Wal-Mart Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Wal-Mart - Case Study Example A brief introduction to business ethics and social responsibility is undertaken. The importance of CSR initiatives is also discussed. The results indicate that Wal-Mart is well perceived by many customers despite few criticisms leveled against it due to its low and affordable prices. Candid CSR initiatives emerged as a very crucial factor. Corporations today have to pay much attention to the needs as well as preferences of many interest groups. Corporations are not required to behave as if their profit making goal is more important that the interests of their stakeholders. Stakeholder theory maintains that management’s role is to create value for their non-shareholder stakeholders such as consumers, the community, creditors, employees and suppliers (Lii, 2011). However, Wal-Mart has been greatly criticized for going against this theory. Areas of criticisms include treatment of suppliers, foreign products sourcing of the corporation, environmental practices, employee compensations as well as working conditions, the corporation’s security policies, the use of public subsidies and slavery (Yuan, Bao, & Verbeke, 2011). They have sought to inflict harms on their stakeholders for profit seeking in a number of ways. However, the MNE has a number of CSR initiatives to help in leading as well as providing the m with an opportunity to make differences on the big issues that matter to everyone. The corporation noted that they are committed to using their big size as well as scale in helping the world live better. Through such initiatives, Wal-Mart has been able to empower women, contribute to energy efficiency and assisting with disaster relief (News & Brothers, 2005). The aim of this paper is to identify the harms Wal-Mart inflict on their stakeholders while they make profit and the CSR initiatives it has adopted as well as their motives. In addition, the paper evaluates the results of such CSR initiatives and makes recommendations to

Societys True Nature Essay Example for Free

Societys True Nature Essay In Franz Kafkas enigmatic novel The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa lives the life of a bug. The traveling salesman awakens one morning to find himself incredulously transformed into a â€Å"monstrous vermin.† At First, Gregor is apathetic towards his â€Å"metamorphosis† and immediately begins describing his room and slight discomforts in great detail. At the same time, Gregor incessantly comments on unimportant aspects of his – almost dismissing the fact that he is now a cockroach. When his family starts knocking on his door, Gregor immediately begins conjuring scenarios in which he imagines that his family genuinely cares for him. This illusion is soon shattered after the reader is exposed to the true nature of the Samsas. Gregors metamorphosis symbolizes what he is and has always been in society – a cockroach. Through Gregors physical transformation, Kafka communicates that people are oblivious to how alienated they are from society and humanity in its entirety. First off, in The Metamorphosis, readers are immediately exposed to the absurd atmosphere Kafka has created when he describes how â€Å"Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams †¦ [to find] himself transformed into a monstrous vermin† (1). At first glace this statement may sound normal, but after analyzing this and many other statements, it becomes apparent that Kafka has purposely placed the Samsas in an unreal environment. For example, in the sentence previously mentioned, the third-person narrator speaks casually of Gregors metamorphosis as if it were nothing. In his article, Johannes Pfeiffer says that Gregor â€Å"does not truly realize his new position in all its gravity† (55). Gregors inability to acknowledge his transformation might represent people and their apathy towards the more significant things in life. Throughout the story, the narration alternates between first and third person – suggesting that the narrator of the story constantly shifts from Gregor to an unknown entity. However, the baffling narration in The Metamorphosis is no mistake. Through this bizarre style of narration, Kafka brilliantly demonstrates how alienated people can be from themselves – for Gregor is alienated to the point where he must tell his story in a third-person perspective. Moreover, it has been speculated that society manipulates people by having certain ideals. As a result of his father being unemployed and his mother and sister not being able to work, Gregor is left with the burden of holding his family together by reluctantly taking a job as a salesman. The following excerpt describes the Samsas financial situation: In the course of the very first day his father explained the familys financial situation and prospects to both the mother and the sister. From the time he got up from the table to get some kind of receipt or notebook out of the little strongbox he had rescued from the collapse of his business five years before. . . In those days, Gregors sole concern had been to do everything his power to make the family forget as quickly as possible the business disaster which had plunged everyone into a state of despair (25). The excerpt is describing Gregor listening in on his family discuss the financial situation at hand. We learn that the Samsas massive debt is a result of Mr. Samsas failed business. Being the concerned son he has been brainwashed to become, Gregor – with good intention – took a myriad of jobs to appease his family and restore peace in the chaotic household the Samsas inhabit. The significance of this is that it identifies the reality people choose to live in – a reality where people abandon aspirations and conform to the desolate society that surrounds them. Lastly, Gregors transformation itself is ironic. A metamorphosis suggests ascension into a higher form; but in Gregors case, he has devolved into one of the most insignificant form that comes to mind – a cockroach. However, Gregors bug form is simply an illustration. After close analysis, it can be said that Gregors metamorphosis is his inner state surfacing into the physical world. With that said, one can come to the conclusion that Gregor has always been a bug and has been alienated from his family prior to his transformation. The Samsa family loses faith in Gregor recovering (as if they ever had any) and begins discarding remnants of his past. Gregor is addressed as â€Å"it† (Pfeiffer 55) later in the book when his family dehumanizes him. Reading about how Gregor and his family are so alienated from one another that they do not see it is powerful on its own, but seeing Kafkas message and understanding how people live in a world not too different from Gregors is a ha rsh truth that only a handful of people come to realize. All in all, Gregors metamorphosis symbolizes the alienation, which has always (and may always) exist. It is a powerful symbol that reveals how alienated people are from themselves and society in its entirety. After reading Kafkas The Metamorphosis, one cannot help but question whether his own life is real or a deviation that has spawned and thrived in the alienated society man has given birth to.

