Development of Behavioural Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Development of Behavioural Finance - Essay Example This was followed by Selden’s ground breaking work on the stock exchange where he attempted to explain people’s financial behaviour in the stock exchanges (Selden, 1912). Further work on behavourial finance continued through the efforts of psychologists such as Leon Festinger who introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance (Festinger et al., 1956). The more modern trends in behavourial finance were placed by Tversky and Kahneman who introduced the availability heuristic that delineated the financial probability of decision making by a person (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). This idea was followed by another expected utility theory that critiqued the original theory. This new theory delineated a descriptive model of decision making when faced with risks. The emerging model was espoused as the prospect theory (Kahneman & Tverksy, 1979). The prospect theory presented by Kahneman and Tversky has also been suggested as the alternative financial explanation for people making le ss than expected decisions in a risky market situation. The sixties saw the application of cognitive psychology to the processing of information by the brain. This stood in contrast to behavioural models. The newly emerging cognitive models were being compared to each other such as those presented by Ward Edwards, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. This was augmented by the development of mathematical psychology that began to link up transivity of individual preferences to different kinds of measurement scales (Luce, 2000). These developments were augmented with the introduction of newer concepts such as overconfidence that forces individuals to make irrational choices which lead to poor financial decision making (Kahneman & Diener, 2003). The bounded rationality projections in behavioural finance project that individuals act to maximise satisfaction rather than utility through their financial decision making even though it may lead to a loss (Gigerenzer & Selten, 2002) (Tsang, 2008) . Over the years, various kinds of psychological traits like projection bias, overconfidence, limited attention and the like have been used in behavioural finance models. The domain of inter-temporal choice has also had various applications of behavioural finance which tend to use various kinds of psychological factors to explain basic models of rational choice. Active Portfolio Management versus Passive Portfolio Management Fund managers carry out active portfolio management so that the portfolio investments tend to outperform a particular investment benchmark index. In contrast, fund managers who are not looking to outperform any investment benchmark index try to invest in funds that replicate previous weightings and returns. This technique is labelled as passive portfolio management (Malkiel, 1996). Passive portfolio management is the most preferred investment technique on the equity market but it is gaining wider acceptance in other investment fields. The contention behind passi ve management is to reduce transactional costs as well as investment risks so that the investor’s output increases. In the modern economy it is common for funds to be managed with the original fund owners relying on fund managers to take investment decisions. According to Cuoco and Kaniel (2009), in 2004 the total amount of managed mutual funds exceeded $8 trillion, hedge funds totalled $1 billion and pension funds totalled more than $12 billion in the United States alone. It has also been

The opening business in Saudi Arabia Research Paper

The opening business in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example Before opening the business in Saudi Arabia, it is important to keep in mind that it is a conservative country and its ethics and culture are no way similar to a western country like America. In Saudi Arabia, business activities are conducted at a slower pace compared to the US and so meetings initiate slowly. My advice to my client is to keep patience during business meetings as Arabians prefer to start meetings with informal conversations like topics about family and hobbies. My American client may find the meetings disordered as it is a common scenario that Arabians do not refrain from attending phone calls or allowing other people to interrupt. Americans make it a point to switch off their phones and pay total attention to whoever is speaking. In Saudi Arabia, my client will need to take the effort to bring the meeting back on track after any disruptions. While doing business with the Arabians time is not a factor since they prefer to do business at the leisurely pace. They engag e in courtesies which are lengthy, and pleasantries are exchanged both in the beginning and even during the course of the meeting. My client should be careful to avoid asking about the other person’s female relatives. Business conversations do not start before coffee is served and they frequently fall silent which indicates not rudeness but that they are contemplating. Contrary to the Americans who are task-oriented and therefore more particular about time, the Arabian culture is more relation-driven and so they focus on timing.

An analysis on the sudden decline of Enron in 2001 Essay Example for Free

An analysis on the sudden decline of Enron in 2001 Essay Enron was company that was formed to the Northern Natural Gas Company which traces its existence to the early 1932 in Nebraska. The company was reorganized back in 1979 and formed as the leading subsidiary company of Internorth. In 1985 the company acquired the smaller Houston Natural Gas and in the process it formed its name to Enron. (Haney 2001, p. 28) Originally the company was involved in the transmitting and distributing electricity and gas in the United States. It was also involved in the development and building of power plants and pipelines. The company extended its services to the rule of law and in other infrastructures in the world. The company owned large had a large network of natural gas pipelines stretching from ocean to ocean and from border to border.   Its holding included Northern Natural Gas, Florida Gas Transition, Trans-western Pipeline Company and a strategic alliance with Northern Border Pipeline from Canada. These holding were real cash woes the kept investors coming to the company. It expanded its ventures and investment in every corner of the country.  Ã‚   These investments helped the company to make huge profits. By 1998 the company had entered the water sector and created the Azurix Corporation. The company floated its shares in the New York Stock Exchange but it failed to make a mark in the market.   It did not break in the water utility market  Ã‚   and ended up as a major money-loser. (Andrew 2001, p. 9) In 2001, Enron announced that it continued to grow wealthier. Due to its pioneering spirit in marketing and promotion of power and communication bandwidth commodities and other related derivatives including exotic items like weather derivatives. The company was named as the most innovative company by the Fortune magazine for 6 consecutive years spinning form 1996-2001. In 2000 it was listed among the Fortunes 100 best companies to work for in America.   It was hailed for its labour and  Ã‚   workforce policies including the long-term pensions and other benefits.   It was one of the well managed companies in America. (Krugman 2001, p. 8) But this fame was not to live long.  Ã‚   The effective management policies that had been associated with the company were at the end exposed to be fraud. It turned out to be the worst corporate fraud ever experienced on American soil. This research will look the rise and the sudden fall of Enron which was famed as one of the greatest companies in American history. Aims and objectives   The main aim for carrying out the study was to have a full understanding of the sudden fall of the great company and the factors that contributed to the fall. This is important as it can provide future guideline in management  Ã‚   as it gives an insight on how effective management can turn and destroy all the good work that it has achieved. The following were the objectives for carrying out the study; †¢ To asses the operation climate of Enron and how the company was able to prosper in the market †¢ To assess the management of the company and how it contributed to the sudden fall of the company. †¢ To asses the corporate fraud that led to the fall of the company Literature review Cases of business scandals are not new in the business world.   It has become the same as being told the that two great companies are merging in a deal worth billions of   dollars and the same story surfaces tomorrow informing you of how the same company have been implicated in a major scandal and financial rip-off.   The business press these days has more stories on business scandals than it has on prosperity of mergers.   It has been shown that although the stock market boom is over, the boom of business scandals is still on. According to Ledbetter (2002)  Ã‚   it has not been a wonder at any moment in life to hear of companies coming together to expand their operations, but it has become more  Ã‚   stunning to hear of prosperous companies involved in all manners of scandals.  