Research Paper on Law for International Business Essay Example

Research Paper on Law for International Business Essay Abstract As the only multilateral organization dealing with global rules of trade between and among nations, the WTO is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that trade flows as smoothly, fairly, freely, and predictably as possible. After the fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, membership in the WTO stood at 143 nations of which about 110 were developing and transition economy members. More than three-quarters of the members are growing, or least-developed countries; special provisions for these members are included in all WTO agreements. While all members of the WTO may sleep in the same bed, they have different dreams. The trade, investment, and development dreams of developing countries and transition economies (including Ruralia) are significantly different both in content and context than those of the wealthy industrial nations or their trading blocks. Ruralia needs to develop the necessary capacity and take a strategic approach to trade and development that is goal-directed, focused, systemic, long-term, and national in scope to fully utilize the benefits associated with the GATT/WTO regime. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Law for International Business specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Law for International Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Law for International Business specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer To understand the implications for Ruralia with regards to joining the WTO, it would be useful first to outline the structure and functions of this organization. Regarding structure and governance, WTO’s highest authority is the Ministerial Conference which is made up of one representative from each member state and meets about once every two years. The first conference took place in December 1996 in Singapore. The second was in 1998 in Geneva, and the third was the infamous meetings in Seattle, Washington, from November 30 to December 3, 1999. The fourth meeting took place in November 2001 in Doha, Qatar. (7) The conference acts as a governing council and sets the agenda and program of work for the organization. The administration of the organization is overseen by the General Council, which is headed by the director-general who is appointed for a six-year term. â€Å"The council performs two broad administrative tasks: dispute settlement and trade policy review.† (1) Consensus makes decisions, but when voting is required, each member has one vote. A two-thirds majority is required to amend provisions of the multilateral agreements and to admit new members. The WTO represents mainstream countries of the world: big and small, rich and poor, from all continents, races, creeds, and cultures. Most of the nonmembers are former Communist states such as Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia, North Korea, and Yemen; Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq, and Syria; and post-conflict states such as Bhutan, Tuvalu, Micronesia, and East Timor. Overall, these countries make up a small fraction of the total global economy and world population. As the world becomes more global and as trade becomes the driving force for growth, wealth creation, poverty alleviation, innovation, entrepreneurship, openness, and globalization, there is need for a credible multilateral system of regulation and enforcement to create, protect, and preserve a level playing field for all nations, big and small, rich and poor. â€Å"The WTO is supposed to form the core of the global regulatory and enforcement system.† (10) It also provides a mechanism for settling disputes among trading nations, and if the recent experience is indicative of future challenges, dispute settlement and enforcement is becoming the most active and vital work of the organization as more and more members seek to settle their trade disputes using this multilateral system. As well, the WTO is expected to promote transparency, accountability, and respect for the rule of law, thus contributing both to global economic and global democratic/political development. Benefits of the World Trade Organization: Making, interpreting, and enforcing rules for global trade. Supercedes regional trading blocks. Settles trade disputes between trading members. Helps to promote peace by providing a global forum for conflicting parties. Through free trade, it promotes economic development by raising incomes and standards of living. Free trade encourages innovation, contributes to competitiveness and efficiency, and cuts the cost of doing business and the cost of living. Trade stimulates economic growth and contributes to global poverty alleviation. Trade encourages more choice of goods and services at more competitive prices. Provides mechanisms for regulating the behavior of global corporations, especially advantageous for the smaller and weaker emerging markets. It provides a level playing field for big and small nations alike and harmonizes global trade, and with a broad-based membership, it can effectively bring more trade sectors under multilateral negotiations. It promotes transparency, accoun tability, and respect for the rule of law, thus contributing to good governance, economic management, and global integration under a single multilateral regulatory system. It helps with the enforcement of environmental regulations and labor standards. It helps the developing countries, especially the least-developed ones, to build human capital and institutional capacity to manage trade and development. (2) Supporters of the WTO argue that at least the organization is a necessary evil because the world cannot continue to enjoy the fruits of growing free trade without a global regulatory system. There is a lot at stake because while the first GATT round dealt with goods worth about U.S.$10 billion, the Uruguay Round involved almost U.S.