Joe Louis Essay -- Biography

Joe Louis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joe Louis was born in Alabama on May 13, 1914. He was the son of an Alabama sharecropper, the great grandson of a slave, and the great great grandson of a white slave owner. Joe Louis moved to Detroit as a youngster with his mother. He was the first African American ever to achieve lasting fame and star status in the 20th Century. He did so with boxing, he would capture the hearts of millions of American's, both white and black.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This was a time when blacks were being discriminated against, the military was segregated, blacks were not allowed to play Major League Baseball. When he started boxing early in the 1930's hero worship was not achievable in any professional sports, there were none that were able to command the attention away from whites, however that would all change. Joe Louis began his boxing career at the Brewster Recreation Center. In his first amateur bout, Louis was knocked down 7 times, but he rapidly improved over the years, he captured the 1934 National AAU Lightweight Crown and turned to the professional level later in that same year. Louis won his first 27 fights, 23 of them by knockout, beating people of fame like Primo Carnera and Max Baer. His first defeat was against Max Scheming at Yankee Stadium, he was knocked out in the 12th round. This was Louis greatest defeat, and the start of his greatest challenge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next few years would be the greatest of times for the " Brown Bomber ", he got his much anticipated ...

Breakfast Club Movie Review

Cliques are groups of people with mutual interests and goals, who spend a majority of their time with each other. They can be found at every high school. The Breakfast Club is a movie that brings five students belonging to different cliques together in an unfortunate situation-detention. At the beginning of the movie, these five students appear to be very different people who have nothing to say to each other. However, throughout the movie, the sanctions of each clique become less relevant, and they find that they themselves have formed their own clique: The Breakfast Club.Coming into the detention session, each character has a fixation in a stereotypical high school role. Claire is the â€Å"princess†; an upper-class, popular socialite who is in detention for ditching class to go shopping. In contrast, Bender is a lower-class (and perhaps abused) young man who has a perception of being a sociopathic â€Å"criminal. † Because Bender constantly questions and defies autho rity, he is a detention professional. Andrew (the jock) is a disciplined and driven wrestler who wants to break free from the demands of the athlete role.Brian (the brain) is a straight-A student who struggles with expectations of high grades–and who is experiencing devastation about his recent failures in shop class. Finally, Allison is an ignored introvert who longs for attention and in attempt to receive it, acts like a deviant â€Å"basket case. † At the beginning of the session, the determination of the status by the pecking order of the school's social structure. During the school week, Andrew and Claire have high social status. They recognize their shared status level and sit by each other upon entering the detention session.The two break into conversation about their mutual high-status friends whereas the other detention attendees listen. Brian is probably next in the school status hierarchy because of his intelligence, but he is also a â€Å"geek. † Hig h-status students usually ignore him. In the school's caste system, Bender and Allison are the social bottom feeders. Early in the movie, it becomes clear that a different social order is developing. Bender is the expert at Saturday detentions and is on a first-name basis with the janitor and Mister Vernon (the detention teacher). Detention sessions are clearly Bender's turf and his status on Saturdays is high.Brian seems to recognize this when he gives up his seat to John and waits for John to take off his coat before he removes his own. As is true of high-status members, John begins making and breaking norms. He is the first to break the principal's explicit rule of â€Å"no one moves from their seats. † He also breaks the implicit rule of respect for authority when he tears up a library book and when he removes a screw out of the library door so it will not remain open. The groups abandon normal roles and try new roles on, as they develop during the detention session.In