Groupon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Groupon - Essay Example eferral system which enables availment of Groupon bucks (Bulygo & Metrics, 2012); (6) offering purchases for a friend which could enjoin more to attest and appreciate the benefits accorded by Groupon; and (7) entrenching more awareness to products and services offered by merchants through word-of-mouth and through social networking sites; among others. As emphasized by Sviokla (2009), the keys to enhanced customer satisfaction stems from Groupon’s ability to: â€Å"(1) make the interaction simple; (2) create a sense of urgency; (3) energize customers to enjoin others to join; and (4) make the experience a lot of fun† (p.1). executed well? The quality of these activities fit with the overall strategy, which is consistent with the 5s of internet marketing, which are: to sell, to serve, to speak, to save and to sizzle (Andrew, 2013, p. 7). Its mission was to â€Å"treat our customers the way we like to be treated† (Groupon, 2013, par. 3). An important component of the strategy is adherence to â€Å"unbelievable customer service† (Groupon, 2013, par. 5). As such, Groupon pledged to achieve the 5s of internet marketing through implementing the activities above-mentioned. Based on the remarkable performance of Groupon as reviewed from their financial highlights, where it was revealed that â€Å"†record billings growth this quarter is a clear signal that customers love Groupons," said Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon† (Business Wire, 2013, par. 4). As such, the sustained financial success proves that the strategies applied by Groupn were effective and fitted will with the organization’s overall strategy. In addition, since there were a lot of other organizations that mimicked or replicated their business model (Richey, 2010), it therefore attests to the effectiveness of the strategy in achieving financial

Marriage and Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marriage and Parenting - Essay Example Thus, here the family is seen "as a place of intimacy, love, and trust where the individuals may escape the competition of the humanizing forces in modern society" (Zinn & Eitzen, 1999: 8), making them salient 'paradigms', images on which cultures around the world are compared. The adherence to this age-old concept of 'family' and the constructs of family-connected-living is found to be mutually fulfilling and beneficial, bringing about care and dependency, and predictability of roles and responsibilities. Thus, the family can also be seen as providing fulfillment, and a place of compensation and protection (Zinn & Eitzen, 1999: 2). But, the traditional family-construct solicited long term commitment and fidelity of both the individuals involved. This was opposite to the fulfillment of self-satisfaction gained in those pursuits, which were the main goals of the value-system present in the society. Here, family and the commitment it envisages, is viewed as a struggle, or as an encumbrance. This gives it a negative image. Under this perception, family-based kinship-relationships are the limiting factors of the individual's quest of fulfillment of aspirations. Thus, in this view, family is a bondage that inhibits full human potential. The relationship between romantic love and sex is effectively explained through biology - which views both as the basis of human behavior. Studies have shown the Man is evolution's tool, not its master (Kelman, 1998, pp.3-24). But, the distinctions of gender, and a more primitive form of romantic love, which signifies some sense of sex or sexuality, is found in most animals too. Gender is understood as the physical evolutionary organs male and female, bestowed by nature, for the 'continuum of the genetic species'. The gender classification inherently denotes the tasks and responsibilities to be performed by either like, females reproduce, prepare food; males hunt etc. Sexuality is explained as the heightened awareness with the aim of procreation, of the "physical evolutionary change related to the sexual act itself" (Kelman, 1998, pp.3-24). Hence, gender is the stereo-type role play determined by the basic sex viz. male or female of the species. For example, animals especially other apes, "enjoy sex only when the females are in their most fertile phase, their estrus" and "would quickly lose interest" (Kelman, 1998, pp.3-24), once it is over, to carry on their social role play such as child-rearing and grooming. This is true for other species as birds and insects too; their mating instincts making them acutely aware of their differences, "birds dance and sing in courtship". Thus sex seems to be a "kind of universal social lubricant" in a complex social world, with the secretion of sex-hormones dictating their behavior. For human beings, though much of the primitive sexual instincts have been retained, they are not exclusively driven by their hormones alone. The effect of culture and the presence of emotional attachment that binds them in relationships cannot be ignored. Thus, they "are bound together by more complicated bonds than an enhanced sexual relationship" and because of the other emotions involved, for human beings "sex is very rarely simply sex" (Kelman, 1998, pp.3-24). Compare and contrast two cultural systems of marriage. "Marriage is about as close as humans come to a universal cultural value"

Literature Review On Inventory Control Management Finance Essay

Literature Review On Inventory Control Management Finance Essay The Assam Tea Corporation is a pioneer in producing high quality tea having its own processing plant with an excellent implication of inventory control. The main aim of this report is to conduct a literature review on the inventory control management and the operations in practice of the Assam Tea corporation processing plant where I was employed. The company has an efficient structure of inventory control and has set a standard for other companies in the same operation in that area .The company produces a high quality tea mostly meant for export in the form of CTC and Orthodox tea. The product of the company is world famous for its high quality taste. They offer state of the art infrastructure in the processing plant with a highly trained employee and efficient way if inventory control. They have various units in the processing plant i.e, starting from the picking up of green leaves which is the major part of raw material.The company has own plantation unit from where the raw material is readily available. Moreover they have tie ups with other local tea gardens to ensure a steady supply of tea leaves.The tea processing unit is a complex mechanical process works under the principle of operation management and inventory control.The function of it is a crucial one which has to deal with seasonal and cyclical fluctuations of demand persisting in the market .The inventory control has to deal with waste management in the unit by finding out the optimum level of demand .The seasonal fluctuations is mainly incorporated with the monsoon season where the production of tea leaves at the peak level.I was assigned with the responsibility of th e assistant manager operations in the processing unit. This report mainly encounters with the various concept of inventory control and its management undertaken by an organisation with stress on inventory and its effective control.It deals with the cost related with the inventory and its profile,Usage of probabilistic estimate of demand and overall role of the inventory control in a tea processing unit .There are various issues how to improvise the situations and improve the competitiveness related to the issues .The method applied to prepare this report with a high concentration on the textbooks and the web-source related to operations management .The information collected through all the experimentations observed and finally resorted to website and standard textbook of operations management. 