$7 trillion, and since the fall of Communism, global trade has been growing faster than the world economy. (9) Therefore, the WTO is needed as the core for the necessary global institutional infrastructure for managing global trade. Opposition to the World Trade Organization: It is a tool for globalization for powerful nations and their global corporations. It is undemocratic, secretive, unaccountable, and colonial. It promotes free trade at any cost. It destroys jobs and worsens poverty, especially for developing countries and transition economies. It dictates its policies, especially for the small and weak developing countries that have little or no voice or representation. It puts pressure on weak countries to join before they are ready. Weaker economies feel that strengthening enforcement mechanisms and opening markets rapidly hurt the infant economies. It allows trade and investment interests to take priority over indigenous development. It is forced by the industrial countries to deal with nontrade issues such as the environment and the social consequences of development. It does not protect workers’ rights, health, safety, and wages. It encourages emerging countries to get into debt by borrowing from the international capital markets to dev elop export commodities. It perpetuates developing countries’ dependence and marginalization inherited from the GATT era. (8) Supporters of free global trade must also learn from Seattle. For example, it became clear after Seattle that public awareness and reactions to the events in Seattle were different in industrial and developing countries. In the developing countries, there was only limited discussion and appreciation of the significance and long-term consequences of the Seattle outcomes. The broader implication for this is that trade negotiations do not take place just in Geneva, where the WTO has its headquarters; instead, they take place first and foremost in every constituency of every country. Most developing countries, especially the least developed, have not started or championed the process of discussing and debating the merits of global trade in their domestic constituencies. It is as if they have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of their people. It must change. There must be active and informed trade discussions and debates within each of the developing countries to develop the necessary domestic support for international engagement and negotiations. Once again, â€Å"the international community has a role to play in helping these emerging weak countries develop a trade-positive, enabling domestic environment.† (3) Seattle has taught us all that trade is too significant to be left only to the experts. The private sectors of the developing countries must also draw instructive lessons from both the hotel conference rooms where the delegates of the failed Ministerial Conference were meeting and the city streets where the demonstrators and the uninvited representatives of the northern private sectors were promoting their respective alternative interests. By private industry, it is meant all the different civil society groupings including NGOs, labor and trade unions, the media, environmental activists, traditional chiefs, academics, youths, professional associations, reformists, the business community, and so on. From the streets of Seattle, the private sector from the developing countries learns at least two things: One, is that they, too, have a role to play in shaping trade policy and implementation in their respective countries and regions; and two, their interests are not necessarily identical to the benefits of the northern protestors. Therefore, they must develop their strategies and responses to the WTO and global trade based on an informed assessment of the economic, political, social, and cultural realities on the ground. While northern counterparts can and should provide technical support and advice, they should never dictate the agenda for how the civil society in the developing countries responds to the WTO and global trade. Two examples—labor and the environment—help to explain the different policy interests between northern and southern opposition to the two issues and global trade. North trade unions are opposed to universal trade because they fear that jobs will be exported to low-cost developing countries. (6) The natural extension of this logic is that the trade union movement in developing countries should support trade-positive public policies because of the opportunities to create well-paying jobs in the private sector. Likewise, some northern environmental activists are opposed to global trade because industry destroys the natural environment and pollutes the air, water, and soil. While southern ecological activists are also opposed to pollution, they see much more the relationship between poverty and environmental degradation. Therefore, to the extent that trade and industrialization help to alleviate poverty, southern environmentalists should be supportive of trade-positive public policies. This said northern anti-globalization groups are beginning to link up with their like-minded southern counterparts. For example, in January 2001, the first meeting of the newly formed Global Social Forum, representing more than one hundred countries, took place in Brazil’s southern city of Porto Alegre. The timing and location were deliberately chosen by the organizers to show solidarity between northern and southern anti-globalization forces and to demonstrate against the meeting of the Global Economic Forum that was taking place in Davos, Switzerland. The demonstrations in the summer of 2001 in Quebec City against the Free Trade Area of the Americas also included many NGOs from the south. (10) The private sector business community in each of the developing countries must become more actively involved in promoting trade and investment in their respective countries or regions. Global trade is good for business, even for those firms that are not yet been actively engaged in the export-import sector. In every globalizing developing country, business leaders should take up the challenge to explain to the public, mainly the rest of the business community, the relationships between the WTO and global trade and the practical implications for their respective countries. Following the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the establishment of the WTO, concern has been expressed that the issues and needs of developing countries and transition economies have not been given serious consideration, let alone finding practical solutions to problems. (9) As a result, in preparation for the third Ministerial Conference that took place toward the end of 1999, various publications came out identifying trade and development issues most important to developing countries and transition economies. Some of these publications focused on single sectors such as agriculture or financial services, others looked at specific regions such as Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe, others looked at particular topics such as participation and commitment, and others talked about all developing countries in general. This section highlights the most critical trade investment and development issues for developing countries. Developing countries are not a homogeneous group, and globalization is making them even less so as some countries seem to adjust to global competition faster and more successfully than others. (1) The periphery is divided between the advanced developing countries (P1) and