co ntrast to his usual low-status position, Bender has high status during the session because of his detention expertise. He assumes a leadership role in which his defiant questions and actions create value rather than disdain. Andrew also deviates from the normal behaviors of his high-status school behaviors. He develops emotionally by abandoning his macho athlete role when he cries in front of the. Brian, the conformist geek, asks courageous questions and begins to appear more secure and functional than his new detention friends. Brian, Claire, and Andrew break from their normal roles by smoking marijuana with Bender.Allison, the basket case, steps out of her silent, unsociable role when Andrew shows interest in her as they walk to the cafeteria to get milk for lunch. Although she uses lies and deviant behavior to get Claire to confess her virginity, Allison provides wise observations that are contrary to her perceived role. For example, when the group is trying to coerce Claire into confessing her sexual activities, Allison notes, â€Å"It’s a double-edged sword, isn't it? If you have [had sex] you're a slut, and if you haven't you're a prude† (Hughes & Hughes, 1985).Allison also steps out of role by allowing Claire to give her a cosmetic makeover, after which she begins to court Andrew. Brian exhibits a change when it comes time to write the required detention essay. The group gives him authority to write their papers because his perception is most intelligent. Brian is more expressive and sociable when he asks the important question, â€Å"Come Monday, are we all friends? † (Hughes & Hughes, 1985). Before the detention session he would not have questioned the group because he was not confident enough to speak up.The group develops together by first occupying the same space for an extended amount of time. Because of a common enemy, Mister Vernon, they band together even though it is against the norm. An early indicator of group identity e merges in Bender's use of â€Å"we† as he asks, â€Å"Why don't we close that door? We can't have any party with Vernon checking us out. † (Hughes & Hughes, 1985). They begin to perform as a group after Bender removes the screw from the door leading to Vernon's office. The other students cover for him when Vernon comes back asking, â€Å"How did that door get shut? † (Hughes & Hughes, 1985).Self-disclosure further helps the development of the group. Bender gets Claire to self-disclose about her feelings toward her parents. Andrew turns and asks Bender to tell about his parents. This discussion is critical to the development because the group members begin to see the similarity of their struggles. It also helps them to identify with each other. When the group pressured Claire to confess her virginity, embarrassed she calls Allison â€Å"bizarre† for lying to force the confession. To which, Andrew replies, â€Å"We are all pretty bizarre. Some of us are be tter at hiding it, that's all.† This marks another point of similarity: they all protect their self-concepts by putting on faces in line with the expectations that others have for them. Andrew describes his struggle to live up to his father's athletic expectations and Bender tells of his father's abuse. Thus, two very different characters find common ground, typified by Bender's comment to Andrew: â€Å"I think my dad and your dad ought to get together and go bowling† (Hughes & Hughes, 1985). In a quotation that begins and ends the movie, Brian reads from an essay that the Breakfast Club writes to Mister Vernon: â€Å"You see us as you want to see us.In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed. † (Hughes & Hughes, 1985). This quote demonstrates the cognitive development of the stud ents. They now realize their perception of each other because of the social stereotype and how they were wrong. As they band together to fight against mutual enemies–parents, peer pressure, authority figures, stereotypes, boredom–the Breakfast Club develops into a unified group.While nothing appears to alter the world’s view (or Vernon’s) of these five students, they learn to look past the stereotypes of each other. They empathize with each other’s' struggles, dismiss some of the inaccuracies of their first impressions, and discover that they are more similar than different. As they leave the detention session, their acceptance of each other becomes significant by Claire and Bender. They walk out of school arm in arm; she turns up her collar â€Å"punk style† and he dons one of her diamond earrings. Each student both takes from and gives to the members of the Breakfast Club.

