An Exploratory study of corrupt practices within the procurement process of the Indian Construction Industry The WritePass Journal

An Exploratory study of corrupt practices within the procurement process of the Indian Construction Industry Introduction An Exploratory study of corrupt practices within the procurement process of the Indian Construction Industry IntroductionDeveloping Economies:Developing economy in Indian construction:India’s construction industries:Construction Culture:Construction culture in U.K and India:Construction Procurement:Corruption in Indian construction:Corruption in U.K construction:Action Taken On corruptionType of UK corruption in the provision and management of financing for the project:Summary Relation between client and contractors:Comparison between two countries in Procurement process:Procurement problem in Sub contractors and Labours:Procurement problems in Material Issues to client:Material Procurement process:Sub contractor and labour:ConclusionReferenceBibliographyRelated Introduction Risk management is recognized as an integral part of good management practices. To be most effective and sensitive risk management should become part of an organizations culture. It should be integrated into the organizations philosophy, practices and business plans rather than be viewed or practiced as separate functions. As it is achieved, in organization risk management becomes the business for everyone .This research gives an idea of the procurement risk within Indian construction industry; this will also demonstrate the culture of construction industry, economic development of country due to construction, by this it also shows bad practice in construction and Action taken on it, Procurement in construction industry (CIDB document, 2004) Procurement  is the acquisition of appropriate goods and services at the best possible  total cost of ownership  to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, investment and location. in the construction projects are carried out with internal resources, i.e where no work is outsourced, only the organisation requiring the project, for practical purposes, it is at risk. However, where construction projects are implemented by contractor, a number of parties can be at risk. (Best practice guide, 2004). The developing countries should develop and apply appropriate procurement systems which suit their culture and business management traditions. Research should be undertaken on a set of criteria for contractor selection including price, which is suitable for the context of each developing country. Given the nature of the culture of most developing countries, where trust and goodwill are valued, partnering appears to have scope in these countries, as business relationships in the construction industries are, as yet, less adversarial than in the industrialised countries. Developing Economies: Corporate development is a key issue in developing countries, and the availability of suitable work opportunities is important. Local construction firms should be enabled to participate in as wide a range of the projects undertaken in their home markets as possible. Innovative schemes will be necessary, and involving the potential beneficiaries in the design of the programmes would help for country economy. Developing countries adopt different approaches hereare few of them have agencies dedicated to this task such as the National Construction Council of Tanzania (formed in 1982); Building and Construction Authority, Singapore (set up in 1984); Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia (established in 1994) and Construction Industry Development Board, South Africa (set up in 2002). Some of these organisations have made progress but t, as yet, small number shows that developing countries are not convinced that they are beneficial. (Gorge Ofori no date) Developing economy in Indian construction: India is currently the second fastest-growing economy in the World. The Indian construction industry has been playing a vital role in overall economic development of the country, growing at over 20% Compound Annual Growth Rate over the past 5 years and contributing 8% to GDP (By  NewsDesk 2010). some new technologies entering the market everyday in Indian constructions and in keeping with international trends, construction design has become a basic part and parcel of the design concept and identity of a building, whether commercial, residential or industrial constructions. It is critical to keep with the latest trends and technologies for the basic safety and security of a building. (By  NewsDesk 2010) India is one of the most developing construction economies and  is the  eleventh largest  economy in the world by nominal and the  fourth largest  by  purchasing power parity  (PPP) (Ist Agencies, 2010).  Following strong economic reforms from the socialist inspired  economy  of a post-independence Indian nation, the country began to develop a fast-paced  economic growth, as  free market  principles were initiated in 1990 for international competition and foreign investment. Hhigher productivity leads to improved economic outcomes (for example, higher income, more choices to the consumers, better quality products, etc.), Lall (2001) says that the appropriate strategy for any country depends not only on its objective economic situation but also on its government policies and national views regarding the appropriate role of the state. (Economic development in India) India’s construction industries: India is the fourth largest economy, with a GDP of US$1,242.8 billion in 2008 between 2000 and 2008 in construction, Indias GDP growth rate doubled from 5.7% in 2000 to 9.3% in 2007. The construction industrial sector has predominately fuelled this growth. During 2000-07, contributions by the industrial sector to Indias total value-added increased from 26.2% in 2000 to 29.4% in 2007. According to IHS Global Insight, Indias GDP is expected to continue along a robust growth path, albeit slower than growth witnessed in recent years. Between 2008 and 2012, Indias real GDP growth will range between 6.5% and 8.2%. During the same period, Indias nominal GDP growth will range from 9.3% in 2008 to 13.5% in 2012, with a negative growth rate of 1.7% in 2009.(his Global,2009) Construction Culture: The word ‘culture’ has many meanings, which have changed over the past two generations (Barthorpe,s, 1999). Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952), American anthropologists, presented 160 different definitions of culture. Bodley (1994) culled a simple version that stated that culture involves what people think, what they do, and what they produce. Culture has several properties: it is social heritage or tradition; it is shared, learned human behaviour; and it is symbolic and based on shared, assigned meanings of the members of a group. (Putti and Chia 1990) considered culture as a set of values, beliefs, norms, attitudes and habits of people, pointing out that a society’s beliefs and values have an impact on the way business is conducted in that society. Hildebrandt et al. (1991) suggested that the implementation of an organization’s culture is influenced by: nature of environment, type of company, and special character of company and employees. Construction culture in U.K and India: It can be said that, Indian construction culture is different from the British in by certain ways like attitudes towards quality, price, consistency, branding, and other costs of stress and time. This will ultimately have an effect on consumption behaviour and, therefore, it is vital to understand ‘‘value orientations’’ which will help us to better understand the psyche of people. Issues relating to community support in its various guises (Bonacich, 1973, 1987; Aldrich et al., 1989; Waldinger, 1989) as well as issues relating to the historical perspective of Asian-owned firms operating a ‘‘harmonious, family-orientated practice’’ (Werbner, 1984) will all affect consumption behaviour too. From a managerial viewpoint, the priority of collaborators in cultures where ‘‘time is money’’ will be to optimise time, which is seen as a scarce economic resource in western cultures, a lot of time is actually spent waiting, whereas for the Indian cultures, there is often neither expectation nor despair; people do not get impatient because they are not nervously dependent on an uncertain future time. They do not ‘‘wait’’ because, unconsciously or not, they are not eliminating the present. Indians look at time as something to experience, logical to suppose that saving time would be less important to Indians than as compare to other countries. Construction Procurement: The project procurement and administrative arrangements currently in use in developing countries have been inherited from Western countries which have different history, culture, collective experience and breadth of construction expertise. These arrangements determine the documentation, procedures and practices in the industry, and specify the roles of the participants and the relationships amongst them. Traditional design and construction services can foster adversarial relationships between the clients, designers, and contractors, can restrict innovation, resulting high cost and time extended. Traditional systems may therefore not necessarily provide the best value to all project types, as deteriorating infrastructure and increasing population and have created tremendous pressures to move critical projects quickly through the planning stage and into design and construction, without a commensurate increase in available funding. External pressures are the basic requirement to include quality concepts in all phases of the highway program. Thus, there is a continuing need for the Department to review and evaluate procurement and contracting procedures that promote improved efficiency and quality of construction. Procurement procedures are used to evaluate and select designers, contractors, and various consultants. Evaluation and selection can be based solely on price, solely on technical qualifications, or on a combination of price, technical qualifications, time, and other factors. (Innovative procurement practices). Bad practice of construction (Corruption/ Transparency) Corruption on construction projects is a complicated problem. It may occur in the form of bribery, extortion, fraud or collusion. It can take place during any phase of a project, including project identification, planning, financing, design, tender, execution, operation and maintenance. In each project phase, corruption may involve any one or more of the government, project owner, funders, consultants, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, joint venture partners, and agents. Furthermore, corruption is concealed and those aware of it are either complicit in it or reluctant to report it. This makes it more difficult to detect (Giacc, 2008) Corruption in Indian construction: In India found that more than 50% of the people had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office. Transparency International estimates that in another industry it was found that their annually pay was US$5 billion in bribes.  