Ã‚   It is like the business scandals have become the order of the day. Jayne and Greg (2004) concur that there are many factor that have been contributing to the increased business scandals in the world but some of the factors that have really contributed to the increase is  Ã‚   the effect that they have on the personal lives.   Most of those who have been implicated in business scandal have not been punished in a way that other are likely to learn from them.   For example when Nathan   Chapman   was sent to   jail for 7 ½Ã‚   years   for defrauding the   Maryland state pension fund   system   and for looting  Ã‚   three public trade companies which he owned,   he only thanked  Ã‚   the testimony that was given by   three of   her former mistresses   as they helped to put him behind bars. This shows the many of those who have been implicated in these scandals do not only defraud their trusted shareholders but they also  Ã‚   betray themselves and their families.   Greg shows that these individuals may be suffering from some kind of social or mental deficiencies and they are led by greed, ego, and corrupt ideals. Most of the business scandals do not arise because there are no strong institutions to deter their occurrence but they are caused by individual who are more interested in serving their own interest rather than the interest of their own shareholders.   In this case it has been shown that it is a faulty management that can be  Ã‚   attributed to the rise of business scandals.  Ã‚   It is due to lack of ethics in business scandals continued to hamper the trust of shareholders on corporate leaders. For   example while   Enron   was shown to have strong institution that   were even praised and helped it to  Ã‚   be classified as one of the Fortune 100 companies,   there was not   practice of business ethics   in the company which eventually led to the scandal. (Brewer 2002, p.7) Business ethics are important practices that have been recognised in the business world as them most acceptable ways that helps to have fairness in the practices. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics in business operation which inculcate the ethical principles and the moral and ethical issues and the way they are to be addressed as they arise in the course of operation of the business.   Business ethics is an important cooperate practice that ensure that the business keep to the normative and descriptive factors in the course of its operation. Business ethics  Ã‚   requires a company to do what it is supposed to do and in the right way. Business ethics are the same the social and moral ethics but  Ã‚   as applied in business.  Ã‚   There are ethics that are applicable to all the sectors of business operation.  Ã‚   There are ethics in accounting information, human resource management, sales and marketing production, intellectual property, and in other business areas. Most of the business scandal usually occurs due to lack of practice of business ethics in one of those areas.   In some companies there may be scandals that many occur due to breach of more than one area as listed above. For example in case of Enron in America it had breached ethic in production and distribution of power, human resource, accounting practices, and in other areas. Methodology The study mainly collected data from the secondary sources.   The study used qualitative research using a case study. In this case Enron Company was used as the main sample. The study decided to use qualitative research in order to collect detailed data about enron. By concentrating on Enron, the study was able to gather as much data as possible that was used for the study. The study chose to use qualitative research instead of quantitative research since it wanted to collected detailed data about the operation of the company that would give an insight on what happened and the overall fall of the company. The study was not interested in the quantitative data but it was interested on whom, when and how things happened.   Most the data was collected from secondary source. The study used various sources of data that gave any information regarding the operation of Enron Company. It also looked at various case studies that had been done before regarding Enron and the ethical issue r4egarign the operation of the economy.   The following were used as the main sources of information for the study; †¢ Websites †¢ Periodicals and journals †¢ Magazines †¢ Books †¢ Company reports The data collected was analysed in comparison with the studies that have been done before. The practice that led to the fall of the company was benchmarked on the required ethical practice in the corporate world in America. The research was conducted for one week through the analysis of the above mentioned sources. There were a number of ethical issues that were taken into consideration in the collection of the data. In the process of the correcting data the research visited several  Ã‚   libraries and other sources that could help to get information on the operation of the company.   The researcher ensured that the information that was requested was only the one that pertained to the operation of Enron and its eventual fall. The research also ensured that it reduced the amount of bias in the collection of data as much as possible.   Although it considered personal views that had been expressed by different writers about the operation of the company, it did not bank on their opinion which could have been biased.   Instead it  Ã‚   concentrated on collecting facts. Results   In the 1990s, Enron was   universally accepted as one of   the most innovative companies   that had   made crucial step to adopt to the new market that   and the new economy to record success in an old industry that had remained unattractive due to   the high risk that was involved.   The  Ã‚   company had growth to success very fast and in the same way it coma crumbling down. (Floyd 2001, p. 4) The eventual fall of the company has been attributed to the scandals that ware perpetrated by individual persons  Ã‚   and the whole organization in general.   From the 1990 to1998, Enron’s stock had recorded a rise of 311 percent  Ã‚   and which was considered to be one of the  Ã‚   highest growths in the country. The stock had just soared in a short period in the stock market.   In 1999 the stock further rose by 56% and 87% by 2000. It was rated the most innovative company at the same by the Fortune magazine owing to the success it had made. But his image was to change in a short period of less than one year.   In less than a year the company was in tatter and stock price fall nearly to zero.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main question that was asked by many people not only the shareholders was what was the main reason behind the fall of Enron once a successful company in period of less than one year? (Bryce 2002, p. 4) Though there were a number of activities that led to the eventual fall of Enron, the unfolding events from 2001 have been earmarked as the final blow that drove the nail in.   The following events that happened in a period of one year were responsible for the fall of the company On August 14 2001 Skilling resigned from the company after heading it for just 6 mothers. He cited the need to  Ã‚   have more time with the family although there was a factor the sagging share price. He was succeeded by Lay as the CEO. On august 22 the vice president Sherron Watking met with Lay in order to discuss a memo she had written citing looming accounting problems. On 12th October, An Arthur Anderson lawyer contacted a senior partner in Houston to remind him that  Ã‚   the company did not uphold a polity of   retaining documents that  Ã‚   were no longer   needed   which prompted the shredding of the   documents., On 16th October the same year Enron which had been posting huge profits before  Ã‚   reported a quarter loss of $638 milling loss and it also disclosed a $1.2 billion reduction in the shareholders equity. This was actually attributed to the  Ã‚   partnership that was run the chief financial office Andrew Fastow. (Gilpin 2001, p. 8) On 22nd October Enron acknowledged Securities and Exchange Commission inquire in the probability of the a conflict of interest which was related to the dealings and partnerships at the company On 23rd October Lay who had assumed the CEO passion expressed his support for Fastow. Fastow was eventually ousted in Oct. 24   On October 31st Enron accused the SEC inquires that had been upgraded into a forma investigation On November 8th Enron restated plans to consolidate partnerships arrangement retroactively.  Ã‚   The profit from 1997 to 2000 had declined by more that $591 million and the debt had increased by more $658 million. (Swartz 2003, p. 3) In November 9th it entered tin a merger with Dynergy In November 28 major credit rating  Ã‚   agencies now downgraded Enron’s debt to junk bond status which made the liability to retire its $4biono f its $13 billion debt. At the same time Dynergy pulled out of the proposed merge. (Berenson 2001, p, 23) On December 2 the company led for bankruptcy in New York and at the same time it sued Dynergy for breach of contract.

