of which 40% shall be subscribed by the sponsors; and for cooperative insurance society Tk 10 million for life and Tk 20 million for general. Deposit requirements (in cash or in approved securities): For life insurance Tk 4 million; for fire insurance Tk 3 million; for marine insurance Tk 3 million; for miscellaneous insurance Tk 3 million; for mutual insurance company Tk 1.4 million; and for cooperative insurance society, in case of life insurance Tk 1.4 million, and in case of general insurance Tk 1 million for each class. The government guidelines for formation of an insurance company are: (1) The intending sponsors must first submit an application in prescribed form to the Chief Controller of Insurance for prior permission. (2) After necessary scrutiny the Chief Controller shall forward the application with his recommendation to the Ministry of Commerce. (3) After further scrutiny, the Ministry of Commerce shall submit its views to the Cabinet Committee constituted for this purpose. (4) The decision of the Committee, if affirmative, should be sent back to the Ministry of Commerce which in turn should send it back to the Chief Controller of Insurance for communicating the same to the sponsors. (5) The sponsors would then be required to apply in a prescribed form to the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies to get registration as a public liability company under the Companies Act. Memorandum and Articles of Association duly approved by the Controller of Insurance would have to be submitted with the application. (6) Once the registration process was completed the sponsors would have to obtain permission of the securities and exchange commission to issue share capital. (7) Reinsurance arrangements would have to be made at this stage. (8) After all the above requirements were fulfilled the licence to commence business under the Insurance Act 1938 is to be obtained from the Chief Controller of Insurance. Application can only be made subject to government announcements in this regard. The control over insurance companies, including their functions relating to investments, taxation, and reporting, are regulated mainly by the Insurance Act 1938 and the Finance Acts. The privatisation policy adopted in the 1980s paved the way for a number of insurers to emerge in the private sector. This resulted in a substantial growth of premium incomes, competition, improvement in services, and introduction of newer types of business in wider fields hitherto untapped. Prior to privatisation, the yearly gross premium volume of the country was approximately Tk 900 million in general insurance business and approximately Tk 800 million in life insurance business. In 2000, premium incomes rose to Tk 4,000 million in general insurance business and Tk 5,000 million in life insurance business. Up to 2000, the government has given permission to 19 general insurance companies and 10 life insurance companies in the private sector. Insurers of the country now conduct almost all types of general and life insurance, except crop insurance and export credit guarantee insurance, which are available only with the Sadharan Bima Corporation. Numerous institutions, associations and professional groups work to promote the development of insurance business in Bangladesh. Prominent among them are the Bangladesh Insurance Association and bangladesh insurance academy. Bangladesh Insurance Association was formed on 25 May 1988 under the Companies Act 1913. It is registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and has 30 members. It aims at promoting, supporting and protecting the interests and welfare of the member companies. Surveyors and insurance agents occupy a prominent position in the insurance market of Bangladesh. The surveyors are mainly responsible for surveying and assessing general insurance losses and occasionally, for valuation of insurance properties, while the agents work to procure both life and general insurance business against commission. The system of professional brokers has not yet developed in Bangladesh. However, it is a common practice of the insurers to engage salaried development officers for promotion of their insurance business. Problems of insurance business in bangladesh The insurance business in Bangladesh is facing lots of problem in every now and then. To describe the problems, we use service quality gap model. By using the model it will become more easer to understand the problms of insurance in Bangladesh. Service Quality Gap Model Managers in the service sector are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resource constraints under which service organizations must manage it is essential that customer expectations are properly understood and measured and that, from the customers perspective, any gaps in service quality are identified. This information then assists a manager in identifying cost-effective ways of closing service quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scarce resources ( SERVQUAL and Model of Service Quality Gaps: A Framework for Determining and Prioritizing Critical Factors in Delivering Quality Services by Dr. Arash Shahin, Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Iran). What makes managing customer service different, as a marketing problem, from managing the standard elements of the marketing mix (product, price, pro motions, and place) is that customer service is typically delivered by front-line employees. Personnel policies, thus, have immediate marketing implications. Many retailers take this into consideration by treating employees as internal customers. According to this philosophy, management must sell their internal customers on the company and its policies in order to induce front-line employees to deliver the desired levels of customer service. Standard personnel policies that can facilitate customer service and sell the internal customers include (a) employee screening and selection, (b) training, (c) setting suitable reporting relationships, (d) goals and reward systems, (e) internal communications, and (f) generally creating a service culture. The Gap Analysis Model goes a step beyond simply reexamining each of the standard personnel policies in light of the desired customer service. The model provides specific criteria concerning personnel and management policies that complete the linkage between customer expectations and perceived service delivery. In addition, the model provides a checklist of where breaks in the chain can occur; using this checklist can provide a useful audit of service quality (See: A Service Quality Audit: Application of the Gap Analysis Model by Paul R. Messinger, University of Alberta). There are seven major gaps in the service quality concept, which are shown in Figure-1. The model is an extension of Parasuraman et al. (1985). According to the following explanation (ASI Quality Systems, 1992; Curry, 1999; Luk and Layton, 2002), the three important gaps, which are more associated with the external customers are Gap1, Gap5 and Gap6; since they have a direct relationship with customers. Gaps 1 through 6 widen or close, so does Gap 7. The authors conceptual model of service quality follows:   The key to delivering high quality service is to continually monitor customer perceptions of service quality, identify causes of service quality shortfalls, and take appropriate action to improve the quality of service (close the service gaps). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap 1. Not Knowing What Customers Expect: Based on interviews, the authors found that executives perceptions of superior quality service are largely congruent with customers expectations. Customers expectations versus management perceptions are the result of the lack of a marketing research orientation, inadequate upward communication and too many layers of management. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap 2. The Wrong Service-Quality Standards: Gap 2 arises when there is a discrepancy between what managers perceive that customers expect and the actual standards that they (the managers) set for service delivery. This gap may occur when management is aware of customers expectations but may not be willing or able to put systems in place that meet or exceed those expectations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap 3. The Service-Performance Gap: Organizational policies and standards for service levels may be in place, but is front line staff following them? A very common gap in the service industry, Gap 3 is the difference between organizational service specifications and actual levels of service delivery. Service specifications versus service delivery is the result of role ambiguity and conflict, poor employee-job fit and poor technology-job fit, inappropriate supervisory control systems, lack of perceived control and lack of teamwork. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap 4. When Promises Do Not Match Delivery: Customers perceive that organizations are delivering low-quality service when a gap appears between promised levels of service and the service that is actually delivered. This gap is created when advertising, personal selling or public relations over-promise or misrepresent service levels. Service delivery versus external communication may occur as a result of inadequate horizontal communications and propensity to over-promise. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap5: The discrepancy between customer expectations and their perceptions of the service delivered: as a result of the influences exerted from the customer side and the shortfalls (gaps) on the part of the service provider. In this case, customer expectations are influenced by the extent of personal needs, word of mouth recommendation and past service experiences. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap6: The discrepancy between customer expectations and employees perceptions: As a result of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations by front-line service providers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gap7: The discrepancy between employees perceptions and management perceptions: As a result of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations between managers and service providers. Figure1: Model of service quality gaps (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Curry, 1999; Luk and Layton, 2002) Other Problems Service quality gap model does not provide all the problems of insurance business. There some other problems too. These problems are given below: Lack of trustworthiness: Lack of trustworthiness is one of the the major problems of insurance business in Bangladesh. Lengthy process in getting payment after any incident is the main reason of trustworthiness. Time killing behavior in payment after incidence is reducing the trust of the customers towards the insurance companies. Low income of the people: Low income and purchasing power doesnt permit the people of Bangladesh to go for an insurance policy. Practically we can easily relate the above mentioned factors. For example, in one hand the lower income of the people is creating barrier in buying insurance policy, on the other hand lack of trustworthiness makes this insurance avoiding behavior more acute. Unattractive offerings: Insurance companies are not providing attracting offerings to their customers. All the offerings are similar. There is very less variation among the offerings of differnt insurance companies. Lack of information about the insurance companies: The insurance companies are not delivering their information (regarding company and insurance policy) properly or evenly which is another problem of the insurance companies. Inefficiency in problem solving: Inefficiency in problem solving is another problem of the insurace companies. If any customer comes to then to solve some problems, they do not solve those problems efficiently. High service/processing cost : Insurance companies charges high service/processing cost from their customers. Less convincing sales people: Some insurance companies appoint sales people at a very lower cost. These sales people are not much convincing. They can not convince effectively to purchase insurance pollicy. This is another problem of insurance companies. Lengthy process to get payment after incidents: Insurance companies take a lenthy process to get payment after incidents. Sometimes they take one or two years to pay their customers. This is one of the major problems of insurance companies. Steps to overcome the problems of insurance business: The demographic trends suggest that as private insurance companies (both local and multinational) have proliferated in Dhaka city, better educated and more affluent people have gravitated to these insurance companies for insurance services. These people/clients are likely to have better information about the quality of services provided by both public and private insurance companies and their inclination to select private insurance companies suggests, implicitly, that the quality of service is better at these private firms even though their (private insurance companies) service cost is somewhat higher. Moreover, many branch operation of private insurance companies help the people to make evaluation among them and making an insurance decision in favor of those which are trustworthy. But between the private local and foreign insurance company choice, clients are mostly considering foreign private insurance companies due to its trustworthiness, experience in operation and wide area cove rage. Less number of branches of the public insurance companies may be another prime reason of not being preferred by the local clients. By definition, it might be more authentic if the clients were inclined towards the public insurance companies from trustworthiness point of view, but as statistics suggests in favor of choosing foreign private insurance firms, probably we have to be satisfied by saying that it is in many respect guided by clients psychology of getting better and prompt services. The incentive structure must also play a role in ensuring the quality services delivered by the public insurance companies. One solution is to tie part of the compensation of insurance personnel in public companies to services rendered and feedback received from clients. This, of course, is a complex issue and has implications for pay scale administration, since public bank staffs, as government servants, are paid according to certain pay structures. While beyond the scope of this paper, au thors feel that compensation flexibility is necessary to reward those who are dedicated to providing quality insurance services. If compensation adjustments cant be incorporated, benefits-including promotion, transfer in more valued branches, study leave, performance bonus and the like-could be tied to performance evaluation mechanism. There must be a formal procedure of evaluating the employees by the clients through some questionnaire type performance appraisal form. A suggestion, objection or recommendation book in the branch can be introduced where the clients can even complain or appreciate about a specific employee. Public awareness and the transparency of the high official may have a positive impact on that issue. A rating scale could also be established to rate the quality of services based on insurance companys facilities, past performance records, and clients evaluations. The rating factors and mechanisms would have to be developed on the basis of inputs from clients and t he profession. It would also be important to determine, specify, and strongly enforce the legal consequences for tampering with client records and their evaluations. This process will lead to qualifying and ranking each and every insurance company (Private and public). We think the insurance policy collection and profit margin should not be the only benchmark to position a specific insurance company. As the number of insurance companies continues to grow, it is important to develop a national capability to periodically evaluate and publicly disseminate (As University Grants Commission did for the private universities) the ratings or rankings of all insurance companies so that each service providers reputation is widely known. Armed with this information, clients can make more informed choices. In addition, as an important determination of insurance company choice, firms must invest in building their reputation/reliability which will hel