For 2010, India was ranked 87th  of 178th  countries in Transparency Internationals  Corruption Perceptions Index, which was a huge setback from the preceding year (Jo Johnson, May, 2007) Type of corruptions within Indian construction: Political, Bureaucracy, Land and Property Tendering Process and awarding contracts Transport Income Tax Even police, judiciary and Religious Institution  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Preferential award of public resources For purpose of this study, this discussion will focus upon more pertinent issues in Indian construction industry are: Land and property: Officials often steal state property. In  Bihar, more than 80% of the subsidized food aid to poor is stolen. In cities and villages throughout India,  Mafia Raj  consisting of municipal and other government officials, elected politicians, judicial officers, real estate developers and law enforcement officials, acquire, develop and sell land in illegal ways. (Economic development, 2008) In India, since in most of the land settlement has not been undertaken since the departure of the British. Land records are in a pathetic state, and so are very easy to manipulate. In major cities like Delhi and Mumbai it is believed that typically 60% of the payment for high-end properties is made in cash under the table. (Corruption trips India’s rise, 2010) Tendering process and awarding contracts:   Government officials having discretionary powers in awarding contracts engage in preferential treatment for selected bidders, display negligence in quality control process. Many state-funded construction activities in India, such as road building, are dominated by construction mafias, which are groupings of corrupt public works officials, materials suppliers, politicians and construction contractors.  Shoddy construction and material substitution (e.g. mixing sand in  cement  while submitting expenses for cement) result in roads and highways being dangerous, and sometimes simply washed away when Indias heavy  monsoon  season arrives (The Wall Street Journal, 2008)    Corruption in U.K construction: Corruption within the UK construction industry is an issue that is the subject of perception and rumour rather than of facts. Apart from periodic instances of exposure and action, it is a subject discussed as conjecture rather than knowledge. This survey has attempted to look at the issue from the point of view of those who work within the industry in order to gain a better perspective on the issues they face. (Ciob Survey,2006) It would seem from the results that while corruption is present to some degree in many areas of the construction industry, there is some disagreement of where networking and the development of harmonious working relationships stop, and corruption starts. It is clear that those who responded are aware of the issues, but there are clear indications of degrees of tolerance to some practices that some would regard as corrupt. The results also showed that the vast majority of respondents feel strongly that more should be done to address this issue. CORRUPTION IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: THE PROBLEM. â€Å"The impact of corruption goes far beyond the specific misbehaviour of the actors involved. It is repercussion sweep across the entire population. A one million euro bribe can rapidly amount to one hundred million euro loss in a poor country – through de-railed development plans and incoherent investment decisions. Unfinished roads, crumbling schools and crippled health systems are but a few serious examples which illustrate the impact of this phenomenon† (James Lewis, 2008) FORMS OF CORRUPTION Corruption in construction industry can take place in many forms, the common ones being bribery, exhortation, fraud and collusion as well as other persons, who were complicit in the offence, may be guilty of bribery. A bribe may be a cash payment, or it may be a non-cash advantage (such as the promise of a future contract, or a holiday). It can be institutional or personal. Institutional bribery refers to a situation where a bribe may be paid or received with the full approval of the organisation which is the employer of the individual paying or receiving the bribe. This may occur, for example, where a contracting company authorises its commercial director to pay a bribe to win a tender This may occur, for example, where a government officer receives a bribe to award a contract, where the government department in question would not approve the bribe. A contractor may pay a bribe to the project owner’s representative to have defective or non-existent work approved. (James Lewis, 2008) If the parties are in dispute in relation to the construction of the project, one party may bribe a witness, expert, arbitrator or judge in order to give false evidence, or to give a favourable opinion or verdict. Fraud usually involves one person (or group of persons) deceiving another person in order to gain some financial or other advantage. In the context of a construction project, fraud offences may include: concealment of defects dishonestly levying liquidated damages dishonestly withholding payment dishonestly exaggerating the quantum of a claim fabricating or falsifying evidence to support claims (James Lewis, 2008) Parties may be liable for the offence of fraud, For example, a contractor may be liable for fraud if it submits a claim for additional payment which it suspects is inflated but fails to take reasonable steps to determine that the claim is accurate. A bribe paid to win a project will normally be concealed by some fraudulent act with the aim that the project appears from the outside to have been won on a genuine arms-length basis. (James Lewis, 2008) However, many acts of fraud may need an act of bribery in order to complete the fraud. For example, a contractor may submit a false claim to a project owner (which is fraud) and May then bribe the certifier to approve the claim (which is bribery). Extortion is a form of blackmail where one party makes threats against another party of adverse consequences unless demands, usually for payment, are met by the other party. Such blackmail may constitute, for example, refusal to provide customs clearance for equipment or materials, or refusal to make payments or issue certificates that are due. Sometimes such threats may involve threats of physical harm. Collusion occurs where two or more parties co-operate to defraud or deceive another party. This is a type of fraud and is often described as a â€Å"cartel†, â€Å"anti-trust† or â€Å"anti-competitive† offence. This form of collusion is often referred to as â€Å"bid rigging In some cases, the corrupt practice may be a voluntary act undertaken by the relevant party with the deliberate intention of gaining a competitive advantage or obtaining additional unjustified compensation. (James Lewis, 2008) However, in other cases, the practice may be undertaken so as to â€Å"level the playing field†. For example, a contractor may feel compelled to offer a bribe during tendering if it believes that its competitors will be offering a bribe. A contractor may feel that it is necessary to inflate a claim artificially if it believes that the project owner will automatically and unjustifiably reduce the contractor’s claim or raise artificial counter-claims against the contractor. (James Lewis, 2008) In some circumstances, a bribe may be extorted from the payer. For example, a contractor may be informed that if it does not pay a bribe, it will not receive a payment to which it is entitled. Corruption in the public sector usually involves bribery or fraud being perpetrated against a government body Contract prices fraudulently inflated. Where a contract is corruptly awarded, it is often the case that the contract price is significantly inflated, not just to cover the cost of the bribe, but also to maximise profit for the contractor. Where the contractor is assured of success in winning the contract, it will have considerable freedom to demand a high contract price. Contracts awarded and claims approved in the hope of future or indirect gain. In developed countries, the corrupt awarding of contracts and corrupt approval of fraudulent claims may take a more insidious form. Large bribes may not necessarily change hands directly. (James Lewis, 2008) In simple terms, corruption in the public sector is stealing from the taxpayer. Money is stolen which could be spent on hospitals, schools, roads, and other vitally important infrastructure. This loss will be felt most severely in poorer countries. It will nevertheless also be felt in developed countries where large sums may be lost through more subtle forms of corruption. It may result in an increase in the financing, capital, operating and maintenance costs of projects. This in turn may result in increased property or utility prices, or increased charges that are required for use of certain facilities such as toll roads or bridges. It may also result in dangerously defective works. It is unlikely that there will be significant corruption in the private sector without such corruption spreading to the public sector. The risks of corruption in public contracting can be more easily understood in relation to each stage of a contracting process what to buy/sell/do and description of goods and services. These are the technical requirements. Contract award ending with a decision to select the winning bidder; and Contract implementation and supervision, It is generally believed that the risk of corruption is especially high during the evaluation phase of a contracting process, Underperformance, contract renegotiation; change orders, over-billing, and non compliance are just some of the forms of abuse.    