English Literature Essay Example for Free

English Literature Essay Any debate of the English novel through the Romantic era essentially begins and ends in inconsistency, particularly when one also thinks curricular, instructive and canonical matters as they are mirrored in undergraduate and graduate course assistance at colleges and universities. First, the main remarkably canonised era of mid-era, Jane Austen, is usually observed more as a modern eighteenth-century era than as a definitively Romantic one. Next, possibly the most productive of the era, Sir Walter Scott rarely appears in any but the most comprehensive or sequentially constrained reviews of the English novel. Third, the occurrence of Mary Shelleys permanently well-liked Frankenstein in the educational prospectus often replicates on one hand the longing to take in women more obviously in the standard, and on the other the desire amid numerous teacher/scholars to leave their subjects in Romantic poetry with an available work of writing style fiction whose resemblances with that poetry are equally clear and convincing. Ultimately, Gothic novels, whose flourish of fame peaked through the Romantic era, are normally demoted to the fringe of the fiction sight, their existence recognized by the fictional-significant equal of the addition at family vacation meals of the poor family members who have to eat in the back room. In brief, the Romantic novel has regularly appeared to be a non-body devoid evenly of noticeably thriving practitioners and of any definable keen readership, either two hundred years ago or nowadays. When Frances Burney in 1778, published her first novel, Evelina, her foreword believes a male voice, and, though it admits that eras are usually contempt, inquires that this novel should be read in view of Rousseau, Johnson, Marivaux, Fielding, Richardson and Smollett, a pantheon which unites knowledge expressiveness pitiable powers humour and hilarity (and, certainly, personifies these virtues within an completely masculine authority) (Burney, 1970). Merely 23 years afterwards in 1801, Maria Edgeworths alike foreword to her early novel Belinda results a civilizing sea-change. Similar to Burney, Edgeworth is apprehensive concerning maintaining the eminence of an era, calling the scripture but a moral Tale. Not like Burney, though, Edgeworth writes unmistakably as a woman, and permits her name to show on the title page. Like Burney, she commands up in her own hold up a pantheon of precursors, but as Burney refuges at the back of affectionate power, Edgeworths pantheon is comprised of â€Å"Dr Moore ,Madame de Crousaz, Mrs Inchbald, Miss Burney, and Mrs Inchbald. An innovative representation of female authorship and certainly authority has appeared: and the author who most assisted this new representation was Burney herself. The publication of Evelina and its two descendants, Cecilia (1782) and Camilla (1796), established Burneys status as an epoch whose effort was not only enjoyable but also, significantly, ethically sound. La Belle Assemblà ©e in 1806 admires her as equally a pragmatist and a moralist, presenting an accurate picture of life in a realistic form. These identical assertions are constantly heard in talks of Burney. The 13 year old Elizabeth Benger in The Female Geniad admires Burney for a novel art which [e]ngages curiosity, and affects the heart, and for humour, wit and satire, but most significantly, Throughout the whole, morality presides, / Fair purity, the pen of Burney guides (Benger: 51). Robert Bissets anti-Jacobin Douglas: or, the Highlander dedicates a complete chapter to an appraisal of Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Smith and Burney. Burney suggested initially just for not being a democrat (Bisset: III, 304), but is afterwards more generously admired for deep insight into human nature (Bisset: III, 311), and most momentous lessons of the best ethics and morals, tending to make the reader wiser, stronger and better (Bisset: III, 312). Bisset ends that where Radcliffe was mainly renowned by liveliness of fancy and Smith by softness of feeling, Burneys unique characters are depth, strength, and completeness of perceptive (Bisset: III, 315). Eighteenth-century England was a mans world. Englishmen did not pretend otherwise, would it have not happened as such. They accepted their authority as result of the natural order. Men governed the nation, made and dispensed its laws, and controlled its purse strings. They wholeheartedly embraced as their national symbol the figure of John Bull, a lusty, blunt and gruff, beef-eating yeoman whose very name suggests the stereotypical ideal of male power. More than a sheer picture to be employed for polemical purposes on the international scene, this dominating national self-image revealed the values and principles that motivated the British nation. According to the historian Linda Colley: There was a sensein which the British envisioned themselves as a basically masculine society-pretend, up-front, logical, and realistic to the degree of becoming philistine bogged down in an everlasting opposition with an basically effeminate France delicate, rationally deceitful, overwhelmed with high style, fine cooking and manners, and so fanatical towards sex that boudoir politics was made to guide it. (Colley, 1992, p. 252) Such attitudes assured the marginalisation of women in public life. Exclusion, perhaps, might be a more suitable phrase. In the arts, excluding literature, women were virtually nonexistent; few names, indeed, have made their way into the histories of painting, sculpture, music, or architecture for the period. Even in literature their contributions were and lasted to be for a long time either denigrated or ignored. Until near the closing of the century, women writers drew scornful comments from male contemporaries. The writing misses of Gothic legends at the ending of the century remained targets for scathing comments that rated their work on a par with that of printers devils. The very character of a feminine author was the object of suspicion. All but ostracised from the arts, women were no more present in the judiciary, politics, science, industry, or business. They simply had no vacancy in the common world of eighteenth-century men whose very retreats from their laboursclubs, taverns, and coffeehouses-were sanctuaries free of the presence of the feminine gender. If ones self-image helps determine success in life, eighteenth-century women were clearly doomed to failure. Wherever they turned in their society, they were found to be shown as weak and defenceless creatures, occupied mainly with the most frivolous activities, and dependent, like pets or children, upon men for support and guidance. Their silliness called for gentle chiding; their extravagance demanded sterner reproaches; and their emotional excesses, particularly suggestive of sexual feelings, called forth the severest rebukes. Periodicals and conduct books especially present a clear and no doubt dependable view of the image of women, an image created by men but generally shared by both genders in the society. As early as Joseph Addison and Richard Steele Spectator, periodical writers portray the feminine gender as attractive but essentially weak-minded, victims of foolishness, fashion, and vanity, the perfect targets for the new consumerism that Englishmen saw as a danger to the national character. Lord Chesterfield would keep women from business affairs since he regarded them as children of a larger growth. Jonathan Swift dismissed the sex as mindless, while Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, with obvious frustration, plainly enunciates the general assessment of her sisterhood: Folly is reckoned our proper sphere. So it must have been. Even those who were friendly to the gender and concerned with their welfare thought that feminine gender was an inferior species in need of male protection, defence even, from male predators since they lacked the qualities to thrive in a masculine world. John Duntons Athenian Mercury, particularly appreciative of the talents of feminine writers, nevertheless in more worldly matters saw women in conventional social and religious terms. In the Connoisseur George Colman and Bonnell Thornton, writers concerned with championing women authors, repeatedly take the gender to task for behaviour best described as immature and childish. Ridiculing womens use of cosmetics, the Connoisseur focuses on feminine vanity, the dangers of their emotionalism, and their petty concerns for gambling and party-going. The effect of this paternalistic image might be observed in the work of, among the strongest and most daring women writers of the period, Eliza Haywood, whose Female Spectator proves no less patronizing toward women than the works of the male writers already cited. Indeed, it is difficult to distinguish between Haywoods treatment of her gender