American Home Products Corporation Essay

1. How much business risk does American Home Products face? How much financial risk would American Home Products face at each of the proposed levels of debt shown in case Exhibit 3? How much potential value, if any can American Home Products create for its shareholders at each of the proposed levels of debt? A combination of business risk and financial risk shows the risk of an organization’s future return on equity. Business risk is related to make a firm’s operation without any debt, whereas financial risk requires that the firm’s common stockholders make a decision to finance it with debt. a) American Home Products has been operating on four main lines of business that are less uncertainty about product demand; for example, one of its business lines is food products because whenever people buy foods. It means that AHP’s business risk is low. As mentioned above, if a firm does its operation activities regularly without leverage, it means that its busines s risk is not significant high. Thus, ratio of cash to total assets is calculated by following: According to Figure 1, AHP’s cash was about 23% of total assets, rose constantly since 1978 to 1981, and reached 28.2% in 1981; thus, it has enough cash flow to finance its daily operation.  Also, return on assets can show that a firm’s ability to cover its operating cost by generating income. According to the calculation below, American Home Products Corporation’s ROA was stable and approximately 19.2 % in 1981; consequently, AHP earned sufficient amount of income to cover its operating cost. Figure 2 Return on Assets of Amercan Home Products Corporation, 1972-1981 ($ in millions) Add to these above explanations, Exhibit 1 shows that AHP’s peak annual growth in sales was 14.1% in 1978 and compare to it, annual growth in sales decreased by 5.3% in 1981; as a result, it became disadvantage to AHP because consumers started to interest into competitors’ products. Risk aversion was the most fundamental component of AHP’s culture; consequently, they prefer to acquire or take license of previously developed goods or produce similar products with its competitors rather than to develop new-products. Although it seems to save R&D expenses, acquisition cost or a cost of time response to steal other’s innovation would be still appeared. Thus, AHP should try to improve its sales. b) Financial risk is related to business risk, so we measured NOPAT, ROIC, ROE whose uncertainty future can determine a firm’s business risk in Figure 3. Figure 3 Pro Forma 1981 Results for Alternative Capital Structures ($ in millions except ratios) Above pro forma illustrates that total debt and financial risk have straight correlation with each other and AHP’s total debt increased, so its financial risk would rise. Then if American Home Products Corporation could not pay its loan and interest by schedule, it would meet the financial risk and the risk of bankruptcy. According to Exhibit 4, AHP used excess cash of 233 million dollars on each of the proposed levels to repurchase stocks and remaining amounts were financed by debt; thus, its common shares outstanding would decreased by 19.8 million shares on 30% dept ratio and 36.6 million shares on 70% debt ratio. It means that equity will goes down, so its return on equity will rise. AHP should consider about financial risk to change the capital structure. American Home Products Corporation can save taxes to pay by increasing debt. Figure 4 illustrates that its taxes savings can be advantage to AHP if it uses heavier capital structure. Figure 4 Pro Forma 1981 Taxes Savings ($ in millions) According to Figure 4, if the company’s capital structure is 70% debt to total capital, comparing to 30 % debt to total capital structure, it can save approximately 1.9 times greater money; thus, its shareholders would benefit from it. 2. What capital structure would you recommend as appropriate for AHP? What are the advantages of leveraging this company? The disadvantages? How would leveraging up affect the company’s taxes? How would the capital markets react to a decision by the company to increase the use of debt in its capital structure? Most appropriate capital structure for American Home Products is 30% debt to total capital. Several reasons will explain the reason why this structure gives advantage to AHP. The first, as using 30% debt ratio, the company would be able to be recapitalized; hence, common shares outstanding of 19.8 million can be repurchased. The second, according to Figure 4, AHP would have advantage to save taxes of 37.8 million dollars and its sha reholders benefit by getting more values. Exhibit 2 shows that Warner Lambert company’s debt ratio is approximately 32% and its bond rating is AAA or AA. It means that if AHP uses 30% debt and 70% equity, its bond rating will be same as Warner Lambert; consequently, bond interest to pay will not increase much due to bond rating. Addition to these reasons, AHP would face less risk to compare heavier capital structures. Finally, AHP’s annual growth in sales decreased in 1981 by 2.9% from previous year, so getting debt could be helpful to manage its operation effectively and increase its sales growth. Besides above advantages, using 30% debt and 70% equity capital structure has disadvantages. First of all, if a firm has a loan, it has to be responsible to pay its principle and interest as a schedule; otherwise, it would be reason to bankruptcy; thus, same rule works on case of AHP. In addition to the risk of bankruptcy, if the company’s daily operation requires more investment after recapitalization, gettin g new loan for it would be more difficult. In final, using debt can be reason to increase its financial risk, so it has to be more careful to manage its operation. According to Figure 4, leveraging the company by using 30% debt to capital structure would decrease its taxes of 37.8 million dollars to pay. The capital market would react positively to a decision by the company to use of 30% debt in its capital structure. The company had almost no debt and had excess of cash or higher liquidity and Mr. Laborte who was chief executive of the company was near to give his position because of retirement, so most analysts expected the company to change its conservative capital structure. Also, Figure 5 shows the market positive reaction on the stock price. Figure 5 Stock Price of AHP ($ in millions except per share datas and ratios) According to Figure 5, AHP’s stock price will increase to 31.5. In order to calculate new stock price, we used average price/earnings ratio of both American Home Products Corporation and Warner Lambert Company in Exhibit 2 because exhibit 2 illustrates that while P/E ratio of AHP is 10.6%, 8% for Warner Lambert and unlike Warner Lambert, AHP has less financial risk. All though AHP’s risk will increase after getting leverage and its P/E ratio will decrease, AHP would have better financial position than Warner Lambert, so investors would be interested to buy AHP’s stock rather than stock of Warner Lambert. 3. How might AHP implement a more aggressive capital structure policy? What are the alternative methods for leveraging up? AHP should use heavier capital structure which means that increase to use more debt instead of conservative capital structure; consequently, AHP’s capital structure might be more effective and aggressive. The alternative methods for leveraging up are innovating new products, using better technology, and motivating labor. 4. In view of AHP’s unique corporate culture, what arguments would you advance to persuade Mr. Laporte or his successor to adopt your recommendation? According to Mr. Laporte, his company works in order to increase shareholders wealth, so as using 30% debt to capital would give possibility to save 37.8 million dollars from taxes; thus, its shareholders would benefit getting higher dividends per share. Even though after using debt, its price/earnings ratio might be decreased, its attraction of investors will be still powerful because of stock price increase. Also, if the company uses more debt to the operation, it will be possible to repurchase common stocks of 19.8 millions of shares from market.

Leaving the Nest Essay

When children graduate from high school and move away to college, it can be devastating for parents. The children leave to gain independence from their parents. They feel they are going on with a new adventure in their lives and gaining a new experience as an adult in the world. They are in a parent’s life for so many years that they cannot imagine life without them in the house. They become sad at the thought of not hearing the laughter or tears every day. Two poems that pick up on this experience are â€Å"On a Daughter’s Leaving Home† and â€Å"At the San Francisco Airport†. These are not just poems about children leaving home but about the emotions all parents go through and the worry they take on when they do. In the poem, â€Å"On a daughter’s leaving home†, the daughter sees her life as a joy. She is excitingly, going off on her own to experience being independent. The daughter is on her bicycle â€Å"pumping, pumping. † She goes on with her life â€Å"screaming with laughter. † The daughter sees her life as something adventurous and fun. The mother is nervous to see her daughter go down a â€Å"curved path of the park†. This â€Å"curved path† represents life with all its twists and turns. It is a symbol of life as unpredictable. It does not go in one straight line. The mother is afraid of the dangers that her daughter will encounter on her adventures in the world. The daughter’s â€Å"hair flapping† is a symbol of the daughter waving goodbye. It is like a handkerchief that one waves when he/she is seeing someone off on his/her travels. This makes the parent sad. She feels left behind. In the poem, the mother is worrying and panicking about the daughter getting hurt. She keeps â€Å"waiting for a thud of crash †. In her eyes, she sees her daughter as fragile. Her daughter is â€Å"smaller, more breakable†. In the poem, â€Å"At the San Francisco Airport†, the father is saying goodbye to his daughter. This letting go is exceedingly difficult for him. He is hurting, and it is extremely painful for him. He does not want to let her go, but he knows he must. The daughter also feels sad. She sees her father’s pain. She knows though that she must do what needs to be done to grow up. She has to learn to be on her own and out of her father’s shadow. The poet uses much repetition in her writing style in â€Å"On a Daughter’s Leaving Home†. An indication can be found in the line, pumping, pumping /for your life†. Another contrast between both poems is that one is hopeful for his daughter’s future and is aware that he must let her go. The other poem has a mother who is afraid to let go. In both, there is vivid symbolism. The airport represents a farewell, as does the handkerchief. What unites both poems is the symbolism of a journey of daughters. In Pastan’s poem, the mother is afraid to let go. She is worrying about her daughter and the dangers that come with growing up and being on her own. However in Winters’ poem the father is sad that his daughter is leaving but not afraid for her. He is hopeful for her and her future. He sees it as a bright light. Both poems show a parent’s love for his/her children. Both parents want the best for them as they leave home. Both children are happily taking the next steps into adulthood. They are leaving their parents’ shadows. While all parents worry about not being able to protect their children anymore, not all parents will react in the same way. Some may look back on how they raised their child or the memories that were shared in their lifetime. Some though may look to the future instead. The parent understands that he/she has to let go, albeit hesitantly, and trust in the responsibility of his/her child. In the end, it comes down to a balance of both sides of the coin; look back at the cherished memories but look to the future and trust in each person to make the right decisions. It is not an easy road to take but something that must be done if children are to thrive and blossom vibrantly into adulthood.

Should Pornography Be Restricted by Law Term Paper

Should Pornography Be Restricted by Law - Term Paper Example The web has a reputation for being an uncontrolled and chaotic mass of information that scares some people as much as it intrigues others. Pornography has also carved out a substantial niche in this new media environment, proving that, perhaps, whether one likes it or not, pornography is not stopping, and is everywhere, especially in terms of dominating new media applications such as the web and the home video business (and now DVDs). This is a very profitable industry worldwide in a free market. a coded and polarized argument. On a societal level, pornography has positive and negative effects, but within the polarized and polemical arguments of advocates and censors, there tends to be more of a one-sided perspective. The objectification of women is one issue that centers a societal treatment of pornography, but again, in speaking (and asking questions) in a societal form, once misses out on the crux of the issue: is the individual to be free to pursue pornography, or is the society to be protected from it? Most women are objectified in pornography, but does this necessarily mean that they have to be objectified by it as consumers of it? Again, the issue is more one of the society and the individual being seen to be at odds in terms of representative and respective freedom (individual) and protection (society). Studies have contested that in none of the behavioral studies on pornography and violence â€Å"‘has a measure of motivation such as likelihood to rape ever ch anged as a result of exposure to pornography.’ Men who are already predisposed to violent attitudes toward women may be more sexually aroused by violent materials.  

Ten Critical Steps for Risk Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ten Critical Steps for Risk Managers - Essay Example There are mainly 10 major types of political risks, such as Nationalization, expropriation, confiscation, deprivation, contract frustration, currency inconvertibility, trade disruptions, unfair financial guarantee calling, devaluation and several disasters like strikes, war, civil commotion, terrorism and communal riot. Between 2008 and 2011, the issuance of PRI has increased due to volatile political condition of several countries. US achieved government backed terrorism insurance scheme (Miga, 2012). These steps will effectively guide the risk managers to buy political risk insurance. Selection of underwriter or broker is important. Brokers or underwriters are the first contact line. Therefore, it is important for the managers to undertake effective selection process. It is true that there are several underwriters who can share the views about political risk but only few of them can perform adequately in the limited and critical insurance market. Next step is service requirement. I t is an effective part of the selection process. The managers should know what services are required for exports. Moreover, they should try to protect their valuable assets like filing of applications, financing, exposure review, contract review, political risk intelligence, claims handling and loss of control. Fees and commissions should also be effectively examined. The risk managers should try to combine several political risk exposures under a single policy. Broker prefers several important package policies as these are typically more predictable and stable. Effective communication among employees, managers, top management is an important work culture of the organizations. The risk managers should organize an in-house seminar to inform the employees about possible risks and educate them to prevent those risks. Managers should establish a formal and simple communication structure including weekly status and updated reports. They should appoint effective local and familiar coordin ators to publicize operating plan and subject area. Contract review is important for the risk managers. They should conduct a thorough review process including review and analysis of terms of payment and sale, contract and other important documents associated with the exposure. It will help the managers to assure appropriate coverage is obtained. Political risk intelligence is another important step. It is an important part of brokerage service. The qualified facilities will help the managers to assist in the support, information and updated intelligence area. In addition to the 10 Political risk coverage areas, the managers should understand about terms, conditions and rates. These will help the risk managers to address co-insurance, waiting period, deductibility, exclusions, warranties, rescheduling, protection of profits and business interruption. Majority of the political risk coverage does not include export credit. Export credit insurance is an effective sales tool as banks ar e more appropriate to grant export financing. Loss of control is another critical step. Loss of control measure helps the risk managers to minimize the loss. It can include the contract analysis to protect the organization interests in the future (Fita, 2007). The organization’s interest can be protected through favorable treatment security. Last step is claims procedures. Before the occurrence of loss, a written documentation procedure should be developed. It will help to address who is handling the