the least developed countries (P2). In the discussion of foreign direct investment (FDI), a subgrouping of prosperous developing countries—the BEMs—was also identified. P1 and BEMs are almost identical groups, and their issues and concerns regarding the WTO, global trade, investment, and development are different than the P2 or least-developed countries. The problems and concerns I will discuss apply to all developing countries, but they are more serious, severe, and limiting for the P2 least-developed nations than for the P1 countries or the BEMs. Agriculture is a significant economic sector in developing countries because this is traditionally the area in which these countries have enjoyed competitive trade advantages. (like Ruralia with its sugarcane industry) There are serious issues associated with market access, export subsidies, and domestic support, all resulting from the protectionist behavior of developed countries. â€Å"Agriculture also illustrates the differences among developing countries regarding their trade policies and interests.† (6) Three groups can be identified among developing countries: exporters of tropical products, exporters of temperate products in direct competition with Europe and North America, and importers of foodstuffs and grains who are also the ones least likely to have the capacity to produce for export any agricultural commodities. One of the critical differences in interest among developing countries lies between those who are net importers of food grains (P2 nations) and those who are net exporters such as the BEMs. Exporters are interested in opening up more market access for their commodities and devising rules to prohibit export taxes, quotas, and other forms of trade protectionism. Therefore, they are, at least in principle, in support of the WTO and the resulting agreements and rulings. These are mainly the twenty to twenty-five countries that grated in the multilateral trading system. (9) They participate actively in the WTO, abide by are mostly BEMs, middle income from Asia and Latin America, and are almost entirely in to the rules, use similar types of trade remedies, such as antidumping, as the industrial countries do, and take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the WTO’s trade DSM. Then there are the fifty to sixty least-developed countries members of the WTO who are net importers of food. They are mostly concerned with increases in the price of imported food, the negative impact on their limited foreign exchange earnings, and the net impact on their impoverished populations. They want to keep the option to support domestic agriculture with export subsidies in the future should they then have developed the capacity to export. Most of these countries are not yet integrated efficiently in the multilateral trading system. They have only minimal participation in the WTO and little or no national capacity to implement the Uruguay Round commitments, WTO rulings, or the preparation of future negotiations. They tend to focus on the SD aspects of trade negotiations. Although they enjoy exemptions under the support of the aggregate measure for agriculture as provided for the urban and rural poor and a ten-year grace period for full implementation of commitment, they still resist trade liberalization because they are not ready. It is now clear that most developing countries, especially the least developed ones (P2), cannot take full advantage of the opportunities offered by a liberalized global trading system as well as their membership in the WTO. Without building the necessary national capacity, the majority of P2 countries will continue to focus on maintaining SD treatment as their protective negotiating strategy instead of moving toward openness, liberalization, and gainful participation in trade and globalization. These countries need to develop the necessary capacity and take a strategic approach to business and development that is goal-directed, focused, systemic, long-term, and national in scope.

Systematic and Common Chemical Names

Systematic and Common Chemical Names There are many ways to name a chemical. Here is a look at the difference between different types of chemical names, including systematic names, common names, vernacular names and CAS numbers. Systematic or IUPAC Name The systematic name  also called the IUPAC name is the preferred way to name a chemical because each systematic name identifies exactly one chemical. The systematic name is determined by guidelines set forth by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Common Name A common name is defined by the IUPAC as a name that unambiguously defines a chemical, yet does not follow the current systematic naming convention. An example of a common name is acetone, which has the systematic name 2-propanone. Vernacular Name A vernacular name is a name used in a lab, trade or industry that does not unambiguously describe a single chemical. For example, copper sulfate is a vernacular name which may refer to copper(I) sulfate or copper(II) sulfate. Archaic Name An archaic name is an older name for a chemical that predates the modern naming conventions. Its helpful to know archaic names of chemicals because older texts may refer to chemicals by these names. Some chemicals are sold under archaic names or may be found in storage labeled with the older names. An example of this is muriatic acid, which is the archaic name for hydrochloric acid and is one of the names under which hydrochloric acid is sold. CAS Number A CAS number is an unambiguous identifier assigned to a chemical by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a part of the American Chemical Society. CAS numbers are assigned sequentially, so you cant tell anything about the chemical by its number. Each CAS number consists of three strings of numbers that are separated by hyphens. The first number contains up to six digits, the second number is two digits, and the third number is a single digit. Other Chemical Identifiers Although the chemical names and CAS Number are the most common way to describe a chemical, there are other chemical identifiers you may encounter. Examples include numbers assigned by PubChem, ChemSpider, UNII, EC number, KEGG, ChEBI, ChEMBL, RTES number and the ATC code. Example of Chemical Names Putting it all together, here are the names for CuSO4 ·5H2O: Systematic (IUPAC) Name: copper(II) sulfate pentahydrateCommon Names: copper(II) sulfate, copper(II) sulfate, cupric sulfate, cupric sulfateVernacular Name: copper sulfate, copper sulfateArchaic Name: blue vitriol, bluestone, copper vitriolCAS Number: 7758-99-8

Francis Bacon on Youth and Age