and the suggestion given in a conduct book, The Ladies Calling that admonished a woman to live in a submissive selflessness consonant with her congenital incapacities. Although written seventy years after the conduct book, the interests in Haywoods courtesy periodical do not vary basically from those of her male predecessor. Her topics are love and marriage, parent-child relationships, feminine education, moral and social decorum; her views, despite her reputation as a scandalous writer, prove as conventional as those in The Ladies Calling, and, indeed, differ little from those of the host of male courtesy writers who preceded her. If someone like Haywood could be influenced by the pervasive male view of women in the prints, the evidence suggests that she was not alone even among the strongest in her gender. Elizabeth Brophy has demonstrated how the conduct books shaped womens own view of themselves whether in terms of their natural abilities, their emotional and intellectual weaknesses, or the dangers of their being overeducated. Looking at womens writing about themselves and their gender, it is not simple to distinguish how much of the portrait plays up to male expectations, how much in various subtle ways attempts to undermine the masculine view, or how much represents an acceptance of male definitions of womanhood (Todd, 1989, 9-10). Even the many fine women novelists of the century, rediscovered by feminist critics and publishers, indicate the enormous pressures on them to conform personally and professionally to male and indeed feminine expectations of women and their subject matter. Whatever may be traced to genuine gender differences, social conventions, and marketplace demands, these women were constantly made aware of their gender and limitations on it (Rogers, 1977, 64-65, 78). For example, whatever her considerable abilities as a translator, Elizabeth Carter could be comically but nonetheless seriously praised by Samuel Johnson on her equally fine ability to make a pudding. For all her intellectual talents, Carter, and many others like her had to know that in the male-dominant world they had a limited and very well-defined sphere. Given this paternalistic view of womens characterwhose very virtues appear designed to serve mens needsthe sphere for feminine activity would have to be very restricted in its boundaries. Women, after all, had inherent weaknesses, limited powers of reasoning, and emotions too easily stirred by the vapours from the womb. Men seriously regarded women as incompetent to perform the important tasks of society, too frivolous and whimsical to be trusted in serious endeavour: on the huge stage of the world, men were intended to be performers, while women were intended to remain silently and respectfully behind the curtain until called upon by men. From this point of view, women appear not simply inferior to men but creatures of a different order on natures chain of being. (Perry, 1992, 190) Yet the very things that men sensed kept women obviously out of the larger political and social prospect made them unusual in another sphere of life, one important for mens comfort, security, fortunes, and progeny. Those qualities of charitableness, compassion, submissiveness, and piety were icons of the household. Women in the domestic setting served a masculine society as totems of family values, of stability, of purity, of concern, and of loyalty. Affectionate marriages replacing the traditional contract alliances suggest mens recognition that they had to satisfy their emotional needs through matrimony. Certainly there was greater gratification in the romantic relationship than in the bleak ties of a loveless arrangement (Stone, 1977, pp. 4, 5, 7, 119; Hagstrum, 1980, pp. 1-2). Superficially, at least, it would feel like there was some type of triumph for womanhood in this new companionate marriage and its implications for greater authority at least in the household. It would seem not a bad trade-off for women who generally conceded their intellectual inferiority to men. It did, after all, give women sway in household matters more than they ever. It allowed them to act with enough guile to reignby insinuating ways so long as they maintained their customary mildness and cheerfulness.† For a lot of women the progress of the affectionate marriage, the regal control over the household, and the idealisation of womanhood that accompanied it must surely have been satisfying whatsoever the cost in having to deny the full intellect and sexuality of ones nature. For such women, words like William Alexanders in 1779 would have sounded comforting rather than annoying: As women are, in polished society, weak and incapable of self-defence, the laws of this country have supplied this defect, and formed a kind of barrier around them, by rendering their per  sons so sacred and inviolable, that even death is, in several cases, the consequence of taking improper advantage of that weakness. As the eighteenth century advanced, whatever their feelings, more and more the sphere of women became clearly the domestic workplace (LeGates, 1976, 21), and woman was idealised by man unless vanished all truly human qualities are vanished except those required to serve mens needs. Surely, however, there were women who would have recognised what Janet Todd labels as belittling idealisation in Alexanders words. Sheryl ODonnell describes such views as patriarchal notions of women as highly venerated inferior beings. Companionate marriage itself, Ruth Perry suggests, may be understandable as a more systematic psychological requisition of women to fulfil the emotional needs of men, a harsh judgment but not altogether untrue. Not all eighteenth-century women could have found pleasure in the notion that marriage was the be-all and end-all of their existence. As far back as Millamant in William Congreve Way of the World, the drawbacks of the marital state provided material for a womans lament; Charlotte Lennox Arabella in The Female Quixote most assuredly recognised the consequence of marriage on women, a good example of the anger that bubble below womens forced surface complacency. Domestic idealism could have had little appeal to the unmarried woman without prospects or to the intellectual female expected to hide her learning from an easily affronted male ego. Information that domestic responsibilities rated higher than intellectual interests could hardly have pleased the Bluestockings, however well they learned to play the game of self-effacement in a male society. Still, in the beginning and ending years in the time period from 1660 to 1800, female voices of protest were limited in a patriarchal society, and no great chorus joined such soloists as Mary Astell, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Mary Wollstonecraft. If the companionate marriage undoubtedly brought greater passion to the marital state itself, it did nothing to enlarge the sense and possibility of female sexuality in the general society. In fact, in some ways the marriage of affection demanded new or increased insistence on female chastity before and after the wedding. To be sure, the dual criterion in sexual matters willingly acknowledged that men bring sexual knowledge to the marriage bed. With the view of the womans superior morality, her idealisation as a symbol of maternal tenderness, and her embodiment of Christian virtues, however, came a demand for purity, both physical and mental. Idealisation merely brought the upper-and middle-class woman to a point where she was expected to deny her genuine emotionseither to suppress her passions or, at least, pretends that they did not exist. None of this, of course, applied to women of the lower orders. They were regarded as morally and socially inferior, not in control of their passions, and natural game for the male sex-hunter, particularly of the established classes. No better example of the double standard exists than the marital relationship of Samuel Johnsons friends, the Thrales. Henry Thrale, the brewer, carried on illicit relationships throughout his marriage to Hester Thrale. As a consequence of his behaviour, he suffered repeated venereal ailments, the treatment of which became, in part, his wifes responsibility even during a pregnancy. Still, no one in their society, and even Hester Thrales twentieth-century male biographer, found Henry Thrales conduct appalling. Indeed, like other males in their circle (Boswell, of course, is a good example); Henry Thrale, certainly, have his suffering as a sign of the nobility of his virility. His friends looked upon such manhood, if not the consequence, as admirable. Yet, when her husband died and Mrs. Thrale married Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian musician, she scandalised her circle of friendsincluding the novelist Fanny Burneynot simply because Piozzi was an Italian Catholic and a musician, but because in choosing him