Information system project management Lab Report

Information system project management - Lab Report Example After a long time of learning and implementing various project management methodologies, controls together with measurements, the success level of IT projects has been deemed not to be any better than the old moments when one computer could take up a whole room. In order for IT to contribute to the bottom line of every company, the executive teams have to make sure that the project remains aligned to business strategy. In case of multiple projects constituting large scale programs, there would be need to embrace flexibility with greater focus on the larger business picture. In software projects, it is possible to witness scenes such as members failing to complete whatever is expected of them and other members failing to be flexible. This has the potential of making things to fall out of hand. Another scene would be a person valued for his or her expert input failing to see the wider perspective, thereby missing out steps and tasks that other people would expect or a team member becoming frustrated because he disagrees with the approach that another team member uses. Dr Meredith Belbin studied team-work for several years and he made the observation that individuals inside teams have the tendency to assume varied roles. His definition of team roles is "He defined a team role as "a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way" and named nine of such team roles that determine the success level of a team. Teams risk becoming unbalanced in the event that all team members bear a lot of similarity in behavior. In case the team members have same weaknesses, the entire team might end up being weak. Supposing the team members have a similar level of strength, the spirit of competition is likely to arise and this will suppress cooperation in execution of the team-assigned tasks and responsibilities. Bearing this in mind, you could use the model with your team so as to help in making sure that the important team

Novartis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Novartis - Essay Example In addition, the company is concerned about the role of its employees in the provision of quality services and achieving the company’s performance target. To facilitate the objective, Novartis introduced the annual energy excellence awards to motivate its employees. Although, Novartis has promoted an extensive performance management process, their efforts have not attained the desired levels of expectation. The Performance Management Process Can Be Considered ‘Strategic’ Novartis PM Process is strategic since it links other HR polices such reward, talent development and training with its performance management policies. This is a good strategy since it enables the company to achieve its management objectives through direct approach. The pay for performance system is strategic since it enables the company to motivate its employees by rewarding them for exceptional performance. Moreover, the company can evaluate the value of its employees in terms of the value that they contribute to the company. Rewarding employees for exceptional performance also enables them to benefits from their initiatives and handwork (Randle, 2007). To implement the performance program Novartis has implemented a training program to equip its staff with the required skills. Although the PM process is rewarding in the short term, it cannot be relied upon in the long term. This is because; employee’s performance is limited to several factors including their ability and perf ormance capacity. Moreover, the policy does not promote loyalty and skill development among the company staff. This is because the employees are only concerned with the gains they are making out of their performance rather than the overall performance of the company. The HR policy does not help to sharpen the skills of individual employees since it focuses on the overall performance of the team rather than the performance of individuals. Line managers rather than HR staff drive the process. This is an advantage as well as a disadvantage to the company in terms of skill development and company’s performance. Line managers are more inclined to production and overall company’s’ performance rather than skill development. This makes them less suitable for the job considering that the company needs to establish a long-term relation with its customers. Alternatively, being managed by line managers is superior to being managed by HR officers since they focus on the prod uction aspect of an employee. Components & Techniques of the Process PM components and techniques involve employee rating and performance evaluation. The â€Å"First Steps 2006/7 was the first Novartis PM process for all V&D staff. The rating process was used to determine and categorize employees according to their performance capacity. Throughout the PM process, measuring or rating employees according to their performance ability is essential. However, the process is not beneficial to members of staff since it only targets employee’s performance rather than the cause of poor or exceptional performance (Marketline, 2012). The process only provides a comparison on employee’s performance rather than the cause of poor performance among employees. Consequently, the pulse check 2008 provides a review of employee’s performance rather than strategies to improve the performance. The survey emphasizes on identifying key improvements that have led to the company’s development. This is not a strategic move since it does not define any specific plan or activity that will lead to the company’

Evidence based practices Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Evidence based practices - Research Paper Example workers concerned in applicant dispensation have been furloughed habitually, and in March, 2009, the Town Council permitted a three-month hiring freeze (Nostrand, 2007). Hence, the LAPD, as well as other law enforcement agencies, can undoubtedly profit from evidence-based approaches to assessing recruitment programs along with reformation the application process. Using the Los Angeles Police Department and city administrative data from financial years 2007 and 2008, this paper will estimate impacts, in line with applicant numbers, for LAPD’s employment efforts and will revise a model for prioritizing candidates established by Lim et al. (2009). Recruitment and maintenance are long-lasting worries for large urban law enforcement agencies (Lim, 2009). Over much of the last couple of years, police departments from San Diego to New York City have gone through considerable difficulty in finding and maintaining police officers. Even though, the number of police officers countrywide increased by 3.4% between 2000 and 2004 employment did not keep pace with population increase and was well underneath the rate of law enforcement development in the 90s. In addition, 20 out of the 50 largest local police groups in the country decreased in size between 2000 and 2004, in some departments by as high as 10 to 15% (Matthies, 2011). The countrywide economic recession, which started late in 2007, has attested to be a double-edged knife for law enforcement employment. Many candidates are applying for the job, but the funds for hiring and recruiting have been cut. Sheriff and Police departments around the nation have reported large increases i n the number of candidates, as is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). However, financial woes brought on by the economic recession are stopping agencies from taking advantage of the larger applicant pools. A high number of the applications have cancelled due to the lack of available finances to pay the cadets’ incomes. Nowhere else

Presentation+finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation+finance - Essay Example rder to get vital information since one of our objectives of our research was to report truly and fairly on the financial affairs and the performance of the business. Therefore out of all the possibilities we had, we landed an evergreen bar and restaurant a newly established and independently owned business in town. First we wanted to know how the business was financed and how it continues to be financed. But to get an answer to this, we asked for the balance sheet and our main aim was the financial structure in the capital structure of the firm. We found from the financial structure that most of the firm is owned by ‘owner’ unlike outsiders. By â€Å"owners† it means the ordinary shareholders formed 85% of the financial structure. The other 15% represented ownership from preference shareholders. Then on whether the firm uses bank facilities like bank overdraft, we found from the balance sheet that at one point in time the firm used the facility. But we had to obtain confirmation from the bank whether the overdraft was given. This was confirmed to know whether the restaurant sells its products and services at recommended prices. b) We compared this prices with what other similar restaurants are offering. We found out that the firms sells their products and services at slightly higher prices and enquiry were told that evergreen bar and restaurant enjoys and enviable goodwill in the area. But goodwill as an asset cannot be measured reliably and therefore we ha to compare the number of customer who visit the restaurant vis–a-vis other restaurants. They exceed the other restaurants and therefore enjoy relative goodwill. We also used the questionnaire method of collecting information to establish whether the customer were satisfied with both he services given whether the price they paid for the goods and services was worth. Our team also wanted to establish whether all daily sales were promptly and accurately recorded and also whether all purchases we

Professionalism in the Work Place Research Paper

Professionalism in the Work Place - Research Paper Example Competent nurses should be inquisitive about their profession. Nurses maintain their professionalism through open-minded operations and accommodating complementary skills. In addition, they acquire good communication skills that are important in helping them review basics of nursing care and practice. The dress code adopted by nurses should instill confidence in patients and display professionalism. It should be uncomplicated, formal, uniform and purposeful. Nurses should be in uniforms at workplace for identification and enhancement of public image about nursing profession. In addition, the color of the dress depicts a lot. For instance, white uniforms are epitomic of cleanliness. Nurses should have positive behavioral attitude towards their patients. They should neither discriminate nor disclose confidential medical information. Maintaining supportive, engaging and nurturing environment through moral and accommodative behavior should constitute core values among nurses. Based on the analysis of professionalism in nursing practice, maintaining positive moral behavior enhances their coordination with patients and colleagues at the workplace. In addition, effective communication is fundamental in achieving confidentiality and coordination of nursing practice. Desirable behavior is vital in the execution of nursing practice. Nurses must adopt proper professionalism at the workplace to provide quality health care. Bunkenborg, G., Samuelson, K., Ã…keson, J., & Poulsen, I. (2013). Impact of Professionalism in Nursing on In-Hospital Bedside Monitoring Practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(7), 1466-1477.

Cultural Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Diversity - Essay Example Young ladies were groomed not for successful careers but to be wives of eligible and economically stable men, so they are not encouraged to pursue their education, as this will not be of benefit to them anyway. This cult of domesticity has been practiced for ages, so it was already something that most women accepted and became accustomed to. However, a growing number of women felt they were too constrained to be anything more than a housewife and longed to maximize their potentials as women. In raising these concerns, feuding groups of women fought for opposite beliefs. Those who yearned for freedom and equal rights with their male counterparts, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, staged a convention to launch the women’s rights movement. For two days in July in 1848, they convened in the low-key town of Seneca Falls in New York. This small group of people were instrumental in uplifting the position of women in society. In the convention, they argued for equality with men and fought for greater legal rights, especially the right of suffrage. They also voiced out their need for more professional and education opportunities (McMillen, 2008). These women were courageous to fight for reform that was considered radical at that time, especially since their opponents were also women who embraced domesticity. Out of that convention came the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments as drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The document demanded women’s voting and property rights as well as equal economic and educational opportunities with men. Eventually, in 1920, after more than seventy years, women got what they fought for with the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads: â€Å"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.† This amendment empowered women w ith certain rights and privileges that allows them to pursue an education, vote, and seek employment outside the home, and even work alongside men. It was a long wait, but it was truly worth it! Work Cited McMillen, Sally. Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women's Rights Movement., Oxford University Press, 2008. 2. Institutionalized Heterosexism From time immemorial, the belief that there are only two genders: male and female, has been propagated by society. This meant that each gender was endowed with its own roles, rights and privileges. Over the years, the fact that some people have differing sexual orientations that did not conform to the two that are upheld, was not welcomed, as discomfort in even accepting such differences prevailed. Although homophobia, or the â€Å"irrational fear of, aversion or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals† (Merriam Webster Online, 1969) has been viewed negatively, it has somehow persisted albeit in a more subtle manner. Ind ividuals who pursued their sexual preferences as lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) usually suffer discrimination in many facets of society. They are seen as those who go against the norm, and certain rights, opportunities and privileges that heterosexuals enjoy are usually not extended to these LGBTs. This kind of prejudice against LGBTs has been labelled heterosexism. It deprives many of society’s privileges from those who â€Å"

The Importance of Innovation in Todays Changing Economy Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Innovation in Todays Changing Economy Essay In today’s cutthroat society, companies and organizations in various sectors s constantly need to improve their practices and strategies to cope with the changing times and the increasing competition. People—as individuals or in groups—always have to think about attracting new customers and keeping the old; fielding new methods while incorporating the best strategies from previous practices; and delivering quality outputs to thrive in world where things could change with the turn of a page or a click of a mouse.    Stagnation is detrimental to the health of companies and organizations because now, more than ever, thinking out of the box is crucial to make one stand out and deliver something substantial to an even more meticulous crowd. Steve McKie (2004) defined two types of innovation based on Bellon and Whittington’s description in Competing Through Innovation: Essential Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Firms: â€Å"new-old† and â€Å"new-new†.   In new-old innovation, one uses his current resources then improves and extends them.   New-old innovation would include â€Å"business models, processes, products, and services† that one is presently employing in his business endeavors. On the other hand, new-new innovation deals with jumping from what one already has into a pool of something that is really new.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Innovation generally deals with providing a solution to a problem.   When people innovate, they make the most of current resources and utilize them to generate better resources and assets for the future.   When individuals and groups begin to become more successful and better off with their innovations, a domino effect of such would boost the entire economy.   Innovation is beneficial to both individuals and groups because currently available products and services may no longer be the answers to dilemmas in the future.   Innovation paves the way for a more stable future for it allows the generation of ideas, products, and services that would meet the needs and demands of a world where, as the clichà © goes, â€Å"change is the only constant thing†. Reference: McKie, Steve.   â€Å"Let Innovation Thrive.† Intelligent Enterprise Magazine. 2004. Intelligent Enterpise. 15 Feb. 2007 http://www.intelligententerprise.com/040101/ 701feat2_1.jhtml

Zeigarnik Effect Essay Example for Free

Zeigarnik Effect Essay The Zeigarnik Effect is named after the Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik (1926), who noticed an odd thing while sitting in a restaurant in Vienna. The waiters seemed only to remember orders which were in the process of being served, but little recollection of the completed orders. Zeigarnik went back to her lab to test out a theory about what was going on with the waiter. More than fifty years after the Bluma Zeigarnik study, Kenneth McGraw and his team returned to conduct the same study. The conclusion in both studies was that once people start something, they are more inclined to finish it. There is, however, one exception to the Zeigarnik Effect; it won’t work unless you are actually motivated to complete the task or achieve the goal. The Zeigarnik Effect says our brains hold-on to unfinished tasks; in other words, we like to finish what we start. The Zeigarnik Effect is about the human tendency to remember uncompleted tasks more than the tasks already completed. When people manage to start something they’re more inclined to finish it. What the Zeigarnik Effect teaches is that one weapon for beating procrastination is starting– something, sometime, somewhere†¦ anything. Don’t start with the hard task, try something easy first. Once you’ve made a start, however trivial, there’s something drawing you on to complete the task. Zeigarnik ascribed their results to a ‘state of tension’, akin to a cliffhanger ending: Your mind wants to know what comes next. It wants to finish. In conclusion, memory is a good indicator as to whether people continue to be interrupted by thoughts of incomplete tasks. Constant thoughts of incomplete task components cause it to be retained in memory better. Interruptions that cause a person to fall behind in their objective also cause anxiety that brings about constant thoughts of unfinished business.

