Compare the ways Brian Friel presents ideas about divided identity in Making History with Michael Frayn in Spies

Divided identity is shown in both Spies and Making Historyfrom the beginning. Stephen Wheatley has two voices, his older self (Stefan Weitzler) and his younger self, which forms a prominent split in his identity. Hugh O’Neill’s split self is displayed a little subtler in the stage directions. O’Neill is described to speak ‘in an upper-class English accent except on those occasions specifically scripted’. The word ‘scripted’ makes me think of acting and implies O’Neill’s front is a feigned identity he puts on. This could also show that he is perhaps embarrassed by his Irish roots which contradict his betrayal of England later on in the play. This relates to Spies as Stephen Wheatley speaks the English language with an English accent, when he is actually (unknowingly) German. Stephen Wheatley’s father reminds me of O’Neill too as he is betraying his German background by working as an English spy, much like O’Neill working as an Earl for England when he originates from the opposing country Ireland. O’Neill seems to be uninterested in the important events he needs to attend, butmore focused onsuch as the flowers he’s decorating the room with and how he looks in his jacket. This gives the audience a first impression of O’Neill; he is more enthusiastic about his new English wife rather than his (important) role. This lack of interest could show O’Neill has a short attention span explaining, for example, his various affairs and marriages. This mercurial nature reminds me of Keith in Spies – he starts out the enthusiastic leader of the investigation into whether his mother is a spy or not, but loses interest as time goes on and matters become more serious. However, you could also say that Keith is much unlike the temperamental O’Neill as he is much like his father; structured, organised and somewhat obsessive. Frayn shows this not only through how he was obsessing other his mother being a German spy, but through the fact he constantly wanted control of the mission and got angry when Stephen showed ‘initiative’. Frayn draws a parallel between Keith’s bedroom and his father’s garage; Keith’s toys, like Mr Hayward’s car, are in perfect condition and are very rarely played with. We see that Hugh’s habit of switching comes from his background; fostered by Irish parents when young, he then lived with an upper-class English family who taught him to act ‘properly’ so he could serve Queen Elizabeth as an Earl in Ireland. Thisblurring of culture, nationality and religion makes it difficult for O’Neill to recognize who he really is – is he English or Irish, Roman Catholic or Protestant? The fact he’s just married Mary Bagenal is significant as he is risking his friends (O’Donnell calls her an ‘upstart bitch’) and powerful rolefor his new love. O’Donnell’s ignorance towards Mabel’s origin reminds me of Mr and Mrs Hayward’s prejudice towards Stephen and the rest of the street – they are shown to very rarely directly speak to Stephen and never socialise with their neighbours (besides Auntie Dee). The way they speak to Stephen could be xenophobia as they could somehow know Stephen’s real nationality, however I think it is more likely that they just have a fear of the unknown. This could have been influenced by Mr Hayward who seems to be the most paranoid of the family carrying his protective bayonet around everywhere. Flowers and plants are used frequently as metaphors in both the two texts to represent different identities. When Mary is talking about seeds she states not to ‘plant the fennel near the dill or the two with cross-fertilize†¦ ou’ll end up with a seed that’s neither one thing nor the other’. This represents the mixing of English Protestants and Irish Catholics, in other words; the relationship between Mabel and O’Neill. Additionally, this could relate to when we are told Mabel is pregnant; the baby is the cross-fertilized, Irish/English, Protestant/Catholic seed. Even the props on stage O’Neill is using are symb olic as they area Spanish broom, ‘Genista’. Spain was a Roman Catholic country at the time and they (ineffectively) fought with Ireland years on in the Battle of Kinsale, which is what the entire play is based around. The Genistas reminds me of Mr. Hayward’s obsessing over his roses, although a different, frightening, tension is portrayed with him doing this. Frayn uses repetition and lists when describing Keith’s work on his garden (‘Keith’s father worked and worked – and as he worked he whistled’ or ‘around the house, forever digging and dunging, and trimming and pruning, forever undercoating and painting, and wiring and rewiring, forever making perfection yet more perfect’)to present the character’s compulsive attitude. The attention of his gardening tends to be on the roses which could be symbolic in a patriotic way – roses are a typical English flower – and the way he is described to be planting them sounds like he’s building a fort to keep out ‘enemies’ (the German, Wheatley family). The privet flower (a misspelling of ‘private’ by Keith) signified privacy, but had a suffocating smell; whenever Stephen was in the ‘privet’ with someone else there was often a stifled atmosphere. I think this smell indicated the uncomfortable stage at the start of puberty, where people start to discover their identities in more detail. The elder trees were outside the safe cul-de-sac, near to Uncle Peter’s hideaway which similarly represented Stephens’s admission into the adult world and puberty. In the first scene, O’Neill presents Mabel with a ring which is symbolic as it was made in London – the capital of the country Ireland are enemy with – and the only person to have one is the Queen of England, Elizabeth. This moment is like the initiation of Mabel’s new identity when Mabel changes ‘we’re a tough breed the upstarts’ to the ‘O’Neill’s’ being the ‘tough breed’. This is similar to Mrs Hayward wearing her cravat to cover her abuse symbolising the initiation of her oppression. The second scene occurs about a year later in the same room and Mabel has undoubtedly added her touch as it is described as more ‘comfortable and colourful’; this perhaps indicates that she could have changed O’Neill. In the first scene we saw that Mabel was quite naive and had little knowledge of the Irish (she believed O’Neill’s taunts of shaking hands with an archbishop turns them black), and now we see not much has changed but in fact gotten worse. She is sat alone (showing she has not settled in or made any friends) and her reaction to horseplay (‘her eyes are shut tight. She sits frozen in terror for a few seconds – even when it is obvious that the screaming is horseplay’) shows that she is still frightened of the Irish. She is almost desperate for her sister, Mary, to stay which again shows her lack of company. It is apparent that Mabel is unhappy living in Ireland, however when Mary tries to hint for her to come home, her answers are uninterested as if she were satisfied in Ireland– she uses single words such as ‘Yes. , ‘Really? ’ and ‘Good. ’. There is a pathos felt for Mabel’s isolation in this scene which is similar to what is felt for Mrs Hayward when she is kept prisoner by her abusive husband in her own house. Mrs Hayward is especially shown in a sympathetic light when the only person she can turn to is Stephen; this involved downgrading herself to sitt ing down in a dirty privet bush wearing makeup and best clothes at an attempt to persuade him to help her. O’Neill is not the only character with a divided identity in the play; Mabel has one too. When talking with Mary she puts on a facade that she is loyal to Hugh and the Irish, however when alone with him she disapproves of his ‘politics’ or betrayal to England and tells him not to go to war, and condemns his ‘culture’ wanting the ‘tramps out of here’, showing her misery. What's more, we unexpectedly see that she has other abilities than being O’Neill’s wife and ‘doing delicate and complicated lacework’; Mabel seems very knowledgeable, wise and trustworthy in the areas of politics. Her divided identity reminds me a lot of Mrs. Hayward’s. Primarily, she is seen as the faultless, serene Mrs. Hayward who relaxes with her feet up and a book, but when we find out she is in love with Uncle Peter this is disapproved of not just by Mr. Hayward, butthe rest of the street, like Mabel’s love is disapproved of by her siblings, England and Ireland. O’Neill’s feelings change for Mabel; the mistresses show that he is bored of her and he has apathy towards the fact she is pregnant. O’Neill has a mercurial nature, which is perhaps the cause of all these different wives, loyalties (and disloyalties) to opposing countries, and the arguments with Mabel and later with Harry. Act two begins with O’Neill in a rougher location than the wealthy house we’re used to, with such lack of furniture that he has to use a wooden box as a desk. O’Neill even tells O’Donnell ‘What you see is what I have’ showing the loss of all the materialistic things that he had before. For the audience, it is immediately made obvious that Ireland have lost the war and O’Neill is symbolically on his knees as he is writing a letter to Queen Elizabeth begging for forgiveness and his old job. When Harry arrives in the scene, he comes with news of Mabel’s death through blood poisoning, which is representative that she’s been poisoned by O’Neill’s Irish blood. In Spies, there is a recurring theme, just like the blood in Making History, of the train getting closer and closer which builds tension until finally Uncle Peter significantly killed by it. Frayn again uses repetition to create this suspense all throughout the book, from just mentioning the train line to the intimidating ‘huge thunder of the train’ when he is in the tunnel. My final point is of course about the making of the history itself. It is apparent from the start that Lombard was going to exaggerate in the book, but by the end we know he used O’Neill so Roman Catholics could have an idol. This shows when the grieving (even after many years) and drunken O’Neill is staggering about his room, reading sentences like ‘noblest son of noble lineage’ and that he grew in ‘comeliness and urbanity, tact and eloquence, wisdom and knowledge’ that supposedly describe him. Divided identity is the main theme of the play, whereas in Spies it is just one of the many readings of the novel. Why?