2.Literature Review 2.1 What is inventory Inventory has a multilevel function in the process unit and the firms used to maintain mainly four level of inventories Raw material-This is the unprocessed form of the item which can be utilisied from varied number of suppliers .This form should be used to find out the superior form by removing the supply variability in quality,quanity or time of delivery. Work-in process(WIP) inventory-This is an intermediary form of inventory when the raw materials undergone a change but not completed. Maintanence/repair /operations(MRO) inventory- 2.2 INVENTORY CONTROL MANAGEMENT In this part of analysis importance should be given when to order and how much to order.The model which are based on independent demand can be divided into three. 1.Basic Economic Order quantity(EOQ) model 2.Production order quantity 3.The quantity discount model Basic Economic Order Quantity model This is the most common form of the inventory control technique .The technique is based upon following assumptions- Production order quantity model The model is applicable under two situations.Firstly,When the order is placed there is continuous flow of inventory.Secondly,the units are produced and sold simultaneously.In the case of Assam Tea Corporation processing unit both these situations are prevalent.In this model daily production rate is determined on the basis of daily rate of demand. It is useful when inventory build up is a continuous process over the time and assumption of traditional Economic Order conditions holds valid.It is the situation where the optimum order size Q* is estimated with an equality in set up cost to holding cost,The production order quantity model: Q=Number of pieces per order H=Holding cost per unit per year P=Daily production rate d=Daily demand rate or usage rate t=Length of the production run in days The final expression for optimal level of inventory Q* is- Probabilistic model with constant lead time Probailistic model with constant leadtime is highly relevant.In the presence of uncertain demand ,the management of the company faces challenges to maintain adequate service level.The service level can be complimented by the probability of a stock out isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦To reduce stock out the company can hold inventory as safety stock. Whereas if Reorder point=ROP=dxL With the addition of safety stock,the expression becomes=ROP=dxL+SS However annual stock out costs=The sum of the unit shortxthe probabilityxThe stock out cost per unitxthe number of orders per year 2.2 COST OF INVENTORY In case inventory control analysis there are various costs involved in the overall process.The cost of inventory is calculated in the form of unit values.However major segment of the inventory cost can be discussed as follows- THE CARRYING COST OF INVENTORY In this segment of costs of carrying items of inventories are included.This is the cost of running a warehouse,cost that are incurred on handling and counting,costs involved in special storage ,damage and lost,insurance,tax and wornout costs. THE ORDERING OR SET UP COST This is the cost which is associated with placing an order and replenishment.This cost includes all the form of orders,establishment cost needed to ensure it,inspection and receiving cost,handling the vendor invoice and the cost necessary to meet unexpected situation. This may be a cost of skilled mechanic charged as per his technical specification.There are various arguments whether the cost of the skilled mechanic is a fixed cost .But Kaplan (1988),all the costs involved in the long term is virtually variable cost where in that period a person can be fired,a plant can come to shutdown. INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY COST The cost involved here is meant to avoid the stockout cost.In the case of production process ,it is the emergency cost needed for emergency replacement of the production equipment to enhance the output level,cost involved to speed up the process,rescheduling and assigned work in split up version. SYSTEM CONTROL COSTS This is the type of cost appeared in the operation process as per selection of decision system.This includes acquisition,storage,maintanence and computation of the data.The treaining instituted by the organization and employee verification is also falls in the category costs. In Assam Tea Corporation ,there are a number of costs involved in different level of operation processes .The green leaves are initially plucked from the plantation unit and allowed to undergo different processes like picking ,wilting ,bruishing ,oxidation/fermentation ,firing,yellowing,shaping,drying and curing to get the final product. In the processing unit ,one of the major cost incurred by the company is warehousing the tea product as well as the green leaves.If the fresh leaves are not stored properly there is a greater possibility of being dried up and becomes waste.The insurance cover and tax are also one of the component. The cost of placing an order is one of the significant part of the processing unit.There is an inspection unit in the company which takes account of quality control in the unit.There is the cost of technicians expertise in that specific line During the peak season as the production process is a complex mechanical one.During the peak season ,especially during monsoon,there is always extra cost of utilizing extra-capacity,expediate the process.In that situation temporary workers are employed on the basis of shift duty with overtime bonus has to be paid. The company has to bear the cost on information system and its maintanence as it uses a data warehousing software.With the present environment of rapid change in the technology the company has to provide training for skill enhancement training to its manpower.This has been done with Tocklai Tea Research Centre,one of the leading Tea research institute .The training cost and performance analysis cost is formed as one of the cost. KEY VARIABLES IN INVENTORY MANAGEMENT 1.REPLENISHMENT LEAD TIME It is the time between placing an order and to meet the final demand of the customer physically. 