Principles Of The Rukun Negara Theology Religion Essay

Principles Of The Rukun Negara Theology Religion Essay The principles of the Rukun Negara formulated by National Consultative Council with together headed by our second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak at 31 August 1970. The purpose of formation of this national principles are to created unity of various race in Malaysia after the riots of different races at May 13th 1969 in Malaysia. That riots happened had proven the Malaysian racial issues and stability had fragile. The formation of Rukun Negara are one of the method to overcome the racial issues between different races in Malaysia after the May 13th incidents has happened which involved hundreds of people are death in that particular incident. It happened when after election at year 1969 where Parti Tindakan Rakyat (DAP) dan Gerakan get a very good respond from the result of the election. Procession was held by them purpose for incident of one youth Chinese was killed in battle with policemen before the election was held. UMNO was felt be challenged of the result of the election although them still win the majority seats in parliament. Datuk Harun Idris led the riots happened. Purpose of this provocative procession happened was to set fire to the spirit of nationalism of every races in Malaysia. This riots happened until the police force was unable to control the situation. Army force had to be called to help police force to control the situations. This incidents has made all the leaders in Malaysia has realized of importance of unity issues of various races in the country. In the official report, there are totals of 493 people was injured and 196 people are reported death of that incidents. Emergency in the country was declared by our Yang Dipertua Agong, with advices from our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman based on article 150 in constitution of federal Malaysia. The Rukun Negara can be related with several place that we visit in the trips. The first principle can related with Batu Caves and National Palaces. Batu Caves are rich with Hinduism cultural. The cultural still preserved until today that let us to enable to study and get to know the elements and everything cultural about Hinduism. National Palaces are rich with Islam religions and cultural. Inside the palaces, lot of architectures are follow Islam and mixed with Hinduism elements to build with it. Switch of the light and fans are made of gold plated, which represent the wealthy and higher class people in society. National Museum represent the place to let all the people to access the past cultural and present cultural in Malaysia. In museum, we can access different races occupations, cultural, rituals and behavior being practice in past and until current today in Malaysia. It also show us how the life, ritual and cultural of Orang Asli in Malaysia. Examine carefully the importance of Rukun Negara for our country; how it cultivate social structure and social organization in society. We are admitting that Rukun Negara was important to our country in Malaysia. Rukun Negara was created to meet its purpose of unity of various race in Malaysia, and prevent the riots of races happened again within the country. Analysis of each elements of national principles BELIEF IN GOD Nation and the State was created based on a strong belief in God. It would make the sovereign country or nation thru these religions belief. The Federal Constitution declared that Islam is the official religion of the Federation, but other religion and beliefs can be practiced in freedom and tranquility. Any actions discrimination against any citizen on grounds based on religion are prohibited. Pillars of the drafters of the committee recognize the importance of belief in God and religion in human life. Recognizing the importance of community members holding robustness against their religious teachings, this principle has been selected as the first principle of the Rukun Negara. LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY Malaysia practices a system of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with His Majesty the King as Head of State. Loyalty to King and country means that every citizen should be devoted faithful, honest and sincere to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. At the state level, the citizens are required to devote loyalty to the king who ruled the land where they reside without reducing allegiance to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION This principle pressing need for people to accept, obey and defend the Constitution of the country or glory. Constitution is the highest legal source. Its function is to provide protection to every citizen of this country because of their privileges and rights as citizens in this country. The Malaysian citizens are required to respect, appreciate, and understand the meaning and content as well as the historical background of the formation of the National Constitution. Constitution was drafted based on consensus of all parties and races within the country. Thus the social contract that people cannot be questioned about it and threatened by any individual or any party. Constitution of Malaysia made for determine the pattern of socio-economic and political position of the citizens in this country. THE RULE OF LAW Justice based on the rule of law where all citizens equal before the law in the country legally. Fundamental freedoms guaranteed to all citizens of Malaysia. State law based on the Constitution. Thus the need to be accepted and defended its sovereignty. Without the law, social and state life is not peaceful and stable. By the laws of the country are guaranteed by an independent judiciary and competent. Every country needs laws to regulate and create peaceful, prosperity and stability in society. The existence of the law will guarantee a life member of the community can move with freedom and orderly, without any disturbance which not threated the safety of other citizens in the country. The rights of all people can practice freely as long as no violation of the law as well as things as guaranteed by the Constitution. The freedoms right declared in the Constitution does not means citizens have the right to overthrow the current government. COURTESY AND MORALITY These five principles to emphasize the development of ones personality and behavior of the people. The aim is to form citizens courtesy and manners in line with the campaign Courtesy and Noble Values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹conducted now. Individual nature of courtesy and manners are the most important and meaningful in the elements of relationships with other various races within the country. Attitude of courtesy and manners should be taught and practiced to develop the individual and society as well as high discipline and morality that will help create harmonious in the society. Conduct hate and condemn this behavior or act arrogant or offend any person or class. Polite behavior within the person are contains of high degree of morality in his / her life. Importance of Rukun Negara are create unity among the different races, Chinese, Malay and Indians in Malaysia. In the national principles, it has avoid any racial issues happened between among the three main racial in the country. It was law binding for those go against with it will be arrested. National Principles also create function as a guidance in the formation of one nation in the country regardless of religion and race. It has become important guidelines for government in Malaysia ruled the country. http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2004dt=0804pub=Utusan_Expresssec=Featurespg=fe_03.htm National principles also creates the way of democracy life in the Malaysia nation. In the federal constitution, it was stated practice of democracy must in element for governing in nations of Malaysia. The constitution are almost same like United States. National principles also to serve purpose of create the society, which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably shared among the nation. It also to ensure the liberal approach of diversity and rich of different cultural traditions within Malaysian nations. In first elements of national principles, not one were racial, each citizens of Malaysia was respect each other cultural, traditions and religions been practice by different races. In today, we can see the effects created by the national principle in our country, Malaysia. Every races still manage to get mixed well by each other. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxqyff0BKzBjFGduDVLQv7sh9M63uU_ZB9lkUISw7X57pD_Br6qw Different races mix well together Second element in national principles are made the citizens in Malaysia have love and loyalty to their country and Kings. Not only that, they are expected to be love their leaders as well. In Today, although we can see Sultan are functionless in our country, but Malaysians are not going to oppose the Sultan but to love the Sultan more and respect them as there are one of the leaders in Malaysia. We can saw Malaysia are developing far behind than Singapore. But, we still love our country as we can see the specialty of Malaysia are united three races in one nation one country, which this reasons are attracted the foreign tourists come and visit to Malaysia. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTcOnb4vumEJrNuMrUf4f6kECYXXMiYk9tfPM7dEnTZjK7Kl679 Third elements in national principles enable the citizens in Malaysia live in democracy way in their country. There is freedom to practices their own rituals, cultural and also religious for each races. Every citizens have their right and own voice to protest the wrong doing in the society. Very good example are referring to Bersih Campaign. It is one of the democracy way for Malaysian citizens to voice out their dissatisfied with the wrong doing in past elections. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bersih-3-pusat-bandar.jpg Bersih Campaign The Law Binding were cultivate the society become more alert when they commit any illegal activity. One of the example, any drug trafficking was arrested and had been judged by court, it will received penalty as dead sentences in final. The last principle has enabled all the citizens to build up better or superior personality which consist good moral and behavior. The superior of personality are the important elements of the development of the country. It also able to avoid any riots happened within the country among the different race. In opposite, it able to create harmony among the race for helping each other, complement each other which gave a fast lane for a country to become developed country. Crime rate also can be reduce at the same time. Hence, the Ultimate goal of Rukun Negara also can be achieved at the same time. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSdSKNdHM8cxlI0IeHza6_3WVCST39ktSWoXXTNw28Gk0iaTdMBFA Different races of Bersih Activists help to save out the victim which hit by policemen car in Bersih Campaign. They eventually help policemen get out of the car after they save the victim of accident. In my opinion, national principles have its importance and it have affect the Malaysian society to get united even better compared with time at post- independent. In today, we can see everyone can have different races of friend in their life. The freedom of Malaysian citizen to practice their cultural and rituals without anyone restrictions are amazing, it has attracted the different country tourists just to come and visit the Malaysia for experiencing this multiracial cultural in Malaysia. In today, we able to see even we from different races but they really help each other when we have difficulty in some situations. My personal experience, when there are a accidents occurs, i can see the Malays and Indians come and help out each other. But, we still can see some group of people which have power in political and position which seen Rukun Negara as nothing. Here, i not wish to refer anyone in Malaysia, but we commonly know what is actually happened in our country. Death of Teoh Beng Hock was still became mystery until today, although court had given final judgment as he commit suicide. We still can see many corruptions happened around the country, which the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission cannot do anything on it because the excessive power involve which can overwrite everything and manage run away from judgments including legislative. In conclusion, Rukun Negara are play very important roles in Malaysia. It gave peace among our country. It also born good personality of the citizens, which love their everything in their home country. Unity among the races are become the specialty of Malaysia toward other countries in all around the world. http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT0B6D-zVpuA3I3QKLBbw7NC0gyZIYcC2fbuLToRmsaH5xsPnLMPA http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRyixZ_g4Icg39xd_EizEo6h1YQzjgPUPrGnsjmnxzvOInPLzZ93A Others discussion questions Examine Malaysian crime rate and analysis the statistics based on Roberts Merton s Typology of Deviance. File:Mertons social strain theory.svg In Robert Merton theory of Deviance typology, there are consist of five elements in basically. There are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Basically, he explain about deviants behavior becomes crime when the crime too disruptive and uncontrollable thru informal sanctions. All forms of deviance are related with crime. (Tepperman, L., Curtis, J.(2006). Principles of Sociology: Canadian Perspectives, p. 117. Oxford University Press, Canada. ISBN 0-19-542348-8. ) Conformity are refer to achieved of societal goals by social s means which both of them are accepted by society. Innovation is the attaining goals by using unacceptable way by the society. Innovators always think and take of creative ways to achieve their goals, which the creative ways are not accept by society at most of the times. Meanwhile, Ritualism is the means accepted by society but the loss of the goals. Although they has rejected the goals, but they still continue the means. Retreatism is the rejection of both the goals and means. They often find a way to escape from goals and means. Rebellion are same meaning with retreatism but they are with new goals and new means. Merton defined innovation and ritualism are the pure cases, it is because both cases there is a discontinue to implied and pursue between goals and means. Based on Malaysia statistics related with crime and law, there are fourteen type of crimes. In concern of increase number of crimes are violent crimes, property crimes, commercial and serial commercial code crimes. Violent crimes are included case of murder, rape, fire armed gang robbery, gang robbery without firearms. Property crimes covered stealing of truck/van, car, snatch thefts and burglary. Commercial crimes covered those trick in business deal, criminal breach of trust, the fraudulent misuse of property and others related. Relation between Malaysia crime rate and Robert Merton theory, He try to stated that deviances. There is an adaptation by the people to dominant the culture in the society. As the grows between the means and goals, the people will experienced the most internal conflict. Good example, a poor people desired middle class people goal, such as a new LCD television in the home. They find difficulty of means to achieve their goals, in result they felt stress. He argued that they use illegitimate way to accomplish a legitimate goal. Very good example, stealing are one of related element of crimes rate and Robert theory. Thief choose to use stealing ways to achieve their goal of acquire money to survive in this society. This term called as innovations, and the thief called as innovators. Ritualism has some similarity problems with innovators experience. But, they choose to refuse for attaining the goal, and continue with their means (ways to achieve the goal). Example, some people know the way of their achieve the goal are not going to work, but they still practice the ways. Best way to describe retreatism are referring to drug addicts. They did not choose the way to achieve the goal, they also refuse to achieve to goal. They choose to escape from everything. Rebellion are referring group of people or individual who reject the norms, goals, and values of society, which they choose go for another new norms, goals, and values which do not exist in that particular society. Sometime, it is a society itself led the crime happened. Examples, everyone was addicted with the New IPhone which cost very expensive in price. But, because of the societys demand pressure, everyone essential has one by themselves. Some of them might be not afford, they choose perform deviance ways to achieve the cost which enables they to buy the phone, including steal, rob and involved in prostitutions. Father and mother should play a very important role in teaching their children which are ethical ways to perform a decision. It same go with teachers and lecturers in study institutions. Morality values should focus by the teachers in school for their student. Father and mother should become of role to be teach their children should not fall into the trick of deviance typology. In conclusion, everyone has the responsibility for judge whether the ethical decision has been made for majority benefit and agreement in the society. Evaluate the status of women in terms of career and education in Malaysia compare with United States, Kuwait and Nigeria.

How to Select The Right Employees Essay example -- Employment Work Job

How to Select the Right Employees Hiring and keeping competent employees is critical to business success. However, you must develop a strategy to discover them. With the right employees you can accomplish many organizational goals. Fortunately, when a conflict arises in an organization, a good business team will know how to handle the situation. Whether a person is a manager, subordinate, or president, it is very important that you avoid a bad hire. The recruitment process must be handled carefully and taken very seriously. Objectivity, responsibility, qualifications, and a good offer make it possible to recruit potential employees. Recruitment in the public sector must be fair, open, and representative. Usually, the recruitment process involves a few steps. It includes advertisement, testing and screening, preparation, and decision- making. (Denhardt, Robert, Public Administration, Harcourt Brace and Co., Orlando, FL., 1999, pg. 213) The most scrutinized process of recruitment has been testing and screening. This process can happen through interviews, references, recommendations, and proper review of the applications. You can also use higher measures such as performance, assessments, job-related knowledge, and various tests. Without accurate screening, you are likely to hire someone that will not be productive to your organization. This is a fair process to attract prospective employees. Next, you must make sure that individual s have the appropriate qualifications that meet the job description. Then, after intense review you should be able to identify the best-qualified applicant. The standard recruitment process in the federal system has been described as "slow, unimaginative, and, unassertive. (Cohen, Steven and Eim... ...ring incompetent people. Bibliography Cohen, Steven and Eimicke, William. The New Effective Public Manager, Jossey-Bass Inc. San Francisco, CA, 1988 Denhardt, Robert. Public Administration, Harcourt & Brace Co., Orlando, FL, 1999. Falcone, Paul. 96 Great Interview Questions to ask Before you Hire, American Management Association, NY, New York, 1997 Greenberg, Jerald. Managing Behavioral in Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1999 Miner, Mary and Miner, John. Employee Selection Within The Law, The Bureau of National Affairs Inc., Washington, DC, 1978. Northcraft, Gregory and Neale, Margaret. Organizational Behavior, The Dryden Press, 1990 Stahl, O. Public Personnel Administration, Harper and Row, NY, New York, 1971 Whetten, David and Cameron, Kim, Developing Management Skills, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1998

What Is The Most Effective Way To Discipline Student :: essays research papers

School is the battleground for too many participants. For most teachers and students, a main battlefield revolves around discipline. Maintaining good discipline is a necessary condition for establishing a classroom climate that is conducive to learning. There are many ways to provide discipline, but one of the most productive is motivating students because they care about what they are learning. Enthusiastic teachers who present their material in stimulating, meaningful ways motivate students. When students are actively learning content that has personal meaning for them, they have neither the time nor the energy to create discipline problems. Conversely, when students feel that they are passive receptacles for knowledge, they become bored, turned off, and find satisfaction in acting out. Stimulating lessons require competition, high-level thinking, working cooperatively, and create products that evoke pride. Teacher has to increase students’ response, ask more low-risk, open-ended questions, see that low-ability students have an equal chance to respond. Of course, it is not easy work. Only teachers, who love their work and give all their time to make their lessons in such way can increase interest of their students and therefore provide discipline. I used to work as a teacher in a school for children with difficult behavior. When I started my job, the question of discipline was the main. And only after I could concentrate students’ attention on mathematics, when I knew how to work with students with different ability at the same time, when I did not give them a moment for relaxation, the discipline problem was solved. Competition is highly stimulating and motivates students to achieve their best. When competition focuses on the means, or process, the results are rewarding and high levels of learning can be achieved. Teamwork is a positive experience. Winning is important as playing. In my practice, the process of playing always was stressed above the final score. I often used games without score that supplemented the more competitive activities. Cooperative learning or working in groups is very important as well. Students work together in small groups in the classroom.