Francis Bacon on Youth and Age Francis Bacon  was a true Renaissance man- statesman, writer, and philosopher  of science. He is considered the first major English essayist. Professor Brian Vickers has pointed out that Bacon could vary the tempo of argument in order to highlight important aspects. In the essay Of Youth and Age, Vickers notes in the introduction to the Oxford Worlds Classics 1999 edition of The Essays Or Counsels, Civil and Moral  that Bacon uses a most effective variation in tempo, now slowing down, now speeding up, together with syntactical parallelism, in order to characterize the two opposed stages of life.   Of Youth and Age A man that is young in years may be old in ​hours, if he have lost no time. But that happeneth rarely. Generally, youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in thoughts, as well as in ages. And yet the invention of young men is more lively than that of old, and imaginations stream into their minds better, and as it were more divinely. Natures that have much heat and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for action till they have passed the meridian of their years; as it was with Julius Caesar, and Septimius Severus. Of the latter of whom it is said, Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenum1. And yet he was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list. But reposed natures may do well in youth. As it is seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Foix, and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition for business. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; f itter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them; but in new things, abuseth them. The errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold; stir more than they can quiet; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first; and that which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or retract them; like an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to compound employments of both; for that will be good for the present, because the virtues of either age may correct the defects of both; and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are actors; and, lastly, good for extern accidents, because authority followeth old men, and favour and popularit y youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the pre-eminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin, upon the text, Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God than old, because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream. And certainly, the more a man drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth; and age doth profit rather in the powers of understanding, than in the virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early ripeness in their years, which fadeth betimes. These are, first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned; such as was Hermogenes the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle; who afterwards waxed stupid. A second sort is of those that have some natural dispositions which have better grace in youth than in age; such as is a fluent and luxuriant speech, which becomes youth well, but not age: so Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, neq ue idem decebat2. The third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold. As was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant3. 1 He passed a youth full of errors, yea of madnesses.2 He continued the same, when the same was not becoming.3 His last actions were not equal to his first.

Social Stratification, Race, and Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Stratification, Race, and Gender - Essay Example For instance, I observed a couple laughing heartily when the elevator door opened but as soon as they go into the elevator the stopped laughing. Additionally, contrary to my earlier expectations, the female was standing quite close to the male which to me indicated a degree of comfort and intimacy. However, as soon as they got to the first floor (where they stepped off the elevator) they were laughing loudly again. This sudden break in laughter was one observed point which clarified to me that as soon as individuals get into an elevator their behavior changes in obvious ways. A second observation supports this idea since I was waiting for the elevator with a man who was listening to music through his MP3 player. As we were waiting I could observe him bobbin his head and tapping his feet (I presume it was done in time with the music) but as soon as the elevator doors opened he stopped his ‘dance’. In fact, while he and I were taking the elevator to go down, he did not resume dancing. I could not be sure of when he did resume the activity since he and I went our separate ways. Another thing which I observed was the way people deal with their appendages in an elevator. If a person is leaning against one of the walls of the elevator their legs would normally be crossed but only if the elevator is relatively empty. On the other hand, in a crowded elevator everyone stands up straight. Of course there is no rule for or against leaning with the wall but it is clear that the social norms which recommend that we make room for others are applicable in this case. Finally, I think there might be a gender difference in how people behave in elevators since I saw quite a few women fold their arms while taking an elevator ride. On the other hand, I frequently spotted men with their hands in their pockets as the elevator went up or down. I am not sure if

International Business Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business Management - Essay Example Manufacturing sectors are major contributors of the national GDP in a number of ways. For instance manufacturing companies, use the national resources as inputs to formulate the outputs which can be either exported or used locally depending on the need. The huge unemployment rate in Morocco makes this industry an ideal sector to analyze since it involves a large workforce (Verme et al 2014). Also the manufacturing sector contains a huge degree of clarity on its role in contributing to the GDP of the country. Comparing the GDP of Morocco with other nations in the region, it will be apparent that the Moroccan GDP exhibits a growth of approximately 5 % annually (Verme et al 2014). This is a sign that the country holds potential resources to ensure success. Over the past 3 years the country has enjoyed political stability and continuous production without disruptions. This has seen the rise in its GDP continuously. The Moroccan government is putting in a lot of effort to protect its resources and ensure stability, through which it will give its citizens a foundation to work without engaging on other non-productive activities. As compared to other low economies the Moroccan economy is enjoying international recognition. Apart from the GDP, Morocco exhibits a high GNI in a given financial year (Verme et al 2014). The difference between the GDP and GNI is that while the GDP encompasses the income which the country generates locally, the GNI involves the income which is generated both locally and overseas this means that GDP is the best yardstick to measure performance of a given nation since it entirely points out those factors of production within a country’s disposal. Inflation over time has been a major problem in industries; inflation is responsible for cutting down of profits because of the frequent changes in the market. The inflation is usually used as an indicator of macroeconomic