Psychotherapy and Group Essay

The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy†. Moreno developed a specific and highly structured form of group therapy known as  Psychodrama. Another recent development is the theory and method of group psychotherapy based on an integration of systems thinking is Yvonne Agazarian’s â€Å"systems-Centered† approach (SCT), which sees groups functioning within the principles of system dynamics. Her method of â€Å"functional subgrouping† introduces a method of organizing group communication so it is less likely to react counterproductively to differences. SCT also emphasizes the need to recognize the phases of group development and the defenses related to each phase in order to best make sense and influence group dynamics. Furthermore the psychoanalytic concept of the unconscious was extended with a recognition of a group unconscious, in which the unconscious processes of group members could be acted out in the form of irrational processes in group sessions. Foulkes developed the model known as  Group Analysis  and the  Institute of Group Analysis, while Bion was influential in the development of group therapy at the  Tavistock Clinic. Bion has been criticised, by Yalom,  for his technical approach which had an exclusive focus on analysis of whole-group processes to the exclusion of any exploration of individual group members’ issues. Despite this, his recognition of group defences in the â€Å"Basic Assumption Group†, has been highly influential. Universality The recognition of shared experiences and feelings among group members and that these may be widespread or universal human concerns, serves to remove a group member’s sense of isolation, validate their experiences, and raise self-esteem Altruism The group is a place where members can help each other, and the experience of being able to give something to another person can lift the member’s self esteem and help develop more adaptive coping styles and interpersonal skills. Instillation of hope In a mixed group that has members at various stages of development or recovery, a member can be inspired and encouraged by another member who has overcome the problems with which they are still struggling. Imparting information While this is not strictly speaking a psychotherapeutic process, members often report that it has been very helpful to learn factual information from other members in the group. For example, about their treatment or about access to services. Corrective recapitulation of the primary family experience Members often  unconsciously  identify the group therapist and other group members with their own parents and siblings in a process that is a form of  transference  specific to group psychotherapy. The therapist’s interpretations can help group members gain understanding of the impact of childhood experiences on their personality, and they may learn to avoid unconsciously repeating unhelpful past interactive patterns in present-day relationships. Development of socializing techniques The group setting provides a safe and supportive environment for members to take risks by extending their repertoire of interpersonal behaviour and improving their social skills Imitative behaviour One way in which group members can develop social skills is through a  modeling  process, observing and imitating the therapist and other group members. For example, sharing personal feelings, showing concern, and supporting others. Cohesiveness It has been suggested  that this is the primary therapeutic factor from which all others flow. A cohesive group is one in which all members feel a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation. Existential factors Learning that one has to take responsibility for one’s own life and the consequences of one’s decisions. Catharsis Experience of relief from emotional distress through the free and uninhibited expression of emotion. When members tell their story to a supportive audience, they can obtain relief from chronic feelings of shame and guilt. Interpersonal learning Group members achieve a greater level of  self-awareness  through the process of interacting with others in the group, who give feedback on the member’s behaviour and impact on others. Self-understanding This factor overlaps with interpersonal learning but refers to the achievement of greater levels of insight into the genesis of one’s problems and the unconscious motivations that underlie one’s behaviour. Settings Group therapy can form part of the therapeutic  milieu  of a psychiatric in-patient unit  or ambulatory psychiatric  Partial hospitalization  (also known as Day Hospital treatment)  In addition to classical â€Å"talking† therapy, group therapy in an institutional setting can also include group-based  expressive therapies  such as  drama therapy,  psychodrama,  art therapy, and non-verbal types of therapy such as  music therapy. Group psychotherapy is a key component of  Milieu Therapy  in a  Therapeutic Community. The total environment or milieu is regarded as the medium of therapy, all interactions and activities regarded as potentially therapeutic and are subject to exploration and interpretation, and are explored in daily or weekly community meetings A form of group therapy has been reported to be effective in psychotic adolescents and recovering addicts. Projective psychotherapy  uses an outside text such as a novel or motion picture to provide a â€Å"stable  delusion† for the former cohort and a safe focus for repressed and suppressed emotions or thoughts in the latter. Patient groups read a novel or collectively view a film. They then participate collectively in the discussion of plot, character motivation and author motivation. In the case of films, sound track, cinematography and background are also discussed and processed. Under the guidance of the therapist, defense mechanisms are bypassed by the use of signifiers and semiotic processes. The focus remains on the text rather than on personal issues. [16]  It was popularized in the science fiction novel,  Red Orc’s Rage. Group therapy is now often utilized in private practice settings (Gardenswartz, 2009, Los Angeles, CA). Good outcomes have also been demonstrated for this form of group therapy.

Alternative managmentb of hypertensive patient among the lower economic class

Alternative managmentb of hypertensive patient among the lower economic class Hypertensive patients of the lower economic class prefers non-conventional methods of managing blood pressure levels. Hypertension is one of the most common non-communicable diseases worldwide affecting up to 800 million (or 20%) of the worlds adult population. It is estimated to cause 4.5% of the current global disease burden and is often as prevalent in many developing countries. Health seeking and utilization of health care services for hypertension in developing countries is often a complex issue, since people often seek care from multiple sources outside the formal orthodox health care system. Empirical studies of preventive and curative service have often found that the use of health care services in general is related to availability, quality and cost of services as well as to social structure, health beliefs and personal characteristics of the user. Traditional medicine (TM) is an important and often underestimated part of health services. In some countries, traditional medicine or non-conventional medicine may be termed complementary medicine (CM). TM has a long history of use in health maintenance and in disease prevention and treatment particularly for chronic disease. The frequency of utilization of CAM is increasing worldwide, and is well documented in both African and other global populations to be between 20 80%. Traditional health practitioners often play a major role in health care in many countries. For example, the reported use of herbal medicine (a form of CAM) in the general population from different parts of the world varies, with figures like 40% in the United States, 38.5% among the Indian community of Chatsworth in South Africa and 48.5% in Australia. Complementary and alternative medicine examples are herbs and garlic which can be included in the non conventional methods for hypertensive patients in the lower economic class. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following questions: What non conventional methods can be used by the lower economic class people to manage hypertension? What health organization acknowledges these methods? Is there a significant decrease in the blood pressure of lower economic class patients who follow the non conventional methods?

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self-Analysis of Leadership Abilities - Essay Example Since my leadership approach promotes active employee involvement, employees are more likely to take up the responsibility of their projects and complete them successfully within the stipulated time. As Kehle (2008, p. 26) purports, high level employee satisfaction is the main strength of the participative leadership style. In addition, this approach can effectively promote a sense of belonging and teamwork, which in turn can have positive effect on the overall organisational productivity. At the same time, new hirers or inexperienced employees are not allowed to make decisions so as to maintain high level market competitiveness. Although this leadership style fosters greater employee involvement, it exercises better control over employees and changes strategies and practices once the operational flaws are identified. The major area required improvement is that I spend hardly enough time to develop leadership skills in my employees and this issue may adversely affect the performance sustainability of the organisation. As Mattone (2013, p. 2) points out, a leader should focus particularly on succession planning. In addition, I do not pay much attention to employees who are making same mistakes repetitively. Here, I need to give specific focus to those employees so as to improve the overall productivity of the firm. From the leadership style survey, I understand that my leadership approach is participative whereas the Bolman and Deal’s four framework approach to leadership indicates that I follow team leadership style. Both these assessment techniques give almost similar outcomes and indicate that I have strong team development skills. The major common finding is that my leadership strategy gives particular importance to employee involvement and employee creativity. In addition to providing guidance, instructions, and direction to employees, my leadership approach fosters employees to come up with their own ideas

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Assistive Technologies Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Assistive Technologies - Essay Example Such statistical figures and surveys can prove to support the arguments regarding the advantages of the technologies in an effective manner. 4. Brooks, J. G., Brooks, M. G., (1999), In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, Revised Edition, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. The authors stated that assistive technologies make the child motivated to learn and acquire education. One reason for such motivation can be the fact that assistive technologies bring the child out of his isolation and makes him participate with his peers at an equal level. This source highlights the degree of inclusion of technology in the modern classrooms and how they benefit the process of learning for all types of children, regular as well as children with disabilities. 5. Amiripour, P., Bijan-zadeh, M. H., Pezeshki, P., Najafi, M. (2011), Effects of assistive technology instruction on increasing motivation and capacity of mathematical problem solving in dyscalcu lia student, Educational Research, Vol. 2(10), pp. 1611-1618. This source also bases the hypothesis of the research study on the increment in motivation level of the child due to the usage of assistive technologies. The research activities of the authors are targeted to specifically evaluate the effect of assistive technologies on possible improvements in the logical skills for mathematics. An experiment was conducted by the authors on a sample of students with learning disabilities and the results showed that the assistive technologies motivated the children to learn more and improved their mathematics skills to a great extent. 6. Castellani, J., Jeffs, T. (2001), Emerging Reading and Writing Strategies Using Technology, Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 60-67. This... This article demonstrates different authors who have been studied different aspects of assistive technologies. Mulligan, S. A. points out the benefits of assistive technologies in terms of increased level of participation by the children with disabilities and increased level of interaction with the peers. It also explains some of the issues that are often witnessed in the process of adopting a suitable technology. The work â€Å"Study of Assistive Technology and California Community College Students with Learning Disabilities† by Krull, M. includes discussion regarding several studies and surveys that have been conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of the usage of assistive technologies on the level of comprehension and learning pace of the children. The author also conducts a study with the aim of evaluating the effects on the basis of academic performance of the child. Such statistical figures and surveys can prove to support the arguments regarding the advantages of the technologies in an effective manner. â€Å"Family Guide to Assistive Technology† explains the concept of assistive technologies and accommodation; as well as explains the different types of assistive technologies that are available for the children. It enlists some important factors that are offered by assistive technologies to facilitate the learning process of a child; mobility, visual aids, augmented communication, social interaction and recreation, self care etc. All of these factors result in better academic performance for the child.

Educational infosystems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Educational infosystems - Research Paper Example However, my school district is not ready to meet its responsibilities to comply with the new data reporting demands from both the state and No Child Behind Legislation. It is essential for adult educators to examine the course developments of secondary or high education, in order to identify problems or qualities that are typical of young adults and people. The establishment of adult and youth education can do this by looking at possibilities like, situations, process, and experiences. The software publishers that supply educational systems in the district claim that their products are compliant with SIF (OR SIS), the district has already established that it is not ready to meet its responsibilities to abide by new data reporting demands from NO Child Left Behind legislation. The information student system that exists need replacement and therefore, there is need to evaluate the market software publishers who claims that their products comply with SIF (SIF stands for Schools Interoperability Framework). It is an industry that is concerned with developing an open specification in order to ensure that administrative and instructional applications sof tware works effectively and together. It is not a product but an industry that is supported by K-12 blueprint supported technical software which enables a diverse application to share and interact with data effortlessly, every day and in the future (U. S. Department of Education, 2007). Therefore, in order to determine if the software publishers that supplies educational systems are compliant with SIF, their softwares should be able to define and determine common data formats, as well as high-level rules of architecture and interaction, and not linked with a particular platform or operating system. According to Infed (2007), when educational systems are compliant with SIF, then the information will be transferred, stored, accessed, and updated, thus reducing

Will Private Equity Overtake Public Equity Term Paper

Will Private Equity Overtake Public Equity - Term Paper Example Private equity groups like Slater-Walker in the 1960s and Hanson Trust in the 1980s have been providing an alternative form of financing to public financing for many years now. These were the first firms or conglomerates that tended to fiancà © slumping companies and turned them around for cash generation. These private equity firms were seen as corporate saviors, which helped to revive poor performing firms and gave big returns to shareholders (BBC, 2006). Yet there may be downsides to private equity financing and in one recent analysis and news report, by Times, private equity companies are to face major tax deductions. The Times reported that firms financed by private funding may have to pay millions of pounds in extra taxes as commissioned with changes by the Treasury and Revenue & Customs. The report suggests that such heavy tax burdens can be a downturn for an industry that has created millionaire bosses. The tax rate on capital gains is set to rise from 10% to 40% (Timesonlin e, 2006). According to the report, private equity firms own companies that employ more than 20% of the UK private sector workforce. The Somerfield and Debenhams are major companies in the UK backed by private equity. Private equity bosses carry compensation packages of  £2billion a year so sudden tax burdens could go up to a few million pounds. However despite this sudden tax problem, which may have to be resolved by the BVCA, it is important to analyze why private equity firms have recently been more attractive than public equity firms and why has there been an exodus of top executives who moved from public companies to privately financed companies within the UK and indeed in many other emerging markets of the world. According to a recent cover story by Businessweek Online (Feb 2006), more and more of business firms are keeping away from public companies because of the ‘money, freedom and glamour’ of private companies.