despite these drawbacks she had displayed a passion unbecoming to a woman of her times. She had placed her romantic feelings, her sexual desires, above the common sense expected of the now desexualised respectable woman. In every way society had made women citizens of another country. The double standard allowed men to cheat freely on their wives while demanding impeccable fidelity from them. For upper-class men to foist bastards on lower-class women, including their own household servants, brought neither shame nor embarrassment to them. If they chose to pay for the upkeep of these children, that was evidence of their generosity. If idealisation had made married women beings devoid of normal human emotions, the very laws of their country turned them into chattel, the property of their husbands. Let a woman fall from grace, and it required a miracle or at least a generous-hearted novelist to rescue her from utter destruction. Once having yielded to her passions, she was regarded as appropriate victim for all other males in her society. Even at the lower levels of society, the disparity of the sexes is evident, for example, in such a thing as the notorious practice of wife-selling in the period. Despite a recent attempt to apologise for it as a poor mans system of divorce and to show that women frequently found satisfaction in it (Thompson, 1991), the fact remains that it was the selling of wives and not husbands that characterised the procedure. Like the very system that excluded women from the public sphere, the terms of more personal relationships removed women from intimate relationships with men. Given the circumstances of women in eighteenth century society, it is not remarkable that they cut such poor figures in the novels of the period. One way or another, they were perceived by male writers as stereotypes: idealised heroines, fallen figures, comic and grotesque old maids, bluestockings, sexy servants, and the like. It would require the talents and sensitivity of the most unusual male writeror, indeed, femaleto get beyond the facade and thus create as well-rounded female characters as the believable heroes of eighteenth-century fiction. Very much a part of that male-dominant society of eighteenth-century England, Tobias Smollett could be likely considering women from that limited perspective. Indeed, it would be hard to identify a writer in the period more likely to display an example of the masculine sensibility. Even more than Henry Fielding, the contemporary novelist that he is most similar to, Smollett wrote novel that has, from his era to the present, appealed largely to male readers. Whether in his personal life, his attitude toward women in the real world, his generic literary interests, or the interrelationships among them, the forces shaping Smolletts novels led naturally to the small roles acted by caricatured women in his writing. Clearly, from whatever stance it has been written, critical opinion has consistently denied Smolletts ability to deal with women and their emotions. Feminist critics find his work insignificant for their purposes, contrast his blindness to female sensitivities with Samuel Richardsons awareness of womens feelings, and charge him with a misunderstanding and respect for the opposite sex. More traditional evaluations of Smolletts treatment, from early on and regardless of the gender of the writers, prove equally dismissive of his talent for dealing with women, their feelings, or their relationships with men. When Smolletts female characters are not being ignored, they are discussed for their eccentricities, their absence of reality, or their evidence of the authors paternalistic attitudes. Their very presence in Smolletts work and their treatment are attributed to the writers need to satisfy public taste rather than to any genuine personal interest in them. Whether as stereotypical idealised heroines or comic grotesques, Smolletts women are perceived only in relation to the roles they serve to satisfy his heroes needs. Certainly, neither Smollett’s life nor fiction displays the kind of sensitivity to womens emotions that would permit him to create heroines that go much beyond the idealisation that makes their sexual passions anything more than a convenience to gratify their husbands desires. If he achieves a sense of sympathy for the situation of fallen women in a character like Miss Williams in Roderick Random, her tale and its emotions are largely written to formulaic stereotypes. The distance between the fictional conventions in her story and the more revealing inset of Memoirs of a Lady of Quality in Peregrine Pickle reveals the contrast between masculine assumptions and genuine feminine sensitivities. Smollett feels most secure in his comic or grotesque female characters because they dependdespite his superior skillson conventional stereotypes that protect him from having to go too deeply into their emotions. After all, affectionate awareness toward women should barely be expected from a novelist capable of repeatedly harsh treatment of Jews (with the exception of Joshua in Ferdinand Count Fathom) and of blacks in both Roderick Random and Humphry Clinker. The wonder of it is that Smollettfor all his limitationsmanaged to generate so much diversity in his female characters of all types. That fact suggests the importance of talent and the effects of function in fiction. Smolletts limitations begin with his personal experience. Some sense of what can be expected in Smolletts female characters, especially his heroines, becomes evident in an inspection of his real relationships and associations with women. Although the much time has passed when simple biographical criticism could be freely used to explain works of literature that does not mean that an authors life is so distinct from his or her writing that biographical material cannot contribute to a better understanding of how and why the writers fiction takes the shape that it does. The authors interests, values, and experiences, after all, account for choice in subject matter, methods of presentation, and objects of focus. If, for example, a writer regards women in a particular way, that attitude is expected to influence his or her treatment of female characters. If a writer concentrates on a hero rather than a heroines activities and interests, then it is likely to be the hero who dominates the work while women play minor or subsidiary roles. For Smollett especially, since he depended too much on his own experiences and sought to bring to his fiction a genuine sense of the actual world as he perceived it, the facts of his biography as they bear upon his relationships to women seem appropriate. (Beasley, 1982, pp. 74ff. 82-83) Given Smolletts dependence on experience and his associations with women, it is not astonishing that he opts for the picaresque mode for his novels, that he emphasizes the adventures of a single male character, and that he utilizes his imagined women chiefly as adjuncts to the interests of his heroes. Smolletts biography, particularly his personal and emotional relationships with women, discloses a strongly male personality, even for an eighteenth-century man that forecasts the manner in which female characters appear in his novels-novels, after all, entitled Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle rather than Pamela or Clarissa. Judged by what we know of Smolletts relationship with his spouse, he was a man who, if he had romantic passion, managed very well to control any expression of it. At a time when a new order of familial connections had become well established and affection between marital partners was the norm, Smolletts biography and work reflect no real tendency to an open expression of romantic feelings toward Nancy (Anne) Lassells, the West Indian heiress whom he married in about 1743. That very doubt about their wedding date suggests the manner in which Smollett chose to expose his personal feelings to the world. The same vagueness marks the place of their marriage, and Smolletts earliest biographersthose, after all, closest to the evidence and one a good friendcould provide no help on the matter and had to resort to creating imaginary details about it and about Anne herself. Like the idealised heroines of romance, Smolletts wife, as presented by him, seems little more than a fictional construction existing for the role she played in the life of the hero. Smolletts taciturnity about his most intimate relationship with a woman seems to mask what strongly appears to have been a good marriage. No evidence of other womenbefore or during their marriageexists anywhere in Smolletts biography, an absence that perhaps helps account for the lack of any concreteness in his portrayal of the emotional lives of most of his heroines. Certainly Smollett never indicates any dissatisfaction with their relationship. The one statement in a letter to Robert Barclay in 1744 that