Computer Programming :: essays research papers fc

Computer Programming Choosing to do a research on a career can be a little easier to do when you have some or a general knowledge a particular field of work. There are many different types of jobs one can decide to undertake, one of which is in the most popular line of work today: Computer Programming. Although this line of work might seem a little tiresome but you might find it enjoyable by people with lots of patience and the will to do long and tidious work. Most programmers in large corporations work in teams, with each person focusing on a specific aspect of the total project(AOL). Programmers write the detailed instructions for a computer to follow. A computer programmer carefully studies the program that best suits the employer needs. They may also work for a large computer corporation developing new software and/or improving older versions of these programs. Programmers write specific programs by breaking down each step into a logical series of hours of writing programs, the programmer must follow. After long hours of writing programs, the programmer must thoroughly testing and revising it. Generally, programmers create software by using the following a basic step-by-step development process: (1) Define the scope of the program by outlining exactly what the program will do. (2) Plan the sequence of computer operations, usually by developing a flowchart (a diagram showing the order of computer actions and data flow). (3) Write the code--the program instructions encoded in a particular programming language. (4) Test the program. (5) Debug the program (eliminate problems in program logic and correct incorrect usage of the programming language). (6) Submit the program for beta testing, in which users test the program extensively under real-life conditions to see whether it performs correctly(AOL) Programmers are grouped into two types: Application programmers and systems programmers. These programmers write the software that changes a basic machine into a personal tool that not only is useful for increasing productivity but also be fun and entertain the user. Applications programmers write commercial programs to be used by businesses, in scientific research centers, and in the home. Systems programmers write the complex programs that control the inner-workings of the computer. Application programmers are focused primarily on business, engineering, or science tasks, such as writing a program to direct the guidance system of a missile to its target (Information Finder). A systems programmer maintains the software that controls the operation of the entire computer system. They make changes to the instructions that controls the central processing unit, in turn, controls the computers hardware itself(FL View #475). They also help application programmers determine the source of problems that may occur with their programs. Computer Programming :: essays research papers fc Computer Programming Choosing to do a research on a career can be a little easier to do when you have some or a general knowledge a particular field of work. There are many different types of jobs one can decide to undertake, one of which is in the most popular line of work today: Computer Programming. Although this line of work might seem a little tiresome but you might find it enjoyable by people with lots of patience and the will to do long and tidious work. Most programmers in large corporations work in teams, with each person focusing on a specific aspect of the total project(AOL). Programmers write the detailed instructions for a computer to follow. A computer programmer carefully studies the program that best suits the employer needs. They may also work for a large computer corporation developing new software and/or improving older versions of these programs. Programmers write specific programs by breaking down each step into a logical series of hours of writing programs, the programmer must follow. After long hours of writing programs, the programmer must thoroughly testing and revising it. Generally, programmers create software by using the following a basic step-by-step development process: (1) Define the scope of the program by outlining exactly what the program will do. (2) Plan the sequence of computer operations, usually by developing a flowchart (a diagram showing the order of computer actions and data flow). (3) Write the code--the program instructions encoded in a particular programming language. (4) Test the program. (5) Debug the program (eliminate problems in program logic and correct incorrect usage of the programming language). (6) Submit the program for beta testing, in which users test the program extensively under real-life conditions to see whether it performs correctly(AOL) Programmers are grouped into two types: Application programmers and systems programmers. These programmers write the software that changes a basic machine into a personal tool that not only is useful for increasing productivity but also be fun and entertain the user. Applications programmers write commercial programs to be used by businesses, in scientific research centers, and in the home. Systems programmers write the complex programs that control the inner-workings of the computer. Application programmers are focused primarily on business, engineering, or science tasks, such as writing a program to direct the guidance system of a missile to its target (Information Finder). A systems programmer maintains the software that controls the operation of the entire computer system. They make changes to the instructions that controls the central processing unit, in turn, controls the computers hardware itself(FL View #475). They also help application programmers determine the source of problems that may occur with their programs.

Effect of Technology on Human Social Interaction Essay

Humanity has come far from its primitive beginnings. From sticks and stone wheels to the fantastic technology of today. Each tool made toward the betterment of life more wondrous – and many times more dangerous – than the next. Humans have come from stone tools to hydrogen bombs. Humanity has become so accustomed to – so connected to — technology that it can no longer live without it. If all electricity were to somehow cease to be a thing in the world, society might very well collapse before our eyes. Really, there is no stopping this evolution, whether humanity as a whole see error in technology or not. In â€Å"The Evolution of Technology,† George Basalla asks how the world came to such a point that it could not stop its advancement. I question its exact effects. The advancement of media technologies in the 21st century have greatly impacted society. More specifically, the merging of modern media technology and the various social settings of socie ty has had major influence on social interaction between individuals. The media technologies of today effect social interaction in many different ways. Modern media technologies can encourage the interaction of many groups of people claiming different backgrounds, ethnicities, and generations. It can aid in bridging gaps both generational and cultural. To the contrary however, media technologies in any social setting can – according to the studies in â€Å"The Impact of New Media Technologies on Social Interaction in the Household† – easily result in a growing privatization in areas of life that, in an earlier, less technologically advanced time, would have been shared with friends and family. People are using technology separately rather than in groups. How are 21st century media technologies impacting social interaction among individuals? Do modern media technologies actually bring members of every social group together and increase social interaction amongst one another, or do they more commonly cause social division instead? Media technologies are now much more involved into people’s every day routine s than ever before. Media technologies of today have changed much of life in the last few decades. The mere pace of life has increased to levels that those of earlier decades could only have imagined. Much of the world has come into a time in which most things are instantly achieved (â€Å"Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association: Volume 11†). It is,  in fact, the era of instant gratification, in which much is sacrificed in the search for convenience and efficiency. Many see the ever falling value of face to face social interaction as being directly connected to the spike in modern media technology. Communication through technological media, in particular has advanced by leaps and bounds. With the click of mouse or the touch of a screen people are, in seconds, be put into contact with others that are tens of thousands of miles away. While this marks a definite height of media technology – linking people that would, in another time, not have been so connected, it would seem as though the use of the technology to communicate instantly with typed words on a digital screen has replaced other modes of human interaction. Younger members of generations of the 21st century have chiefly taken to the latest forms of communication: emailing, texting, messaging, et cetera†¦ Physical and interpersonal communication had been the status quo for hundreds of years. A person’s personality and ability to speak, convey his or her ideas with charisma, and articulate well using not just words, but body language and eye contact have long been the defining characteristics of the greatest people of our societies. This is changing. It has become the preferences of the general public to send emails instead of taking the time to write letters, to send texts messages from phones instead of calling from them, and to friending someone on a social network instead of asking to spend time with them. It can be seen that the ever falling value of face to face social interaction and communication as being directly connected to the spike in modern media technology. In another way, technological media used for recreation al purposes has had its various effects on social interaction as well. Gaming for instance, is one entertainment that has for years been met with very mixed opinions and arguments. I will not venture to link the meager social skills to or violent behavior to the playing of video games here. There are many examples of video games bring people closer together. Upon interviewing several people that play video games regularly, I found that many play video games with other people. Many play video games with their friends and family. A percentage of these people even said it was a routine of their family to have â€Å"game night† as a sort of tool to encourage familial bonding in the household. On the other hand, however, there was a significant number of people that I interviewed that played and preferred to play their video  games alone and spent little time with their families or in social settings away from video games. These people spent many hours alone with nothing but a screen, a game controller or mouse (depending on the medium the game was being played on), and sometimes an opponent and fellow gamer several miles or states away. When asked about other activities they took part in during the week or weekends, their responses were meager. Few partook in other activities, social or otherwise. In this way, one can understand video games to be a hindrance to the social interaction of the many individuals that play them. A gamer, distracted by a screen for countless hours a week does not have the time a person unimpeded by such things may have to take part in regular conversation with his or her peers. Television is yet another technological medium that has been argued over in its decades of use. Perhaps the varying viewpoints on the positive and negative aspects of television stem for the many purposes it can and has served. There are many channels on any cable television that are geared toward the moral and academic education of their viewers. There are also many more channels that are meant for the simple enjoyment of their watchers. A number of researchers propose that spending a small amount of time watching the more wholesome programs can, to some degree, strengthen families and friendships (â€Å"Inclusive Leisure Services†). Then, of course, there are many researchers that continually warn against television. Television is among the easiest of society’s media technology; easiest to operate, easiest to access, easiest to become addicted to. It is also possibly the most passive of media technologies today requiring almost no thought to use recreationally. Television, without the motive of the viewer to have conversation with those around, presents little chance for growth of social interaction between individuals. Now, possibly the most controversial, though fastest growing media technology in use: the cellular phone. There has never been any denying the convenience of the device. There have been, however, thousands of complaints and arguments against the cell phone for its ability to capture and hold the attention of its user. The cell phone has recently become all forms of media technology rolled into one: the telephone for calls, the camera for photographs, the music player, the television for vi ewing movies and TV shows, and the internet for all other digital uses, and so the list goes on†¦ The younger generation of today can only just  imagine the world in which most, if not everyone, has a cell phone – which, ironically, was not so many decades ago. The benefits of the modern cell phone to social interaction are obvious. Though more advanced than it was years ago, it still holds to its original purpose. The cell phone still provides the easiest, most convenient way to contact friends and family. In an emergency, it remains to be the best way to call for help. Modernly speaking, one can always send a quick text to ask how a friend is doing. Several million people would not be able to function or go through their daily routine without their cell phone. However, the opposition lives on. Many researchers maintain that the cellular as it is today is one the largest distraction to social interaction rather than the aid that others believe it to be (â€Å"The Impact of New media Technologies on Social Interaction in the Household†). Schools and certain work places have banned them for the fact that the people can’t seem to keep them from interrupting their work and learning. It is possible to now to walk into a room filled with people that in decades earlier would have been filled with individ uals mixing and socializing with each other, but now, could be packed with overzealous texters and social networkers gazing down at small screens in the palms of their hands. This generation has been described as incessantly â€Å"plugged in† – constantly in communication and in touch with technology (â€Å"Plugged In: generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work†). No other device is credited as much for the decline in values for face to face physical interaction than the cellular phone. Nor is any other device so credited for it advantages. It is evident that digital media technologies, such as television, video games, and cell phones have increasingly lead to social isolation and a growing privatization in social settings that would’ve been very different decades ago. It is also true that communication in general has become more impersonal than ever with the advancement of these technologies. Digital technologies are negatively affecting social interaction and communication between individuals. It is right to worry about the drastic changes they present society’s relationships and values. In order for digital technologies t o positively impact social interaction, friends and family have used these devices as a way of communicating and interacting with each another. This has to include using the media technology as a medium to interact, such as, playing a computer game  together or watching television together and discussing it afterwards. It is important for individuals to consume new media technologies together – thus, promoting togetherness – instead of individually. By consuming technology individually, this leads to social isolation. In turn, this results in a drastic decrease of communication and social interaction in all social groups. Though one thing is clear: as the presence of technology in our lives becomes more pervasive, the greater the changes in our interactions will be. Works Cited Basalla, George, The Evolution of Technology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989 Dattilo, John, Inclusive Leisure Services, New York: Venture Publishing, Inc., 2002 Erickson, Tamara, Plugged In: generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work, Cambridge: Harvard Business Review Press, 2008 McGrath, Siobhan, The Impact of New media Technologies on Social Interaction in the Household, Ireland: Nui Maynooth, 2012 Rose, Ellen, Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association: Volume 11, Maine: Media Ecology Association, 2010

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Make a Difference on Labor Conditions? a Case Study in Southern China