Social Media And New Media In Ghana Media Essay

Social Media And New Media In Ghana Media Essay Social media is a growing phenomenon in our present information age. For many persons, particularly the youth, social media provides the platform to create, disseminate and share information with persons of shared ties. The power and influences of the social media phenomenon in shaping our world today cannot be overlooked. Its impact is witnessed as a coordinating tool for a significant number of the worlds political movements including the political revolutions that took place in the Middle East commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Again in political campaigning, social media is credited to have contributed significantly to the electoral success of then candidate Barak Obama as his adoption of the technology facilitated his reach and garnered support from many young voters during the 2008 American presidential elections. The social media fad is believed to have enhanced cultural exchanges, created, maintained and deepened social ties in a significant number of social settings. F or quite a number of people, it is almost impossible to exist in our present world and not be affected by the social media phenomenon. It has become part of our new world which is driven extensively by information and communication. The social media application runs on the foot of the internet technology. The internet directs the manner in which communication is carried from place to place, person to person and culture to culture in our world today. It has become as ubiquitous as the human species and almost a measure of human civilisation. Researchers and scholars have divergent opinions of the impacts of the internet and new media technology on our world today. Their opinions are expressed broadly in utopian and dystopian perspectives and cover all aspects of life of which the technology is used. The utopians appreciate the Internet as potentially an enormous tool for good. The positive possibilities from the Internet include supporting the practice of democracy, human interactions, concerted political action, education, etc. On the other hand the dystopians, the cyberpunks and the alarmists, see danger in every digital project even an ultimate loss of our humanity. Understanding the internet and all its associated technology and applications requires an understanding of the dimensions under which the internet can be studied. Bell (2001) explains that there are three ways to understanding the internet or its synonym cyberspace. Bell describes the meaning of the internet or cyberspace under: a) material b) symbolic and c) experiential stories. He cites Stanley Aronowitz (1996) as providing the terms ontology, phenomenology and pragmatics to discuss ways of thinking about the internet technology. Material stories of the internet technology provide a historical understanding of how the technology came to exist and the transformations it has undergone. Whittaker (2004: Pp 13) explains that symbolic stories of the internet or cyberspace give literary and generic accounts most notably in cyberpunk but also in science fiction and other speculative fiction. Bell, citing Jordan (1999), provides an explanation to symbolic stories of cyberspace as the ways in which cyberspace are depicted in films and fiction. Therefore movies such as Robocop which prompted civic discourses over the use of robotics in solving human limitations, and The Matrix provide good examples to understanding symbolic stories of cyberspace. New media and social media New media tools, which are internet based technologies and applications provide platforms for social media tools to be used civic discourses. There is often the tendency to interchange the terms new media and social media. However, it must be noted that new media and social media mean different things though both exist in cyberspace and are associated with the internet technology. According to wiseGEEK new media denotes the various technologies that have emerged rapidly in our present millennium. The major types of new media include social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as blogs and video sharing sites such as YouTube. One of its most defining characteristics is interactivity. Social media, however, refers to online technologies and practices that are used to share opinions and information, promote discussion and build relationships (Crown 2009; 2). iCrossing (2008) indicates that social media shares the characteristics of Participation, Openness, Conversation, Community, and Connectedness are currently presented in the following basic forms Goode (2009) explains that social media facilitates citizens engagements in new forms of civic participation as they construct, archive, tag and reticulate news stories and political media content. Bakardjieva (2011) describes how blogs, a social media application and bloggers have become visible in the Bulgarian public sphere. In the Bulgarian scenario, the tool was adopted to protest against a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to strip a territory in the south-east of Bulgaria of its status as a protected natural reserve. The countrys young people and environmentalist groups engaged in civic protests in the streets to challenge the decision as they organized and reported their actions by blogs, websites and text messages. The brief but centrally placed and well-attended civic actions obligated the Bulgarias mass media and parliamentarians to situate the issue on their agenda. http://edc.education.ed.ac.uk/sindhur/files/2010/09/Different-Media-and-modes-of-communication-Every-day-life.jpg  [1]   Figure : DIFFERENT MEDIA AND MODES OF COMMUNICATION-AN EVERYDAY LIFE PICTURE. The British government recognises how digital technology has transformed the way in which people communicate and share information at the local, national and international levels. To ensure that the potential of the transforming power is harnessed well enough to facilitate citizen engagement and proper governance, investments into providing adequate