2.REORDER POINT It is the point of the inventory level where the replenishment of stocked item takes place. Where ROP=dxL where d is the demand per day,L is the leadtime for a new order in days 3.SAFETY STOCK A buffer stock to meet up an uneven demand. OPERATION PROCESS UNIT OF TEA The Assam Tea Corporation has its processing unit for production of CTC() and Orthodox tea in the form of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.which account for almost 80% of the main production whereas the other form of teas are produced at paltry 20%. The tea processing begins with flushing of tea from Camellia Sinensis(Botanical name of tea) and after that it is dried for brewing of tea,oxidization of leaves and ,stopping oxidization ,drying of leaves ,and oxidation has a main part to bring the final flavor of tea. The company produces variety of tea through different processes which can be visualised with the aid of flow-chart diagram. The process itself starts from the left hand side of the flow chart with the operation of stocking into raw material or fresh green leaves.The processing unit of the Assam Tea Corporation is highly engaged in production of black tea and green tea which constitutes 80% of the output whereas other constitutes 20% of the total production. For obtaining a black tea(the red coloured flow chart) as the final product it can be seen in the diagram that after getting the fresh leaves the process undergoes with indoor witting,the CTC with full oxidation rolled to the drying unit done through desiccation and finally drying at optimum temperature,the black tea can be obtained. While for green teaTthe green coloured flow chart) after steaming and panning it is rolled to get the desirable form and finally dried to get green tea.The whole system of operation can be divided into following important parts- 1.Picking A terminal bud and two leaves are plucked from Camelia Sinensis. 2.Wilting With an oxidation done in the presence of enzyme ,the tea leaves are wilted to remove the excess water from leaves. 3.Brushing To expediate oxidation ,the tea leaves are let to fall in buckets and rolled over by wheels. 4.Oxidation/Fermentation The major operation of oxidation was to break down the the chlorophil and relax the tannin,as the leaves are kept in a climate control room. 5.Kill green/Firing To stop the oxidation at desired level and restore the flavor this step is done. 6.Yellowing It is done in a close container after firing to obtain beverage of yellow tea. 7.Shaping After yellowing it is rolled into stripe wrinkles 8.Drying This is done to get the ultimate product or tea for sale. PROBLEMS RELATED WITH INVENTORY CONTROL IN TEA PROCESSING UNIT In the tea business it is the monsoon which has a direct effect on the production of the green tea leaves which is the main raw material for the processing .In case ,there is good rainfall the yield of the leaves goes up and supply becomes steady.In that season the production unit of the tea garden is at greater stress with low lead time which means shorter time gap in the production system to wait,move,que and set-up and run time for each component produced.On the contrary,if there is low rainfall,the production of green leaves drops and lead time is more as the supply flow is less. However ,risk factor is present during the time of high production ,the tea leaves needs extra care so that it should not expose to moisture and in that case extra manpower is needed on shift duty basis to expedite the process.In the Assam Tea Corporation processing unit ,the production and sales takes place within a day.In this situation production order quabtity model is relevant as the firm is receiving its raw material over a period of time within a day which directly comes from the plucking unit.An optimum level of Q* is calculated to control the inventory. Recommendations In the view of the above discussion an optimum level of inventory can be obtained by reducing the waste in the following steps. 1.Inventory Planning An ideal inventory planning can take place with the arrival of new one immediately after the last unit sold/dispatched. 2.Establish order cycles In case of business with seasonal cycles it is important to establish a relationship of demand between sellers and suppliers. 3.Balance Inventory level Inventory level should be balanced looking into the matters related to market and budget. 4.Review Stocks The stocks should be reviewed as the obsolete one is equivalent to a dead capital. 5.Follow up of stocks The management should take the key decision about disposal,replacement and discontinuance of different inventory base. INVENTORY PLANNING DECISION IN TABULAR FORMAT COST AND OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS SERVICE REQUIREMENT CUSTOMER ORDERING CHARACTERISTICS In this category ,the most important part is customer expectations and competitive practices,time management and influence on customer. Order characteristics include order timing and size,information about large orders on the basis of standing orders. In the tea processing unit ,the customer always is in prompt mode as the order has to reach the market and meet the price fluctuation in the auction market. DEMAND PATTERNS SUPPLY SITUATION Demand pattern is always governed by variability and seasonality.Another important part is presence of substitutes and ability to forecast. The green tea leaves as an inventory effected by variability of the weather condition and effected by rainfall which determines yield of the tea leaves and it is the three quarter of the month the supply is streamlined and one quarter is without any production.The presence of substitute is low and as there is high fluctuation in the market forecasting is not an easy task. This a challenging part as to narrow down the lead time , the processing unit has to avoid any waste .At the same time reliability depends upon the flow of the inventory and at the same flexibility can be ensured with additional work force on call which can also expidiate the process. COST FACTOR NATURE OF THE PRODUCT Again the cost factor is governed by stock out cost which is also a probabilistic measure,there is also cost of carrying and space The nature of the product is perishable and moisture will make it obsolete OTHER ISSUES In the tea processing unit the crucial point is power supply and mechanical efficiency.

My Dad and the Flat Earth :: Personal Narrative Profile

My Dad and the Flat Earth Today my father tells us the earth is flat. He sits us down, the five of us, sits us down on the couch in the living room and tells us the earth is flat. It's not like he says, "Boys. The earth is flat," and then walks away. It's not like that at all. What he does is he takes the time to explain it to us. Even gives us visual aids. His hands become the earth. With his hands out before us he shows us the exact shape of the earth. It's not flat, really, but saucer shaped. Almost bowl shaped. He shows us with his hands. His fingers bend up slightly and his thumbs bend in towards each other, so that his hands make a kind of bowl. "Where do we live?" my oldest brother Sam asks. "Here," says my father. "in the bowl." "Really?" "Yeah," he says, with total confidence. "Look." He starts pulling his slightly cupped hands upward towards the ceiling, slowly. He doesn't say anything as he performs this move. He wants us to watch it for a while. He doesn't look at his hands, he looks at us. Our reaction. We don't react. "This is how the earth moves," he says. "it travels constantly upwards." "Upward?" says Len, my other older brother. "Yes. Upward." "Towards what?" It's me asking this time. I figure it's my turn to speak. My father looks at me for a moment and I think he's angry. I'm sorry I asked the question. Then this weird smile comes across his face and I'm not sorry anymore. Now I'm nervous. About my father. The thought occurs to me that my father has lost his mind and that this strange half-smile is the half-smile of a madman. "That's a very good question, Rand." "It is?" "A very good question. It shows you're using your mind." "Losing my mind? Why?" "Using," she says. "Oh. Using." "The earth travels upwards but it's not important where." "It isn't?" I was confused. He had just said that it was a good question, now he seemed to be saying it wasn't. "No," he answers. "What is important is what the earth moves in relation to.