Buddhism history

There are various religions in the world which people follow for their spiritual quest. Buddhism is one of the religions and disciplines that some groups of people adhere. Buddhism branched out from Hinduism that is considered as the reformation movement of the religion. The founder of Buddhism is Siddharta Gautama who was born in the warrior caste of India known as the Shakya clan (â€Å"Background of Gautama and Buddhism†, 2008). Born in leisure and luxury, Siddharta was shielded from the harsh realities of life and the suffering in life.One day when Siddharta made his rare trips outside the palace, he saw an old man, a sick man and a dead man which was his first encounter and witness personally the suffering of human life (Burns, 2009). After the mentioned experience, he decided to seek the truth that was hidden from him his whole life. He tried to attain the truth through the supervision of the Brahmin priests but he was disillusioned by the teachings of Hinduism. His self -mortification brought him closer to death instead of enlightenment (â€Å"Background of Gautama and Buddhism†, 2008).He decided to take a new path in search of enlightenment. He dedicated his life in meditation as he sat under a fig tree known as the Bodhi tree or the tree of wisdom. Through this, he attained the highest degree of consciousness referred to as Nirvana. Siddharta surpass the challenges and temptations and attained enlightenment. He was known to have found the way to escape the cruel causality of samsara or the cycle of rebirths. He also discovered the Four Noble Truths or the wisdom of Realization.Siddharta Gautama was known as the â€Å"enlightened one† as he found the answers on various life’s questions and why there is the existence of pain and suffering (â€Å"Background of Gautama and Buddhism†, 2008). One of the teachings of Buddhism is the samsara or the cycle of rebirths and the never-ending journey. It is described as the process of continuous birth, growing old, suffering and death (Buddhism Teacher, 2008). Samsara is a Sanskrit word for â€Å"journeying†. In Buddhism, as well as in other religions such as Hinduism and Jainism, samsara is defined as the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.Samsara is sometimes depicted as the opposite of Nirvana. However, in Mahayana school of Buddhism, Nirvana and Samsara are viewed as mental representations that a person appreciates the true nature of the world (O’Brien, 2009). Many people perceive samsara as a place, instead, it is a process to keep creating worlds and how people will move into the world. The worlds we create are associated with suffering from the date of our birth up to our adulthood (Bhikku, 2002). Samsara is the continuous life cycle of a person. It is believed that people are being born again as another person or entity.In India, some people are believed to be born in another caste or in another life situation. Samsara is also associated w ith Karma which is also another teaching in Buddhism wherein the life situation or the present existence of a person is based on the past life events. Karma explains to us the concept of cause and effect and helps us understand the idea of samsara. It explains to us in understanding interdependency, interconnectedness and unity (Buddhism Teacher, 2008). Karma is also taught in other religions like Hinduism that explains the punishment on the sins committed on the past life.It explains why some people are born in better life situations that the others. Some people believed that when they have done good in their present life, they will be rewarded in their future life. Buddhism is one of the religions that attempt to explain the worldly views and questions that concerns life’s sufferings and reincarnation. Buddhism incorporates the attainment of enlightenment or realization of the truth in life that will enable us to fully understand the ongoing events and our current life†™s situation.Buddhism relates to the people of various social classes who follow an esteemed and righteous path for spiritual wellness. References Background of Gautama and Buddhism. (2008). Let Us Reason Ministries. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Bhikku, T. (2002). Samsara. Esolibris. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Burns, M. G. (2009). Archangels Wisdom. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Buddhism Teacher. (2008). Samsara. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from O’Brien, B. (2009). Samsara. About. com. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from

A life changing event.