Constitution Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Constitution - Term Paper Example It was an economic and social institution.On this note, a variety of civil rights movement arose to advocate for the abolishment of slavery, and recognition of the black people as Citizens of United States of America2. This would allow them to enjoy greater freedom and equality that emanated from democracy. Various amendments were made to the American constitution were made to abolish slavery, and advocate for the right of every American citizen to vote. In 1865, the thirteenth amendment recognized the concept of natural freedom, and abolished slavery.The fourteenth amendment spelt out the qualifications of a citizen, and spelt out their rights and liberties. The Fifteenth amendment was ratified in 1870, and it gave all American the right to vote, irrespective of race, religion or color.On this note, the American system of democracy is termed as the constitutional democracy. Constitutionaldemocracy is always subject to the rule of law. The elected representatives of the people must e xercise power3, basing on the requirements of the law, which on most occasions, advocates and protects the rights of people, and their freedom. On this note, the Judiciary, and in particular the United States Supreme Court plays an important role in ensuring that the democratic process of United States of America adheres to the law. In the case Baker vs. Carr, the court made an important ruling regarding the one man one vote system. This paper examines the importance of this ruling in promoting the principles of democracy and constitutional rule in United States of America. This paper observes that, the ruling was very important in promoting democracy and regulating the behavior of the American political system. This paper analyzes the case, identifies important elements in the case, which relate to promoting democracy in the State. This paper also looks at the various cases that the judiciary used to the case to solve. Baker vs. Carr, is a 1962 decision by the Supreme Courtthat dec ided the eligibility of the Federal and State legislature in creating new voting zones4. The defendant, in the case argued that, the concepts of redistricting, is a political issue, and therefore the judiciary does not have the authority to intervene. The Judiciary only intervenes on legal issues, and not political issues. According to the case, the Tennessee State Constitution advocate for the re-drawing of legislative districts after every ten years. The purpose of this was to equally distribute the citizens of a district. The plaintiff, Mr Baker argued that re-districting the districts amounted to a breach of his constitutional right of equal protection, as advocated by the Fourteenth amendment. However, the State of Tennessee made a defense arguing that re-districting is a political process, and the judiciary does not have an authority to preside over a political process5.However, the United Supreme Court ruled that the decision by Tennessee to allow re-districting after every t en years was unconstitutional, and it breached the right of equality as advocated for under the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. On this note, the state had to re-district based on the number of voters, as opposed to the size of the territory. This case,

Phrmaceutical Formulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Phrmaceutical Formulation - Essay Example It has a wide range of applications, like, levosalbutamol inhalers have been designed to help in the treatment of asthma. Pulmonary drug delivery can be used to administer a vaccine like in the case of currently inhaled measles vaccine given by nebilizer. (Molema, 2001 pg 16) Also it can be used to give medication to infants and young children who have a small tidal volume and low inspiratory flow rates by the use of a baby mask which normally is attached to spacer. (Perry, 2012 pg 25)It has been used to treat lung cancer by the means of inhaled chemotherapy which has proven to be a logical approach and also it is used on patients who are very ill who cannot withstand any more pain by inhaling opioids such as morphine and fentanyl. (Sigmund, 2009 pg10) Drugs used in pulmonary drug delivery have multi-component powders with mucoactive compounds and anti-asthmatic medicines bound together in a single particle because of the mucus layer covering the airways of the tracheobronchial struc ture. (Friebel, 2010 pg 20)The substances used in the inhalers must dissolve 100% so as not to block the air gaps to avoid suffocation. (Le, 2001 pg 37) Been affected by the rapid change of technology due to great inventions pharmaceutical industries had to do some research to come up with more efficient drug delivery system like drug powder inhalers. (Zeng, 2001 pg 8) Although drug powder inhalers has greatly boosted the pharmaceutical companies there are challenges that are experienced during its formulation like the cohesive ,adhesive property of drug and carrier aggregation, particle size , morphology of the drug and carrier aerosolization performance and powder formulation properties. (Koning, 2001 pg 40)One of the challenges in pharmaceutical industries is to characterize their various physical behaviors; here the concern is mainly focused on the study of the relations relating the properties of the grain to those of the powder bed. (Wang, 2012 pg 44)The goal is thus to be abl e to control, analyze and improve the manufacturing processes of the powder. (Talton, 1999 pg 60) To improve the aerosolization performance of drug powder inhalers, varieties of carrier and carrier types have to be sampled and studied so as to come up with the best, and the drug ratios are prepared by spray-drying so as to improve the efficiency of the drying procedure and the characterized at last. Again to improve aerosolization two critical physical properties which are the particle size and flowability has to be keenly observed where the particle size should be around 5-6   Ã‚ µm and the angle of repose to be within the ranges of 43 °Ã¢â‚¬â€œ52 ° for the flowability to boost the aerosolization. If this is done well the aerosolization performances can be improve greatly. Cohesion forces of particles used in dry powder formulation is a great nuisance to inhalers because it reduces powder flow and hinders accurate metering hence needs to reduce it and this can be achieved by blending the active pharmaceutical ingredient with a larger inert carrier so as to reduce the high cohesion forces that are normally between the micron sized active pharmaceutical ingredient particles. Adhesion forces are also of great concern in dry powder inhalers because if not catered for they make the patient to find it difficult to deliver the drug from the inhaler to his or her system hence it must be overcome or reduced by great magnitude so as to allow liberation of drug from the device with minimal energy from the patient. The particle size is a challenge in drug powder inhalation

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations Essay

Total Reward - Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations - Essay Example The study is developed on the basis of a mixed approach where both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. In order to undertake the analysis, the opinions of respondents have been collected through questionnaire method. From the research analysis, it has been found that total rewards which comprise both the elements of tangible and non-tangible rewards can effectively impact on the job satisfaction of the employees. As different employees have different needs, thus their motivational aspects can also differ. Nowadays, only better pay is not sufficient for employees to stay in an organisation. They also desire for other forms of motivation along with tangible rewards. In this context, the total reward package enables organisations to balance organisational objectives with the requirement of individual employees from organisations which in turn lead to enhanced productivity. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Findings 6 Discussion 21 Conclusion 26 Recomm endations 28 References 30 Introduction Reward is a set of approaches which is intended for managing the human resources in an organisation. The major purpose of reward is to motivate employees to accomplish higher performance. ... The fundamental idea of reward is to motivate greater performance through certain activities and to emphasise their reoccurrence. The consequence of reward can result in a sense of achievement which in turn can lead towards higher performance. Rewards are of two kinds which are tangible/monetary rewards and non-tangible/non-monetary rewards. Tangible rewards are pay, incentives and compensation among others which are the basic conditions for employees to work in an organisation. On the other hand, intangible rewards are those which can lead to motivation of employees towards high performance such as recognition, better work culture and training and development among others. Together tangible and intangible rewards can generate job satisfaction for the employees. Job satisfaction occurs when an employee receives those facilities which he/she expects from an organisation. There is significant relationship that exists between job satisfaction and reward provided by an organisation. Rewa rds act as a basis for job satisfaction of employees. However, significant differences exist among the employees about expectations from an organisation. Thus, the aspect of job satisfaction within the employees can also be differing according to demographic factors such as age, gender and psychographics variables. Due to this reason, the term total reward has gained much acceptance among organisations in order to ensure better job satisfaction and enhance productivity (Flamholtz, 1996). The total reward includes all elements of rewards which are useful for enticing, encouraging and retaining employees. It is aimed at providing all employees a positive work environment where they can put much effort towards accomplishment of organisational objectives. In present days, total