Action Taken On corruption From this research is a lack of clear definition of corruption and corrupt practices, the results is apparent that the respondents felt that corruption certainly did exist in the UK and India but to what extent was not clear still. The client should knock them down. The client is knocking down the hours as they are aware that exaggeration is common therefore the situation becomes self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating. A similar situation appears to be occurring with inflated invoicing or claims for extra costs. On the flip side of this, clients may be finding spurious reasons to withhold payment from the contractor. Type of UK corruption in the provision and management of financing for the project: Bribes paid or fraud perpetrated by the funder’s representative for the benefit of the funder; Bribes paid or fraud perpetrated by the funder’s representative for his own personal benefit; Bribes paid or fraud perpetrated by the project owner’s representative for the benefit of the project owner; Bribes paid or fraud perpetrated by the project owner’s representative for his own personal benefit; Bribes extorted or fraud perpetrated by a government official for the benefit of the official.( TI-ACF.REPORT, 2006) Anti-corruption actions should deal with all types of construction corruption referred to in paragraph above, both by implementing appropriate anti-corruption systems within the funders organisation, and by that suitable anti-corruption controls are imposed at project level. Anti-corruption actions may be modified according to the extent of the commercial risk and the type of financing being provided by the funder. The provision of aid, or a material amount of equity or lending will inevitably give a funder greater control over the implementation of project anti-corruption mechanisms than, for example, the provision of insurance. low risk contracts or projects would require a lower level of preventive action than large or high risk contracts or projects. However, it should be remembered that while commercial risk may be reduced according to the size of the contract or project, the criminal risk will remain the same. PROCRUTMENT PROCESS India is rapidly ramping up its capital spending, the efficiency of which will be determined by the Government able to manage infrastructure spending effectively. Unfortunately civil works, worldwide have the tendency to create strong differences in opinion between even the best intentioned parties, which can quickly degenerate into acrimonious disputes and become difficult to resolve. The ability, therefore, to resolve contract disputes quickly and effectively is the difference between a project that is completed on time and a failed capital investment that is completed only after many years of delay. The DRB process is recognized globally as a best practice for dispute resolution as a cost-effective mechanism to help the parties head off problems before they escalate into major disputes resulting in arbitration or litigation22. Since 1994 DRBs have been required on all World Bank23-funded civil contracts above US$50 million and in 2004 the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) 24 jointly agreed to the publishing of harmonized procurement documents that included the requirement for DRBs. DRB recommendations often have little effect, since the vast majority is rejected. 79% of DRB recommendations are rejected – 44% are rejected by the Employer and 35% by the Contractor. (IRCI, 2008) The rejection of DRB recommendations has serious negative consequences for the efficiency of public spending. There is a clear difference in the time it takes to complete a project in cases where DRB recommendations are rejected, as compared to those where recommendations are accepted. Contract dispute resolution processes that happen after the rejection of a DRB recommendation are very lengthy and costly. Finally a high-level meeting with GOI is proposed to summarize the findings of the workshops and to provide recommendations for improving the effectiveness of DRBs in India. GDLN/NICNET could then be utilized to provide training for potential employers, contractors and DRB members to share the principles of DRBs; the contractual and legal implications; and how the members of DRBs are appointed with a concentration on the â€Å"how† of making DRBs work with actual examples of problems and obstacles that have to be overcome. (IRCI, 2008) The objective of these case studies is to identify other countries that have experienced rapid road development and to examine how they strengthened the capacity of their road construction industry to meet the demand of their roads program. The purpose of these case studies is to identify what measures were taken by other governments and industry, to improve the construction industry capacity. Since the 1990s China has enjoyed a rapid increase in the rate of road construction and has become one of the fastest countries to build its road network27. At the core has been the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS), designed to connect all the major cities and provincial capitals with populations greater than 500,000 through the construction of twelve major highways. This has now been expanded by the â€Å"7- 9-18 Highway Network† which is intended to link all cities with populations above 200,000 to those connected by the NTHS. According to the UN Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific28, road construction investment in China has been steadily increasing from US$25 billion in 2001 to US$68 billion in 2005 (.(IRCI, 2008) Malaysia decided in 1977 to build a toll expressway from north to south of the peninsular to link all the main towns. To facilitate this construction the Malaysia Highway Authority was established in October 198029 with the objectives to (a) provide a fast, safe and efficient means of road transport for the entire country; (b) link all existing major townships and potential areas of development; (c) enable an effective interurban public road transportation to be provided throughout the country and (d) train personnel and further develop expertise on all facets of road construction, operation and maintenance. Most of the highways are toll operated. The highway program in Korea is governed by the National Transport Network Plan (NTNP), which has guided road development over the last 40 years from 313 km of major highways in 1960 to 2,778 km in 2003 (an almost 800% expansion) and from 27,169 km of general roads in 1960 to 94,473 km in 2003 (250% increase)31. According to the NTNP betwee n 2000 and 2019, 3,753 km of additional highways are to be built, increasing the length of highways by three times the length that existed in 1997, together with increasing fourlane highways from the 24% in 1997 to 50% in 201032. Korea has also developed a way for private investors to profit from 2,844 km of its toll roads by the development of the Korean Road Infrastructure Fund, which is traded on the Korean Stock Exchange (IRCI, 2008) China has seen remarkably fast changes in its transition from a command economy to a competitive market economy and in the strengthening of its construction industry. Only in 1983 did China classify the construction companies as a service industry. China has reformed its procurement process and now more than 90% of urban and industrial projects are awarded based on competitive or selective bidding (IRCI, 2008) Malaysia provides an example of a country developing its road program through the construction of toll roads. It learned lessons, which included the reality of restrictive public funds limiting its ability to expand the road network and leading to cancellation of projects. This prompted the opening up to the private industry with BOT arrangements (IRCI, 2008) Korea provides a good example of rapid expansion using the private industry and public/private partnerships (PPP). Most of the road network consists of PFI projects, which has demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of BOT-type development. To understand the structure of the road construction industry it is useful to review the dramatic institutional changes that have occurred in China over the last 30 years. (IRCI, 2008) Prior to 1976 during the leadership of Mao Zedong business enterprises and communes, including construction organizations, were all directly controlled by central or provincial government. In many rural areas the agricultural communes actually replaced local government and provided the basic services, such as health care, education, welfare for the elderly and granted permission to couples to have their one child. This was the time of the â€Å"iron rice bowl†, when enterprise workers were guaranteed life-long employment and security despite enterprise redu ndant overstaffing and lack of finances to provide adequate services (IRCI, 2008). As a simple activity to assemble material for Construction was viewed; plant and other items made by the other sectors of the economy to create building or civil engineering works and were considered to have no significant added value to the total social product. Most of the central ministries formed their own construction companies to implement their own specific capital projects. Summary This report gives information about process and types of construction in Indian and in UK, and also construction plays main role for economic development in both countries, and it has some negative parts such as Corruption/ Transparency in both countries, and also this report is prepared by Transparency International (UK) and the Indian construction on commission for