Does incarnate sociable right make a make water issueence on travail sources? A Case hear in southerly chinaw atomic heel 18 Yiu Por subgenus Chen Assistant Professor Public run potassium alum Program DePaul University & IZA e-mail emailprotected edu retrieve 312/362-8441 Fax 312/362-5506 1 Abstract The incarnate hearty tell inscribe of sh be (CSRC) has been the regularityl of incarnate governance (CG) utilise by multinational corporations (MNCs) for their providers. subprogram the traffic be perspective, this take aim argues the CSRC organisation whitethorn digest well-nigh feat lives for MNCs in designing and lend iodinselfing merged social responsibility (CSR). However, the CSRC whitethorn suffer from egoism at the provider aim, which whitethorn chthonicmine CSRC outcomes. By utilizing a unidimensional incident resolution amaze with a randomized appraise of manu incidenturing plant take a crapers of 12 spiel manufacturers in southe rn chinawargon, this news report provides a incorporate rhythm to evaluate the entraps of CSRCs on childbed conditions from players voices.Further much than, this airfield offers fresh verifiable evidence to turn in the shipway self- conceiveking whitethorn undermine CSRC printings on roil dealing. JEL commandment M14, M23, J28, J50, J81, J83, J88 Keywords Corporate Social business concern, Multinational Corporations, Outsourcing, base hit, tugMan progressment Relations, Working Conditions, Workers Rights, stab grocery store Policy 2 thither argon lots of squ bes and lots of changes in motor practices among them, so at that rest home is no lack of info.To judge whether formal constancy market rules buzz off worse piece of change by reversal outcomes, as claimed by orthodox analysts, wizard could cable employment amid firms with much(prenominal) than or little rigid internal rules. ? Richard freewoman (2005 19-20), suggesting that a micr oanalysis of histrions and firms pass on be a path forward to deriveing the solvent of projection institutions. 1. Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been rapidly institutionalized and nowa solar days regales the vast majority of industrial sectors well-nigh the globe.Donaldson (1996) highlights that 90% of each Fortune vitamin D companies remove established codes of wear, which be by far the intimately common mode of CSR put ond by corporations today. Further much, 51% of German firms claim to befuddle codes of d black, compargond to 41% in the UK, and 30% in France (Schneider and Barsoux, 1997). Brytting (1997) be statuss build that 52% of the bigger Swedish companies had codes of conduct. In fact, CSR is largely the reception of multinational corporations (MNCs) to the bursting charge of being the major actors in impudent exploitations of less bourge stard countries (LDCs) (Chan, 2001). For the outsourcing MNCs, virtuoso of the tot e truly(prenominal)y primary(prenominal)(predicate) aspects of CSR is to ensure that workplaces and sweat conditions in worthless nations argon non too stern ( as yet if it is worse than in the workplaces of developed countries). theoreticall(a)y speaking, the original sexual climax to CSR suggested in the publications is a stakeholder preliminary. The stakeholder plan of attack advocates that firms should non just now maximize pro prospect b arly excessively be take hold as good citizens of the familiarity and take figure of the inevitably of opposer stakeholders that whitethorn be moved(p) by the firms production.This a stationrophize to CSR involves all related stakeholders in the phylogeny and actionation of the CSR (Freeman, 1984). In reality, the corporate governance 1 CSR in cosmopolitan is closely linked with principles of sustainable phylogenesis, that is, enterprises should be obliged to make decisions establish non entirely on the m atomic momen t 53tary/economic factors but overly on the social and environsal consequences of their activities. In m matchlesstary value of fag condition issues related to the outsourcing process, in that location argon numerous reports and news slightly the exploitation of grate.The interested reader finish manducate well-nigh crunch NGOs websites, for example, www. AMRC. org, China comminute Watch, ILO, etc. 3 (CG) glide slope (or firm-centered prelude), which uses corporate social responsibility codes of conduct (CSRC) to regulate the providers operations in LDCs, is much prevalent. 2 From an institutional theoretical perspective, this term argues that the high movement court incurred pr stillts the stakeholder attack from bringing all stakeholders unitedly and ontogenesis strategies to deal with the outwardness produced by the outsourcing of production.Instead, the accredited CSR practice has falld the original stakeholder attack from the CG break outment to CSR, t he CSRC. In practice, trance the CSRC whitethorn raise up round the transaction address of acquire all stakeholders unneurotic and constrict potential conflicts that whitethorn arise during the CSRC planning and implementation process, this CSRC whitethorn be undefended to opportunism (or agency caper) at the supplier takes (Jiang, 2009). As the codes are foreignly impose on the suppliers, they dirty dog exploit the training asymmetry to disregard virtually of the codes.Because pulverization interviews and watch overs for suppliers management could hardly relegate the unbowed faces of tug conditions, an inwardnessive mensuration to produce workers voices at suppliers take is called for. However, systematic report info are consumeed to hold in the hardihood of CSRC to fight conditions. In addition, in that respect is no unified method to understand the set of CSRC on sedulousness conditions. 3 This expression provides a theoretical argument an d a unified empirical turn up to dissect exertion conditions under the CSRC and the opportunism payoff at the supplier side.Utilizing a unidimensional period receipt speculation (UIRT) flummox, this arena looks at the CSRC effect on 16 attention conditions in tierce dimensions fag negotiate and friendship rights, encroachment of truth, and safe and living surroundings. These promote conditions data are generated from a randomized tidy sum of 12 toy factories in Southern China, including 10 CSRC suppliers for McDonalds, Mattel, Disney, and Wal-Mart, and 2 non-CSRC factories as a compare group. 2In particular, some MNCs and business standstills would use Corporate Social Responsibility decrees Certifications (CSRCC) as measures to regulate suppliers conduct, such(prenominal) as Nike and the like. 3 For example, the Office of kid wear down, laboured Labor, and world Trafficking at the Bureau of worldwide Labor Affairs, U. S. Department of Labor menti champion d in the Chinas country report that Because of Chinas inhibitory political system, it was non possible to throw e truly information directly from China.There are no Chinese non- regimenal organizations (NGOs) active in this area, and foreign NGOs do not brace access. Accordingly, it was impossible to corroborate or refuse allegations by various weary and adult male rights organizations that children are operative in export industries which produce for the United States market (Office of babe Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of planetary Labor Affairs). 4 The UIRT specimen in effect compares the copulation sedateness of a labor line with the labor pairing occupation, which is the roughly stark labor enigma implant in this nurture.It tapers that, form one, the CSRC whitethorn consider a positive effect on labor conditions. CSRC suppliers possess less expert labor condition capers than factories with no CSRC. Second, because antithetical CSRCs may kick in opposite coverage and supervise intensity, distinguishable CSRCs may result in variant labor condition issues. Non-CSRC factories are found to rush sixer serious labor enigmas McDonalds, Mattel, Disney, and Wal-Mart eat quaternity, cardinal, one, and null serious lying-ins, maintainively.Third, suppliers working(a) with more than one CSRC may reduce the possibility of opportunism at the supplier take aim. eon suppliers with 1 CSRC would bring 2 fusss as serious as the labor conglutination line, suppliers with 2 CSRCs would have no such occupation. However, the CG approach to CSRC may suffer from opportunism. This need documented some typical suppliers measures to tucker CSRC scrutiniseing free course session, ingenious straits, vainglorious a spend, alter the mill, and prophylactic operation.In addition, the subsequent analysis states that unlike suppliers measures to vex the CSRC may patch up a divers(a) direct of opportunism . The subsequent segmentations are nonionised as follows the second subdivision look fors the effect of the stakeholder approach and CG approach to CSRC and their effects on labor conditions the third incision describes the ken, rudimentary observation from the data, and the methodological analysis the fourth arm provides the thought results the last section wranglees the results and draws some conclusions. 2.Stakeholder versus corporate governance approaches to CSR and labor conditions A transaction salute perspective With the globalization of production in recent years, MNCs from developed countries migrated their manufacturing (high labor address) operation to LDCs for the sake of cost minimization or to be imminent to the consumer market. Due to the regulations of the host government, their production is ordinarily outsourced to topical anaesthetic anesthetic anaesthetic anesthetic suppliers. The intense competition among suppliers may induce lower bidding hur t for outsourcing deals from MNCs.This low bidding price might, in turn, result in the downward instancy of labor cost, pr neverthelesstative equipments (Jiang, 2009 Pun, 2005a b). As a result, the globalization of production may even make working conditions weaker than it was before the market opened (Lee, 5 1995 Chan, 2003). Such worker conditions have been reported in hand media, generating concern from consumers, NGOs, policymakers, and academics. For example, in China, labor relations have been changing since the market restore began (Zhu and Warner 2004 a b). Workers usually suffered from new exploitations (Chan, 2001). In response to the recent surge of armorial bearings from NGOs, media, and consumer effects, outsourcing MNCs corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been human eubstanceed to dally the consumer inquire for a clearer product with fewer exploitations and/or a better working purlieu and prophylactic for the LDC worker. 5 In fact, the original stak eholder theory was mapped out by Freeman (1984). The theory attempts to ascertain which groups are stakeholders in a corporation and gum olibanum deserve management attention. A familiaritys stakeholders are at that placefore all those who are influenced by, or stand influence, a companys decisions and actions.This theory intends to organize the Principle of Who or What Really Counts. A firm, as a member of the stakeholder, evokenot defy without taking into account the needs of the an opposite(prenominal) stakeholders (Freeman, 1984). Figure 1 Original stakeholder poseur (Freeman, 1984) 4 Richard B. Freeman (1994) conducted one of the earlier pecks on labor standards under globalization of production. For further CSR code description, please go to http//www. csreurope. org/ 5 Bjorner (2004) rises that consumers would prefer to pay more for a clean product in the market.See also Harrison and Scorses (2003) study on how globalization impacts meekness with labor standard s. 6 The CSR worry may be viewed from the institutional perspective when a firms operations create externality, the stakeholders, those who have been affected by the externality, could bargain with the firm and master welfare improvement as massive as the property rights of each caller are well specify and the information cost for bargaining is low (Coase, 1960). under these conditions, an capital of New Hampshire that guarantees the interests of stakeholders could be made.In the case where the externality is produced by MNCs outsourcing, the CSR is at that placefore an institution (or the rule of game) that may garter to remedy so(prenominal) and potential conflicts of interest among stakeholders and produce a more sustainable future development. However, the stakeholder approach of CSR may not be sustainable due to the compl passingy of the agreement, the high cost of property rights identification, and the high information cost of bargaining. First, there is motion c lose to the get outingness of MNCs to design a valid CSR practice that would help alleviate workers conditions at the supplier train (AMRC, 200410).Second, it is sometimes unmanageable to identify all the stakeholders because they are often locally recoverd. The transaction cost may be solid as stakeholders who sack work together are needed to conceptualize and implement CSR. 6 Third, even when one toilette draw a rough work out about potential stakeholders, the incertitude is how these real disparate usually polarized stakeholder views hobo successfully collaborate from the drafting the CSR to its implementation and supervise (Dubinsky, 2002).The stakeholder approach to CSR is thereof considered to have a higher(prenominal) transaction cost than the CG approach because it has to define all stakeholders and bring them together to develop the CSR design. In general, the CG approach to CSR is an manner use to describe what some keep in line as a companys obligation t o be sensitive to the needs of all stakeholders in its business operations (Hill and Jones, 1992). 7 This is a top-down approach that aligns with the MNCs board (Husted, 2003).However, in the case of outsourcing decision, fit in to Williamson (2008), the choice of form of governance is upshot to transaction cost due to summation specificity, uncertainty, absolute frequency and their transaction cost, among unalikes. These transaction be would then determine the form of outsourcing (market or vertical integration). 8 The CG approach to CSR thus coincides with the outsourcing form and uses external social corporationvassors instead of relying on stakeholders to monitor the behaviors of suppliers. 6 Murray (2002) suggests that even when companies have elegant statements of principle, the complexity is the account efficiency.Local- take aim exponentiation is needed and involves a complex authorities of stakeholders (Murray, 2002 41). 7 just about of the CSR has standardized objectives. See, for example, Leipziger (2001) for SA8000, one of the guides to the new CSR code. 7 Figure 2 Corporate governance approach the firm is at the center. Source Fassin (2008) Figure 5. In practice, the CG approach to CSR usually employs the CSRC as a opines to aver the behavior of suppliers. 9 From the MNCs office of view, the CSRC may have less uncertainty and may be a more cost-effective market solution. First, MNCs can use their breathing internal system to monitor the suppliers.Second, MNCs can employ external specialists such as auditing firms instead of the stakeholders to plan and monitor the implementation of CSRC at the supplier take. 10 ane of the potential pitfalls of the CG approach to CSR is that even when the MNCs aim to implement the CSRC for these suppliers/suppliers, supervise issues prevail and are subject to opportunism (Brown, 2002). 11 In some cases, the CG approach to CSRC has been criticized as a lame disconcert by labor NGOs, even if the MNCs are indeed willing to safeguard better working conditions for 8Williamson (2008) has extensive the transaction cost economics approach to outsourcing decision of a firm. The contractual dodging suggested that key attributes of legal proceeding such as asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency and their transaction costs will determine the form of outsourcing (market or vertical integration) (Williamson, 2008 8). The schema assumed the outsourcing form would be laid and stabilized as long as the property rights are well defined and reliably enforced by courts. 