guidelines for civil servants to appreciate these changes so that they can operate effectively in a dynamic media environment. The British Government via new media tools and online access is tailoring its services to its public more conveniently all day and all week. The quote below is taken from the introductory chapter on connecting civil servants through social media in The Guide for Civil Servants (pp 11): Use of social media techniques is not restricted to government interaction with citizens or business. There is already a range of tools dedicated to encouraging discussion and sharing knowledge and best practice among civil servants. Social media and New media in Ghana Ghana has not been isolated from the global social media craze. Universally, Facebook is noted as the most popular social media platform and is most recognized in Ghana as well. Currently, there are about 1,436,560 Facebook users in Ghana, which makes it rank number 73 globally (Socialbaker 2012). The social networking statistics from Socialbaker illustrates that the penetration of Facebook in Ghana  is  5.90%  of the countrys population and  110.76%  in relation to the number of Internet users. The population of Facebookers users grew by more than  231,140  in the last 6 months. About 41% of Ghanas Facebook user population is between 18 and 24 years, an age group that can be found typically beginning university education or exiting into the professional world. Other social media like YouTube, twitter and LinkedIn are also popular among Ghanaians. Though their popularity is high among the youth and IT savvy persons, statistics on these social media applications are rather low or unavailable. No Ghanaian profile or account is listed in the top 200 global accounts. The same applies with YouTube and LinkedIn. Increasingly, the Whats App application and Blackberry messaging (BBM) which are described as social networking applications are also becoming popular platforms among Ghanaians for information dissemination. All the applications, Facebook, YouTube, twitter Whats App and BBM are available on mobile phone devices commonly referred to as smartphones. They are also on other portable new media gadgets such as ipads and tablets. Chart  [2]   Figure : User age distribution on Facebook in Ghana Ghana was one of the first African countries to get connected to the Internet in 1989-1990 however, the extent of use of the new media technology among Ghanaians is limited. This is a result of the underdevelopment of existing telecommunications infrastructure, though in recent times significant investments have been in developing them (Sey 2011). The investments have been supported by a national communications policy which highlights the Government of Ghanas commitment to accelerating the socio-economic development process of the country through ICT (Republic of Ghana, 2003, p. 14; cited in Sey 2011). In the wake of this policy, there has been considerable improvements in internet connectivity which begun in the early 1990s with the slow bandwidth dial up access to the now high speed broadband connectivity. Mobile phone telephony is not only big on the African Continent but equally the predominate mode of telecommunications in Ghana. Again because of the generally poor fixed line infrastructure. Ghanas National Communications Authority is cited to have announced a mobile telephony penetration rate of about 88.6% as at January 2012 with the leading service provider recording over 10 million subscriptions (Modern Ghana, 2012). Mobile phones in Ghana have varied uses aside its basic use for calls. Sey (2011) reports that in 2007 just over one fixed line existed per 100 inhabitants. Uses of new media in Ghana A number of several accounts have been given for the varied uses of the new media technology in Ghana. However, some research account that the application is appropriated to business and community development. Sey (2011) cites (Slater Kwami, 2005) who indicate that a substantial section of users get onto the Internet as an escape mechanism to connect with the Western world as a poverty reduction strategy. They add that the Internet provides some users with the means to reach people in Western countries who are perceived as potential sources of financial means for migration while others who do not anticipate physically leaving the country might content themselves with enjoying Western life vicariously through foreign content online. Sending e-mails, finding and communicating with pen pals, applying to schools abroad, watching movies, listening to music, and playing games are also some other uses that Ghanaians put the new media to use (Alhassan, 2004; Burrell, 2009; Daily Graphic, 20 03; Slater Kwami, 2005. Cited in Sey 2011). Political parties have also embraced the new media technology and are using social media particularly to grasp the attention of young people. A Communication official of the New Patriotic Party says the party adopts a writing style suitable for the social media in its messaging as the technology creates a better communication channel between the party and voters. The National Democratic Congress says the interactive nature of social media facilitates incorporating feedback from voters into the partys decision making processes (Boakyewaa Pokua 2011). Amongst Students of the University of Ghana, the most popular social media tool is Facebook. Its uses are varied from meeting new friends, sharing information on academic work, and updating family and friends with what is happening in ones life (Dentaa 2011). 2. Problem Statement There is recorded data on citizens disconnections from civic life in our present information society. These are noticeable among younger generations in Western democracies. The United States, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all recorded younger peoples withdrawal in participating in conventional politics and government which constitute civic activities, in alarming numbers. Putnam (2000) argues that, Americans in the last three decades of the 20th century witnessed much less engagements in terms of political participation, charitable contributions, involvement in community organizations, and even participation in social activities with some of these trends obvious among college students. Despite a withdrawal from offline civic life, studies suggest interests in online civic engagements. As a fledgling democratic state, with a history of military dispensations that have stifled civic discourses and civil liberties, Ghana is on the brink of developing its democratic creden tials. The new democratic dispensation gives rise to civic participation in social and political discourses mainly through traditional media. Increasingly, young Ghanaians- a significant number of whom are enrolled in the universities, seek to master the use of the internet and more particularly social media tools to express themselves, explore their identities, and connect with peers. Hence there is opportunity to utilise the characteristics these online tools present to promote civic discourses amongst this group. The study thus seeks to ascertain the use of social media for civic discourses amongst students of the University of Ghana. Questions the study will speak to: Are students of the University of Ghana engaged in civic discourses via social media? What principles of civic discourses are seen in their social media engagements? 