the UK and Indian Government Department for International Development (DFID). It has been endorsed by the UK Anti- Corruption Forum which is an alliance between UK business associations, professional institutions and organisations with interests in the domestic and international infrastructure, construction and engineering sectors. Research Methodology Primary data collection will be through semi structured telephone interviews of selected sample Exploratory research of Qualitative Data Procurement play very important role in Construction Industry whether it is small scale or big scale construction industry. In this chapter will discuss the rationale behind the choice of the data collection that was used in this research. As previously stated the main aim of the dissertation is to discover corrupt practices within the procurement process in the Indian Construction Industry. The research plans to comparison between the India and U.K construction industry and investigate any associated corruption within them. As we have found less information on this topic, we need to talk with some of the experience people of this field. In this telephones interview we have to discover as much as possible information about the topic. The sequence of the questioning is in order to built up the rapport with in the respondent and the explore As interviews are taken of the Engineers, Client and Contractors, and in that the result we got is India and UK construction process is very much similar and the business culture of different from the Indian in some ways such as high technology used in construction in UK, Employees and main is Currency due to that all the process changes, as the Currency of UK pound is high as compare to the INDIAN Rupees, It make lot of difference by standard of living, thinking and mostly on construction project by using Advance Machineries on site. As we all know the India is one of the developing countries and UK is developed, it make lot of change in everything, and the technique of construction used in the Indian construction is the followed from UK, as an example ISO code is used for construction all the safety and construction work is the same. Just different is in labours in India most of the construction project is completed by using Labours and less machinery, and in UK all the construction work is done by machineries, for an example in India till today in small project concrete is mixed by labour on site with site mixture. These days in India in big scale construction industry we found all the heavy machineries and less labour are used; all the process is the same like UK. The question which was asked to all of them was related to construction industry and all were in general. First question I asked them all was How do you think Indian and UK construction process compare? Most of them said they don’t know much about UK construction process but they just know few main key points as are: Both the countries follows the same construction process We follow the British rules of construction like ISO code and many more Mainly in the UK construction work done by high technique and accurate machineries and in the India small or big scale industry mainly work done by labours. As the labours are cheap and easy to get that’s why most of the Indian construction labour oriented work is done. Relation between client and contractors: As the both countries follows the same construction method. In both countries the relationship between the client and contractor is the same while the construction is in process, they have to maintain their relationship in good, as the interviewers said in some of the firm relation between the client don’t take place client hire the third party (consultancy) to look after the construction work as the client don’t have construction profession/ knowledge, consultancy look for the clients expectations and requirements and complete the requirement from the contractor. As the client hire the consultancy the time take for any decision is much longer than direct conversation, client goes with safe and quality work. Comparison between two countries in Procurement process: As the interviewer said they don’t have idea about UK construction process but they said they can tell about the Indian construction procurement process. As the both countries have lot of different in using materials for construction as the climate is not the same. In the Indian construction contractor mostly stock the material in bulk quantity, as they have space to store the material In the UK construction the material can easily available when they required. In the India material is stock due to unavailability of material in certain season. For example contractor stock river sand (fine aggregate) before rainy season starts, the chances of availability river sand is less and the material cost is very high in rainy season so they stock the some material before price goes high. Material like River sand, Bricks cement and course aggregate. As from new and some online documentary can be say that both countries have similar procurement process not all the some ways. In the Indian construction more space is available for storage of material on site as in UK doesn’t have space for storage as compare to Indian construction site. What are the Procurement problems caused by the client are you aware of? As this question are only about the Indian construction, the interviewers some main points: Client has issues with good quality materials should be used on the construction site. Client also has problems in material used as per design the material is used more or less. Re estimating the project due to fluctuation of the materials rate in market. Client mainly have problem with contractor as the client look for his profit and use material which is not tested or not quality material Contractor makes profit and using fewer materials. Procurement problem in Sub contractors and Labours: Sub contractor and labours are the part of procurement process. Problem for clients are: Labours which are used for work on site are not skilled Client won’t interfere in the work but he found any mistake done by the worker he interfere that time, In big scale construction industry client don’t interfere with sub contractor, as they have appointed the consultant party for the work, Procurement problems in Material Issues to client: Client have issues in material by not using proper/ quality material while construction, Client have problem with not proper planning of the material availability Less use of the material like cement in concrete while construction Material which has taken on site should be checked and tested properly and should be recorded on the record book. Contractor can accept the low quality material for their own profit In your opinion does corruption occurs in the construction industry? Most of the interviewer said Yes corruption does take place in construction industry, but not as previous days, the percentage of corruption in the Indian construction industry is very less or negligible, that also in small scale construction industries. In big scale industry they keep all the records of materials, like by Quality or Quantity all materials are mention and recorded on the material recorded book. These days on every construction industry you will get record book of material which are used and how much is left, so there’s no chance to get corruption. Corruption in Tendering Process Some of the interviewer said NO corruption don’t appear in tendering process, these days before submitting the tender all the contractor has to submitte their previous record and all the work record, the client check all the details of the contractor and then he goes for the better work experience or the good work records. Few interviewers said Yes corruption does happen in tendering process, as the tendering is the main step of the construction, corruption in tendering means are managing tender between the client and contractor, these can be seen in private construction sector, but these days mostly tendering are submitted online which can bidding so that everyone can see the tendering process and who got the tender. Corruption happen in tendering is by contractor changing the material rates as the rates are fluctuated rise by 6% to 7%, so contractor can demand for revaluation for rates as per market in this way corruption happens in tendering process. Material Procurement process: In construction industry no chance of corruption as all the material have the records and check list with the certificates so no chance of corruption, as all the time client engineer is with contractor’s engineer to check all the material and its quantity and quality. Corruption occurs when accepting bad quality material on site. Sub contractor and labour: As the sub contractor and labour don’t have many issues in the process, as the working rates are fixed for them, problem is sub contractor use the unskilled labour and takes payment of skilled labour from the contractor. As the sub contractor has given the work on measurement. As the interviewer saying they don’t find much problem of corruption in subcontractor and labours. Conclusion Construction process of UK and the India is same as both countries follow the same construction process. Just have difference in procurement process in both the countries. Corruption in the Indian construction industry is reduced as using new technology in construction, and some where the corruption happen but that also negligible. India’s big scale industry and UK construction is the same. In the India, labours are easily available and cheap to hire them for work as compare to UK. Client and contractor relationship don’t have much difference, certain things are better in UK construction like speed work, quality work, new technologies are used. Indian construction industry is poised to grow exponentially because of massive infrastructure building programs. This has created excellent opportunities for the construction industry in terms of business opportunity. The Indian economic environment and system and procedures would further boost the construction industry which would provide the basic physical infrastructure for the nation as well as other industries. (CIDC, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) Recommendation of Further Research â€Å"The construction industry is dynamic in nature. The concept of project success has remained ambiguously defined in the construction industry. Project success is almost the ultimate goal for every project†. (Albert P.C. Chan, Ada P.L. Chan, (2004)). The research of UK and Indian construction industry information was not much information to collect; further research should be more about Technology, use of machineries and their procurement process, more information of UK construction and its bad practise within it. Detail    Reference Keith Parry. (12 January 2010).  Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.  Available: parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-05268.pdf. Accessed 19 Nov 2010. Anil K. Lal and Ronald W. Clement. (Dec 2005). Asia-Pacific Development Journal. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA:. 12 (2), p81-99 Barthorpe, S., Duncan, R. and Miller, C. (1999) A literature review on studies in culture: a pluralistic concept. In Ogunlana, S.O. (ed.), Pro. table Partnering in Construction Procurement, E.F.N. Spon, London, pp. 533–42. Bodley, J.H. (1994) Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System, May. eld. By  NewsDesk 2010 http://logisticsweek.com/news/2010/09/indian-construction-industry-plays-vital-role-in-countrys-overall-economic-development/ George Ofori.  Construction in Developing Countries: A Research Agenda.Available: http://web.usm.my/jcdc/input/JCDC%20VOL%2011(1)/1_George%20Ofori%20(p.1-16).pdf.   Accessed 30 Nov 2010. Hildebrandt, S., Kristensen, K., Kanji, G. and Dahlgaard, J.J. (1991) Quality culture and TQM. Total Quality Management, December, 1–15. Kroeber, A.L. and Kluckhohn, C. (1952) Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and De. nitions, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Lall, Sanjaya, 2001. Competitiveness, Technology, and Skills (Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar) Putti, J.M. and Chia, A. (1990) Culture and Management: ACasebook, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. Trauner Consulting Services. (MAY 9, 2007).   INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT PRACTICES.   Available: http://khup.com/download/6_keyword-procurement-risk-in-construction/construction-procurement-policy.pdf   . Accessed 12 Nov 2010. ihs global insight . (2009).  Indian construction.  Available: ihsglobalinsight.com/gcpath/India_Construction_1-7.pdf. Accessed 1 Dec 2010 Ist Agencies. (2010).  Indian economy grows by 8.8% in Q1.  Available: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/Indian-economy-grows-by-88-in-Q1/articleshow/6466705.cms. Accessed 21 0ct 2010. K.R. Gupta and J.R. Gupta,  Indian Economy, Vol #2, Atlantic Publishers Distributors, 2008 The Wall Street Journal, 2008 Available:   http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/romanticrealist/archive/2008/09/01/killer-roads-in-india-and-rethinking-the-death-penalty.aspx. Accessed on 09 Dec 2010 Corruption trips India’s rise, 2010 Available: http://empoweredindiaspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/11/corruption-trips-indias-rise.html Accessed on 09 Dec 2010 GIACC. (2008).  TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL (UK).  Available: giaccentre.org/project_anti_corruption_systems.php. Accessed on 28 Nov 2010. CIOB . (2006).  Corruption in UK construction Industry.  Available: ciob.org.uk/sites/ciob.org.uk/files/WEB-INF/files/documents/CIOBCorruption.pdf. Accessed on 17 Nov 2010 Best Practice Guideline A5: Managing construction procurement risks   March, 2004: Edition 1of CIDB document 1005 Cidb document 1005, (2004). Managing construction procurement risk. Available: cidb.org.za/Toolkit06/toolkitpages/Module5/20SupplementaryInformation/5S06%20PGA5%20risk%20edition%201.0.pdf. Accessed on 29 Nov 2010. Jo Johnson (May 2, 2007). The criminalization of Indian democracy. Financial Times. Available: docstoc.com/docs/6158688/Corruption_in_India. Accessed on 02 Dec 2010. TI-ACF.Report, 2006. RISK ASSESSMENT AND PROPOSED ACTIONS FOR FUNDERS available on anticorruptionforum.org.uk/acf/forum_publications/pccp/pccp.pdf   accesses on 27th Dec 2010 IRCI (INDIAN ROAD CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY) CAPACITY ISSUES, CONSTRAINTS RECOMMENDATIONS November, 2008 http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/1858446-1195115524464/22256832/MainReportNov08_final-withdisclaimerJune09.pdf Accesses on 20th Jan 2011 James lewis 2008. CONSTRUCTION, DESTRUCTION RECONSTRUCTION: Corruption and earthquake destruction Available on http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-ql5KsyXbC0J:datum.gn.apc.org Accesses on 15 Feb. 2011. Albert P.C. Chan, Ada P.L. Chan, (2004) Key performance indicators for measuring construction success, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 11 Iss: 2, pp.203 221 Bibliography International Federation of Surveyors, March 2007. Paul van der Molen and Arbind Man Tuladhar. â€Å"Corruption and Land Administration† page 1-17. Asia: Prof. Anil Laul Arch. Kirtee Shah Dr. Ahmad Sanusi Hassan. Africa: Prof. Ambrose Adebayo Dr. Daniel Irurah Prof. PD Rwelamila Dr. John Ebohon. Latin America: Arch. Liliana Miranda Arc. (2001).Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries.Available: buildnet.co.za/akani/2002/nov/agenda21.pdf. Last accessed 29 Nov 2010. ICAC, 2002, Findings of corrupt conduct, Independent Commission Against Corruption 2002 Kenny, Charles. (2007).  Construction, corruption, and developing countries.Available: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2007/06/26/000016406_20070626142601/Rendered/PDF/wps4271.pdf . Accessed 12 Nov 2010. Dieter Zinnbauer, Rebecca Dobson and Krina Despota, 2009. Global Corruption Report 2009, page 258-261, 382-387. Corruption and earthquake destruction: Observations on events in Turkey, Italy and China,2008 available on   radixonline.org/latest.htm Accesses on 14 march 2011

Short answers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short answers - Assignment Example g reasoned arguments to politically justify economic policy at the national level to explain and influence company strategy at the level of the firm, or to provide intelligent advice for household economic decisions at the level of household. Opportunity cost is about the value of forgone production and these increases as the quantity of a good produced increase. The rationale here is that the law of increasing opportunity cost is fundamental to the production and supply of goods. In general, as the economy increases the quantity supplied of a good the opportunity cost increases. And if cost is higher, then sellers need a higher price, resulting in the law of supply. Q4a.When the population becomes more educated with time as the number of high school drop outs falls and the number of college graduates rises, generally it will affect positively the country’s production. This no doubt brings about the development of a key and the principal factor of production which is the human resource. Q4b. When the unemployment rate declines by 8 to 6 percent of the labour force this means that the income and demand levels of the labour force will increase by 2% assuming that other things remain constant. This effectively means that production will increase to cater for this new demand. Q4c. Businesses and government are unable to solve a major computer problem, thus reducing economic efficiency and national output. What this means is that technical efficiencies will go down the drain adversely affecting production levels. In this scenario we expect mega decrease in production hence economic decline. Q4d. Advances in telecommunications and new technology significantly contribute to economic growth over time. This will boost technical, communication and service efficiencies and thus indeed motivate companies to increase their production to impressive levels. In the final analysis, it will spur economic growth leading to a major boom. Q4e. The Federal government decides to

Artificial Intelligence Techniques Used In Autonomous Cars Research Paper

Artificial Intelligence Techniques Used In Autonomous Cars - Research Paper Example The robots ultimately take over their creators (Rouse). Physically, a robot contains the same components as humans have. In this scenario, a robot has some kind of motor, a portable physical structure, a power supply, a sensor system and a processing system "brain" that is responsible for controlling all of these components. Fundamentally, robots are human created forms of animal life but actually, they are machines which are intended to replicate human and animal behavior (Harris; Berlin). Artificial Neural Networks According to (Stergiou and Siganos), an artificial neural network is a data processing model that is inspired by the method of biological nervous systems information processing. Neural Network is also a renowned and heavily researched area of the AI. Stergiou & Siganos (2010) described that in the neural network field the working of the human neuron is copied into the computer-based systems. In addition, the neural network is an AI-based computer program which imitates t he human nervous systems’ working. It is based on the neural net which has weights on each node that can be adjusted to make suitable decisions. Such systems are typically seen in automatic driving systems that are under-research and at the early stages of development (Stergiou and Siganos; Laudon and Laudon). Autonomous Cars An autonomous car, is also known using a number of other names such as self-driving cars, driverless cars or robot cars. Basically, these cars are designed using artificial intelligence techniques with the purpose of supporting the human transportation facilities which are provided by a traditional car. In view of the fact that it is an autonomous vehicle, hence it can sense its atmosphere and navigate without requiring human interaction. Though, until now these robotic cars are mostly used as demo systems and prototypes, however, it is expected that in the future they will become more common.