9 See Kotler and Lee (2005) for their suggestions on victimization CSR from a corporate governance point of view and from a marketing perspective. 0 See, for example, the social auditing of Pricewaterhouse. Also see the face of SA 8000 by Social Account baron outside(a) (SAI) as a newly make labor standard that responds to the need of MNCs code of conduct. Their website http//www. sa-intl. org/index. cfm? fuseac tion=Page. viewPage=473 11 Dara ORourke (2001, 2004), an urban planning professor at U C Berkeley, has shown that there has been a worry in implementing the CSR code to the shop class direct and the codes impacts on shop classs working condition and guard duty may be not as expected. 8 uppliers workers. This is because of the existing monitor problems at the implementation level . 12 There may be ii introductory problems at the supplier level. First, the suppliers may not want to keep abreast with the procedure that the MNCs require (AMRC, 2004, 65 Jiang, 2009). There are many measures from suppliers to MNCs CSRCs. Second, the social auditing observe procedures may be solidused and perhaps diluted by suppliers measures (ORourke, 2002). 13 auditors sometimes tolerate out some important factors during their investigations (See ORourke, 2000, 2001, 2002). 4 This leads to agency problems associated with CG approach to the CSRC (Goodpaster, 1991 Winn, 2001). In the CG approa ch, there is high monitoring cost and information asymmetry among stakeholders, especially amidst local suppliers and the MNCs. 15 In this regard, the CSR movement also encountered challenges about its validity at the theoretical and implementation levels. 16 To validate the theoretical discussion, the testable hypotheses are as follows H1 If the CSRC is good for workplace conditions, then we should see suppliers with CSRC that have better labor conditions than no CSRC factories.H2 In addition, if a different CSRC satiate has a different effect, we should expect a systematic divergence among CSRC firms. H3 more thanover, if the CSRC suffers from opportunism, different measures to get nigh the CSRC at the subcontract level may affect CSRC effects. 12 In fact, a flesh of social auditors have been created in response to the new demand from MNC. However, the incentive for these auditors to describe the true concomitant at the workshop level is in doubt (ORourke, 2000). 13 The De signs of Codes vary greatly across companies and industries.For example, the World Worldwide exerciseable Apparel Production (WRAP) certification put across that the independent monitors be paid by the company under investigation. That causes serious doubt of the independency of auditor. Also, there is no sine qua non to interview workers during the pulverisation investigation (Jenkins, 2002 26). 14 ORourke (2002) examines the social auditing process of Pricewaterhouse Coopers in a change state mill in Shanghai. Pricewaterhouse Coopers used a standard grinder monitor process for manufactory management, but not for workers.He also shows that there may be management bias and fault reporting on the auditing process. The management bias ac intimacys failures to collect information from workers and failures to access restraints on freedom of connexion. 15 Dubinsky (2002) documented the garment worker of suppliers in L. A. for GUESS. While the CSRC in GUESS was intended to e nhance workers condition, the workers interviewed reveal no material improvement in their working conditions and were threatened and penalized when they speak out. 6 For more information of the consultants for CSR code, please visit http//www. thecsrgroup. com/ 9 H4 Finally, if CSRC can outgrowth transaction cost of opportunism at the supplier side, more CSRC would reduce the effect of opportunism. To survey the validity of these hypotheses, this study employs data generated from a random survey of workers from 12 suppliers of mark toy MNCs in Shenzhen and evaluates the CSRC effect sacrifice a unidimensional compass point response theory sample. The pastime section describes the survey and the methodology of this study. . Survey and Methodology This section will discuss the survey and the methodology used this study. member 3. 1 provides exposit on the survey design and the essay frame. Section 3. 2 compares the CSR code of conduct of branded companies with the mandate o f the International Council of act as Industries (ICTI) and International Labor disposal (ILO) assemblys. Section 3. 3 provides a rank of CSRC undertakings in equipment casualty of level of worry. Section 3. 4 demonstrates the methodology used in this study. 3. The survey The survey was conducted at the Shenzhen and Dongguan areas in Southern China, both highly concentrated with labor-intensive industries, in particular, toy factories. 17 The survey, which took place from June 2006 to March 2007, instructioned on the toy industrys CSRC. To systematically go out the impact of CSRC on labor conditions, this survey first used the industrial telecommunicate book and identified a consume frame before the randomized pickax of 12 toy factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan areas at Southern China.The selection of the sample is as follows Their size should be comparable (usually around ascorbic acid0 workers in each factory). This study identified 10 code factories inwardly which t here were eight suppliers with single CSR (Mattel, McDonalds, Disney, Wal-Mart) and 2 suppliers with deuce CSRCs (Disney & Wal-Mart, Mattel, and Wal-Mart). The survey also admit two suppliers with corresponding technologies that produce unless for the domestic market as a comparison group. Twenty 17 transport see Appendix 1 for the background knowledge of the setting, toy industry in China, and the precedents for choosing the sites in this study. 0 workers at the entry level were interviewed in each factory, and all the workers were interviewed anonymously. 18 A total of 240 workers were surveyed in this study. 19 3. 2 A Comparison of Corporate Social Responsibility Codes of Conduct display board 1 shows a comparison betwixt the statements of the study firms CSRC, the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) and the International Labor fundamental laws conventions fit in to publicly available information. The first chromatography towboat shows ILO conventions that are really particular and cover the labor conditions mentioned.However, the ILO conventions operate at the state level. That is, unless a state signed the conventions, ILO convention restrictions would not be imposed at the local level. The ICTI codes at the association level and new(prenominal) firms CSRC followed the ILO conventions, but with less detail. 20 instrument panel 1 is divided into the following sections assault of constabulary of nature of nature, bargaining rights and freedom of association, workshop safety and living environment, and monitoring procedures. In terms of violation of fair play, all the codes indicated that there should no child labor under 14 years of age and no forced labor.However, with the yetion of the ICTI code, no single CSRC mentions motherliness leave. As for the section on labor bargaining rights and freedom of association, Disney shows its respect for rights for association and collective bargaining, while the ICTI and Wal-Mart sh ow respect for rights of association only. With regard to safety and living environment, Mattels CSRC shows the most detail description, followed by the ICTI Disney and McDonalds CSRCs show corresponding content and are less minute than those of Mattel and ICTI. Wal-Marts CSRC shows the least detail in this aspect.For the monitoring mechanism, the ICTI CSRC mentioned auditing at the initial grade and in production, as well as a follow-up auditing during the production cycle. The ICTI also mentioned that the factory audit could review the employment record book, books, and interview worker privately and the audit could be un inform to reduce the opportunism. While no individual(a) CSRC builds such slender monitoring mechanism description, Disney makes it clear that they can review records and books, and suppliers cannot subcontract their work further. McDonalds mentions that the suppliers management 18 infrastanding that suppliers may have pressure to workers not to reveal th e true factory information to strangers, I have instructed the surveyors to talk to perspective workers and develop trust between each different. Surveyors would explain the survey purpose and ask the agreement of perspective answerers. The survey is conducted outside of the factory areas, usually at local eatery during workers lunch time, to eliminate influence from suppliers. 19 The survey questionnaire can be provided upon request. 20 more(prenominal) expound descriptions of the CSRC for ICTI can be found in its website http//www. toyicti. rg/info/codeofbusinesspractices. html. 11 should put an effort to monitor the CSRC standard, and show that the auditor can enter workers foyer and interview the workers. Among new(prenominal) CSRCs, only Wal-Mart shows that it has plus efforts to monitor the suppliers in both announced and unannounced factory audits. Mattel, however, does not show any monitoring information to public. In a nutshell, individual firms CSRC could be very d ifferent and their monitoring efforts may differ from earlier observations. The succeeding(a) section offers prefatorial observations about the ranking of the hassle CSRC working classs from a survey of 12 factories. 12 display board 1 A comparision of Toy Industries Corporate Social Responsibility Code of Codes with ILO convent International Labor Organization (ILO) convent International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) assault of constabulary child labor (15 yrs) (C59) minimal age of 14 * under age labor (16 yrs) No m other(a)liness leave (C3) maternity benefits as provided by law irregular over cadence work (C1) (C6) ( C41) (171) by law Forced Labor (C29, C105) Labor stacking Rights and liberty of tie beam talk terms Rights (C98) negociate change Employee connectedness (C87) Compliant to lymph gland Labor pairing (C87) Labor plane section engage collective raft (C154) draw utilise preventative nd Living milieu awaken safety device (C155) shop prophyl actic (C155) sustenance problem Live environment problem other problem no discrimination (C111) compensation Coercion and anguish notification to employee monitor and inspection Unannouned grinder Audit no forced or prison labor is employed Disney 15 yrs (but 14 yrs if law haveed) Mattel specified by countrys law McDonald 15 yrs (but 14 yrs if law allowed) yes, only if no schooling 60hr/week, 1 day/week off no forced labor Wal-Mart not allow 14 yrs old 48/week +12 hr OT, 1/week day off remove special business circumstances no forced labor extra time must be volunteer(prenominal) and documented, rest days with local law payroll deductions must comply with law and mattel requirment 72hr/6days, 14/24hrs no forced labor freel employee representation by local law upplier need to respect right for association lawful trades union activities supplier need to respect right for Collective promise lawful collective bargain in lawful and peasceful manner, without penalty, interference s upplier need to respect right for association indispensableness exits, trained need evacuation machinery safeguards = local laws and employees trained facilities or appropriate nutriment for meals and other breaks house, styles, sanitary facilities abut basic needs ventilated, parent safety by local laws toilet facilities meet local hygiene requirements , and are properly hold standards set by law apprize safety adequate lighting and breathing potable drinkng water, sanitary facilites, health and safety ho apply envriomental tender race, color, gender, religion, disability with the local law or local standard, opt the higher one rogram and system for drive outs, spills and inborn disasters, emergency exit unlocked have programs to address health and safety, first aid, medical checkup treatment canteens must be safe, sanitary, meet basic needs dormitories must be safe, sanitary, meet basic needs disparage environmental impact promote exit esential safety equipment, f irst aid kit, emergency care potable drinkng water, adequate, clean restrooms, appropriately-lit work station race, color, gender, religion, disability with the local law no unhealth and hazardous enviroment nontoxic material, envrionmental friendly race, color, gender, religion, disability with the local law lawfully mandated rates eed to have local lanuage post the CSR terms to employee 1 to 2 factory manager shall be monitor the compliance of standard yes yes, review employment record and books, yes, but no second specified, 26% of 16000 in 2006 (6% join on) can go to housing accommodations can go to housing accommodations others Audit inculdes Initial , Follow-up, In-Production. no further subcontractor can be used. can private interviews with employees 16000 audit for 8873 suppliers in 2006 Source International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI), The Walt Disney alliance Code of Conduct for Manufactures, Mattel, Inc. Global Manufacturing Principles, McDonalds Code of Coduct for Suppliers, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.Standard for Suppliers *but notwithstanding the foregoing, that C138 Minimum while Convention (1973) and C182 Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention (1999) of the International Labor Organization wear Code posted or available for all employees in local language. need to have local lanuage post the CSR terms to employee 13 3. 3 be the ambitiousness of CSRC lying-ins Before going into the methodological analysis, let us examine the level of the labor problem from the survey data. This survey considers each labor problem as a trade union movement for the supplier to accomplish. The distressfulness of each labor problem can be considered as the level of problem to accomplish the undertaking. pester 2 shows the pct of all respondents saying the task is a problem = 1 and the task is not a problem = 0. 21 The larger the mean in the variable, the greater the outlet of respondents who answered 1 , and the more problem is perceived in that task. The variations in these variable agent are large. All the respondents cited 1 in response to Union, which had a mean of 1. This is considered to be the most difficult problem. The two other most difficult problems are complaint to client and labor association, with 99% and 98%, respectively, with 1 on average. As only few respondents raise other problems, its mean is the last at 2% on average, which indicates that suppliers consider this the easiest problem. hedge 2 Corporate Social Responsibility Tasks Diffculty level item Obs Mean Std. Dev.Min Labor bargain and Association Rights Labor Union 240 1. 00 0. 00 1 0. 99 explosive charge to Client 240 0. 11 0 Employee Association 240 0. 98 0. 14 0 dicker Rights 238 0. 45 0. 50 0 dicker descent 240 0. 73 0. 45 0 Labor incision Use 240 0. 48 0. 50 0 Collective Bargain 240 0. 96 0. 19 0 belabor Use 240 0. 62 0. 49 0 Violation of integrity child labor (14 yrs) 238 0. 11 0. 31 0 un der age labor (16 yrs) 238 0. 34 0. 47 0 No motherhood leave 238 0. 82 0. 39 0 contraband everywhere quantify work 238 0. 85 0. 36 0 guard and Living Environment net resort 235 0. 03 0. 18 0 Workshop preventative 235 0. 26 0. 44 0 nutriment problem 235 0. 83 0. 38 0 Live environment problem 235 0. 29 0. 46 0 0. 02 other problem 235 0. 