Mobile Computing and Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Mobile Computing and Social Networking Essay 1Introduction Tiny, portable gadgets, such as pocket digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones have been in the recent years pushed on the mark. Mobile or ubiquitous computing and handy gadgets are changing the relations between computers and humans.there is an introduction of a new communication approach based on context. This approach enables people to interact with computers, objects and environments seamlessly. Mobile computing devices have enabled composite cooperation and communication patterns that were not dreamt of in the past years. They possess vital features in portability, ability to share information using communication networks; wireless, and synchronizing the information with other standardized gadgets. There have drastic changes in the technological landscape in the past years led by the emergence of mobile computing devices focusing on consumer preferences. The rapid increase in use of mobile computing gadgets is nowadays noticeable in the medical or healthcare industry. The healthcare industry has never been a frontrunner in terms of Information Technology and computing in relation to caring for patients and clinical trials. Health care providers are adopting new and innovative ways using mobile computing platforms to support patient care. Thus through a constant drive to find a new method of improving the quality of patients’ lives, the health care industry has benefited. This has seen the enormous growth of wearable portable systems, monitoring the patient’s conditions for vital signs. This paper focuses in assessing the concept of monitoring patients using mobile computing gadgets transmitting using wireless technology. It also assesses the use of social networks to group support for patients with similar medical conditions. 2Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile gadgets 2.1concepts Mobile health monitoring systems have come handy in helping people to engage closely in their own health care. This technology involves the integration of a biosensor which monitors vital signs (such as heart rate, BP, temperature and other health-related information), environmental sensors, and a location sensor into a wearable wireless network. This allows an enduring, unobtrusive monitoring with immediate feedback to the patient or physician about the current status and a real time update of the user’s health data. The data makes up the EPR (electronic patient record), which allows the health status data of the patient to be accessed using many devices and heterogeneous networks. Mobile computing application in medicine allows access to EPR for consolidated information on patients from any location within the network. This advancement has brought about many benefits to the medical industry. However, it does not make a substitute for the direct eye to eye meeting between patient and the doctor due to the various setbacks it suffers. 2.2Advantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile devices has a lot of merits as compared to the traditional inpatient visit by the patient. These include: 2.2.1Patient participation in their own health care This technology allows the healthcare providers to be close and interact more with patients. This grows the sense of ownership amongst patients and their relatives as they tend to take in more information and interact with it. This interaction provides the clinician an improved access to information thus leading to a better diagnosis. The resultant is a sense of ownership in the patients leading to high rates of diagnosis acceptance and following of post-diagnosis orders. 2.2.2Easier and quicker visibility of the patient’s condition The physician does not have to wait for laboratory results to be sent or telemetry to be done. The mobile computing devices allows for real time viewing of information. 2.2.3Increase in efficiency of healthcare The provider does not have to move from machine to machine, one room to the other seeking the patient’s data. Updated data can be accessed from the electronic patient records in real time by the wearable monitoring devices. This leads to swift and accurate decision making concerning patients issues since it relies on accurate data. 2.2.4Cost The development of these mobile devices can be realized within modest charges compared to specialty systems. The maintenance of these small but essential devices is also low compared to the specialty systems. This pulls down the cost of running mobile-computing monitoring devices. 2.3Disadvantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using mobile computing powered devices also suffer some setbacks. 2.3.1Health hazard The issue of radiations still is unclear posing uncertainties on its application. The health care industry players have not agreed on the standards of these devices. 2.3.2Technical stress Its application may bring more technical emphasis which can result in a stress issue to patients and medics (Brahnam Jain, 2010). The patients’ data has to be stored securely. This is often a challenge because the users of these devices may be unequipped with the necessary level of expertise; to perform the encryption tasks. However, security is a point of concern in the application of these gadgets. An effective protocol or security measure should be used to ensure heavy security to the data accessed through them. This entails an implementation of strong access protocols at both the gadget and the network levels. Appropriate encryption measures should also be implemented to safeguard against unauthorized access of the information stored in the device, in case it lands in the wrong hands due to theft. However, these devices should be designed only to allow viewing of sensitive data locally on the mobile computing device rather than storing it. 2.4Use of social network to group support for patients Online health social networking sites give patients the privilege to obtain and disclose information on some health condition without disclosing their identities (Turban Volonino, 2011). Support groups help patients to cope with the various conditions by providing social support and network of information to its members. Patients educate each other on the conditions and treatments using the social network. This often impacts the old doctor-patient relationship, and could develop a foundation for a market driven system where clients can make choices. Health oriented social networks are extremely beneficial to patients they provide an instrumental support by providing stress relieving services, financial assistance, advice and willingness to help. It offers nurturing support aiming at comforting stressed patients without necessarily solving the problems leading to the stress by making the patient feel cared. 3Conclusion The application of technology in the health industry has come a long way. Its adoption in the monitoring of patients has been extremely beneficial to both patients and doctors. However, there still concerns over the security of the many sensitive data passed on from one point to the other by these mobile devices. Improved security measures should be enacted, to ensure that the patient’s data is safe from external access since it may incriminate the privacy right of the patient. Health care oriented social network has been much of a platform where patients share their experiences. The healthcare providers get to acquaint themselves of the patients’ experiences and also market their services by engaging directly with the patients. * 4.0References Brahnam, S., Jain, L. C. (2010). Advanced Computational Intelligence Paradigms in Healthcare 5: Intelligent Decision Support Systems. Berlin, Germany: Springer. Shahriyar, R., Bari, F., Kundu, G., Ahamed, S., Akbar, M.(2009). Intelligent Mobile Health Monitoring System (IMHMS). In P.kostkova (Eds..), Electronic Healthcare: Second International ICST Conference, EHealth 2009 Istanbul, Turkey, September 2009 Revised Selected Papers (pp. 5-12). Berlin, Germany: Springer. Tan, J., (2005). EHealth Care Information Systems: An Introduction for Students and Professionals. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Turban, E., Volonino, L. (2011). Information Technology for management: Improving strategic and operational performance (8th ed.). Hoboken NJ: John Wiley Sons.