Micromax Info Essay Example for Free

Micromax Info Essay Regd. Office: 21/14, Naraina Industrial Area, New Delhi-110028. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF MICROMAX INFORMATICS LTD. MICROMAX INFORMATICS LIMITED is committed to conducting its business in accordance with the applicable laws, rules and regulations and with highest standards of business ethics. This code is intended to provide guidance and help in recognizing and dealing with ethical issues, provide mechanisms to report unethical conduct, and to help foster a culture of honesty and accountability. Each Director, senior manager, officer and employee is expected to comply with the letter and spirit of this code. The Directors, senior management, officers and employees of the Company must not only comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations but should also promote honest and ethical conduct of the business. They must abide by the policies and procedures that govern the conduct of the Companys business. Their responsibilities include helping to create and maintain a culture of high ethical standards and commitment to compliance, and to maintain a work environment that encourages the stakeholders to raise concerns to the attention of the management. A present, overall, contents of this Code are in practice, being already followed by the Directors and the Senior Management, however, in compliance with the new Clause 49 of the listing agreement, the Code as set out below, is to take effect from the date, when approved by the Board in its meeting 1. APPLICABILITY: The Code is applicable to all the members of the Board of Directors, Senior Management, Officers and employees of the Company. Senior Management shall include all executives holding the positions of Director (Non-Board Member/s), Sr. Manager, Managers, Asst. Managers and all head of the departments excluding Board of Directors. Such personnel shall hereinafter be treated as members of its core management team. 2. DILIGENCE: The Directors, senior management, officers and employees are to exercise due diligence in attending to their respective duties and obligations in the best interest of the Company. 3. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: The Directors, senior management, officers and employees should be scrupulous  in avoiding conflicts of interest with the Company. In case there is likely to be a conflict of interest, he/she should make full disclosure of all facts and circumstances thereof to the Board of directors or any Committee / officer nominated for this purpose by the Board and a prior written approval should be obtained. A conflict situation can arise: a. When an employee, officer, senior manager or Director takes action or has interests that may make it difficult to perform his or her work objectively and effectively, b. The receipt of improper personal benefits by a member of his or her family as a result of ones position in the Company, c. Any outside business activity that detracts an individuals ability to devote appropriate time and attention to his or her responsibilities with the Company, d. The receipt of non-nominal gifts or excessive entertainment from any person/company with which the Company has current or prospective business dealings, e. Any significant ownership interest in any supplier, customer, development partner or competitor of the Company, f. Any consulting or employment relationship with any supplier, customer, business associate or competitor of the Company. 4. TRANSPARENCY: The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure that their action/s in the conduct of business are transparent, except where the confidentiality of the business requires otherwise. Such transparency shall be brought through appropriate policies, procedures, and maintaining supporting and proper records. 5. FAIR DEALING: Each director, member of core management team, officer, and employee should deal fairly with customers, suppliers, competitors, and employees of group companies. They should not take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of confidential, proprietary or trade secret information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any other unfair dealing-practices. 6. HONEST AND ETHICAL CONDUCT: The Directors, senior management, officers and employees shall act in accordance with the highest standards of personal and professional integrity, honesty and ethical conduct not only on Companys premises and  offsite but also at company sponsored business, social events as well as any places. They shall act and conduct free from fraud and deception. Their conduct shall conform to the best-accepted professional standards of conduct. 7. CORPORATE OPPORTUNITIES: Directors, senior management, officers and employees owe a duty to the Company to advance its legitimate interests when the opportunity to do so arises. Directors, senior management, officers, and employees are expressly prohibited from: a. Taking for themselves personally, opportunities that are discovered through the use of Companys property, information, or position, b. Competing directly with the business of the Company or with any business that the Company is considering. Using Companys property, information, or position for personal gain. If the Company has finally decided not to pursue an opportunity that relates to the Companys business activity, he/she may pursue such activity only after disclosing the same to the Board of directors or the nominated person/committee. 8. BUSINESS INTEGRITY: The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure that the Company carries out its business as per accepted practices of business integrity, ethical standards, fair play and conduct, honestly, legitimately and as a fair competitor. 9. WORK PLACE: The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure that there is gender friendly work place, equal opportunities are given to men and women, and there exists good employment practices. 1 0. QUALITY OF PRODUCTS/SERVICES: The Directors and the Senior Management are to endeavor that the products / services of the Company meet the accepted standards of quality including that of ISO 9001 and any other standard/s, and also the specifications of the legal authorities/laws so that customer satisfaction is ensured. Moreover costs are kept reasonable. 11. PROTECTION AND PROPER USE OF COMPANYS ASSETS: The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure to protect Companys assets and property and the same should be used only for legitimate business  purposes. 12. CONFIDENTIALITY: The Directors, Senior Management, Officers and Employees shall maintain the confidentiality of confidential information of the Company or that of any customer, supplier or business associate of the Company to which Company has a duty to maintain confidentiality, except when disclosure is authorized or legally mandated. The Confidential information includes all non-public information (including private, proprietary, and other) that might be of use to competitors or harmful to the Company or its associates. The use of confidential information for his/her own advantage or profit is also prohibited. 13. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS: T he Directors, senior management, officers and employees shall comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Transactions, directly or indirectly, involving securities of the Company should not be undertaken without pre-clearance from the Companys compliance officer/Company Secretary. Any Director, member of core management team, officer or employee who is unfamiliar or uncertain about the legal rules involving Company business conducted by him/her should consult the legal department of the Company before taking any action that may jeopardize the Company or that individual. 14. RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS: The Directors and the Senior Management are to endeavor that their dealings with the customers are given due importance, value is created and relationship of trust is built. In dealing with suppliers it should be the endeavor that supplies are based on need, quality, service, price, and appropriate terms and conditions. 15. SHAREHOLDERS: The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure that the rights of shareholders are met as per law and good corporate practices, and all efforts are made to provide best services to them. 16. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: The Directors and the Senior Management are to endeavor that the Company be a trusted corporate citizen and, as an integral part of the Society, fulfills its responsibilities and duties to the societies and communities in which it  operates. 17. CODE OF ETHICS FOR CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER: Honesty, integrity and sound judgment of the senior financial officers is fundamental for the success and reputation of Action Construction Equipment Limited. The professional and ethical conduct of the senior financial officers is essential to the proper functioning of the Company. The senior finance officers as well as Directors of the Company shall be bound by the following code of ethics: 1. Act with honesty and integrity, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal, financial and professional relationships, 2. Make full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Company files with, or submits or makes periodically, to the shareholders, government authorities, and to the public, 3. Comply with governmental laws, rules, notifications and regulations applicable to the Companys business, 4. Disclose to the Board or any committee/officer designated by the Board for this purpose, any material transaction or relationship that reasonably could be expected to give rise to any violations of the code including actual or apparent conflicts with the interests of the company, 5. Promote prompt reporting of violations of the Code of Ethics to the Board of Directors or any person/committee designated for this purpose, as may be necessary, 6. Respect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of employment unless legally obliged to disclose and ensure that no such confidential information is used for personal advantage/benefit, 7. Maintain the skills necessary and relevant to the Companys needs, 8. Act in good faith, responsibility, with due care, competence and diligence without misrepresenting material facts, 9. Refrain from any inappropriate or undue influence of any kind in all dealings with independent auditors, and avoid any actual or apparent conflicts with analysts, 10. Achieve responsible use of and control over all assets and resources employed or entrusted to them, 11. Promote ethical and honest behavior within the Company and its associates, Chief Finance Officer should adhere to both the code of business conduct and the code of ethics of the Company. Violation of the code of ethics will lead to appropriate disciplinary action including dismissal from the services of the Company any  deviation/waiver from this code can only be affected on the sole and absolute discretionary authority of the Board or any person/committee designated by the Board for this purpose. 18. INTERPRETATION OF CODE: Any question or interpretation under this Code of Ethics and Business Conduct will be handled by the Board or any person /committee authorized by the Board of the Company. The Board of Directors or any designated person/committee has the authority to waive compliance with this Code of business conduct for any Director, member of core management team, officer or employee of the Company. The person-seeking waiver of this Code shall make full disclosure of the particular circumstances to the Board or the designated person/ committee 19. COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE OF CONDUCT: Compliance with this Code of Conduct is an obligation. The Directors and the Senior Management are to ensure that this Code is communicated to, and understood and observed by all employees. The Directors and the Senior Management shall affirm compliance with the Code, on an annual basis. The Board expects employees to bring to their attention, or to that of Senior Management, any breach or suspected breach of this Code. Compliance with this Code is subject to the review by the Board and complemented by the Audit Committee of the Board. Any modification/s, amendment/s, or review of this Code shall be done by the Board.