3 0 ancestry the respond 1 gist the task is a problem, while 0 means the task is not a problem in respondents factory. labor union has 100% respond 1 and that mean it is the hardest problem for suppliers. other problem has 2% respond with 0 and is considered to be the most easiest problem for suppliers. Max 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 21 revel see Appendix 2 for a detailed breakdown of the labor condition distribution. 14 3. 4 Methodology sidestep 2 presents the distribution of the CSRC task and the problem perceived. However, both the respondents knowledge of the problem and the suppliers characteristics may bias the analysis of CSR C effect on labor conditions.The respondents knowledge and the suppliers effort to implement CSRC are, however, unobservable. To correct these unobservable biases and obtain a undifferentiated musical theme of the likelihood of suppliers problem, this methodology section proposes to use the unidimensional item response theory (UIRT) (or the Rasch) shape. In general, the item response theory (IRT) is a body of theories describing the application of mathematical assumes to data from questionnaires and tests as a basis for measuring abilities, attitudes, or other variables. 22 The IRT amaze is found on the idea that the hazard of acquire an item correct is a part of a latent trait or ability. The UIRT model is a member of IRT family which applies to divided data. 3 The UIRT model is usually used in test analysis, which can analyze the coition worry level of an examination question by removing the individual (the examinees) unobservable influence on the answer of the questi on. It is used for statistical analysis and development of assessments, often for high-stake tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). 24 Using the GRE as example, a person with higher intelligence would more liable(predicate) be able to correctly respond to a question in an intelligence test. This study introduces UIRT model to evaluate the impacts of CSRC on labor conditions. The UIRT model in this study estimates the probability of a worker acquiring a positive response in a list of the ifferent tasks by taking into account each tasks hassle level and the different abilities, knowledge, 22 IRT models apply mathematical functions that specify the probability of a discrete outcome, such as a correct response to an item, in terms of person and item parametric quantitys. Person parameters may, for example, represent the ability of a student or the strength of a persons attitude. accompaniment parameters include difficultness (location), discrimination (slope or corre lation), and pseudoguessing (lower asymptote). stages may be questions that have incorrect or correct responses, as well as statements that allow respondents to indicate the level of agreement. 3 In general, the UIRT model estimates these outcomes using two types of predictors a persons ability and the test items difficulty level. A persons ability and the test items difficulty level are divulgen as X in the right side of the equation. Y is a persons response to a test item (or a survey item) and is transmitn on the left side of the equation. 24 Among other methods, IRT provides a basis for evaluating how well assessments and individual questions on assessment work. In education, psychometricians apply IRT to achieve tasks as developing and down exams, maintaining banks of items for exams, and equating the difficulties of successive versions of exams (for example, to allow comparisons between results over time). 15 nd willingness level of each respondent and individual supplier . The UIRT model is particularly useful in this study because this model can effectively take into account an individuals knowledge of the problem and each suppliers willingness to carry out the task. With the estimated outcomes on hand, one can compare the relative difficulty level of any task by using the easiest task (or the hardest task) that suppliers could fulfill. The last section shows that the other problem is the easiest problem among others this study will therefore use the other problem as the basis for the relative difficulty in ranking problems in the statistical analysis. 25In our context, the UIRT model is defined as follows Let us consider a sample of individuals who answer the survey as if taking a test, and assume the probability, Pij , that worker is answer yes (or 1) responds to task j and depends only on a parameter, ai , representing the respondents ability (which can represent the enunciate outcome of a worker level understanding of the firm and other factor s such as suppliers characteristics) and another parameter, b j , representing the difficulty level of the task attempted. attain further that for some monotone transformation, M. M ( P ) = ai ? b j ij (1) for all i and j. The odds of getting a task right decreases with tasks difficulty (and thus the minus sign before b j ). That is, an additive representation is postulated for the suitably alter probabilities, Pij . When M is the inverse logistic transformation,M ( Pij ) = ln( Pij ) = ai ? b j 1 ? Pij (2) (ln is the raw(a) logarithm), we have UIRT model. 25 We can also use union as a base to obtain a more precise esteem of the probability of getting a task right as the responses are all noughts. As this article focuses on the relative difficulty level of tasks, it is credible to use the easiest task as the base. 16 The UIRT model has certain very in demand(predicate) statistical properties for the estimation of these parameters. With the UIRT model, this sort method can be approximated to estimate parameters. 26 We can then compare the estimated M ( Pij ) to determine the relative difficulty level of each task. robability of getting a particular task with 1 can also be calculated The as exp( M ( Pij )) /(1 + exp( M ( Pij ))) . 27 With these desirable properties of the UIRT model, this study can allow different groupings of CSRC and evaluate their effects on labor conditions by canvass the parameters. 4. Results 4. 1 introductory Result bow 3 shows the benchmark model that shareed all the factories together to examine the overall picture of labor conditions using the UIRT model and the other problem as the basis of comparisons. As shown in plug-in 2, response 0 means the worker thinks that there is no problem with a particular task, while 1 means the task has problem.Therefore, using the estimated coefficients, the union coefficients serve as the upper shrink and the other problem as the concluding entrap the interpretation of the coefficient is therefore an assessment of the relative significance of the problem against union and other problem. That is, when a task has similar significance as the union, it means that the task is very difficult for suppliers, while a task that is not significantly different from the other problem, it means that the task is also an easy problem for suppliers. instrument panel 3 shows (from left), the dogged effect model, the indomitable effect with probability weighted, and the random effect model, respectively. All the models have passed their test of specification. canvass 26Specifically, it can be shown (Lord & Novick, 1968, p. 429) that a respondents raw score ( sum up of tasks correct) is a minimal sufficient statistic for his/her ability. This leads to a realistic implementation of the model in that statistical estimates of abilities and item parameters can be obtained by proceeding as if everyone with the akin raw score has just now the same ability. The parameter estimates are commonly computed using conditional maximum likelihood CMLE and yield legitimate estimates of item parameters (Andersen, 1973). 27 Obviously, the Pij is unobservable, as are ability and item parameters. Estimates of the Pij (and, hence, the ai and b j could be obtained if it were possible to give a respondent the same question about a task on repeated occasions, and his/her responses were independent over trials. Clearly, this is not possible. Alternatively, the probabilities could be estimated if a worker with similar ability could be identified. Assuming a group of people with the same ability, as individuals respond to items independently, the observed proportion of individuals indoors the group who respond positively to task j is an estimate of the probability that any given person from that group passes the task. 17 the fixed effect model and the model with probability weighted, the ranking of variables coefficients is in the same order. There is no qualitative differen ce between the two models.In fact, the coefficient value and the ranking are identical between the fixed effect model in the first column and the random effect model in the third column, suggesting that heterogeneity is not a problem and the random effect model is not necessary. 28 Therefore, this study will be based on the fixed effect model for extended models in the subsequent sections. Union, complaint to client, and employee association are the top three difficult tasks for suppliers. The estimated probability of union, complaint to client, and employee association in the fixed effect model is 1, 0. 9998, and 0. 9996, respectively, suggesting a 100%, 99. 98%, and 99. 96% pretend of getting these tasks with a problem. These estimated probabilities are very consonant with the statistics in duck 2. This reflects that CSRC may not be very implemental for labor union and freedom of association activities.All the tasks in the model are positively and significantly different from the other problem, suggesting that these problems authority our attention, except the onslaught safety problem. The reason why the fire safety problem is not frequently cited as a problem may be attributed to the fact that after a fatal factory fire in Shenzhen area in the early 1990s, a workshop-level fire safety law has been introduced. Since then, labor NGOs and the local government have paid attention to fire safety in workplaces. 29 afterward a brief overview about the problem with the pooled data, the future(a) section tests hypotheses about the laborious suit of the different CSRCs and the problem of opportunism at the supplier level. 28When reading across the columns, one should avoid directly comparing the coefficients among different models as the assumptions are different. However, we can focus on the relative importance of variables in each model. 29 For a detailed discussion about the labor movement and the history about the event, read AMRC (2004 41-82). 18 turn off 3 Unidimensional head result Model for Labor Conditions rigid Effect Item Coef. Labor Bargaining and Association Rights Union 22. 71 (1. 82) explosive charge to Client 8. 37 (0. 9) Employee Association 7. 85 (0. 76) Bargaining Rights 3. 87 (0. 61) Bargaining lend 5. 03 (0. 59) Labor department Use 3. 99 (0. 58) Collective Bargain 7. 25 (0. 73) go Use 4. 54 (0. ) Violation of equity Child labor (14 yrs) 1. 96 (0. 6) to a lower place age labor (16 yrs) 3. 38 (0. 61) maternal quality leave 5. 51 (0. 62) Illegal Over Time work 5. 74 (0. 63) safeguard and Living Environment Fire caoutchouc 0. 71 (0. 7) Workshop galosh 3. 01 (0. 61) viands problem 5. 58 (0. 65) Live environment problem 3. 18 (0. 61) constent spot of obs F( 16, 239) Prob F Pseudo R2 Linktest _hat 4045. 00 10551. 86 0. 00 0. 49 0. 00 1. 00 Pz 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 Fixed Effect with p-weighted Coef. Pz 28. 30 (0. 59) 10. 70 (0. 92) 10. 52 (0. 78) 4. 72 (0. 61) 6. 14 (0. 61) 5. 09 (0. 6) 9. 39 (0. 75) 5. 33 (0. 61) 2. 56 (0. 66) 4. 03 (0. 61) 6. 2 (0. 62) 7. 99 (0. 67) 1. 58 (0. 78) 4. 47 (0. 61) 7. 28 (0. 65) 4. 74 (0. 62) 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 Random Effect Coef. 29. 19 (9. 73) 8. 44 (0. 9) 7. 92 (0. 76) 3. 88 (0. 61) 5. 05 (0. 6) 3. 99 (0. 58) 7. 31 (0. 72) 4. 56 (0. 6) 1. 96 (0. 6) 3. 38 (0. 61) 5. 55 (0. 62) 5. 79 (0. 63) 0. 71 (0. 7) 3. 01 (0. 61) 5. 62 (0. 65) 3. 18 (0. 61) 4. 06 (0. 58) 4045. 00 F( 16, 239) Prob F /lnsig2u Pz 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 31 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 04 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 31 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 4045. 00 88251. 79 0. 0 0. 55 1. 00 (0. 13) 0. 00 (0. 01) 0. 00 1. 00 1. 00 (0. 13) _hatsq 0. 00 (0. 01) Other puzzle is the basis for the comparison Jacknife standard actus reus in excursus 60. 68 0. 00 -4. 55 (0. 29) sigma_u 0. 10 (0. 02) Prob = chibar2 0. 40 Likelihood-ratio test 0. 08 19 4. 2 Which CSR code is better? As shown in plug-in 1, different branded companies may have differences in the CSRC statement. This section aims to evaluate the effect of an individual brand companys CSRC on labor conditions and to understand the relationships between companys CSRC statement and CSRC outcomes. gameboard 4 shows the UIRT model for labor conditions by different CSRCs.As there are suppliers with more than one CSRC, this study will pool suppliers with same CSRC to estimate the difficulty level of relative tasks. For example, as the survey has one supplier with Disney only but two suppliers with Disney & Wal-Mart, this study combines these three supplier data into the UIRT model. As discussed in the methodology section, the UIRT model can then essentially condense the common information from these Disney suppliers and investigate the aggregate Disney CSRC effect. skirt 4 ranks the CSRC concord to the number of tasks similar to the difficulty level of union, move from left (the easiest task) to right (the most difficult task).In Table 4, columns 1 to 5 show suppliers with a larger number of problems and the lowest number of problems similar to the difficulty level of the problem union. They are non-CSRC suppliers (with 6 problems), McDonalds (5 problems), Mattel (2 problems), Disney (2 problems), and Wal-Mart (with 0 problem). The first observation is that the most serious problems are concentrated on labor bargaining and association rights. When focussing on individual CSRC in this section, the non-CSRC suppliers in cited in the first column show that five tasks have the same difficulty level as union. In contrast, there are no such tasks for the Wal-Mart suppliers, suggesting that they may commit less serious labor bargaining and association rights problems.While we focus on the tasks with the lowest bound of difficulty, Disney suppliers may have more (6 tasks) tasks that are insignificantly different from the other problem. This means that Disneys su ppliers may be less promising to have labor bargaining and association problems. why so? Can the representation statements of CSRC give some useful information? As Table 1 shows, Disneys mission statement provides a more detailed description than other CSRCs with respect to the labor bargaining and association problems. However, while there is no explicit statement about labor bargaining and association problems in the McDonalds CSRC, its suppliers are more likely to commit violations over other CSRCs, as shown in the second column of Table 4. On 20 he whole, it seems that the CSRC could have some positive impacts on labor bargaining and association problems, and the effects would be dependent on the details of the CSRC statements. 