Conflict of Interest Essay Example for Free

Conflict of Interest Essay Abstract Information about the financial health of public companies provided by auditors ideally allows investors to make informed decisions and enhances the efficiency of financial markets. However, under the current system auditors are hired and fired by the companies they audit, which introduces incentives for biases that favor the audited companies. Three experiments demonstrate bias in auditors judgments, and show that these biases are not easily corrected because auditors are not fully aware of them. The first experiment demonstrates that the judgments of professional auditors tend to be biased in favor of their clients. The second and third experiments explore more closely the psychological processes underlying the bias. The results suggest that the closeness of the relationship between auditor and client may have a particularly strong biasing influence on auditors private judgments. Key words: Conflict of interest; Auditor independence; Self-serving bias; Motivated reasoning Auditor Independence, Conflict of Interest, and the Unconscious Intrusion of Bias By certifying the public reports that collectively depict a corporation’s financial status, the independent auditor assumes a public responsibility transcending any employment relationship with the client. The independent public accountant performing this special function owes ultimate allegiance to the corporations creditors and stockholders, as well as to the investing public. This public watchdog function demands that the accountant maintain total independence from the client at all times and requires complete fidelity to the public trust. -Chief Justice Warren Burger, writing on behalf of a unanimous United States Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Arthur Young Co. (1984) Independence is central to the function served by auditors. Although managers may have an interest in exaggerating, misrepresenting, or falsifying reports of their firm’s performance, an independent audit report is supposed to provide a credible, unbiased appraisal of the firms financial status. The importance of auditor independence is reflected in the Code of Professional Ethics of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and has been reinforced by numerous legal decisions, such as that rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the opening quote. Recent events, however, have led many to question whether the modern practice of public accounting is independent enough. In the wake of a number of accounting scandals, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conducted a series of hearings on auditor independence in 2000. The SEC instituted modest changes to disclosure rules after the 2000 hearings and the issue receded from the public agenda until the failure of the Enron Corporation and the role of its auditor, Arthur Andersen, in that failure brought the issue of auditor independence to the fore. In analyzing the problem of auditor independence, both the academic accounting literature and the mass media have implicitly adopted what could be considered an â€Å"economic† perspective on the problem. Theoretical papers, empirical analyses, and media discussions of the Conflict of Interest 4 issue of independence assume, sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, that auditor bias is a matter of deliberate choice (Antle, 1984; DeAngelo, 1981; Simunic, 1984). Auditors are assumed to have the ability to complete high-quality, independent, unbiased audits if they choose to do so. Bias, to t he extent that it is thought to exist, is seen as a deliberate response to incentives. This â€Å"economic† account of independence and bias is challenged by psychological research which suggests that biased information processing is not only pervasive, but is typically unconscious and unintentional—i.e., seldom a matter of deliberate choice. Applied to auditing, this research suggests that auditors who face conflicts of interest may find it difficult, if not impossible, to avoid bias even if they attempt to do so. Whether auditor bias is a matter of conscious choice or is unintentional and unconscious has wide-ranging implications for policy, because conscious corruption and unconscious bias respond to different influences. In this paper, we first review findings from empirical research on biased information processing. Then we report results from three experiments. The first experiment documents biased judgment among professional auditors. The second and third experiments delve deeper into the psychological processes at work and examine the causes of bi ased judgment. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the practice of and rules surrounding auditing. Motivated Information Processing Research shows that people evaluate evidence in a selective fashion when they have a stake in reaching a particular conclusion. They tend to focus on evidence that supports the conclusion they would like to reach and evaluate that evidence in an uncritical fashion (Holyoak Simon, 1999; Koehler, 1991; Lord, Ross, Lepper, 1979; Russo, Medvec, Meloy, 1996; Russo, Meloy, Medvec, 1998, see Rabin Schrag, 1999 for a theoretical model). When evidence conflicts with their desired conclusions, people tend to either ignore it or subject it to particularly critical scrutiny (Ditto Lopez, 1992). This selective information processing effect is so strong that when people on different sides of an issue are exposed to the same information they can all feel that the information supports their position. As a result, they may even hold more strongly disparate opinions after receiving the same information (Lord et al., 1979). One important influence on how people evaluate information is accountability. When people know that they will be accountable for their decisions, they show more concern for how their decisions will be received. When they do not know the preferences of their audience, this heightened concern leads to more systematic cognitive processing and a more thorough justification of the conclusion (Tetlock, 1983). However, when the preferences of the audience are known, accountability need not lead to more thoughtful processing, but can instead increase the likelihood that the decision-makers judgment will be consistent with the known preferences of the audience (Tetlock, 1983). In an audit, there can be little doubt regarding the preferences of the management of the client firm: They want to get an unqualified audit report. The effect of accountability cannot be easily explained by simple self-interest, because most of the research on accountability has not included any rewards for agreeing with the individual to whom one is accountable (Tetlock, 1992). But this is not to say that self-interest does not influence judgment. When a particular interpretation of the evidence will benefit them materially, people gravitate toward that interpretation, even when they hold an explicit goal of being impartial. For example, people tend to think that the allocation of resources that benefits themselves is fair (Messick Sentis, 1979), and believe that others will share their perspective (Diekmann, 1997; Diekmann, Samuels, Ross, Bazerman, 1997; Messick Sentis, 1983). Moreover, they are typically unaware that they are processing information in a self-serving fashion and, thus, are unaware that they are biased. Thompson and Loewenstein (1992) found evidence of a self-serving bias in negotiators’ reports of fairness. In their experiment, participants played either the role of management or union in a wage negotiation, and both roles were given the same information about the details of the situation. Before they negotiated, both parties were asked what they believed a fair outcome to be from the vantage point of a neutral third party. Their responses were egocentrically biased; individuals representing the union tended to believe that a higher wage was fairer, whereas those representing management tended to report that a lower wage was fairer. The parties then proceeded to trade bids until they came to settlement, and delay was costly to both parties. The magnitude of the egocentric bias—the difference between the two sides perceptions of a fair wage—predicted the length of time it took parties to come to agreement: The more egocentric the parties ex ante perceptions of fairness were, the longer strikes tended to last. Later research demonstrated the same result in real negotiations between union and school board presidents in Pennsylvania (Babcock, Wang, Loewenstein, 1996). In the studies cited above, the pre-negotiation fairness judgments had no direct consequence for the negotiators, so it is unlikely that the bias resulted from strategic misrepresentation. However, subjects were not given any incentive to report their judgments accurately, so the studies do not reveal whether people are able to provide impartial judgments when they are motivated to do so. Two studies (Babcock, Loewenstein, Issacharoff, Camerer, 1995; Loewenstein, Issacharoff, Camerer, Babcock, 1993), however, offered a clear incentive to participants to be accurate in their private fairness judgments. Participants whose judgments came close to the determinations of an impartial judge were given a cash bonus. This incentive did not eliminate egocentrism in participants reports, suggesting that their roles influenced their assessments of fairness in ways they could not disregard even when it was in their interest to do so. Kunda (1990) argued that this motivated reasoning leads to biased conclusions whenever there is sufficient ambiguity in the evidence to allow for a biased interpretation. Thompson and Loewenstein (1992) explicitly manipulated ambiguity and confirmed Kundas prediction: Greater ambiguity leads to more bias. In general, as Babcock and Loewenstein (1997: 120) concluded on the basis of the aforementioned studies: As soon as asymmetries are introduced between the parties—for example, different nonagreement values or costs of non-settlement, or subtle differences in roles—both parties notions of fairness will tend to gravitate toward settlements that favor themselves. They will not only view these settlements as fair, but believe that their personal conception of fairness is impartial. In sum, research on information processing and bargaining suggests both that people process information in a biased, self-interested, fashion, and that this bias is strong, automatic, and unconscious. Implications of Motivated Information Processing for Auditor Independence The research on motivated information processing has significant implications for auditor bias. Very few auditors begin their work hoping to find a client has breached accounting standards. Rather, auditors typically start with a desire to reach a positive conclusion about their clients and issue an unqualified audit report. Auditors generally want to be rehired by their clients, and it is often the case that an unfavorable audit report is likely to result in a client firm changing auditors (Levinthal Fichman, 1988; Seabright, Levinthal, Fichman, 1992). Even if the accounting firm is large enough that one account is a trivial percentage of its revenues, individual auditors’ jobs and careers may depend on success with specific clients. Perhaps more importantly, accounting firms often treat auditing work as a way to build relationships that will allow them to sell other services including management consulting, information technology assistance, or tax accounting. Although some have argued that the contingent rents available through consulting services should not influence audit quality (Antle, Griffen, Teece, Williamson, 1997; Dopuch, King, Schwartz, 2001), other recent evidence suggests that it may (Frankel, Johnson, Nelson, in press). An auditor’s job is complex, involving the accumulation and synthesis of a great deal of information about a client firm. The information available to auditors often includes the kind of ambiguity that facilitates motivated information processing. Joseph Berardino, Arthur Andersen’s former chief executive, in his congressional testimony on the Enron collapse, commented that: Many people think accounting is a science, where one number, namely earnings per share, is the number, and it’s such a precise number, that it couldn’t be two pennies higher or two pennies lower. I come from a school that says it’s really much more of an art (as quoted in Harris, 2001). This imprecision allows motivated reasoning to insinuate itself into auditors judgments. Historically, those who have defended auditors against charges of bias have emphasized their high ethical standards and professional values. For example, at the SEC hearings on auditor independence, Gary Shamis, Chairman of the Management of an Accounting Practice Committee at the AICPA, stated that: Conflict of Interest 9 We take the existing independence rules quite seriously, and consequently abide by all the existing rules. We are professionals that follow our code of ethics and practice by the highest moral standards. We would never be influenced by our own personal financial well being (Shamis, 2000) While it is likely that most auditors attempt to remain independent, neither ethical codes nor training are likely to be effective remedies against a bias that is unconscious and unintentional. Undoubtedly, the vast majority of auditors do not deliberately author biased reports. Instead, auditors’ roles influence their professional assessments so that their private beliefs become consistent with the interests of their clients. Although it is possible that auditors sometimes intentionally misrepresent their findings in public, it is more likely that self-interest operates indirectly, by unconsciously influencing auditors’ assessments of a client’s financial condition. The Studies The three experiments reported here bring together research on motivated reasoning and accountability to study the psychology auditors judgments. Experiment 1 presents data from professional auditors and tests the hypothesis that their judgments may be biased in favor of client firms (Hypothesis 1). The second and third studies examine the causes behind this effect; they examine factors that could moderate the magnitude of bias, and test the extent to which the bias can be consciously undone. Participants were asked to produce two judgments: one public and the other private. For the public judgments, subjects were given an explicit incentive to be biased. For the private judgments, they were given an incentive to be unbiased; they were paid on the basis of how close their judgments came to those provided by an impartial panel of experts. If participants were fully aware of the bias in their public reports, and if properly motivated to do so, they should have been able to adjust their evaluations to eliminate the bias in their private judgments. If they were not fully aware of the bias, as the research on motivated information processing would suggest, then their private estimates should have been biased as well (Hypothesis 2). Experiment 2 specifically tests the consequences of financial incentives on bias. To the extent that financial incentives affect the strength of the auditors desire to reach a particular conclusion, one might expect to observe parallel changes in the magnitude of bias. Experiment 2 tests the hypothesis that the greater one’s financial interest in a particular outcome, the more biased one will be in the direction of that outcome (Hypothesis 3). The third study examines the effect of the relationship between the auditor and the principal. Material interests are not the only factors that can undermine the impartiality of judgments. Personal relationships and affiliations can have a similar effect. The power of affiliations is evident in sports fans; questionable referee calls often provoke outrage by the fans of the call’s loser, but