Outliers Essay

In the book Outliers author Malcolm Greenwell talks about a variety of topics that deal with how success is obtained by individuals who are blessed to have many different opportunities. They range from a school designed for students to excel, to being financially wealthy, or even being in the right place at the right time. Many different types of examples of people who found success through opportunities laid out in front of them are discussed in Outliers. From a man who was Jewish and just happened to be born in a location where lawyers were scarce, to hockey players who were born just after the cut off dates, Gladwell describes types of advantages and how these opportunities sparked success for these people. He also talks about how success is also derived from hard work and putting in the time to master a particular trade or skill. A theory of putting in ten thousand hours is discussed as the way to become an expert. This way of thinking is actually a very intelligent one due to the fact that to achieve greatness at the highest level it only makes sense that one would have to work the hardest. As Gladwell states, â€Å"The people at the top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder† (Gladwell 39). This is a great statement that shows how while luck and good fortune is never a bad thing, hard work and taking advantage of opportunities is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. While outworking the competition is a very important aspect, having and taking advantage of opportunities is just as important to achieving success. Today, people all around the world pay attention to many famous stars or athletes and are always inspired by stories of struggle or hardship that they may have dealt with. Josh Hamilton, a famous baseball player, is one of these examples. His story is one that has been heard by many that deals with a guy who had everything he needed in life and threw it all away when he fell into the proverbial grasp of alcohol and drugs. Then when all hope seemed lost he was able to escape the adversity in his life and turn it around and become the clean, Christian man that he is today. Josh Hamilton’s struggles and self-imposed obstacles played a major part in the early years of his major league career. He fought through and became a very successful player through the opportunities that he had and was given on his way back to the top. Josh Hamilton was a multi-talented person from the time he was very young. He could hit and throw harder than anyone his age and had all the skills that a coach would look for in a young child. At the age of eight he could out play most of the kids in the thirteen year old league. He was what most would call a protege. Many of the parents were scared with Josh’s ability and raised concern about Josh hurting their children who were not nearly as talented. He amazed anybody who watched him and he even talked about people being stunned after watching him take a round of batting practice. He states, â€Å"I enjoyed watching other players’ reactions when I took batting practice. Everyone was stunned of how hard the ball came off of my bat† (Hamilton, 181). He had a true talent that was unlike any that most had ever seen from a kid that age which was a God-given gift without a doubt. Throughout his teenage years he worked his butt off to be the best he could be by hitting and throwing just about every day, as well as lifting and staying in shape. Hamilton had everything to be a superstar, he just needed to keep his head straight and he was destined to become a millionaire straight out of high school if all went well. Hamilton grew up in an excellent household with two parents who loved him deeply and ones that supported everything he wanted to do. They did well financially and he received several opportunities to excel due to this financial stability. From all-star teams to personal coaches, Josh had it all laid out in front of him. He had a desire to be the best unmatched by most kids his age. He had a unique understanding of what it takes to be â€Å"big-time† that few adults every completely grasp. He talked to many pro scouts during his early years of high school and he was preparing to be drafted and continue his fast track to fame. Everything that Gladwell describes as keys to success Hamilton was provided. The only thing to keep him from this would end up being himself. Josh was drafted in the 1999 draft as the number one overall pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and signed a $3. 96 million dollar bonus straight out of high school (Hamilton, 187). He was playing ball and doing extremely well. He had his family support and was growing into quite the individual. Eventually, however, when a few incidents were placed upon him, he folded and turned to a terrible place to find happiness. He did things he never thought of doing before from drinking to smoking weed and eventually becoming a major crack addict. He got in with the wrong crowd and could not get out of the hold it had on him and was on his way to ruining everything. He spent all his money on drugs and alcohol and was very close to killing himself from the drugs he was taking. He had a family at the time and he distanced himself from them to a point where his wife wanted nothing to do with him. Life was falling apart for the once nationally renowned phenomena. It wasn’t until he was pushed to the brink that he began trying to get to rehab and fix his addictions. He talks about his problems regarding the extent of his issues in his book, Beyond Belief. He says, â€Å"My journey to the depths of human depravity- to a place where a single-minded desire to alter my consciousness was my only goal- defies logic† (Hamilton, 187). This helps bring his story full-circle to show how he went from such a high point to a low, and then back up again. It is a true story of opportunity and fight which Gladwell talks about in his book. Hamilton’s struggles fit in well with Gladwell’s success theories because Gladwell talks about how opportunity leads to success and Hamilton had every opportunity to excel. He was provided everything he needed and he obtained everything until he messed it up with bad decisions. He had many people help him as he worked back and thanks to these people he was able to make it, from the rehab people, to his teammates, to the baseball organization, and especially from his parents. This follows suit with Gladwell’s point of how opportunities can lead to success when all hope seems lost. When Hamilton came back he was better than ever. Surprisingly he was away from the game for over two years, but when he returned he had not lost anything. His swing was still solid and his arm was still what it always was. He was a much better person and he was blessed for his chance to come back. He found the Lord and ended all his struggles by putting his focus in much more important things such as family, faith, and ball. He now has exceled to become the league Most Valuable Player in 2010 and has lead the Texas Rangers to two consecutive World Series appearances. The writer of the Josh Hamilton biography talks about his physical attributes, especially his hitting ability when he says, â€Å"Josh has one of baseball’s most magnificent swings. It is smooth and powerful. His knowledge of the strike zone helps make him a great hitter, and he can clear any fence in the majors. In other words, he is a pitchers worst nightmare† (JockBio). Society can learn many things from Josh Hamilton’s story. It can learn that even with hard work and all the things that Hamilton had going for him, messing up and ruining it can happen. But through anything if a person has opportunities to come back, they can succeed. Malcolm Gladwell has many examples of how success can be obtained through opportunity and hard work and Josh Hamilton is an excellent example of this. He struggled and was in a terrible situation but with an excellent supporting staff behind him, he was able to come back better than ever and do things that everyone thought he could do in the first place. Josh Hamilton is a true testament to success and a great figure to look up to.