Creative Story: Positraction :: essays research papers

Creative Story: Positraction It was a cold night and Roger Katmandoo ( a 89 year old man) sat on his front porch. His rocking chair squeeked as he rocked back and forth. Right then a pair of hedlights came on and were shining right in Mr. Katmandoo's eyes. The headlights came closer towards Roger as the car's engine screamed. The car was right at the curb, and it keep going right up into Roger's yard. " Shit" he yelled as the red 67' Courger drove through his well kept lawn. "Jesus Palamesus" He hollared "U gonna die U sack of shit" Then the car stoped and flashed A gun out the winder as Roger pulled up a loose board in the floor of the porch and grabbed his machine gun. " Youin's best be gett'n out a here" he bluffed "or I will have to kick your little punk asses" Then th ecar speed off leav'n positraction tire marks all in Mr. Katmandoo's yard. Then when the car was half in the street and half in Roger's yard they all yelled "Hey Fuck-o" and speed off. "You little bastards callin me a buck-o" Roger yelled as his hudge buck teeth bit his bottom lip " I'll kick your ass". Then Roger jumped In his shit brown FORD truck and started the engine (well I mean tried to start the engine because he had to pull start it). Then he speed out of his driveway and took off with smoke coming from the tires (and from under the hood). He caught up with the Cougar and started hanging out the window trying to hit the car but he couldn't hold the steering wheel and do bash the car at the same time. So he got THE CLUB out from underneath his seat and put it on the steering wheel. So he got the Baseball bat and started hanging out the window hitting the car. The guy in the Cougar started swirved and Roger fell out of his car and flew underneath the wheel of the Cougar while he was yelling "I'll kick your ass" and crunched Roger leaving blood and guts all over the freeway. But Roger's skull stuck into the Cougar's hub cap. The cougar spun out of controll and flipped then hit the gaurd rail and went fling accross the freeway into oncoming traffic. And uuhh oh here comes the undertaker's truck full of dead bodies. Creative Story: Positraction :: essays research papers Creative Story: Positraction It was a cold night and Roger Katmandoo ( a 89 year old man) sat on his front porch. His rocking chair squeeked as he rocked back and forth. Right then a pair of hedlights came on and were shining right in Mr. Katmandoo's eyes. The headlights came closer towards Roger as the car's engine screamed. The car was right at the curb, and it keep going right up into Roger's yard. " Shit" he yelled as the red 67' Courger drove through his well kept lawn. "Jesus Palamesus" He hollared "U gonna die U sack of shit" Then the car stoped and flashed A gun out the winder as Roger pulled up a loose board in the floor of the porch and grabbed his machine gun. " Youin's best be gett'n out a here" he bluffed "or I will have to kick your little punk asses" Then th ecar speed off leav'n positraction tire marks all in Mr. Katmandoo's yard. Then when the car was half in the street and half in Roger's yard they all yelled "Hey Fuck-o" and speed off. "You little bastards callin me a buck-o" Roger yelled as his hudge buck teeth bit his bottom lip " I'll kick your ass". Then Roger jumped In his shit brown FORD truck and started the engine (well I mean tried to start the engine because he had to pull start it). Then he speed out of his driveway and took off with smoke coming from the tires (and from under the hood). He caught up with the Cougar and started hanging out the window trying to hit the car but he couldn't hold the steering wheel and do bash the car at the same time. So he got THE CLUB out from underneath his seat and put it on the steering wheel. So he got the Baseball bat and started hanging out the window hitting the car. The guy in the Cougar started swirved and Roger fell out of his car and flew underneath the wheel of the Cougar while he was yelling "I'll kick your ass" and crunched Roger leaving blood and guts all over the freeway. But Roger's skull stuck into the Cougar's hub cap. The cougar spun out of controll and flipped then hit the gaurd rail and went fling accross the freeway into oncoming traffic. And uuhh oh here comes the undertaker's truck full of dead bodies.

Lisa Benton Case Essay

This case was interesting because it provided a few examples of the conflicts that are stated in organization behavior theories and models. The main issues that we see in this particular case are those dealing with perception, personality, and motivation. There seem to be both internal and external factors that are causing the issues. In specific, the internal issues derive from the personality of select individuals, which influence their behavior; but there are external factors that derive from the management and organization itself that are attributing to the individual’s negative behavior. In the following paragraphs, we will explore these issues further by identifying specific incidents that affected Lisa Benton’s performance. In evaluating the job choices that Lisa Benton, one can assume that she was a â€Å"Type A† achiever. We can see this because of the particular strengths and weaknesses that she evaluated per company to make her final job selection. Using McClelland’s theory, we can label Lisa Benton as having a Type A personality because the position she was seeking would require her to have personal responsibility, feedback, and moderate risks. Both job opportunities offered personal responsibly and feedback, however, the position at Right-Away was too visible, therefore, the risks of failing would have been more noticeable to the company’s upper management because it was a smaller organization. Thus, the risks were more than moderate and at that time Lisa Benton did not have sufficient self-efficacy to think she could qualify for the Right Away management position. Furthermore, we can have an idea about what motivates Lisa Benton and in examining the case, Lisa finds the intrinsic rewards more important than the extrinsic rewards. For example, the case states that even though the position at Right Away offered a better salary and upper management position, the learning and training opportunities, the recognition, and career development at Houseworld were more valuable. Linton makes it clear that she does not like or is impressed with Harvard MBAs, therefore, she is explicitly stating her personal bias against individuals with Lisa’s particular educational/ professional background. The specific perceptual process bias is the â€Å"stereotyping/ implicit personality theories and contrast error. Linton only familiarizes herself with Linton by reviewing her resume, but immediately generalizes Lisa with other MBA graduates that may have exhibited certain personality traits that Linton did not find favorable. Consequently, Linton is stereotyping Lisa before she has an opportunity to show her skill sets, to see that Lisa has a very approachable personality, and does whatever tasks are needed regardless of her role. Linton does not have an MBA and the case states that she was in Lisa’s previous position, so Linton’s approach to career development may be different from Lisa. This contrast error also contributes to their poor working relationship because Linton considers Lisa different from her, so perhaps an individual that she could identify with would have made her feel more comfortable. This may be the reason that Linton and Scoville, who both have similar backgrounds, work together effectively and share the same bias towards Lisa Benton. In respect to Scoville, he is also a personality Type A, however, unlike Lisa Benton his Type A behavior is more extreme. He displays a higher level of competiveness, time urgency, and anger. Interestingly, Lisa Benton and Scoville are both Type A personalities, however, Lisa Benton possess a higher sense of self-monitoring. Scoville also has high self-efficacy, but on the extreme side of the spectrum because his self-efficacy over rides his ability to work effectively in a team and does not seem to care on how he impacts the morale of his peers, in which ultimately impact their performance and perception on the organization. Lisa Benton has a Type A personality, but has an external locus of control. She feels that her performance and the drawbacks she is experiencing are solely caused by this particular management team. She is not considering that her direct lack of action (internal locus of control) is also contributing to the negative behavior from her management team. This can be seen in Scoville as well, when at the end of the case he expresses to Lisa how his behavior is due to his frustration with the organization and the lack of promotion opportunities; however, Scoville is failing to realize that perhaps his inability to self-monitor his negative behavior and inability to effectively interact with others are the reasons that the organization does not consider him for a promotion. One particular effect that we see happening in the case is the way that Scoville influences Lisa Benton’s performance. His constant reminder that she is on a â€Å"learning curve† and her performance is expected to stay at a minimal level, including her participation in projects, until she eventually receives sufficient training to perform at a higher level. This Pygmalion Effect that takes place does indeed impact Lisa’s performance as she hesitates to take initiatives on certain project tasks or provide more opinions and feedback during presentations. Scoville’s expectations of her limited performance, despite that she did have the ability to be a high performer, were believed and accepted by Lisa Benton. Additionally, another theory that we can see in this case is Kelly’s theory of casual attribution. Lisa Benton complains to other peers about her working relationship with Scoville and eventually her boss’s lack of managerial skills. This theory is relevant because it shows that Lisa’s statements about her current management team and their negative behavior is shared by other employees (consensus), her management team often exhibits negative behavior (consistency), and even in informal settings such as the lunch meetings she’s had with Scoville and Linton (distinctiveness). The negative performance review was also an issue with this case. The specific issues with the negative performance