rarely by fans on the winning side. Indeed, one of the first studies that documented the self-serving bias involved sports teams. In their classic study of a particularly rough football game, Hastdorf and Cantril (1954) showed that fans from each side blamed the other team for behaving more aggressively; this result also held for fans who had not seen the game live but only watched a film of the game. These fans obtained no material benefit from their energetic advocacy but nevertheless made judgments that favored their own teams. The self-serving bias does not require the powerful affiliations associated with sports teams. Thompson (1995) has shown, in a simulated labor dispute, that it takes only a whiff of affiliation with a partisan to create sympathetic leanings. Naturally, this tendency is only strengthened when people feel accountable to the partisan (Lerner Tetlock, 1999; Tetlock, 1992). Most auditors are likely to have frequent close contact with a client, creating much stronger affiliations. Indeed, it is the cooperation of the client that makes it possible for auditors to do their jobs. Thus, Experi ment 3 tests the hypothesis that the closer one’s personal relationship with a particular individual, the more biased one will be in that person’s favor (Hypothesis 4). EXPERIMENT 1: Role-Conferred Biases Method Participants were 139 professional auditors employed full-time by one of the Big Four accounting firms in the United States. Their ages ranged from 23 to 55, with a mean of 29 years (SD = 6.2). Fifty-six percent of the participants were male. They had a mean of five years (SD = 5.7) working as an auditor. Nine participants requested, after they had handed in their questionnaires, that their responses be excluded from subsequent data analyses. Participants were given five different auditing vignettes and asked them to come to a judgment regarding the proper auditing in each case. The problems were intentionally chosen to be somewhat difficult accounting problems for which generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) did not provide an unambiguous solution. Each of the vignettes depicts a situation in which accounting issues that are not clearly addressed by current rule-based accounting standards. The issues addressed include the recognition of intangible assets on the financial statements (vignette 1), the restructuring of debt with dilutive securities (vignette 2), the recognition vs. deferral of revenues (vignette 3), capitalization vs. expensing of expenditures (vignette 4), and the treatment of research and development costs on the financial statements (vignette 5). Subjects were told that these cases were independent of each other and hypothetical, although are intentionally realistic. It was our goal to design these vignettes such that the issues that are described are more general and do not particularly apply to any one  industry, to ensure that auditors specializing in one industry will not have a specific advantage or disadvantage in answering any of the questions. All participants saw all five vignettes in the same order. The five vignettes are listed in Appendix A. The experiment had a 2 (role: hired by issuer or by outside investor) X 2 (question order: make accounting valuation first vs. evaluate other’s accounting first) between-subjects factorial design. The role manipulation varied whom participants were told they were working for. Half the participants’ materials informed them that they had been hired as the external auditor for the firm in question. The other half of participants were told that they were working for an outside investor considering investing money in the firm. The question order manipulation varied the order of the questions that followed every vignette. Those in the choice-first condition were first presented with (1) the firm’s unaudited accounting, and were asked whether they would accept it as complying with GAAP; and (2) what the right accounting would be. Those in the valuation-first condition got these two questions in the reverse order. All participants were also asked how confident they were about their judgments. Results Neither age nor years of auditing experience affected the dependent measures reported below. Therefore, we do not report them in any of the subsequent analyses. We hypothesized that participants would be more likely to come to the conclusion that the accounting behind a firm’s financial reports complied with GAAP if they were working for the firm than if they were not (Hypothesis 1). To test this hypothesis, we conducted a 2 (role: hired by issuer or by outside investor) X 2 (question order: make accounting valuation first vs. Conflict of Interest 13 evaluate other’s accounting first) MANOVA using the five approval decisions as dependent variables. The results show a significant main effect of role. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, those working as external auditor for a firm were significantly more likely to approve its accounting (M = 29%, SD = 24%) than were those who represented outside investors (M = 22%, SD = 21%), F (5, 107) = 2.9, p .05. Neither the main effect of question order nor its interaction with role is significant. We also expected, consistent with Hypothesis 1, that in addition to being more willing to endorse the firm’s own accounting, participants would be more likely to come to valuation decisions that were favorable to the target firm when they were considering the problem from the perspective of an outside auditor then when they had taken the perspective of a potential investor. To test this prediction, we first generated standardized scores for each item by computing a zscore of the valuation and reverse-scoring items as appropriate so that higher scores indicated valuations more favorable to the target firm. We then computed an average valuation for each participant and submitted these valuations to a 2 (role: hired by issuer or by outside investor) X 2 (question order: make accounting valuation first vs. evaluate other’s accounting first) ANOVA. The results show a main effect of role: Those playing the role of outside auditor came to more favorable valuations (M = .08, SD = .56) than did those working for a potential investor, (M = -.11, SD = .50), F (1, 134) = 4.07, p .05. Neither the main effect of question order nor its interaction with role is significant. Discussion The results of Experiment 1 are broadly consistent with research on accountability that shows that people tend to be proactively responsive to those to whom they expect to be accountable. When people are accountable to others with known preferences, then their judgments tend to be consistent with the preferences of those to whom they are accountable (Tetlock, 1983). An auditor who feels accountable to the client is more likely to issue a clean, unqualified audit report than one who feels accountable to an audit partner within his or her own firm (Buchman, Tetlock, Reed, 1996). However, it is worth noting that the accountability manipulation used in Experiment 1 was weak compared with the standard accountability manipulations in which people are led to believe that they will actually be meeting with a real person to whom they will need to justify their decisions. In Experiment 1, no mention was made of such accountability and participants were not required to justify their opinions. Nevertheless, this weak manipulation had an effect. We speculate that one reason for its effectiveness may be that the participants were familiar with the role of auditor, and so were able to easily put themselves in the role of being employed by, and accountable to, the client firm. One notable feature of the results of Experiment 1 is the low levels of endorsement. Nearly three quarters of the time, participants rejected the accounting proposed in the vignette as not complying with GAAP. This fact stands in contrast to the fact that the vast majority of all audit reports are unqualified. Two facts can explain the low endorsement rates in Experiment 1. First, the proposed accounting we gave participants in each vignette was intentionally designed to be fairly aggressive. Second, participants general suspiciousness was heightened because: (1) before they responded to the questionnaire, participants had to sign the consent form which, according to the rules of the institutional review board that approved it, had to include the name of the study: Auditor independence and bias; and (2) the participants had all been recently hired away from Arthur Andersen, and several expressed the concern that their ex-employers fate would be assumed to reflect badly on them. It is, perhaps, striking that the experiments manipulation worked despite participants heightened suspiciousness. Experiment 1 leaves a number of important theoretical questions unanswered. What, exactly, is it in the relationship between auditor and client that leads it to have the power to sway auditors judgments, given the clear ethical standards of their professions prohibiting such influence? Experiments 2 and 3 test two possible answers to this question: financial incentives and personal relationships. Because these two factors are confounded in actual auditor-client relationships, the experiments are conducted with participants who are not professional auditors. However, due to the fact that these non-auditor participants were unfamiliar with GAAP and so could not judge compliance with it, we created a slightly different experimental paradigm. EXPERIMENT 2: The Role of Financial Incentives Method Participants. One hundred twelve individuals participated for pay. Participants were recruited with advertisements in local newspapers and with flyers posted on the campuses of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Forty-nine percent of the participants were male. They ranged in age from 20 to 41, with an average age of 24 years (SD = 5.18 years). Procedure. Participants were run in groups of four. They were assigned to one of four roles: the buyer, the buyer’s auditor, the seller, or the seller’s auditor. Principals (the buyer and the seller) were seated next to their auditors. All four participants received the same packet of information about the target firm, named E-Settle (see Appendix B). After reading through these materials, the principals made public reports on the value of the firm. The auditors then reviewed these reports and offered either an unqualified endorsement of the principal’s assessment or offered their own assessments that could include suggestions for revision. In addition, all auditors were asked to specify both the most they thought the buyer should consider paying and the least they thought the seller should consider accepting. Both the principals’ and the auditors’ public reports were viewed by both principals. Armed with their own estimates and those of their auditors, principals then negotiated the purchase of the firm. The principals were paid based on their negotiated outcomes. In addition to the auditors’ public reports, which went to both principals, the auditors each completed a private report that went only to the experimenter. This private report instructed auditors to report their true belief in the value of t he target firm, and told them, â€Å"Your goal is for this assessment to be as impartial as you can make it.† Participants were told that their estimates of the firm’s value would be compared with the opinions of nonpartisan experts. The panel of experts consisted of eight professors of accounting and finance at Carnegie Mellon University’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration. The experts had assessed the value of the firm at $14 million. If a participant’s valuation were within $3 million of the experts’, he or she would receive an additional $3 payment. Participants were then asked to express how confident they were in the accuracy of their private appraisals. They were given the opportunity to bet on their private appraisals. If they chose to take the bet, they stood to win more money ($6 instead of $3, but their appraisals had to be more accurate (within $1.5 million instead of $3 million). Finally, participants answered questions designed to assess the degree to which they believed their own appraisals of the target firm (E-Settle) may have been bias ed by the roles they played: Conflict of Interest 17 1) To what extent do you believe your private appraisal of the value of E-Settle was biased by your role? The response scale ran from 0 (no bias whatsoever) to 10 (powerfully biased). 2) To what extent do you think your role interfered with your ability to give an impartial estimate of E-Settle’s value in your private assessment? The response scale ran from 1 (it did not influence me at all) to 7 (I found it impossible to make an impartial assessment). 3) How do you believe your role influenced your estimate of E-Settle’s value in your private appraisal? The response scale ran from -$3,000,000 (It led me to make an appraisal that was at least $3 million below what it would otherwise have been) to +$3,000,000 (It led me to make an appraisal that was at least $3 million above what it would otherwise have been). Design. The experiments manipulation of incentive structures included three conditions: Fixed fee, Pay for performance, and Future business. In the fixed fee condition, auditors were paid a fixed $9 fee regardless of their reports and regardless of the principal’s outcomes. In the pay for performance condition, auditors received a $3 base payment plus the same contingent payments as their principals: $.50 per $1 million in sale price either above $0 (for the seller) or below $30 million (for the buyer). This manipulation was designed to mirror a practice that the SEC has made illegal in which auditors have a direct financial stake in the success of a client firm. In the future business condition, auditors received a $3 base payment; after the negotiation was complete, principals could choose to award future business to the auditor, worth anywhere from $0 to $10. The decision of how much business to give to the auditor did not influence the principal’s own earnings. This manipulation was designed to mirror the incentives present for auditors who would like to continue offering profitable services to a client who has the choice of hiring them or some other firm. Results Public reports. After reading about the target firm, principals provided estimates of its value. A 2 (role: buyer vs. seller) X 3 (pay: fixed, pay for performance, future business) ANOVA revealed a main effect for role. Sellers estimated the value of the firm to be higher (M = $21.5 MM, SD = $8.5 MM) than did buyers (M = $12.3 MM, SD = $12.3 MM), F(1, 49) = 18.94, p .001. After having seen this report, auditors had the option of either unconditionally endorsing the principal’s report or suggesting changes. A logistic regression reveals that neither role nor the extremity of the principal’s valuation influenced the frequency of endorsement. However, pay condition was a significant predictor of the tendency to endorse, B = -.75, p .05. Auditors in the fixed payment and pay for performance conditions were about equally likely to issue unconditional endorsements (50 percent and 47 percent respectively). However, auditors in the future business condition were less likely to issue an unconditional endorsement (17 percent) and instead tended to offer suggestions for revision (see Table 1), χ2(2) = 4.89, p .05. In professional auditing, issuing a conditional endorsement of a client’s financial statements suggests that the auditor believes there are problems. However, participants in the present experiment were not constrained in this way. In their reports, about 12 percent of auditors suggested that their principals had been too extreme in their valuation of the company, and advised moderation (lower prices recommended to sellers and higher prices to buyers).