enigmatically expresses Smolletts uncertain state at the time may refer, as Lewis Knapp suggests, to Smolletts financial insecurity. Characteristically, Smollett holds back on the details. Smollett himself, years later in his Will, gives an apparent portrait of his considerations of Anne. Although Knapp says of the document, Through the legal terminology of [it] there burns the flame ofhis true affection for his wife, its formality speaks more to her generosity than to any strong emotion on his part. The novelist who could readily give vent to passions of anger and revenge in both life and fiction could not easily find words to describe the romantic emotions of love. Unlike Henry Mackenzie, his fellow Scots novelist, Smollett could not employ the vocabulary of a man of feeling. Even in his Will he can come up with no stronger language than my dear Wife Anne Smollett. When Dr. Giovanni Gentili, after Smolletts death, summarised the life of the Smolletts as one of perfect harmony, he appears to be seeing the relationship through Smolletts own stoical sensibility. That same stoicism did not characterize Anne. The few documents of hers we have reveal not only an intelligent and informed woman but also physically powerful touching association in their matrimony in spite of her husbands incapability forever to find suitable words to explain it. Certainly, for all that is recognized of Smolletts touching eruption of annoyance with others, it seems that he knew reasonably well not to vent his ill temper in opposition to his spouse, or, at any rate, she knew well as to how to deal with him in a matrimony that provides no proof that he ever mislaid her warmth. Like Smollett, she could explode when circumstances called for it, but unlike him she could find a tender phrase to express her feelings of love and did not falter in doing so. In a letter to Archibald Hamilton in 1773, she displays a fairly close familiarity with her husbands work and a good understanding of literature. Protective of her husbands reputation, she pushes, ultimately successfully, for a monument to his memory. She enquires that his volumes be transferred to her. She bemoans how much that Dear Man Suffered while he wrote Humphry Clinker during his terminal illness and how miss-used he was by his publisher. For her he was my dear Smollett, and, as their friend Robert Graham wrote in a prologue to a play for her benefit, she was capable of weeping for the loss of Smollet [sic] [who] once was mine! Only once does Smollett himself provide a picture of their blissful marriage. In an undated fragment of a letter, he writes: Many a time do I stop my task and betake me to a game of romps with Betty [Elizabeth, his daughter), while my wife looks on smiling and longing in her heart to join in the sport; then back to the cursed round of duty. The round of duty is Smolletts, not Annes, and she remains, like women of her time, an appendage to her husband. In Smolletts letters, poetry, and Travels Through France and Italy, the same picture emerges. Perhaps it is unfair to use his letters as evidence. Smollett’s routine was too hectic to apprehend himself with writing letters, and generally they are perfunctory and business-like, hardly the place to expect much emotional expression, let alone romantic effusions. If any were ever written to Anne herself, they no longer exist. References to her are few: regards to a family member and friends, a comment about selling part of her estate, the puzzling remark to Barclay perhaps about his trepidations about marriage, and a comment on her health. In a letter to Richard Smith, an American admirer, in 1763, however, Smollett summarizes his life and describes his marriage. To be sure, it would be remarkable if Smollett displayed his emotions in a letter to a stranger. Nevertheless, his comment illustrates again his characteristic coldness in his references to Anne: I married, very young, Jamaican, a young Lady famous and respected across the world, under the name of Miss Nancy Lassells; and by her I enjoy a relaxing though modest area in that Island. The coldness of Smolletts language and what he chooses to say are a remarkable foreshadowing of the descriptive terms in his Will. Even in a letter to his friend Alexander Reid after the Smolletts had lost their only child, Smollett, while speaking of his grief in a half a sentence, ignores altogether the impact on Anne and only later speaks of his wife as enjoy[ing] pretty good Health. Not even in poetry apparently concentrated on Anne does Smollett manage to convey romantic emotion. His novels show him to be passionateabout injustice, personal grievance, stupidity, and the like. In the poem Tears of Scotland on the outrageous treatment of the Scots after the Battle of Culloden, he does not hold back on his feelings, and in Ode to Leven-Water in Humphry Clinker he explode forward into over-romantic reminiscence. And yet neither A Declaration in Love: Ode to Blue-Eyd Ann nor his Pastoral Ballad (both published in his British Magazine in 1760) rises above the variety of part conservative in his era or proffers everything close to profound feeling. The ode, probably a relic of his courtship, seems rescued from a pile of old papers to serve as filler in his new magazine. The ballad, a stock part, has no value save for the detail that it is almost certainly Smolletts. Neither has the strength or passion that suggests genuine emotion. Nor was it likely that Smolletts poems would be open declarations of his deepest romantic feelings. When Lord George Lyttelton published his openly sentimental monody on the death of his wife, Smollett responded with a savage parody in Peregrine Pickle. Smollett was no Lyttelton, nor was he like the later Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who cast the inscribed poems into the grave of his wife, Elizabeth Siddall. If Roderick Randoms two poems to the heroine of his novel (225-27) or the poet Melopoyns, in which Roderick substitutes her name for the characters, were inspired by Smolletts feelings for Anne (and the novel was, after all, written only a few years after their marriage), it would be a sign of his sentiments, romantic feelings that he otherwise managed to keep well hidden. For Smollett, womeneven the woman to whom he was closestwere attendant upon men just as the heroines of his novels served to fill out mens stories and adventures. They were observed, when they were observed, from the outside. Consider the character that Anne has in Travels Through France and Italy. Although she was present throughout the journey, she seems barely to exist. According to Knapp, the references to Anne in the Travels signified that the author was affectionately dedicated to his Ann. In a paternalistic way that is factual, but it is even more to the note to point that the minute part that she participates in the work hands out the reasons of the performer, the male explorer who is the focal point of the books concentration. Smolletts strong masculine sensibility so evident in his marital relationship was bound to affect his treatment of female characters in his novels. That same sensibility apparently influenced his relationship with women in the society outside his home, and that, too, would help account for his fictional approach to members of the other sex, especially limiting his ability to go below the surface of his female characters to develop their emotions and to understand their sensibilities. No other major male writer in the period seems so restricted in his association with women, particularly in social situations. References Beasley, Jerry C. (1982) â€Å"Novels of the 1740s† Athens: University of Georgia Press, pp. 74ff. 82-83 Burney, Frances. (1970) â€Å"Evelina; or, a Young Ladys Entrance into the World†, ed. Edward A. Bloom. London: Oxford University Press: 7, 9. Colley, Linda (1992), Britons Forging the Nation 1707-1837, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 252 Hagstrum, Jean H. (1980), Sex and Sensibility: Ideal and Erotic Love from Milton to Mozart, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-2. LeGates, Marlene (Fall 1976) The Cult of Womanhood in Eighteenth-Century Thought, Eighteenth-Century Studies 10: 21 Perry, Ruth (Feb. 1992) Colonizing the Breast: Sexuality and Maternity in Eighteenth Century England, Eighteenth-Century Life 16, n.s. 1: 190. Rogers, Katharine M. (Fall 1977) Inhibitions in Eighteenth-Century Women Novelists: Elizabeth Inch bald and Charlotte Smith, Eighteenth-Century Studies 11: 64-65, 78. Stone, Lawrence (1977), The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800, New York: Harper and Row, pp. 4, 5, 7, 119 Thompson, E. P.   (1991), Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular Culture (New York: The New Press, Ch. 7. Todd, Janet The Sign of Angellica: Women; Writing, and Fiction, 1660-1800 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), pp. 9-10.