3. Background Social transformation is a common phenomenon in our human life and often characterises the conception of civilised society. A transformed society is one which may have at least undergone essential changes in its core institutions, economy, and the relationships between social groups or classes, the creation and distribution of wealth, power and status. Technology has played a key role in the transformation of society. Theorist like Marshal Mcluhan posit in determinist theories that technology changes society and recount human evolution from the Tribal age through Literate, Print and present Electronic age. But besides the influences of technology on social transformation, the contributions of social institutions cannot be overlooked, particularly universities. Universities have contributed significantly to the processes of social change and development. Stories of early civilisations recount the centrality of higher institutions of academic studies in the transformations that took place in those societies. The role of universities has been in generating skilled resources for labour sectors of social life and also in providing scientific investigations and solutions to social phenomenon. As the world rapidly changes and develops or perhaps becomes a lot more civilised, universities can be seen to take on the added role of encouraging and facilitating new cultural values. It is also plausible to see the institution involved in training and socialising members of new social elites. Thus the contributions of universities in fostering heightened awareness of and participation in civic discourses is one worth studying. The practice of citizens contributing in any way possible to how they are governed cannot be overemphasized. However the challenge to this has been in the sustenance of citizens interest in engaging in public activities which support contributions to governance. Evidences of Citizens having less time for public life abound in many countries, despite their resourcefulness in bringing more knowledge and skills to the market place of ideas. Reasons ascribed to citizens having less time for public activities include having less faith that government will be able to deliver on promises, more and more disconnect from community affairs because they seem to find the information, allies, and resources they need to affect an issue or decision they care about outside of the physical public space. A central tenet of Putnams bowling alone thesis holds that much of the decline of civic engagement in America during the last third of the twentieth century is attributable to the replacement of an unusually civic generation by several generations (their children and grandchildren) that are less embedded in community life. (2000, p. 275). He supports this claim with evidence that members of this older generation tend to exhibit consistently high patterns of certain forms of civic activity (membership in civil society groups, voting, and attending city government meetings, for example) throughout their lives. By contrast, younger generations (especially the current youth demographic) have by and large failed to develop comparable civic habits, preferring to spend the majority of their free time on wholly personal pursuits. While some very recent data on one type of civic engagement, voting, contradict this pessimistic assessment (Kirby Marcello, 2006), most of the relevant indicators point toward a greatly diminished Universities have frequently been regarded as key institutions in processes of social change and development. The most explicit role they have been allocated is the production of highly skilled labour and research output to meet perceived economic needs. But to this role may be added, especially during periods of more radical change, roles in the building of new institutions of civil society, in encouraging and facilitating new cultural values, and in training and socialising members of new social elites. 4. Purpose The purpose of the study is to identify civic discourse engagements of students of the University of Ghana via the social media. The study objectives are: to evaluate whether civic discourses take place among students of the university of Ghana. to identify the forms of such civic discourses students of the university of Ghana to ascertain whether such discourses conform to the principles for civic discourses. The study will thus provide data on social media uses for civic discourse interactions and make recommendations on the possibility of nurturing a generation of elites who adopt technology to further discourses that affect how they are governed and their society at large. Findings from the study can help in selecting and developing alternate communication channels for the promotion of civic discourse in Ghana and among an increasing youth population enchanted by the new media and its varied applications. 5. Significance The study is significant as it will support in identifying and exploring how applicable modern technologies can be engaged to facilitate civic discourses which are essential in beefing up processes of good governance and democracy. Traditionally universities have functioned as centres of teaching and research. In their teaching activities, universities provide the professional training for high-level jobs, as well as the education necessary for the development of the personality. Students who graduate from the university ultimately work and live in societies. The university provides a heterogeneous environment which initiates students to diverse people and perspectives. There is a tendency that students may be more motivated and prepared to participate fully in civic life. Students interactions and experiences of diversity whether inside or outside of the classroom, have the possibility to introduce them to new ideas and to challenge their pre-existing views (e.g. Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, Gurin, 2002). As a result, students attitudes toward civic issues may shift in substantial ways, and they may become more involved in community service and political activities. 