The Marxist critique of capitalism

The Marxist critique of capitalism Marx critique of capitalism has been, and in certain respects, remains important in the development of global economies. Marxs critique of capitalism stems from his view that capitalism is a wonderful innovation, but immorally exploitative. Therefore the Marxist critique of capitalism aims to justify this point and provide an alternate form of economic and political system. Yet does Marx succeed in providing an effective critique of capitalism? Or has the collapse of the Soviet Union and mass global capitalism bring with it the end of official, public discourse about Marxism? Or has the recent financial recession rejuvenated the Marxist critique of capitalism? These questions require answers in order to reach a conclusion on whether the Marxist critique is accurate and still applicable to capitalism. Marx critique of capitalism has not only had an impact on the discipline of philosophy and economics, but also an impact upon the globalised world. Marx was a character influenced by the prominent writers of his time, most notable Fredrich Hegel. Marx began his academic writings with a critique of Hegels theory of the Spirit and continued to criticise Hegels idea that the state is above civil society. In 1884 Marx began to apply his philosophy to the analysis of economic life. Marx wrote in the Paris Manuscripts Religion occurs only in the realm of the consciousness, but economy alienation is that of real life; it transcendences therefore covers both aspects(Hughes 2003 :). Marx was critical of economic doctrines of his day, arguing that they confused a particular historical situation for the natural, universal condition of humanity. Marx argued that political economist theories failed as they assumed the actual fact of capitalist production, rather than seeing it as one particular a nd historically specific form of production (Hughes 2003 :). Marx idea of capitalism is a historically specific mode of production, in which capital is the means of production. For Marx this production cannot be defined by technology, but in the way production is owned or controlled, and by the social relationships between each individual characterised by the process of this production. This suggests that social and historical development can be explained in means of economic and class factors. In the eyes of Marx economic factors are based on the idea of exchange, and that exchange in capitalism takes form in the exchange of property. Private property is an essential feature of capitalism. Marx critiques the capitalist notion that the notion of Private Property is the rational system for Exchange. Marx stresses that private property is only maintained in capitalist societies by an elaborate system of laws supported by the power of the state (Hughes 2003 :). For free market capitalist such as Adam Smith it is the acquisition of private property that motivates people to produce wealth, but this acquisition will bring about the breakdown of genuine social relationships (Hughes 2003 :). Why does Marx believe this? The answer Marx gives is a logical one; ones persons ownership of an object denies its benefits to another creating conflict and producing fierce competition over resources*. Marx explains that in the case when property is actually the product of anothers work, it becomes human alienation. In such a scenario under capitalism, labour is effectively reduced to a mere commodity and work becomes depersonalised*. In this view workers efforts enrich and empower those who oppress them, the capitalist, alienated from their product and processes of their labour and ultimately, from themselves as creative and social beings* (Heywood). Marx believes that humans are unique in that we have the capacity to control the environment and create wealth from it. Examples of humans efforts exemplify this point; humans have built houses instead of sheltering in caves, constructed dams to produce hydro electricity. These are to name a few examples were humans have changed the environment to benefit general welfare. Activity of work has a special significance essential to human beings, yet under the conditions of alienated labour this is denied. The capitalist argument that private property motivates is rendered by Marx as simply a consequence of alienated labour. Alienated Labour is important in understanding Marx critique of capitalism, yet more central to Marx critique of capitalism is class struggle. Marx views the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles (Marx and Engels 1985:79). In a capitalist society division arises from the existence of private property. There is division between the bourgeoisie, the owners of the means of production, and the proletariat, a class of labourers who live only so long as they find workthese labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity (Marx and Engels 1985:83). In previous and contemporary societies this division is evident. Institutes such as universities reinforce these divisions, for example Oxbridge caters to those more bourgeoisie and polytechnics cater to those proletariat in society. The bourgeoisie is the ruling class, not only by economic power through the ownership of wealth, but by also wielding political power. The bourgeoisie, since establi shment of modern industry, has established exclusive political sway in form of a modern representative state. The state is a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie (Marx and Engels 1985:83). For Marx the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is one of irreconcilable conflict, in that the proletariat is necessarily and systematically exploited under capitalism*. Marx believed that labour is the only real source of wealth. Capital itself; land factories, ports, railroads, etc.; represents simply stored labour, since it was, at some point, constructed by wage employees (website objectivistcenter.org).Thus in search of profit the capitalist extract this surplus value by paying the workers less than the value of their labour*. As a result unstabliluty defines capitalism, as the proletariat cannot be permanently reconciled to exploitation and oppression (Heywood 2007:56). Marx believed that the oppression inbuilt into capitalism consequently means that it will be its own grave digger. Marx believed that a serious crisis of overproduction will bring forth a proletarian revolution. The revolution against bourgeoisie goes through stages of development. Firstly, class struggle against the Bourgeoisie is not targeted against Bourgeois conditions of product but against the individual who exploits the individual member of the Proletariat; or it may take the form of attack on the means of production, for example smashing machinery**notes. But with the development of industry the proletariat not only increases in number; it becomes concentrated in greater masses, its strength grows, and it feels that strength more (Marx and Engels 1985:89). This allows the proletariat to form a class, an identity, a collective consciousness. The ever-expanding union of workers forms one character and this mobilizes into a national struggle; the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. Marx proclaimed that this proletarian revolution was inevitable, beginning with the seizure of the means of production, the dictatorship of the proletariat in order to contain a counter-revolution and then the eventual peaceful transition to socialism. Marx argued that eventually class antagonism would fade and a fully communist society would come into existence and the proletarian state would wither away. A communist society would eradicate all private property; all property would be owned in common by all. It would be a classless society. Commodity production would be replaced by one of production for use geared to the satisfaction of genuine human needs* heywood. With this Marx argues, The prehistory of man would come to an end, allowing human beings for th e first time to realise their full potential (Heywood 2007:57). Marx writings have developed major ideas which have come to be regarded as the foundations of Marxist thought. Nonetheless Marx political and economic critique on capitalism has come under scrutiny from a variety of academics. A problem with Marx critique is the adoption of the labour theory of value. Marx refusal to accept anything other than the theory that humans are the only source that can add value to raw materials leads to complications. If only humans can add value then what of automated machines that produce value or at the minimum cooperate with humans to create value. If we were not to diverge from Marx argument, it must be concluded that no value is added by such machines. Therefore machines that produce uranium enriched nuclear power providing electricity for millions would have added no value. To conclude this would be illogical as such machines do add value, as they benefit human wellbeing. Further, sheer physical force and labour are of no use if not directed. Amanda Bissell argues that though it is true that labor is needed to construct factories, but throwing a 100 directionless men into a lot with some steel girders, tools and their muscle and with no plan, no blueprint, or leadership will not yield anything that contributes meaningful to production (website as of before). Capitalist provides such direction. Marx inability to understand private property as indispensible to human freedom further weakens his critique of capitalism. Marx critique of capitalism would place the ownership or the control of capital in the hands of those whom hold political power*. Marx solution to capitalism would thus combine economic and political power, the two major sources of power. Louis Kelsos in his Critique of Karl MarxsDas Kapital highlights that If the factory owners of the nineteenth century, having political influence but not unlimited political power, were in a position to exploit the workers, the bureaucrats of the twentieth century in a socialised state, possessing both unlimited economic and political through ownership of the instruments of production, are infinitely better equipped to exploit workers and other non-bureaucrats (Website one with three critiques). The exploitation of a socialised state is illustrated by the Soviet Union. The crumbling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the swift collapse of the Soviet Union that followed was viewed as a global triumph for free market capitalism. The rise of Neo-liberal economic policies in the 1970s changed the international economic, social and political landscapes. Neo-liberal economic policies have earmarked the monetary union in Europe and the continued growth of Japan and the emergence of South Korea and Singapore as economic forces. Both these factors lead academics to cite that Marxism is dead, that Marxism is no longer a viable theory, or politics for the present age (whither Marxism). Francis Fukuyama in his acclaimed End of History argued that Marxism failed in that it sought to promote in extreme form of social equality at the expense of liberty, by eliminating natural inequalities through the reward not of talent but of need, and through the attempt to abolish division of labor (Fukuyam 1992:273). For Fukuyama free market capitalism provides the perfect trade -off point between liberty and equality. Fukuyama argument is a compelling argument. Over the latter half of the twentieth century capitalism has changed significantly from the capitalism that Marx critiqued in the ninetieth century. Marx in his critique of capitalism makes no reference to the States economic, or its social and political role. Trade unions emerged in the twentieth century as an important and recognised party in the wage bargain. In the ninetieth century trade unions did have not have such an importance on the political and economic factors in the capitalist society. Similarly under capitalist systems universal suffrage has been achieved, allowing all influence on matters of the economy, even at some small level. Universal suffrage has allowed for the rise of social democratic parties across Europe, whose policies have sought to address the redistributive inequalities experienced in capitalism. Welfare systems, social housing and social unemployment relief are to mention a few of the redistributive measures taken by socialist democratic parties. Neo-Marxists express an alternative argument regarding the collapse of Soviet Union and its effects on Marxism. The conditions for the proletarian revolution to occur and for communism to be established, were different from those economic and social conditions of early twentieth century Russia. Marx believed that the revolution would occur in an industrial nation like Britain, a nation with both national and global industry. Russia was not an industrialised nation to this extent in the early twentieth century, and therefore a Marxian communist society was never established under the Soviet Union. Kellner points out, Marxism has been traditionally a theory of class, one which defines the concept of class based on different power groupings. The fact that the Soviet Union collapsed can ultimately be traced to the corruption and bureaucratisation of it ruling class. It never overcame the problem of alienated labour (Magnus and Cullenberg 1995:4). Zhang Longxi in a similar vein views comm unism under the Soviet Union as dead, but Marxism as a theory is very much alive (Magnus and Cullenberg 1995:5). After examining the Marxist critique of capitalism it can be concluded that the critique of capitalism was a critique of ninetieth century capitalism, which can no longer apply to contemporary capitalism. Capitalism for the most part of the twentieth century has evolved to meet the needs of popular demand. Class antagonism is not the same as Marx described, there is no longer a fierce class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, class de-alignment has taken hold of Western capitalist societies. Neo liberalism has become dominant throughout the globe. It is no longer just Western Capitalist societies that have adapted the neo-liberal free market approach to economics but also developing countries. Despite inequality still arising within free market capitalism, opportunity is also created. Free trade allows for growth and increases a nations prosperity. The recent global financial crash has propelled Marxs critique back to the forefront of political debate. Yet capitalis m still prevails, but what occur from its failings are new developments to these failings created by capitalism. Obama healthcare package in the United States, a traditional strict free market capitalist society, is evident to this fact. Marx critique of capitalism thus underestimated the ability for capitalism to restructure itself. Bibliography Ryner, J. (2000) Capitalist Restructuring, Globalisation and the Third Way: Lessons from the Sweedish model, London; Routledge Magun, B, Cullenberg, S. (1995) Whither Marxism? Global Crises in International Perspective, London; Routledge Heywood, A. (2007) Foundations in Politics, Basingstoke; Palgrave Macmillan Marx, K, Engels, F. (1985) The Communist Manifesto; with an Introduction by A.J.P Taylor, London; Penguin Fukuyama, F (1992) The End of History and The Last Man, Harmondsworth; Penguin Hughes, J. (2003) Understanding Classical Sociology, London; Sage Publications Websites http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/almostcapitalist.htm http://objectivistcenter.org/cth1298-Marxs_Surplus_Value_Theory.aspx The Marxist Critique Of Capitalism The Marxist Critique Of Capitalism Marx critique of capitalism has been, and in certain respects, remains important in the development of global economies. Marxs theory stems from his view that capitalism is a