The definition, history and importance of environmental auditing

The definition, history and importance of environmental auditing Introduction Environmental auditing is defined by the international chamber of commerce as the systematic examination of the interactions between any business operation and its surroundings. This includes all emissions to air, land, and water; legal constraints; the effects on the neighbouring community, landscape and ecology; and the publics perception of the operating company in the local area. An environmental audit does not stop at compliance with legislation. Nor is it a green-washing public relations exercise. Rather it is a total strategic approach to the organisations activities (International chamber of commerce, 1991). All businesses use resources and produce waste; as such they have an effect be it direct or indirect on the environment. Thus, environmental auditing is in place to monitor and regulate an organisations impact on the environment. This element of corporate social responsibility has attracted the most attention in recent years (Clarke, 1998) and this is a reflection of the growing importance society place on environmental issues. This essay will introduce environmental auditing in further detail before moving on to discuss the key trends and the key stages which took place in the development of external auditing. Furthermore, Tesco and Shell will be used to highlight how environmental auditing has affected these organisations strategies and business models before finally drawing conclusions as to the future of the issue. Before discussing the development of environmental auditing since the 1970s, it is first important to clarify what is meant by environmental auditing. The term auditing is one which is used far more widely than just the verification of accounts, and therefore it is important to determine what is meant by auditing in the specific case of environmental auditing (Gray, 2000). An environmental audit report will identify the forms and classes of waste produced by an organisation. This may be completed privately by an external auditor, or may be the result of pressure from activist groups in which such an audit is demanded. Either way, often the result is a self reporting by the organisation detailing their waste disposal and future goals regarding environmental issues. The objectives of this report are focused on trace the development of environment auditing over last several years. In chapter two, I will analyze the history of environmental auditing, changes, trends and developments. And then chapter three and chapter four will move on to discuss how environmental auditing has affected the practices of two large multinationals: Shell and Tesco. The case studies will cover the adoption process of environmental auditing, how companies have had to change their practices to meet changes in legislation over time, and, a review of any action which has been taken against companies, due to the neglect of environmental practices. Finally, chapter five will synthesise the ideas of this paper to draw conclusions as to the likely direction environmental auditing will take in the future. CHAPTER TWO The history of environmental auditing, changes, trends and developments This essay will now discuss the history of environmental auditing since the 1970s. This period of time has been covered because it contains some of the most prominent events that have been fundamental in the determination of more current trends that can be observed within the last ten years. Although environmental auditing is not a recent phenomenon, and is one which can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century, it was in the 1970s in which the situation gained prominence (Owen, 2003 p.6) when the clean air act was first legislated. The clean air act can be seen as the birth of environmental awareness, in which the US government took action to reduce air pollution in order to enhance air quality. Businesses in the US were made to comply with the legislation, and this could often involve the implementation of costly preventative measures in order to reduce pollution, especially for those organisations involved in high waste sectors (Hess, 2000). This legislation reflec ted a growing concern throughout developed nations in the 1970s regarding environmental quality, which was seen at the time as a pressing political concern. Earth day, a momentous event in 1970 acted as a national catharsis in which society pushed for change regarding environmental issues. Great pressure was put on manufacturing industries and, increasing media attention was given to those firms which were seen to be having a detrimental effect on the environment (Environmental protection agency, 2010). The clean air act of 1970 was followed by the clean water act in 1972. The development of acts relating to environmental issues was slowly picking up pace which was causing increasing concern to firms, which were largely the only opposition to such acts. Perhaps the most salient development in this period was the event which saw Allied Chemical indicted on account of 1094 pollution violations and forced to set up a system which monitored environmental risk (Groves and Pearce, 2005). The move to punish companies for bad environmental practice was a key development in environmental auditing and saw the beginning of a series of fines for those companies failing to comply with safe environmental practices. This is something which has become commonplace over the last ten years with a trend of increasing stringency regarding the governmental measurement of a firms environmental impact and, the appropriate measures of control. During the 1980s there was an increasing awareness of environmental issues politically, which led to the organisation of a professional auditing team to discuss environmental auditing in 1981. This was the first time in which environmental auditing had been discussed by an accountancy team, and by 1983, firms were already beginning to implement environmental audits. By 1986 the EPA had published an official policy report regarding environmental auditing; this could be seen as a call out to all other firms to follow safe environmental practices. The particular focus on this initial report being, that environmental auditing would help health and safety around the workplace. Meanwhile, in academic literature, the concept of environmental auditing was beginning to receive attention. This led to an increase in academic awareness of the subject which resulted in the conceptualisation and clarification of the topic (Cahill and Kane, 1984). During the last decade, there has been an increasin g amount of publications surrounding the topic of environmental auditing, and this has led to a greater understanding of what it constitutes. Furthermore, there have been an increasing number of regulatory bodies ensuring that strict regulations are in place and that firms activities are closely monitored (Porter Linde, 1999). It can also be noted that, since this period, where accountants were first consulted on the matter, there has been a recent trend within the last ten years whereby more and more intangible activities have been allocated quantifiable tangible costs, such that firms can be taxed and charged (Bovenberg Mooji, 1997). It is noted that throughout history, environmental auditing has been driven by catastrophic events that have caused significant environmental damage. It has been events such as these that have created pressure, which has been put on companies such as Shell, to implement preventative measures rather than measures which are responsive. The Union Carbide incident in India in 1984 caused many companies to sit up and pay attention to environmental concerns. The pesticide factory had failed to take appropriate actions to safeguard the disposal of waste gas and, during an evening in 1984, 3400 people were killed and 50,000 were made invalid due to a poisonous gas leak. The report that followed the incident highlighted how the company had known there were problems with the pipe and that this could cause such an event, however, the company had chosen to ignore it as a way of cutting (short term) costs (Long, 2008). Other major events during the 1980s included the Exon Valdez oil spill (Maki, 1991) and the Chernobyl nuclear leak. During the last ten years there has been a notable reduction in the amount of environmental disasters caused by neglect or incompetence on the part of firms. This is due to the influence of modern day environmental auditing which has caused companies to direct their focus towards tighter preventative measures rather than face potentially substantial costs. The 1990s saw the development of legislation regarding environmental concerns. Furthermore, companies began to introduce more sophisticated environmental auditing systems (Siniscalco et al, 2000). In the last decade, there has been a remarkable growth in the number of companies that report on various aspects of both their environmental and social policy (Owen, 2003). Such a rise in environmental auditing has continued consistently and remains to do so. Presently there has been a growth in the amount of companies focused on environmental auditing. Furthermore, in the last ten years there has been a rise in the amount of self auditing which is occurring within companies. The EPA has introduced a scheme in which companies can audit their own practices. This involves, the company in question, being able to report problems and even criminal violations without punishment, the caveat being that such problems are fixed. This therefore reflects a development from environmental auditing being viewed as merely the checklist of the 1980s and 1990s to one which is more focused on managerial processes (Hiemstra, 2007). CHAPTER THREE Shell and environmental auditing The Shell Oil Corporation is no stranger to environmental fines. Most recently, the company were forced to pay $19.5million in environmental fines due to violations