A life changing event. THWACK!Occasionally everyone is rocked by events not just beyond control, but beyond understanding. I lost the illusion of safety on a sweaty day in Bogot ¡, Colombia.We were driving not so much on a road but an infected cut on the skin of the jungle, which was always trying to heal the wound. The jungle itself loomed on either side of the road, staring back at me to show that it was the panther and I the hare.The jeep leapt and bound over the broken terrain. In the back of the jeep I was tossed about like an ice cube in a martini shaker. The two men in the front of the jeep were discussing something in Spanish; they seemed worried, so I asked them what was happening."This area is controlled by the rebels, we must drive very fast," Manuel said. Manuel was a Colombian Armed Forces captain.Tranvà ­a en llamas frente al Capitolio Nacional do...When he spoke he had the perfect enunciation of words that is so familiar to people for whom English is not their first language."When will we be out of danger?" I asked"You are an American in Colombia; you will be in danger until you get home." Manuel replied, laughing as he did so."Everything will be fine when we get past the first checkpoint in a few miles" Carlos said to reassure me.Carlos was a Colombian born American army captain. It was he who originally contacted me to do this job. When we first spoke he told me about the poor conditions in Bogot ¡. The people there needed better health care and the U.S. government was building new facilities. They wanted help with their computer systems, specifically with patient tracking. He convinced me that I would be making a difference in the lives of the Colombian people.He also alerted me to the danger. Colombia has been fighting a fifty year civil war. Before that the country had spent another fifty years in a constant struggle between wealthy land owners known. A struggle so vicious it is simply known as "La Violencia", the Violence. "Americans are occasionally kidnapp ed and ransomed. However we will have an escort as all times." he assured.Ridding in the jeep I noticed the way Manuel rarely took his eyes away from the jungle, always looking around, looking not with fear but suspicion, as if he suspected the very leaves themselves of harboring an unseen enemy.We passed the checkpoint without difficulty and entered the city a few miles ahead. It was grotesque. Every metropolitan area has a group of economically disadvantaged, but nothing I had ever seen prepared me for the city. The first thing you notice is the filth. It seemed the entire city was a refuse station. The greasy smell of it seemed to crawl into my nostrils and settle like dirty snow that won't melt until spring. The streets were full of litter. Is was not the kind of litter that you see in American cities, for most of that material is still useful to the truly poor, but a new dirtier kind of litter that sat perfectly on the border between trash and compost.The city seemed to be stru ggling against itself exploding too quickly and falling back in on itself, growing and shrinking like a parasite that never kills its host but can never be totally disposed of.The buildings were a crowded hubbub of materials that seemed piled together without thought to their neighbors. Snarls of wires sat at the top corners looking like the building itself had unwashed hair. Much of the construction seemed designed to lean against each other to support its tired existence.The people were the most obvious feature. There were throngs of people in front of the jeep. Everywhere I looked there were people in cars, scooters, bicycles and most of all on foot.There was paranoia in the air as we drove through by the people. Every time we stopped my escort would look out scanning the crowd as a hyena would looking for a lion about to take its food. At one stoplight someone looked back.He was a small man with dark skin and black eyes, but these details could describe anyone on these sweaty st reets. He carried himself through the crowd with more confidence, the confidence of a man that got what he wanted, by any means. He looked upon our party with powerful malice. There was an aura of menace to him that bespoke his intention well before his actions.I met eyes with the malicious man. The air became heavy with threat. Time itself seemed to stop to watch the events unfolding. A drop of sweat was forming on my forehead, leaking gently from my pores to be whisked away by evaporation, leaving me ever so slightly cooler. A billion molecules being carried by the air swirled and eddied into my nostrils. The smell of smoke from a trash fire followed by the soap that my driver had used to wash his hands at lunch and a million other slight scents were grabbed with both hands and rammed into my brain. Through the smears of insect entrails and dust on the windshield I saw the man's hand move."Gun!" I heard. Suddenly the world exploded. THWACK! The windshield cracked into a crystallin e fractal. THWACK! The windshield disappeared. THWAK! THWACK! THWAK! THWACK! There was a jet of dust from a hole that seemed to just appear in the seat in front of me. There was something sticky on my hands, but I couldn't see it. I couldn't take my eyes away from the man who was shooting at me.My ears hurt but I could not hear any sound. There was no sound getting from my eardrum to my brain, but my ears were still dutifully telling me that the noise was too loud. People around me seemed to be screaming and yelling, but I would not hear them.All I could see was the broken windshield, my driver sitting listlessly in place and the man with the rifle spitting short bright lines at my jeep. Manuel reached over from the passenger seat and began a kind of macabre wrestling with the driver. Manuel was reaching over to take the driver by the arm, but the arm didn't seem to be there; it seemed to have gone to the same place as my hearing although without the returning ticket. He pushed the unmoving driver aside and grabbed the wheel. He used his left foot to reach the gas and began to accelerate through the street, now empty except for the trail of smoke left behind by our vehicle.After traveling for several blocks, swerving around the road as Manuel drove from the passenger seat, we came upon several jeeps with markings similar to ours. Immediately men poured out surrounding our vehicle and getting the passengers out. I was rushed into a nearby building by a small man in a uniform who repeated "OK, OK?" over and over, until I finally understood that he was asking me a question and I replied "OK", much to his relief.I finished my work in Colombia without further excitement. In the hail of bullets the driver of the jeep had lost his arm, but thankfully not his life. The shooter turned out to have been a FARC rebel that had chosen that time to commit a terrorist act. I pale to think of how that information was extracted.Since this adventure, I have been back to the hosp ital for work twice, both times without incident. The work I've done there has saved lives, although indirectly, and I like to believe that saving lives is worth some personal danger. But I still hope it never happens again.