wonderful innovation, but immorally exploitative. Therefore the Marxist critique of capitalism aims to justify this point and provide an alternate form of economic and political system. Yet does Marx succeed in providing an effective critique of capitalism? Or has the collapse of the Soviet Union and mass global capitalism bring with it the end of official, public discourse about Marxism? Or has the recent financial recession rejuvenated the Marxist critique of capitalism? These questions require answers in order to reach a conclusion on whether the Marxist critique is accurate and still applicable to capitalism. Marx critique of capitalism has not only had an impact on the discipline of philosophy and economics, but also an impact upon the globalised world. Marx was a character influenced by the prominent writers of his time, most notable Fredrich Hegel. Marx began his academic writings with a critique of Hegels theory of the Spirit and continued to criticise Hegels idea that the state is above civil society. In 1884 Marx began to apply his philosophy to the analysis of economic life. Marx wrote in the Paris Manuscripts â€Å"Religion occurs only in the realm of the consciousness, but economy alienation is that of real life; it transcendences therefore covers both aspects† (Hughes 2003 :). Marx was critical of economic doctrines of his day, arguing that they confused a particular historical situation for the natural, universal condition of humanity. Marx argued that political economist theories failed as they â€Å"assumed the actual fact of capitalist production, rather than seeing it as one particular and historically specific form of production† (Hughes 2003 :). Marx idea of capitalism is a historically specific mode of production, in which capital is the means of production. For Marx this production cannot be defined by technology, but in the way production is owned or controlled, and by the social relationships between each individual characterised by the process of this production. This suggests that social and historical development can be explained in means of economic and class factors. In the eyes of Marx economic factors are based on the idea of exchange, and that exchange in capitalism takes form in the exchange of property. Private property is an essential feature of capitalism. Marx critiques the capitalist notion that the notion of ‘Private Property is the rational system for Exchange. Marx stresses that â€Å"private property is only maintained in capitalist societies by an elaborate system of laws supported by the power of the state† (Hughes 2003 :). For free market capitalist such as Adam Smith it is the acquisition of private property that motivates people to produce wealth, but this acquisition will bring about the â€Å"breakdown of genuine social relationships† (Hughes 2003 :). Why does Marx believe this? The answer Marx gives is a logical one; ones persons ownership of an object denies its benefits to another creating conflict and producing fierce competition over resources. Marx explains that in the case when property is actually the product of anothers work, it becomes human alienation. In such a scenario under capitalism, labour is effectively reduced to a mere commodity and work becomes depersonalised. In this view workers efforts enrich and empower those who oppress them, the capitalist, alienated from their product and processes of their labour and ultimately, from themselves as â€Å"creative and social beings† (Heywood 2007:56). Marx believes that humans are unique in that we have the capacity to control the environment and create wealth from it. Examples of humans efforts exemplify this point; humans have built houses instead of sheltering in caves, constructed dams to produce hydro electricity. These are to name a few examples were humans have changed the environment to benefit general welfare. Activity of work has a special significance essential to human beings, yet under the conditions of alienated labour this is denied. The capitalist argument that private property motivates is rendered by Marx as simply a consequence of alienated labour. Alienated Labour is important in understanding Marx critique of capitalism, yet more central to Marx critique of capitalism is class struggle. Marx views â€Å"the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles† (Marx and Engels 1985:79). In a capitalist society division arises from the existence of private property. There is division between the bourgeoisie, the owners of the means of production, and the proletariat, â€Å"a class of labourers who live only so long as they find workthese labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity† (Marx and Engels 1985:83). In previous and contemporary societies this division is evident. Institutes such as universities reinforce these divisions, for example Oxbridge caters to those more ‘bourgeoisie and polytechnics cater to those ‘proletariat in society. The bourgeoisie is the ruling class, not only by economic power through the ownership of wealth, but by also wielding polit ical power. The bourgeoisie, since establishment of modern industry, has established exclusive political sway in form of a modern representative state. The state is â€Å"a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie† (Marx and Engels 1985:83). For Marx the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is one of irreconcilable conflict, in that the proletariat is necessarily and systematically exploited under capitalism. Marx believed that labour is the only real source of wealth. Capital itself; â€Å"land factories, ports, railroads, etc.; represents simply stored labour, since it was, at some point, constructed by wage employees† (http://objectivistcenter.org/cth1298-Marxs_Surplus_Value_Theory.aspx 24/03/2010).Thus in search of profit the capitalist extract this surplus value by paying the workers less than the value of their labour. As a result instability defines capitalism, as the â€Å"proletariat cannot be permanently reconciled to exploitation and oppression† (Heywood 2007:56). Marx believed that the oppression inbuilt into capitalism consequently means that it will be its own grave digger. Marx believed that a serious crisis of overproduction will bring forth a proletarian revolution. The revolution against bourgeoisie goes through stages of development. Firstly, class struggle against the Bourgeoisie is not targeted against Bourgeois conditions of product but against the individual who exploits the individual member of the Proletariat; or it may take the form of attack on the means of production, for example smashing machinery. But with the development of industry the â€Å"proletariat not only increases in number; it becomes concentrated in greater masses, its strength grows, and it feels that strength more† (Marx and Engels 1985:89). This allows the proletariat to form a class, an identity, a collective consciousness. The ever-expanding union of workers forms one character and this mobilizes into a national struggle; the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. Marx proclaimed that this proletarian revolution was inevitable, beginning with the seizure of the means of production, the dictatorship of the proletariat in order to contain a counter-revolution and then the eventual peaceful transition to socialism. Marx argued that eventually class antagonism would fade and a fully communist society would come into existence and the proletarian state would wither away. A communist society would eradicate all private property; all property would be owned in common by all. It would be a classless society. Commodity production would be replaced by one of production for use geared to the satisfaction of genuine human needs. With this Marx argues, â€Å"The prehistory of man would come to an end, allowing human beings for the first time to realise their full potential† (Heywood 2007:57). Marx writings have developed major ideas which have come to be regarded as the foundations of Marxist thought. Nonetheless Marx political and economic critique on capitalism has come under scrutiny from a variety of academics. A problem with Marx critique is the adoption of the labour theory of value. Marx refusal to accept anything other than the theory that humans are the only source that can add value to raw materials leads to complications. If only humans can add value then what of automated machines that produce value or at the minimum cooperate with humans to create value. If we were not to diverge from Marx argument, it must be concluded that no value is added by such machines. Therefore machines that produce uranium enriched nuclear power providing electricity for millions would have added no value. To conclude this would be illogical as such machines do add value, as they benefit human wellbeing. Further, sheer physical force and labour are of no use if not directed. Amanda Bissell argues that â€Å"though it is true that labor is needed to construct factories, but throwing a 100 directionless men into a lot with some steel girders, tools and their muscle and with no plan, no blueprint, or leadership will not yield anything that contributes meaningful to production† (http://objectivistcenter.org/cth1298-Marxs_Surplus_Value_Theory.aspx 24/03/2010). Capitalist provides such direction. Marx inability to understand private property as indispensible to human freedom further weakens his critique of capitalism. Marx critique of capitalism would place the ownership or the control of capital in the hands of those whom hold political power. Marx solution to capitalism would thus combine economic and political power, the two major sources of power. Louis Kelsos in his Critique of Karl MarxsDas Kapital highlights that â€Å"If the factory owners of the nineteenth century, having political influence but not unlimited political power, were in a position to exploit the workers, the bureaucrats of the twentieth century in a socialised state, possessing both unlimited economic and political through ownership of the instruments of production, are infinitely better equipped to exploit workers and other non-bureaucrats† (http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/almostcapitalist.htm 24/03/2010). The exploitation of a socialised state is illustrated by the Soviet Union. The crumbling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the swift collapse of the Soviet Union that followed was viewed as a global triumph for free market capitalism. The rise of Neo-liberal economic policies in the 1970s changed the international economic, social and political landscapes. Neo-liberal economic policies have earmarked the monetary union in Europe and the continued growth of Japan and the emergence of South Korea and Singapore as economic forces. Both these factors lead academics to cite that â€Å"Marxism is dead, that Marxism is no longer a viable theory, or politics for the present age† (whither Marxism). Francis Fukuyama in his acclaimed ‘End of History argued that â€Å"Marxism failed in that it sought to promote in extreme form of social equality at the expense of liberty, by eliminating natural inequalities through the reward not of talent but of need, and through the attempt to abolish division of labor† (Fukuyam 1992:273). For Fukuyama free market ca pitalism provides the perfect trade-off point between liberty and equality. Fukuyama argument is a compelling argument. Over the latter half of the twentieth century capitalism has changed significantly from the capitalism that Marx critiqued in the ninetieth century. Marx in his critique of capitalism makes no reference to the States economic, or its social and political role. Trade unions emerged in the twentieth century as an important and recognised party in the wage bargain. In the ninetieth century trade unions did have not have such an importance on the political and economic factors in the capitalist society. Similarly under capitalist systems universal suffrage has been achieved, allowing all influence on matters of the economy, even at some small level. Universal suffrage has allowed for the rise of social democratic parties across Europe, whose policies have sought to address the redistributive inequalities experienced in capitalism. Welfare systems, social housing and social unemployment relief are to mention a few of the redistributive measures taken by socialist democratic parties. Neo-Marxists express an alternative argument regarding the collapse of Soviet Union and its effects on Marxism. The conditions for the proletarian revolution to occur and for communism to be established, were different from those economic and social conditions of early twentieth century Russia. Marx believed that the revolution would occur in an industrial nation like Britain, a nation with both national and global industry. Russia was not an industrialised nation to this extent in the early twentieth century, and therefore a Marxian communist society was never established under the Soviet Union. Kellner points out, â€Å"Marxism has been traditionally a theory of class, one which defines the concept of class based on different power groupings. The fact that the Soviet Union collapsed can ultimately be traced to the corruption and bureaucratisation of it ruling class. It never overcame the problem of alienated labour† (Magnus and Cullenberg 1995:4). Zhang Longxi in a similar v ein views communism under the Soviet Union as dead, but Marxism as a theory is â€Å"very much alive† (Magnus and Cullenberg 1995:5). After examining the Marxist critique of capitalism it can be concluded that the critique of capitalism was a critique of ninetieth century capitalism, which can no longer apply to contemporary capitalism. Capitalism for the most part of the twentieth century has evolved to meet the needs of popular demand. Class antagonism is not the same as Marx described, there is no longer a fierce class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, class de-alignment has taken hold of Western capitalist societies. Neo liberalism has become dominant throughout the globe. It is no longer just Western Capitalist societies that have adapted the neo-liberal free market approach to economics but also developing countries. Despite inequality still arising within free market capitalism, opportunity is also created. Free trade allows for growth and increases a nations prosperity. The recent global financial crash has propelled Marxs critique back to the forefront of political debate. Yet capitalis m still prevails, but what occur from its failings are new developments to remedy the failings created by capitalism. Obama healthcare package in the United States, a traditional strict free market capitalist society, is evident to this fact. Marx critique of capitalism thus underestimated the ability for capitalism to restructure itself. Bibliography Desai, M ‘Marxs Political Economy, in T.Bottomore (eds) (1981) Modern Interpretations of Marx,Oxford; Basil Blackwell Fukuyama, F (1992) The End of History and The Last Man,Harmondsworth; Penguin Heywood, A. (2007) Foundations in Politics,Basingstoke; Palgrave Macmillan Hughes, J. (2003) Understanding Classical Sociology,London; Sage Publications Maun, B, Cullenberg, S. (1995) Whither Marxism? Global Crises in International Perspective,London; Routledge Marx, K, Engels, F. (1985) The Communist Manifesto; with an Introduction by A.J.P Taylor,London; Penguin Ryner, J. (2000) Capitalist Restructuring, Globalisation and the Third Way: Lessons from the Sweedish model,London; Routledge Websites Centre for Economic and Social Justice (2010) ‘Louis Kelsos Critique of Karl MarxsDas Kapital http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/almostcapitalist.htm Objectivist Centre (2010) ‘Marx Surplus Theory of Value http://objectivistcenter.org/cth1298-Marxs_Surplus_Value_Theory.aspx