Life of Vlad the Impaler - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 329 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/20 Category History Essay Type Narrative essay Tags: Army Essay Did you like this example? 1431- Vlad Dracula is born –father Vlad Dracul (Vlad the dragon) real mother Cneajna 1435- Vlads younger brother Radu the Handsome 1436-Vlad becomes Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia 1442-Vlad Dracul and his sons Radu and Vlad Dracula visit Gallipoli to pay tribute to the Ottoman Sultan Murad. And seize them and Vlads older brother Mircea rules in his father’s absence. 1444- Vlad Dracul participates in an anti Turk crusade with John Hunyadi, the Hungarian and the sultan allows Vlad and Radu to live 447-Hunyadi forms an alliance with Vladislav 2nd (the Draculs enemies) Mircea is tortured and buried alive and Vlad Dracul is killed attempting to escape his capital city 1448-Murad releases Dracula and gives him the support he needs to rule Wallachia and rules for 2 months but then is forced to flee 1451-Sultan Murad dies and succeeded by Muhmed 1453- Mehmeds forces attack Constantinople bringing the Byzantine Empire to an end 1456- Hunyadi allows Dracula to come out of exile as his vassal. Fearing the sultan will attack Hungary next. By August 22 Dracula is again Prince of Wallachia. 1457-Dracula seized all the nobles who help in the death of his father and brother. He forced the strong to build castle Dracula, the weak he impaled his favorite method of torture giving him the name Vlad Tepes (Vlad the impaler). 14759- In his best known action Dracula sets up a table near the base of Timpu Hill and dines as he watches thousands of people impaled (tortured to death). He is said to have dipped his bread in the blood of his victims 1462- Sultan Mehmed and Radu the Handsome invade Wallachia with an army three times the size of Draculas. On June 17 Vlad leads a raid that almost succeeds in killing the Sultan but when the sultan’s men chased Vlads raid they run into a psychological warfare surprise. Dracula has set up a forest of stakes on which he has impaled 20,000 prisoners. 1475- Radu dies of syphilis. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Life of Vlad the Impaler" essay for you Create order

Corporate Social Responsibility of Biedronka in Poland - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5628 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? PART A Introduction This report is concerned with the ethical practices of Biedronka (Ladybird in Polish), the largest supermarket chain in Poland. The report carries out a critical evaluation of the companys current engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda and identifies key ethical issues for the organisation. In particular this report looks at the record of employee grievances regarding forced overtime under threat of dismissal, falsifying of records to deny overtime payments and various instances of employee poor treatment across the supermarkets chain of stores. The Company In Poland, supermarkets started to appear in the mid 1990s. After decades of Communist rule these stores represented the Western ideal with their bright colours and wide choice of products at reasonable prices. The largest supermarket chain in Poland is Biedronka, based in Ruda Slaska it is a subsidiary of the Portuguese company Jerà ³nimo Martins (JMD). Biedronka has more than 1,400 stores, over 28,000 employees and over 500 private label products (Jerà ³nimo Martins, 2010). The Board of Directors of Jerà ³nimo Martins consists of five Executive Members and six Non-Executive members. Mr. Pedro Manuel De Castro Soares Dos Santos (Chef Executive Officer of the Board of Directors and Director of Food Distribution Operations of Jerà ³nimo Martins SGPS SA since 1995) is responsible for Operations in Poland (Reuters, 2010). See Appendix 1 for details of the companys corporate structure. Biedronka is regarded as a discount chain with many own branded products; it is proba bly most similar to Lidl in the UK. Corporate Governance Structure The current Code of Best Practice for WSE Listed Companies, as drawn up by the Warsaw Stock Exchange Supervisory Board (May 2010), provides the guidelines for good governance for all companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (Rancewicz, 2010). The Code of Best Practice for WSE Listed Companies aims at enhancing transparency of listed companies, improving quality of communication between companies and investors, and strengthening protection of shareholders rights, including those not regulated by legislation, while refraining from imposing a burden on listed companies that may outweigh the benefits resulting from market needs. There are three areas that the main principles of the Code of Best Practice deal with: A Management Boards B Supervisory Board Members C Shareholders These codes advisory only and rely on the self-regulation of companies to abide by them. Companies are asked to com ply or, in the case of any non-conformance, explain why they have not applied the code to their governance practices. The means of providing good governance for a corporate company include the appointment of two distinct types of directors of the company: executive (Management) directors who are involved in the operational and strategic aspects of the business and non-executive (Supervisory) directors. The non-executive directors do not involve themselves in the daily running of the business, theres is more a role for monitoring the behaviour of the executive management thereby adding a form of protection for shareholders and stakeholders interests. Stakeholders can be defined as an individual or a group which either: is harmed by, or benefits from, the corporation; or whose rights can be violated, or have to be respected, by the corporation. (Crane and Matten, 2007, p58). Biedronka has, through its parent company Jerà ³nimo Martins, a strong structure of Governance with f ive Executive Members and six Non-Executive members. Operations for the Polish arm of the company are headed by Mr. Pedro Manuel De Castro Soares Dos Santos (Chef Executive Officer of the Board of Directors and Director of Food Distribution Operations). He also sits on the following committees: Financial Matters Committee, Corporate Responsibility Committee and the Evaluation and Nomination Committee (see Appendix 1 for further details). The difficulty with this structure is that it is based upon its Portuguese parent company and that the operational activities of Biedronka itself, within Poland, are very much in the hands of local and regional mangers. While the structure for Governance in the parent company is strong the effectiveness of its application may be diluted in the running of its subsidiary company, Biedronka. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Corporate Social Responsibility of Biedronka in Poland" essay for you Create order Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the acknowledgement by companies that they should be accountable not only for their financial performance, but for the impact of their activities on society and/or the environment (CBI, 2010). While there is legislation that regulates human resource issues, environmental issues, waste management, sustainability and health and safety matters there is a difference between actions that are driven by these legal requirements and others that go beyond this. Companies are often taking actions not because they have a legal requirement but because they are following an ethical policy of behaviour. This is often done at the expense of the company without seeking any financial reward. In Biedronka case, as shall be discussed later, this includes employee health care programmes, free summer holidays for employees families in greatest need and Christmas presents for all employees. This kind of social behaviour by corporations has not always bee n welcome and even considered unethical by some. Milton Friedman (1970) said social activity was the responsibility of individuals and not of someone whose responsibility is to their company or shareholders. Using company assets for social benefit was, in Friedmans view, no different than stealing from the company and as such was unethical behaviour itself. Crane and Matten (2007) argue that corporations do have moral responsibilities and that the ethical position of a corporation is determined by groups of individuals within the company, rather than any single individual acting on their own. This gives the company an identity and therefore a responsibility in its corporate behaviour. How far a company acts in its own self interest and when an activity become purely an act of social good is represented in Archie Carrolls Four Part Model of Corporate Social Responsibility (Crane and Matten, 2007, p.49). This model (Fig.1.) describes the components of CSR that are between fun damental economic responsibilities and more philanthropic activities. The base of the pyramid represents the most required activities of the company which includes the need to make a profit. In other words a company must act in such a way as to ensure the profitability of the company, if this is not done a company will most probably fail. The next step up the pyramid is complying with legal requirements. All companies are required to follow the laws governing company behaviour. There can be difficulties at times, especially with multi-national companies trading in countries with different regulations, but it is still the responsibility of the company to ensure it is acting legally in whichever country it is operating in. Fig.1. Carrolls CSR Pyramid The third step concerns Ethical Responsibilities, this is where CSR issues are raised. Here activities go beyond what is required into what should be required, it is where a company takes an ethical stance and promotes certain aspects of behaviour of all its activities guided by an ethical and moral viewpoint. The final step of the pyramid deals with philanthropic activities. These are actions that could be seen to promote human welfare or goodwill. The can include financial contributions or