at gas stations in the state of California (ABC news, 2009). The company have a long history of environmental fines, and, most noticeable is the $1.5 billion dollars the company had to pay due to oil spills in Nigeria (Baker, 2006). Increasingly stringent legislation has caused the firm to face up to their actions, with negative effects on the companys bottom line profits. No longer can the company get away with negative environmental actions and both governments and regulatory bodies will continue to punish the corporation until preventative measures are taken. Thus, it could be argued that the development of environmental auditing has had a negative effect on the firm. In response to such changes in environmental auditing, the company are taking increasing preventative measures in order to avoid the burden of large fine s, and, to promote a greener image to clients. This is reflected through the companys website in which a section highlights their commitment to the environment (Shell, 2010). Over the last ten years Shell have put an increasing amount of public prevention plans into place, thus highlighting how the company have responded to changes in environmental auditing by taking preventative rather than responsive measures. However, despite greater reporting of their environmental practices, the company have come under scrutiny regarding their independent environmental audits. In 2008, the company were accused of manipulating an environmental audit report so as to gain financial support for a new oil and gas project. It was shown through various reports that the company were attempting to downplay and edit environmental criticism (Environmental Leader, 2008 p.1) . This therefore presents an inherent problem with environmental auditing, that those firms with something to hide will often try to cover up reports of damages by manipulating external auditors. It can therefore be observed that, despite attempts to appear greener and offer preventative methods, Shell Oil Corporation still have a long way to go before they comply with all EPA regulations, and, until then, the company will continue to be fined for activities causing damage to the surrounding environment. CHAPTER FOUR Tescos and environmental auditing Tescos provide a prime example of the recent changes and trends that have occurred and developed over the last ten years, particularly the increasing trend of companies using environmental auditing as a marketing tool and as a means of competing with rivalling supermarkets such as Morrisons, MS, Sainsburys and Waitrose. In 2006, Sainsburys announced the launch of its ethical business drive in order to win back the green moral high ground from Tesco (Mesure, 2006). This followed Tescos high profile green initiatives whereby less plastic bags were used and carbon emissions were decreased. Sainsburys had in fact implement green stores 7 years previous to this, however, due to Tescos actions being more visible to the public through superior marketing, this was not sufficiently effective on a competitive level. This perfectly encapsulates the current trends by which companies have moved from preventative measures of environmental problems, as a result of environmental auditing, towards th e use of environmental auditing for the purpose of marketing the business and increasing its popularity among potential consumers within the market. This, however, potentially raises the presently salient issue of green washing, something that Tesco, in particular, have come under criticism for in recent years (Pierce, 2009). This usually involves the production and marketing of misleading reports regarding green standards, which raises issues of ethics in advertising. This has resulted in increasingly stringent environmental audits and more demanding standards that mean that it is becoming all the more difficult for companies such as Tesco to evade the associated penalties (Maltby, 1995). With this considered, and due to the often beneficial nature of sustainable practices on efficiency and popularity and, therefore, shareholder wealth, it would seem reasonable to predict that in the future, we will see less need for stringent external environmental auditing, as more companies will realise the long term financial and competitive benefits that are associated with lofty efficiency goals (Porter Linde, 1999). CHAPTER FIVE The future of environmental auditing From the above analyse conclusions can be drawn as to the future of environmental auditing. Firstly, there appears to be a current trend in the actions of companies moving from correction to preventative measures (Hiemstra, 2007). The Environmental protection agency, as mentioned, is encouraging a process of self auditing and this is likely to be an increasing trend for the future in which more and more firms become pro active towards such issues. Furthermore, in the future, there is likely to be a greater agreement that an emphasis on environmental practices can enhance bottom line profits. Such a trend is apparent now as firms such as Morrisons use environmental audits to promote a green image to their consumers which in turn could be said to be contributing to the company being voted retailer of the year. Another trend, as reflected in the example of Morrisons, is the increasing reporting of a companys carbon footprint. As evidence of the global climate crisis increases, more emphasis of such issues will be included in environmental audits, with the likelihood that this area will become a central project for many companies (Hiemstra, 2007). It can be concluded that the development of environmental auditing will increase, and it will develop into something which is no longer having to be imposed on firms, as firms begin to realise the benefits of good environmental practice and thus begin to self regulate. However, as shown in the cases of both Tescos and the Shell Oil Corporation, there are examples where such companies are shown to manipulate environmental audits, and thus, this calls for more stringent, stricter processes in the future in which firms truly do undertake independent audits which continue to be regulated to a high standard.

Dirk Slander: Man with a Mission :: Short Story Stories Essays

Dirk Slander: Man with a Mission "Move your slag Princess!" The henchmen shouted at Princess Bithics, pushing her roughly with the end of his gun. The princess stumbled up the step in front of her and banged her knee on the ground. Dirk Slander struggled in his bonds to move toward her, but his captor tightened the grip on Dirk's neck, and punched Dirk in the back to quite him down. "None of that." A scratchy voice whispered in his ear. The man's hot breath floated over Dirk's shoulder and assaulted his nose; it smelled of old wine and rotten eggs. "You be a good boy Mr. Slander, or I tell Randolph there to give your Princess the once over." The man punched Dirk in the back again to make his point. Dirk gritted his teeth and grunted, but didn't cry out. Relaxing a bit, he allowed himself to be pulled back from the princess. She staggered to her feet, tentatively tested the bruised knee, and continued up the stone steps, now walking with a small limp. Dirk had no doubts she was in pain. Sweat beaded around her temples, causing her fine black bangs to stick to her forehead. Dirt was smeared on her cheeks, and blood from her bottom lip trailed off the corner of her mouth down her small but determined chin. She looked nothing like the Princess of Casmir, in fact Dirk would have thought her a different girl entirely if her eyes still didn't hold that radiating icy glare. Dirk had to admire her spirit; most women would be a bubbling mass of emotion by now. The princess had moxy, no doubt about it. "How much of the treasure did Gorgonzola promise you?" Dirk asked the man behind him, keeping one eye on the princess. "He promised me enough, don't you worry about that." Bree answered, and jabbed Dirk with the end of his pistol. Dirk grunted again, but managed to keep his footing. "Watching you die is all the payment I need." "You really think Gorgonzola is going to split with you? What's to stop him from double crossing you the way he double crossed us?" Dirk asked. While he talked, he tested his bonds. He hoped Bree couldn't see him struggling in the darkening twilight. "Mr. Slander I never trust anyone." Bree said, his voice sounded bored and tired. "Which is why I'm the one with the gun and you're the one marching to your death.

Feminism and Masculinity Essay -- Manhood Hegemonic Masculinity

In contemporary society, hegemonic masculinity is defined by physical strength and boldness, heterosexuality, economic independence, authority over women and other men, and an interest in sexual relationships. While most men do not embody all of these qualities, society supports hegemonic masculinity within all its institutions, including the educational institute, the religious institute and other institutes which form the ideological state apparatus. Standards of masculinity vary from time to time, from culture to culture. However, masculinity always defines itself as superior and different from femininity. For example, gay men and househusbands exemplify "subordinate" masculinities in our culture. They are not considered to be "real men". And yet, many still support hegemonic masculinity, for example, men being the main breadwinner for the family. Easthope (1990) states that, â€Å"masculinity tries to stay invisible by passing itself off as normal and universal† (Easthope, 1990: 1). The notion of masculinity tries to become a norm in society so then its counterpart, femininity is seen as different and deviant. Against this backdrop, femininity is constructed around the adaptation to male power. Its central feature is attractiveness to men, which includes physical appearance, suppression of "power", and nurturance of children, heterosexuality, sexual availability, and sociability. Masculinity and femininity are societal euphemisms for male dominance and female subordinat...