6. Methodology Various methods are available for conducting studies on Computer Mediated Discourses and civic discourses in mass communication research. The most familiar methods used have been surveys and content analyses. Within the domain of content analysis textual analysis, rhetoric and discourse analyses have been identified as probable methods to studying problems relating to civic discourses specifically or discourses generally. Surveys Survey as a research method denotes gathering information from a sample of individuals. Wimmer and Dominick (2011) explain two types of survey methods that can be used for research processes: Descriptive surveys and analytical surveys. A descriptive survey attempts to explain what exists at the moment. An example for this type of survey is that of broadcast networks frequently conducting surveys of their audiences to identify their programming tastes, evolving values and lifestyle variations that might affect their programming. Descriptive surveys thus examine the as it is situation in the area under study. An analytical survey attempts to describe and explain why situations exist (Wimmer and Dominic 2011). The approach ordinarily examines two or more variables investigating research questions or testing research hypotheses. From the results researchers can examine the interrelationships among the variables and develop explanatory interpretations. For example, television station owners survey the market to determine how lifestyles affect viewing habits or to determine whether viewers lifestyles can be used to predict the success of syndicated programming (Wimmer and Dominic 2011). Adopting a survey approach in conducting studies on social media and civic discourses will facilitate investigations into the problem in a realistic setting. For example newspaper reading, commenting on social happenings on television or radio and participating in political issues of governance, all of which are probable civic activities can be examined in their real environments other than in a laboratory or screening room where artificial conditions are generated if studied as experiments. Secondly, surveys allow researchers to collect data on and examine many variables including demographic variables and use a variety of statistics to analyse the data collected. Thus patterns of relationships of differences or closeness are possible to be deduced to enable positing hypotheses as well as provide explanations to the problem. Considering that a constraint to research is funding and costs associated to carrying out the research, the reasonable cost of surveys in relation to the amount of information gathered (some online surveys are free) makes it a useful and widely used method. Researchers are able to control their research expenses by selecting from mail, telephone, personal interview, group administration, and the Internet modes of surveys. Related to this surveys have no geographic constraints and they can be conducted almost anywhere. Probably a significant benefit for using surveys in research is the availability existing data which makes it possible to carry out a whole study without the use of a questionnaire or contacting a respondent. Data sources such government documents, class or students registration lists may be depended on as primary data sources or as supportive sources of information. However an essential shortcoming in the use of surveys is the inability to draw causal or non-causal relationships between dependent and independent variables. Thus for a study as this it is not possible to draw casual or non-causal relations between social media use and civic discourses. This is because independent variables cannot be manipulated the way they are in laboratory experiments. Without control over independent variables, the researcher cannot be certain whether the relationships between independent variables and dependent variables are causal or non-causal. Results from surveys may easily be considered bias in the event of inappropriate wording or placement of questions within a questionnaire. This thus means careful scrutiny of words chosen to solicit data and organized unambiguously would be required. This can be strenuous and time consuming. An example Where did you hear the news about the presidents death? is mildly biased against newspapers. The word hear suggests that radio, television, or other people is a more appropriate answer (Wimmer and Dominic 2011, pp 190). The possibility of including wrong respondents in survey research is almost not negligible. Respondents may claim to possess a characteristic necessary for the study but may in fact be deficient in that feature. A mail survey or Internet survey may be completed by a teenager when the target respondent is a parent in the household.

Marketing Principles Essay

It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process A marketing environmental analysis helps a business understand external forces that can affect it. The environment, or external forces, are often factors that a business cannot control, yet it is important to be aware of environmental concerns when preparing a marketing plan or introducing a new product to the market. The most common method for preparing a marketing environmental analysis is to conduct a PESTLE analysis, which stands for; Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental. This covers all areas affecting a business. Political The first element of a PEST analysis is a study of political factors. Political factors are factors connected with the government and its activities. Politics affect organisations because governments introduces rules and regulations that organisations and their customers have to abide by. Economic The second element of a PEST analysis involves a study of economic factors. All businesses are affected by national and global economic factors. National and global interest rate and fiscal policy will be set around economic conditions. The climate of the economy dictates how consumers, suppliers and other organisational stakeholders such as suppliers and creditors behave within society. Social The third aspect of PEST Social is about forces within society such as family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and the media. Social forces affect our attitudes, interests and opinions. These forces shape who we are as people, the way we behave and ultimately what we purchase. For example within the UK people’s attitudes are changing towards their diet and health. Technological The fourth element of PEST is technology, as you are probably aware technological advances have greatly changed the manner in which businesses operate. Organisations use technology in many ways, they have: -Technology infrastructure such as the internet and telephone