executive time in such areas as contributions to the arts, education, or the community (Carroll, 1991). Such actions are not generally required but often desired and contribute to the overall sense of Corporate Citizenship. Biedronka and the CSR Agenda While owned by the Portuguese holding company, with the Polish stores being under the charge of a Portuguese director, Biedronka stores are run by local managers with a certain amount of independence regarding administration and staff management. However, companies do have certain social responsibilities and this ideally has been pushed further and further into prominence because of Polands entry into the EU and her wish to follow the western European countries and adhere to EU employment rules. Biedronka is quite clear about its position on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), it promotes five areas of social responsibility for the company: Trustworthy Employer Trustworthy Member of Society Trustworthy Member of Environment Trustworthy Quality Food Retailer Trustworthy Business Partner (See Appendix 3 for further details) The companys activities would certainly appear to follow Carrolls CSR pyramid model quite well. The company is making a good pr ofit (see Appendix 2), and it could be expected that they operate within the legal requirements of Poland and also the EU regulations now applying to Poland as a full member of the European Community. The company promotes itself as an ethical company with regards to treatment and working conditions of employees, environmental issues and wider social responsibilities. The company runs employee health care programmes, contributes to free summer holidays for employees families in greatest need and Christmas presents for all employees (see Appendix 3). Much of what the company does under CSR can be considered to be philanthropic activities and it would seem they have high ethical values and a strong sense of corporate responsibility. However, there are many question marks about their treatment of workers and suppliers. Primarily amongst these is the case of Bozena Lopacka (KARAT Coalition, 2008). Bozena Lopacka was a manager in one of the Biedronka supermarkets. She su ed her employer for 35000zÃÆ'†¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡ (zloty, about  £6900) for failing to remunerate her for overtime. In 2004 the court accepted the claim and ordered the amount to be paid to her. JMD then appealed the ruling. At this time a non-governmental organisation stepped in the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights, which presented its independent opinion. Finally in 2007 BoÃÆ'†¦Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¼ena ÃÆ'†¦Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ opacka was granted 26000zÃÆ'†¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡ as remuneration for the overtime hours (instead of 35000zÃÆ'†¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡) because claims related to work relations are a subject to expiration after 3 years. Several issues were identified in this case: The hours worked were not reported properly. As a store manager Lopacka was forced by her employer to forge the time sheets so women for whom she was a supervisor would not be paid for overtime. Female employees had to transfer and pull loads exceeding the norms on hand-pulled carts i nstead of electric ones. Deliveries to stores were poorly organised and late, causing work overload for employees Since that time over 120 other similar cases against Biedronka supermarkets were brought to the court. So far, all of them have been won (Internal Commission of Jurists, 2010). The situation was so bad that an organisation was formed, the Association of the Harmed by Large Commercial Chains Biedronka (Stowarzyszenie Osà ³b Poszkodowanych Przez Wielkie Scieci Handlowe Biedronka), which represented employees (and former employees) in their legal disputes with the chain (Czarzasty, 2009). It can be seen that the public face of the company has been in conflict with its actual activities at some stores. While on the whole this has been down to the action of individuals working at these stores there has to be association and blame on the directors of the company, specifically Mr. Pedro Soares Dos Santos. However, amongst the 112 persons fined by the State Labour Inspectorate only six were managers and two regional managers. No upper managers within the company were held to be responsible by the courts (Internal Commission of Jurists, 2010). It is clear than in many instances the company failed its basic legal requirements and despite its high profile CSR stance actually failed to provide proper employee care and working conditions. While there are legal issues that have been identified concerning Biedronkas treatment of staff there are also the ethical concerns associated with this. To establish whether the conduct of Biedronka has been ethically acceptable or not it is necessary to apply certain theories to the situation and use such theories to support the conclusion. For this report the issue of forced overtime shall be discussed. The staff at Biedronkas supermarkets were forced to take overtime (often unpaid) which has a direct affect on the individuals concerned but also a wider effect on families and friends of the employe es concerned. This shows that it is not simply a case of employee versus employer in these situations but the effect on all those associated with or who have an interest in the situation. These stakeholders are an individual or group which either: is harmed by, or benefits from, the corporation; or whose rights can be violated, or have to be respected by the corporation (Crane and Matten, 2007. p.58). Such stakeholders include employees, suppliers, customers, competitors, shareholders and employees families, amongst others. A report by Allard  E.  Dembe (2008), entitled Ethical Issues Relating to the Health Effects of Long Working Hours investigated ethical considerations involve mandatory or unpaid overtime and the possibility of employer coercion. The report stated: Considerable research evidence has accumulated indicating that there is an increased likelihood for illness and injury among employees working in long-hour schedules and schedules involving unconven tional shift work (e.g., night and evening shifts). In addition, studies show that fatigue-related errors made by employees working in these kind of demanding schedules can have serious and adverse repercussions for public safety. The Triple Bottom Line The Triple Bottom Line (3BL) was a phrase coined by John Elkington in 1994 and specifically in his 1998 book Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Elkington states: In the simplest terms, the TBL agenda focuses corporations not just on the economic value that they add, but also on the environmental and social value that they add or destroy. Fig. 2. The Triple Bottom Line The main principle behind 3BL is that corporations should not only take into account the economic factors of business but should incorporate social and environmental factors as well. The bottom line refers to the accounting term for the actual, real cost to the business. Elkington argues that a cost benefit can be measured for environmental and social activities that a company ought to engage in. 3BL also involves the promotion of sustainability; that is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Crane a nd Matten, 2007. p.22). While the emphasis of corporations has generally been on the economic factors the Triple Bottom Line attempts to create a balance between people, planet and profit (Elkington, 1994). Biedronka promote the ideas behind 3BL but in practice have failed to implement social value, specifically amongst its staff, as a goal. Social Justice does not just refer to concerns such as the impacts of business activities on indigenous communities in less developed countries and regions (Crane and Matten, 2007. p.27) but anywhere where there are stakeholders affected by the actions of corporations. Ethical Issues and Application of Normative Theories It is worth mentioning here the difference between Morals and Ethics: Morality is concerned with the norms, values, and beliefs embedded in social pro ­cesses which define right and wrong for an individual or a community. Ethics is concerned with the study of morality and the application of reason to elu cidate specific rules and principles that determine right and wrong for a given situation. These rules and principles are called ethical theories (Crane and Matten, 2007). It can be seen that ethics is open to interpretation and different people will have different opinions on what exactly is right and wrong, is it reasonable to apply some rules in certain situations but not in others? Can a white lie be acceptable in certain situations where the truth may cause distress? The following discusses various ethical theories and applies them to the activities of Biedronka. Utilitarianism If we apply the moral principle of Utilitarianism that it should be the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Bradburn, 2001) to the example