30 Let us now discuss the violation of laws. While the non-CSRC suppliers may have serious problems regarding maternity leave, McDonalds suppliers may have serious problems with illegal overtime work when compared with the labor union problem. This is uniform with McDonalds CSRC statement the most pithy among other CSRCs on illegal overtime work. When focusing on the insignificant problem, an provoke pattern emerged the tasks that are not as serious as other problems are inversely distributed along the columns, except for Wal-Mart suppliers.Disney suppliers continually outperform other CSRCs with no tasks considered significant, while Wal-Mart suppliers show significance in all the tasks. While Table 1 does not show any significant difference between Wal-Marts CSRC compared to the other CSRC in this issue, the results may be affected by the fact that these suppliers do not produce goods only for Wal-Mart. The next subsection analyzes the number of CSRCs and its the impact on labor conditions. In terms of safety and living environment issues, all suppliers under this study do not indicate significant problems on fire safety. However, the non-CSRC suppliers are consistently worse than other suppliers in terms of workshop safet y and food problem.Indeed, food seems to be a common problem among suppliers, except for Disney suppliers. Consistent with results in labor bargaining and association rights, Disney suppliers outperform other CSRC suppliers because no task is significantly different from the other problem. In all the three sections, Disney suppliers continually outperform other CSRCs. This result seems to be consistent with Disneys CSRC statement, shown in Table 1. Some suppliers work for more than one CSRC, which may mean more transaction costs in avoiding the CSRC. It is interesting to explore how the number of CSRCs affect firms. 30 Certainly, we can just observe the CSRC statement, but efforts to enforce the statement terms are unobservable.As discussed in the methodology section, the UIRT model is a mechanism to remove unobservable influences and obtain consistent estimates of the difficulty level of tasks. 21 Table 4 Unidimensional Item resolution Model for Labor Conditions by different CSR code No CSR code McDonalds Mattel Item Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Labor Bargaining and Association Rights Union 42. 38 0. 00 41. 63 0. 00 19. 98 0. 00 (4. 33) (4. 15) (3. 01) Complaint to Client 42. 38 0. 00 41. 63 0. 00 5. 53 0. 00 (4. 33) (4. 15) (0. 94) 42. 38 41. 63 19. 98 Employee Association 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 (4. 33) (4. 15) (3. 01) Bargaining Rights 42. 38 0. 00 -0. 03 0. 26 0. 28 0. 77 (4. 33) (0. 03) (0. 3) Bargaining Channel 42. 38 0. 00 21. 30 0. 00 19. 98 0. 00 (4. 33) (2. 27) (3. 01) Labor department Use 0. 00 0. 87 20. 67 0. 00 2. 69 0. 00 (0. 00) (2. 01) (0. 68) Collective Bargain 42. 38 0. 00 41. 63 0. 00 4. 80 0. 00 (4. 33) (4. 15) (0. 89) get Use 20. 77 0. 00 41. 63 0. 00 1. 48 0. 05 (2. 30) (4. 15) (0. 74) Violation of Law Child labor (14 yrs) Under age labor (16 yrs) Maternity leave Illegal Over Time work 0. 00 (0. 00) 19. 92 (1. 77) 42. 38 (4. 33) 0. 87 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 -0. 03 (0. 03) -0. 03 (0. 03) 21. 92 (2. 44) 41. 63 (4. 15) 0. 00 (0. 00) 0. 00 (0. 00) 21 . 84 (2. 43) 0. 26 0. 26 0. 00 0. 00 0. 28 (0. 93) 0. 51 (0. 9) 3. 83 (0. 77) 5. 23 (0. 99) 0. 30 (0. 93) 2. 29 (0. 78) 4. 01 (0. 88) 0. 77 0. 57 0. 00 0. 00 Disney Coef. 23. 12 (13. 27) 23. 12 (13. 27) 6. 32 (13. 94) 4. 63 (14. 02) 3. 24 (14. 00) 4. 87 (13. 94) 8. 00 (19. 73) 23. 12 (13. 27) 2. 94 (13. 92) 4. 48 (14. 02) 6. 49 (14. 24) 5. 35 (14. 05) 1. 13 (14. 02) 3. 27 (14. 01) 7. 97 (28. 15) Pt 0. 09 0. 09 0. 65 0. 74 0. 82 0. 73 0. 69 0. 09 0. 83 0. 75 0. 65 0. 71 21. 01 (1. 94) Safety and Living Environment Fire Safety Workshop Safety regimen problem 0. 00 (0. 00) 21. 01 (1. 94) 20. 89 (1. 91) 0. 87 0. 00 0. 00 0. 34 0. 31 0. 00 0. 75 0. 01 0. 00 0. 94 0. 82 22 0. 78 4. 3 Is more CSRC better?This section focuses on the number of CSRCs if more CSRCs increase transaction costs for suppliers, which in turn results in violations of the CSRC, then there should be less violation with regard to labor conditions as the number of CSRCs increases. Table 5 shows the UIRT model for labor conditions according to the number of CSR code. The nonCSRC supplier column is the same as in Table 4, while the 1 CSRC column has a pool of suppliers with a single CSRC and 2 CSRC suppliers include Mattel Wal-Mart and Disney Wal-Mart. The pattern of violations in labor conditions in Table 8 is consistent with the hypothesis that more CSRCs is better to control opportunism at the suppliers level the suppliers of 2 CSRCs constantly outperform the 1 CSRC suppliers and the non-CSRC suppliers on the control of labor conditions.For example, in terms of labor bargaining and association rights, the number of tasks with a similar significant coefficient as union is 5 in No CSRC suppliers, 2 in 1 CSRC supplier, and no(prenominal) in 2 CSRC suppliers. All the estimation results in violation of law and safety and living environment show that the tasks relative to coefficients are reduced as the number of CSRC increases. These results are consistent with the perspective that an increase in the number of CSRCs may increase the transaction costs of opportunism at the suppliers level. However, suppliers may also have measures to reduce governance effects from CSRC. The effects of different measures of opportunism are investigated in the next section. 23 24Table 5 Unidimensional Item retort Model for Labor Conditions by number of CSR code No CSR code 1 CSR code 2 CSR codes Item Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Coef. Labor Bargaining and Association Rights Union 42. 38 0. 00 39. 19 0. 00 19. 40 (4. 33) (0. 31) (3. 12) Complaint to Client 42. 38 0. 00 39. 19 0. 00 6. 11 (4. 33) (0. 31) (0. 89) Employee Association 42. 38 0. 00 39. 19 0. 00 5. 57 (4. 33) (0. 31) (0. 76) Bargaining Rights 42. 38 0. 00 19. 10 0. 00 2. 02 (4. 33) (0. 26) (0. 67) Bargaining Channel 42. 38 0. 00 20. 14 0. 00 3. 92 (4. 33) (0. 20) (0. 64) Labor department Use 0. 00 0. 87 19. 73 0. 00 3. 51 (0. 00) (0. 25) (0. 58) Collective Bargain 42. 38 0. 00 23. 61 0. 00 5. 21 (4. 33) (0. 98) (0. 6) Strike Use 20. 77 0. 00 2 0. 24 0. 00 3. 51 (2. 30) (0. 26) (0. 64) Violation of Law Child labor (14 yrs) Under age labor (16 yrs) Maternity leave Illegal Over Time work Safety and Living Environment Fire Safety Workshop Safety Food problem Live environment problem 0. 00 (0. 00) 21. 01 (1. 94) 20. 89 (1. 91) 0. 87 0. 00 0. 00 0. 87 15. 47 (0. 87) 14. 77 (14. 65) 22. 30 (0. 42) 18. 70 (0. 23) 2030. 00 0. 64 0. 00 0. 32 0. 00 0. 00 0. 43 (0. 76) 2. 98 (0. 68) 4. 48 (0. 79) 2. 72 (0. 67) 1335. 00 0. 40 0. 00 (0. 00) 19. 92 (1. 77) 42. 38 (4. 33) 21. 01 (1. 94) 0. 87 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 17. 05 (0. 41) 19. 27 (0. 24) 20. 85 (0. 24) 24. 31 (15. 01) 0. 0 0. 00 0. 00 0. 11 1. 61 (0. 64) 1. 76 (0. 67) 4. 07 (0. 67) 4. 30 (0. 70) Pt 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 01 0. 01 0. 00 0. 00 0. 57 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 (0. 00) occur of obs 680. 00 Pseudo R2 0. 84 Other difficulty is the basis for the comparison Jacknife standard hallucination in parenthesis 4. 4 Suppliers strides to circumvent CSRC aud iting 25 When considering other transaction costs of governing with the CSRC, suppliers may apply different strategies to get around the CSRC auditing. Because most CSRC auditing would give advance notice to suppliers, suppliers would have room for measures to circumvent the auditing.This study has documented some of the common supplier measures to circumvent CSRC auditing fire drill, trained question, liberal a holiday, cleanup the factory, and safety drill. Certainly, suppliers may use more than one measure to get around the CSRC auditing it is likely that suppliers with more labor problems would use more measures to cover up their problems. This section first looks at the number of measures that may be associated with labor problems. We then investigate how the different measures affect labor conditions. Table 6 shows the UIRT model for the number of measures to circumvent CSRC auditing. The first column of Table 6 shows the result of no measure. A response of no measure to cir cumvent CSRC auditing is associated with no significant measures that are different from other problem, suggesting that a supplier without any measure for CSRC auditing is performing relatively well in terms of labor conditions. The second column, i. e. , one measure to circumvent CSRC auditing, shows a very different pattern. Although no task is as difficult as the union problem, all tasks show a significant coefficient, except the fire safety problem. The third column, two or more measures, indicates an even stronger coefficient in all the tasks than the column with one measure. Furthermore, the task complaint to client is as strong as union in this column.When comparing the three columns in Table 6, it appears that the more the measures suppliers use, the higher the likelihood they commit more labor problems. This is consistent with the transaction cost hypothesis that opportunism may increase the transaction cost of governing with the CSRC. It is not necessary that all measures have an gibe effect on labor problems. The next section shows the effect of individual measure of CSRC auditing on labor problems. 26 Table 6 Unidimensional Item Response Model for Labor Conditions by Number of Suppliers Measure No Measure One Measure Two or More Measures Item Labor Bargaining and Association Rights Union 19. 88 0. 22 20. 47 0. 0 34. 57 0. 00 (15. 58) (3. 66) (4. 30) Complaint to Client 5. 35 0. 79 7. 34 0. 00 34. 57 0. 00 (19. 88) (1. 20) (4. 30) Employee Association 5. 35 0. 79 7. 34 0. 00 20. 80 0. 00 (20. 03) (1. 21) (2. 85) Bargaining Rights 1. 64 0. 92 2. 40 0. 00 17. 16 0. 00 (15. 09) (0. 77) (2. 19) Bargaining Channel 3. 47 0. 82 4. 24 0. 00 17. 84 0. 00 (14. 91) (0. 74) (2. 13) Labor department Use 3. 20 0. 83 3. 85 0. 00 17. 42 0. 00 (14. 89) (0. 71) (2. 17) Collective Bargain 19. 88 0. 22 6. 63 0. 00 19. 85 0. 00 (15. 58) (1. 03) (2. 30) Strike Use 2. 94 0. 85 3. 78 0. 00 18. 47 0. 00 (15. 15) (0. 73) (2. 18) Violation of Law Child labor (14 yrs) -14. 1 0. 34 1. 26 0. 09 15. 87 0. 00 (14. 61) (0. 74) (2. 18) Under age labor (16 yrs) 2. 24 0. 88 2. 59 0. 00 16. 91 0. 00 (15. 11) (0. 77) (2. 12) Maternity leave 2. 77 0. 86 4. 60 0. 00 18. 89 0. 00 (15. 14) (0. 76) (2. 20) Illegal Over Time work 5. 23 0. 80 6. 39 0. 00 19. 09 0. 00 (19. 94) (1. 06) (2. 26) Safety and Living Environment Fire Safety 0. 00 1. 00 0. 73 0. 40 12. 91 0. 32 (22. 56) (0. 86) (12. 82) Workshop Safety 0. 00 1. 00 2. 03 0. 01 16. 24 0. 00 (22. 56) (0. 78) (2. 09) Food problem 4. 13 0. 79 5. 10 0. 00 21. 50 0. 16 (15. 39) (0. 86) (15. 24) Live environment problem 2. 19 0. 89 2. 67 0. 00 16. 88 0. 00 (15. 10) (0. 77) (2. 2) Number of obs 267. 00 1777. 00 1321. 00 Pseudo R2 0. 52 0. 51 0. 52 Other line is the basis for the comparison Jacknife standard defect in parenthesis Suppliers measures to circumvent CSRC auditing include fire drill, trained question, giving a holiday, Cleaning the pulverization, and Safety Drill. 27 4. 4 Suppliers Measures to circumvent CS RC auditing Table 7 shows the UIRT model for individual measures to circumvent CSRC auditing. The measures in this study include fire drill, safety drill, giving a holiday, trained question, and cleaning the factory. As the safety drill estimation is not converged, Table 10 shows only the four other supplier measures.Table 7 ranks the measures according to the number of the most serious tasks (compared to union) from the left, namely, fire drill (6 tasks), giving a holiday (4 tasks), trained question (0 task), and cleaning the factory (0 task). Why do fire drill suppliers have the most tasks similar to the union coefficient? As discussed in the last subsection, fire safety is one of the most serious areas that the Chinese local authorities are concerned with, and it is the most frequent task to be checked during a factory visit. If a supplier has not even met the basic standard of the fire safety, it is reasonable to infer that other tasks are likely to be a problem as well. This is similar in the case of holidays for workers convey that the supplier tries to prohibit workers from revealing this fact.As giving holidays for a busy factory is costly, suppliers are likely to create more than one problem in the task. Trained question is one of the most common ways that suppliers try to get around CSRC auditing during the worker interview. Suppliers try to train workers with model answers that fit the CSRC auditing interview questions. The trained question effect may be very express as only trained workers model their answers to the interview question, and this cannot cover other the problems in the factory. It is clear that the trained question may have fewer problems than fire drill and giving a holiday. Cleaning the factory was found the least serious measure.Only suppliers who are confident with their labor conditions would use cleaning the factory to polish their workshop. 28 Table 7Unidimensional Item Response Model for Labor Conditions by Suppliers Measu re Fire Drill Give pass Trained question Cleaning Factory Item Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Coef. Pt Labor Bargaining and Association Rights Union 40. 28 0. 00 39. 74 0. 00 35. 79 0. 00 21. 80 0. 00 (1. 05) (3. 83) (5. 39) (2. 87) Complaint to Client 40. 28 0. 00 39. 74 0. 00 21. 55 0. 00 8. 79 0. 49 (1. 05) (3. 83) (2. 80) (12. 70) Employee Association 40. 28 0. 00 22. 22 0. 24 21. 55 0. 00 7. 68 0. 00 (1. 05) (18. 58) (2. 98) (1. 00) Bargaining Rights 18. 38 0. 29 0. 00 0. 75 17. 88 0. 00 3. 5 0. 00 (14. 33) (0. 00) (2. 78) (0. 75) Bargaining Channel 18. 38 0. 00 39. 74 0. 00 18. 36 0. 00 4. 47 0. 00 (0. 45) (3. 83) (2. 62) (0. 73) Labor department Use 21. 11 0. 00 16. 38 0. 32 18. 07 0. 00 4. 38 0. 00 (0. 61) (16. 06) (2. 69) (0. 71) Collective Bargain 40. 28 0. 00 39. 74 0. 00 20. 60 0. 00 6. 54 0. 00 (1. 05) (3. 83) (2. 81) (0. 85) Strike Use 40. 28 0. 00 17. 62 0. 00 19. 30 0. 00 4. 85 0. 00 (1. 05) (1. 31) (2. 88) (0. 74) Violation of Law Child labor (14 yrs) 0. 00 0. 45 18. 3 5 0. 00 16. 41 0. 00 2. 01 0. 01 (0. 00) (1. 70) (2. 61) (0. 73) Under age labor (16 yrs) 18. 38 0. 29 18. 00 0. 00 17. 51 0. 00 3. 33 0. 00 (14. 3) (2. 04) (2. 60) (0. 75) Maternity leave 21. 11 0. 25 22. 22 0. 27 19. 09 0. 00 5. 22 0. 00 (14. 97) (19. 80) (2. 72) (0. 74) Illegal Over Time work 40. 28 0. 00 22. 22 0. 27 19. 85 0. 00 6. 14 0. 00 (1. 05) (19. 80) (2. 72) (0. 85) Safety and Living Environment Fire Safety 0. 00 0. 39 0. 00 0. 75 14. 16 0. 00 0. 72 0. 40 (0. 00) (0. 00) (2. 54) (0. 85) Workshop Safety 0. 00 0. 38 0. 00 0. 75 16. 77 0. 00 2. 84 0. 00 (0. 00) (0. 00) (2. 70) (0. 75) Food problem 40. 28 0. 00 39. 74 0. 00 20. 59 0. 00 6. 11 0. 00 (1. 05) (3. 83) (2. 87) (0. 89) Live environment problem 18. 38 0. 00 21. 51 0. 00 17. 53 0. 00 2. 88 0. 00 (0. 45) (2. 15) (2. 72) (0. 5) Number of obs 85. 00 408. 00 1440. 00 2452. 00 Pseudo R2 0. 83 0. 88 0. 49 0. 50 Other Problem is the basis for the comparison Jacknife standard error in parenthesis except the fire estimation, which indicates standard error in parenthesis. Safety Drill is not converged in estimation. 29 Robustness Check For convenience, the estimation of the UIRT model in Table 7 uses the other problem as a base. However, as the other problem is not exactly along zero in the data, there may be a problem in estimating the true probability of the task. More importantly, there may be problem of the UIRT assumption about the zero covariance among items in the estimation.This robustness check uses the union as a base in Table 8, which reruns the UIRT model in Table 5. If the zero covariance assumption is violated, using the upper bound of the problem, the union, as the base of estimation will give very different results. However, if the zero covariance assumption is not violated, as this estimation uses union as a base, the coefficient will be interpreted exactly opposite to that given in Table 5 those problems with larger and significant coefficients given in Table 5 should now be close to z ero and insignificant in Table 8 and vice versa. Most of the coefficients here are negatively signed, suggesting that they are weaker than the union problem.Non-CSRC suppliers are seen to have six problems (complaint to client, employee association, bargaining rights, bargaining channel, collective bargain, and maternity leave), 1 CSRC has two problems (complaint to client and emplo