review can be seen in how it lacked the proper performance review cycle. During the beginning of the case, Lisa Benton’s boss failed to provide her with specific tasks, goals, and did not establish standards. Therefore, when Lisa requested her 3 month evaluation, Linton was not able to properly review her performance record. As a matter of fact, she was so focused on the negative aspects of what she perceived as being Lisa’s weaknesses, that she did not mention any of the strengths that contributed to the team’s performance. One of the few things that Lisa should have considered after the negative performance review is to schedule a follow up review immediately in a formal setting in order to properly document her strengths, weaknesses, and goals. The performance review would have also allowed Lisa to document the external factors that were contributing to her mediocre performance and force Linton to properly address them. If Linton would have refused to provide her with a formal performance review, then she should have approached the group product manager and address this issue with him. The negative aspect of this action is that it may have further alienated her from the current management team, since Linton may have felt that Lisa disregarded the chain of command by expressing her concerns with upper management versus addressing it directly with her. The pros of this approach may have been that the negative behavior of her current management team would have been brought to the attention of upper management or human resources and finally addressed to avoid future incidents. My recommendations for alternative solutions to the problems identified may have been to continue pursuing a formal performance review, and establish reoccurring one on one meeting with her boss in order to improve their working relationship. Perhaps by interacting with her boss more often (even if forced), her boss may have overcome her bias of Lisa due to her educational background. The weakness in this recommendation may be that it can alienate Scoville and contribute to his negative behavior. He may feel that Lisa is attempting to overshadow his role in the team. Further, I would have expressed my concerns about the negative behavior and its impact on my performance to the group product manager, so he would be aware of these issues. It is important that upper management is informed of this kind of behavior in order to quickly address them before valuable employees leave the company.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman - 2350 Words

Confessions of an Economic Hit man John Perkins The reasons as to why I selected this book was heavily weighted on my personal interests. The fact that I am interested in matters of economics, imperialism, capitalism and deception and corruption on a government level, made reviewing Confessions of an economic hit man an enjoyable experience. â€Å"For them, this is a war about the survival of their children and cultures, while for us it is about power, money and natural resources. It is one part of the struggle for world domination and the dream of a few greedy men, global empire.† (prologue) If confessions of an economic Hit man had to be summarised in a sentence, the quotation above should give you the reader briefly; a general†¦show more content†¦Mafia bosses often start out as street thugs. But over time, the ones who make it to the top transform their appearance. They take to wearing impeccably tailored suits and owning legitimate businesses.† â€Å"They are quick to lend money to those in desperate straits† They appear to be model citizens. However beneath this patina is a trail of blood† (page 139) Using the mafia analogy it is clear to diagnose what is wrong with the strategic decisions that have been made in the past and are still being made now in regards to, how governments and EHMs leave behind trails of blood just as Mafia bosses can in order to carry out their business. But the â€Å"model citizens† who are in disguise such as EHMs are seen in a completely different light in that to crime lords. Many strategies have been devised by empires over centuries, these strategies and decisions have helped shape the world as it is in its present state. The author explains how strategic decisions made in the past were the wrong decisions in his opinion, as John Perkins had seen first hand the devastation that could be caused by the American government in its pursuit for a â€Å"global empire†. An example of this is how in the 1960’s, a key strategy was being implemented by the world governments. This was the switch from neoclassical economics to Keynesian economics. In America thisShow MoreRelated Confessions of an Economic: Hitman1425 Words   |  6 PagesEconomic Hitman I decided to talk about Economic Hitman because since I opened the web site, I got attracted by this quote â€Å"Dedicated to transforming the world into a sustainable, just and peaceful home where all beings can thrive†, by John Perkins who is an American author and one of the famous economist person in the world because he claims to have played a role in an supposed process of economic establishment of Third World countries on behalf of what he shows as a section of the United StatesRead MoreConfessions Of An Economic Hitman Essay2564 Words   |  11 PagesConfessions of an Economic Hitman Identifying Corporate Social Responsibility Issues Corporate Responsibility Dr. Farzad Rafi Khan April 16th, 2015 Team 1 Andrew Wirawan Ali Karamustafaoglu Ashtyn Packer Christ-Arnaud Lacombe Marion Mayer Ulrik Karlsen Contents Introduction 2 Reflection on John Perkins’ Sincerity 3 What Do the Voices From Below Show? 5 How Can Institutions Transform and End Malicious Practices? 6 How to Increase Awareness in Society? 8 Conclusive Thoughts about theRead MoreThe New Confessions Of An Economic Hitman By John Perkins1978 Words   |  8 PagesIn the book â€Å"The New Confessions of An Economic Hitman† by author John Perkins, he discusses in detail his experience as an economic hitman, and the role he played in underdeveloped and developing countries. He writes about his, various multinational corporations, political institutions, and the United States role in indebting countries to profit off them. Essentially, his book is about the United States way in expanding globalization and what can be done to stop the exploitation of other countriesRead MoreJohn Perkins Is An American Novelist1088 Words   |  5 Pages About the Author John Perkins is an American novelist. Confessions of Economic Hitman (2004) is one of his bestsellers. Perkins graduated in 1963 from the Tilton School and completed Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration in 1968 from Boston University. From 1968-1970, he volunteered for Peace Corps in Ecuador. He was screened by National Security Agency (NSA) while working for a firm in Boston, Chas.T.Main during 1970s to work as EHM. His job as EHMRead MoreDocumentary Analysis: Zeitgeist Addendum Essay815 Words   |  4 Pagesinterview with John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman. From the word â€Å"Hitman,† we know that money, economy, politics, and control was involved. In this part, Latin-American countries had leaders who strived to improve their country’s economy. Big corporations even the United States confronted these leaders in an effort to control their resources or source of money then subjugate them through loans. Some of the leaders refu sed the offer then the hitman comes in. These countries were IranRead MoreThe Bilderberg Group Conspiracy Theory1548 Words   |  7 PagesNew York Times, Time Magazine, Royals, heads of Parliament, among many others. â€Å"Wealth is only as useful as the power you actually wield with it† and he believes that the group sent, the date for the invasion of Iraq, set oil prices, and caused the economic crash ultimately showing that they run the world (Estulin). The Bilderberg group wants to decrease the population by 80% because they believe that they cannot control the current population (Jones). This is because the elitists want to only haveRead MoreEssay on Grassroots Boycott: The Fight for Human Rights 726 Words   |  3 Pagesresult of unbridled capitalism.† Author John Perkins, also known as the ‘economic hitman’ describes his role as a highly paid professional who helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the world out of trillions of dollars by providing them more money in which they could not pay back and later, taking over their economies in exchange of natural resources such as oil. In the epilogue of his book â€Å"Confessions of an Economic Hitman† he expresses his thoughts on taking ownership and changing the systemRead MoreThe Impact Of Globalization And Globalization1582 Words   |  7 Pagesreservation-like areas and are left to adapt or perish by themselves. As modern society requires more a nd more raw material for industry and innovation, the land and culture of the native people is being destroyed. John Perkins explains in Confessions of an Economic Hitman that indigenous land is being ravaged in the search for raw material and the mass growing of crops. American corporations are allowed to run rampant in foreign land by using billions of dollars of debt owed to America by foreign countriesRead MoreAn Unequal Distribution Of Wealth And Power Across The Nation2049 Words   |  9 Pagesregarding our economic lives. Our understanding of what’s going on with the wealth distribution and the actuality of what’s going on is two completely different things. So you may ask, what’s the reason behind this inequality? The answer is corporations and big businesses. Corporations such as Bank of America, Nike, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are rising to power. Corporations have also completely diminished the original intent of our Founding Fathers. According to Collin and Yeskel’s â€Å"Economic ApartheidRead MoreUnited Nations and World4943 Words   |  20 Pa gesNEO-COLONIALISM Neocolonialism describes how, after World War II, colonial powers started using economics i.e. lending and interest rates, to control former colonies and cultivate new areas, thereby creating political, economic and social dependencies. Neocolonialism describes certain economic operations at the international level which have alleged similarities to the traditional colonialism of the 16th to the 20th centuries. The contention is that governments have aimed to control other nations