of the forced overtime mentioned before then it could be argued that this business decision was morally acceptable. A handful of people (per store) might experience some level of discomfort but they would remain employed and the customers of t he supermarket would be able to buy their products with ease as staff would be on the shop floor rather than finished for the day. The company could employ more staff but this would increase overheads and affect profit. The following table identifies various stakeholders and the cost ( or pain) and benefit (or pleasure) of the activities to those involved: Stakeholder Cost Benefit Employer Bad publicity from legal action. Loss or reputation. Financial cost of legal action. High staff turnover. Cost savings, no need to employ more staff. Employee Poor morale. Adverse effects of working long hours. Retain job in the face of high unemployment. Customer Poor service through unhappy employees. Not wanting to be associated with a company following such practices. Long opening hours. Supplier Concerns about being associated with a company following such practices. Continued profits of company reduce risk of losing supply contracts Employee Family Family life disrupted due to long working hours. Continued income. Employees have stated that the local managers seem to delight in creating an atmosphere of intimidation which leads to unhappy workers and a high turnover of staff. Because Polish unemployment is high there will always be replacements but a low turnover of staff is good for business as it removes the time needed to find and train new employees. Therefore one might question the action of the company which provoke such a negative effect with comparatively small benefits. If we look at the basic principle of Utilitarianism that the few have to make sacrifices for the many then there are potentially far more customers satisfied with continuing cheap products than those worried about employee issues. Egoism From an egoism point of view one can understand this style of management culture. The egoist argues that the true test of a man is not what he has done for others but rather what he has made of himself (Nielsen, 1959) The managers primary concern when making decisions would be company profits and placing the company in a better position than before, regardless of the employees wellbeing. The directors of the company want their supermarket chain to be the top supermarket in Poland. Therefore, it is acceptable to do what needs to be done to maintain an edge over competitors. On the oth er hand, from the employees point of view and taking the same egoism stance, in the short-term it might be necessary to follow orders in order to get their wage but their longer term needs should be to find alternative employment and seek legal action through the courts if they feel the need. The fact that the turnover of staff in Biedronka is significantly high because of the poor working conditions seems to have been ignored by management. They continue to pressurise staff to work longer and longer hours with the stick of unemployment being waved in their faces on a regular basis. Whether this is in the long-term interests of the business is questionable and if the workers were more highly skilled one would say that it is not a good business decision to treat them in this way, but as the staff are not highly skilled and there are a sufficient number of candidates willing to take their places (at least temporarily) then one can understand the managements policy of making the worker s work hard for longer. Ethics of Duty Immanuel Kant in Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) declared three maxims that should be to determine the ethical correctness of a situation. For the actions to be considered ethically correct they must pass all three maxims: Consistency Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. It is unlikely that Biedronka would consider that forced overtime as a universal law, applied to everyone would be acceptable. This does not discount agreed overtime with pay and even time off in lieu with perhaps an agreed threshold for the maximum of hours overtime contractually required, over which additional hours should be on a voluntary basis. Human Dignity Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only. It is clear that the Biedronka management are indeed using its employees as a means to an end and they are not being treated equally in such a way as to benefit all. Universality Act as though the maxim of your action were by your will to become a universal law of nature. This maxim asks if you would like to have your actions universally known, the New York Times test (Trevino and Nelson, 2007). In other word would you be happy with your actions appearing on the front page of the New York Times (Fakt, Polands largest selling newspaper, in this case)? Clearly Biedronka would not, and indeed did not, like the publicity from the court cases in Poland and it is assumed that their treatment of staff on these occasions is something they would not wish to occur again or be made public. Overall is would seem that Biedronka fails all tests, let alone pass all three. However, it is difficult to apply Kants theories to real world situations and inevitably any conclusion is a subjective one with a natural bias on the side of the person judging the activities. The Rights Theory (Natural Law) The Ethics of Rights maintain that everyone has certain natural rights that they are entitled to (Locke, 1689). Those rights cover things such as justice, liberty, a right to life, etc. Its author, John Locke, believed that human nature was characterised by tolerance and reason. However, Locke also stated that humans had a right to self interest they have the right to life and liberty therefore shouldnt a manager who wishes to progress in the company will do whatever it takes to be noticed by his superiors in order to enhance his career? And if what needs to be done requires hurting a few people along the way then let it be done. But I would strongly argue that Locke would consider Biedronkas policies to go against his idea of most peoples natural rights and if the goal of this theory is fairness and there is such a wide division between the winners (management) and the losers (the employees) then the only way to resolve this situation can only be to seek to narrow the division b etween the two parties. With the enforced overtime, this ethical theory suggests that it is against a persons rights to be forced to involuntarily work long hours. Such an action should be on a voluntary basis and should involve payment for extra hours worked. There should certainly be no punishment for refusing unreasonable overtime work. Therefore, this policy would be considered unethical. Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics looks entirely at the character of the person making a decision rather than the decision itself (Mellahi and Wood, 2003). Would a person of virtue come to the same decision? To apply this to Biedronka, we would need to look at their whole philosophy rather than these isolated incidents. On their website, they clearly state that they place heavy emphasis on ethical behaviour. To a visitor with no knowledge of the supermarket chains reputation, they seem to be a pioneer in terms of ethics in business but there is consistent evidence in the courts (Internal Commission of Jurists, 2010), from individuals and in the media that the company has serious failures in implementing its ethical stance. One could argue that these decisions are made on the basis of growing the business and opening more stores in order to provide increased employment not only in its stores but also for its suppliers and for improving customer choice; but surely there should be a limit on how far a company can go in terms of its decisions. If the paramount question when considering a companys ethical standpoint is: What would a decent, honest person do in this situation? then I believe that Biedronka and its senior and junior management failed to ask themselves this question because of their wish for the company to improve financially and have entirely focused on profit to the detriment of their staff. Feminist Ethics Crane and Matten (2007) indicated that feminist theory emphasises harmony and empathy with ones fellow human; particularly with those who might be vulnerable to the decisions that we make. In Poland, where unemployment is high and years of Communism led to great hardship, the culture is different to the US and the UK and so it could be argued that Poles have a different level of empathy arguably they are twenty years behind Western Europe in terms of law and business (Lewicka-Strzalecka, 2006). To the managers most employees have a good job and are paid reasonably well, but I would say that the argument against this is much stronger forcing staff to work unpaid overtime (or to not be compensated enough for it) was in direct conflict with the employees emotions and would inevitably lead to disenchantment and poor morale, not to mention fatigue. The reason for this forced overtime would appear to be mostly financial and