HIP HOP PROMOTES VIOLENCE essays

HIP HOP PROMOTES VIOLENCE essays Hip Hop was once the African-American experiences and the voices of their people being told throughout music in the early 1990s. African-American youth experiences came about from the rise in police brutality, the crack cocaine epidemic, and its prison industrial complex counterparts. Its growing commercial appeal such as the music videos and soundtracks provided a dangerous outlet for the generation's frustration. "Gangsta rap" claims to speak of the new wealth of poor inner city youngsters. On the other hand with all the disadvantages of inner city life, hip hop culture and its economic components have failed in using its wealth to solve the public policy unfairness that frame urban societies. Despite the millions of dollars flowing to and through the rap music industry and the so called hip hop or urban clothing industry, very little if any of it has gone to support strategies geared at empowering African-Americans within American capitalism. An example of this is in Talib Kweli's 2000 song African Dream lyrics that say, "These cats drink champagne to toast death and pain like slaves on a ship talkin' 'bout who got the flyest chains". Kweli speaks directly about the phony value of fleeting wealth and the failure of hip hop wealth to actually better the quality of African American life. Many rap artists proudly admit that they are only concerned with discussing sex and money in their music. They cut off the idea that they should be troubled with "serious" topics or that hip hop artists have to promote race consciousness. They arrogantly discard the "role-model" label and do not want to take any responsibilities. Hip hop's recent obsession with money, fascination with crime, and complete violation of women signal the absorption of the generation into a mainstream psychology and social ethic. Many including African Americans see the ruthless pursuit of individual wealth as an American dream, and for the hip hop genera...