did not seek to promote harmonious and healthy relationship amongst the workforce. Discourse Ethics Discourse ethics requires all parties in a conflict to reflect on the situation and come to a rational settlement that is suitable for all parties. If all parties were to include the customers of the supermarket, who have an indirect interest in this situation then there would be some difficulty in reaching a good decision. However, if by all parties we were to mean management and employees then this becomes more possible. The lack of trade unions within the Polish supermarket system would be an obstacle and obviously it would be difficult to include all employees in the meeting but discourse theory does seem the most sensible option to resolve this situation; although the management in the past has shown reluctance to listen to employees needs. There is also the risk that with the more powerful and articulate management in the room with a group of less powerful and inarticulate employees in fear of their jobs there is a strong likelihood that any decisions made will still be heavi ly in favour of those who run the organisation Postmodern Ethics Postmodern theory argues that those theories mentioned above are outdated in a world of complex human characters and businesses that cater to more and more specific needs (Crane and Matten, 2007). There cannot be one theory that fits for all eventualities and asks individuals to question practices such as those mentioned here and to go with their emotions and their gut feelings in these situations. My gut feeling in this case is in favour of the staff at the supermarket but it would be preferable to interview all those actors involved and spend some time there- indeed the only real way to could come to a conclusion would be to spend time working in the supermarket, both as a manager and a cashier. This option is unlikely to be open to anyone proposing such a study and so some time spent as a customer watching how staff acts in the supermarket might help more than being sat in an office trying to come to a conclus ion. My initial instinct is that I would side with the supermarket staff, but as it would be unlikely to be able to see the management in action without arousing suspicion such a decision may be considered to be a little biased. Its a question that should also have been raised by the individual shop managers why didnt they ask themselves why they were so slavishly following the senior management rather than making their conclusions on what was morally right? With the forced overtime, I suspect the policy would not have been followed if the postmodern theory was followed. Conclusion Poland was for many years under the rule of a communist regime and workers did not have the legal protection or the accepted rights to working conditions and benefits seen in the west. It is likely that it will still take time and a significant shift in attitudes for the country to fully adopt a western view of how to treat its workers and for this attitude to be accepted at all levels of society. As in the west and elsewhere there are many ethical questions regarding the rights of workers which can be answered in many different ways: an egoist may ask why should one person owe any sort of duty to another? But even here there are differences of opinion with Psychological (descriptive) egoism, Ethical egoism and Rational egoism all giving a different position on egoism itself (Shaver, 2002). However, the majority of normative theories would seem to allow us to come to roughly the same conclusions, that is that actions taken by the various managers of these supermarkets were unethical and the majority of people would consider that the decisions they made lacked empathy with their fellow human beings. PART B A Critical Appraisal of Traditional Ethical Theories Traditional ethical theories have powerful influence on our understanding of the relevance of business ethics but are often criticised for their limitation in business practices and lack of attention to human emotions. Crane and Matten (2007) separate traditional ethical theories into two types: Consequentialist if the outcome of a situation is that that which is required then the method is ethically sound. If the outcome is one that was not desired then the method is ethically wrong. Egoism and Utilitarianism are examples of consequentialist theories. Non-consequentialist based upon the method used and the underlying principles of the actor. In these cases it is the actual ethical value of the method used rather than the actual outcome (Crane and Matten, 2007. p.90). Ethics of Duty and Rights Theory are examples of non-consequentialist theories. Consequentialist theories tend to dismiss the damaging effects on p eople and the environment if the required outcome is achieved. The problem with this end justifies the means approach is that in many cases people are harmed and the environment is damaged. Where a large proportion of people would seem to benefit from a particular action it must still be determined the acceptable degree of suffering that any minority would expect to take. The difficulty is decided the unacceptable degree of suffering which even the needs of the many cannot justify. Non-consequentialist theories tend to be more focused on the moral philosophy behind an action and are often difficult to apply to real world situations. However, in a more enlightened age, certainly a more informed one, it is hoped that, even in the high-powered world of corporate business, the power of Rights Theories, for example, would be preferable to the more self-interest based ones of Egoism and Utilitarianism. An Evaluation of Contemporary Developments in Ethical Theories Because of the inherent problems of the traditional theories Contemporary Ethical Theories remove themselves from the more philosophical and rule based theories. Contemporary Ethical Theories include Virtue ethics, Feminist ethics, Discourse ethics and Postmodern ethics. Virtue ethics is concerned with the decision maker themselves and their intellectual and moral virtues (Nielson, 2006). The emphasis is on the characteristics of the decision maker such as wisdom, honesty, courage loyalty, patience, etc. (Crane and Matten, 2007. p.110). The underlying principle is that a virtuous person would be, by inclination, more likely to make ethical decisions in general and only in specific cases. Even if that was the case, it is still difficult to apply virtue ethics in modern society because one rule does not fit everybody and one persons virtues might be different to another persons. Feminist ethics are based more on social behaviour and cooperation between groups where differenc es of opinion can be settled by reasonable compromises. Maintaining a healthy relationship between groups is more important than what may be regarded as maintaining the rights of the individual. The thinking here is that rights are often a perceived value that is different in one country than another, for example. Crane and Matten (2007) give an example of child labour being wrong for feminine ethics not because it violated perceived (western) principles but because of the likely distress and suffering of the children (Crane and Matten, 2007. p.113). Discourse ethics attempt to solve ethical issues by reasonable, rational discussion of all parties. While based upon providing a practical solution to wide ranging problems there is in itself the practical problem of all involved parties being able to communicate with each other. Postmodern ethics are similar to virtue ethics in that it looks at view of the individuals particular sense of what is right and wrong. It deliberately r emoves itself from the rules of other theories which tell someone what is right or wrong rather than what are actually a persons own beliefs. It relies on a persons experience and their gut feeling on what is right and what is wrong. While this is the theories strength it is also a weakness as it depends upon a persons experience and therefore any lack of experience, especially in a multicultural environment, may weaken that persons ability to make an informed judgement. An Opinion on the Value and Use of Descriptive Ethical Theories Descriptive ethics is the study of what people believe is morally acceptable. In other words, what do they think is right and how do they come to that conclusion? Different people have different beliefs and understanding, often based on such things as upbringing, ethnic and cultural background, religion and personal experiences. Studying the different morals and standards of groups and societies helps to understand such differences and by understanding leads to better ways of solving ethical issues between such groups. Conclusion While it is useful to have specific theories that can be applied to particular problems they all seem to have their own strengths and weaknesses, and failings. Using one particular theory to resolve a situation can prove unsatisfactory. Using a pluralistic approach (Crane and Matten, 2007) where different aspects of the various theories are used to give a balanced outcome would seem to be the best approach.