Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, explain the social consequences of Chinas move towards the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus. - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2673 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category History Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? Introduction This paper explores the relationship between two apparently different themes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the essentially postmodern, 20th century established and outsider social philosophy expounded by Norbert Elias (Elias and Scotson, 1994) and the distinctly 21st century and essentially economic programme encapsulated in the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus (PWBC) (Peerenboom, 2014). Every policy, however, has social consequences, and this paper examines the social consequences of the PWBC in an Eliasian context. This paper begins by explicating Elias established and outsider philosophy before moving on to describe the PWBC. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, explain the social consequences of Chinas move towards the Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus." essay for you Create order The social consequences of the PWBC shall then be analysed within the Eliasian context in order to achieve a deep understanding of what these social consequences are and what they could mean for the people of China should the PWBC come to full fruition. The paper ends by drawing together the findings in a conclusion that while the PWBC comprehensively addresses Chinas economic dilemma, its narrow focus and elision of the need for a free media and democratic representation indicates that social consequences go unaddressed, and that China faces social unrest and dislocation as a result. Norbert Elias established and insider concept Elias research as far as this paper is concerned relates to the distinctions between the established à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" those who comprise the official establishment and unofficial, socially mediated cliques à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and the outsiders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" those lacking in connections or social advantage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" who are excluded from the power, economic and knowledge structures of the society in which they live (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Elias philosophy found expression in his significant research into the lives of the people of Winston Parva; Elias Winston Parva was a long-established community, the members of which viewed themselves within structural confines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a quantitatively ordered, dimensional and objectively classified concept (Hofstede, 2001) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" something that offended Elias postmodern tendencies, where the objective is not to seek prima facie classification, but to search for depth and understanding (McSweeney, 2002). The initial research in Winston Parva was conducted by John Scotson, who was a member of the community and was therefore able to establish the validity of his research that long-term immersion endows (Christians, 1997). Elias took Scotsons initial research and rewrote it, adding the insight of the philosopher to its original observational validity. The post-war history of Winston Parva rendered it particularly suitable for sociological enquiry. Pre-1945, Winston Parva had been a community divided on class and economic lines. The powerful established included businessmen, officials and professionals (Elias and Scotson, 1994). The disempowered established consisted of the communitys unskilled labour, skilled artisans and shopworkers; these count among the established because they were bonded through family, occupation and society, and found particular identification in these aspects of their lives (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Post-1945, however, a new influx of people arrived in Win ston Parva. These comprised primarily people from various large cities, seeking homes to replace those lost as a result of wartime bombing (Elias and Scotson, 1994). These outsiders had little in common with each other, there were few extended familial ties and no social ties to bond them into a community; also, for them, work was often hard to find as their skills were not transferrable (Elias and Scotson, 1994). This influx became the outsiders, viewed by the established as the minority of the worst (Elias and Scotson, 1994: 7). Elias concept of the established, characterised by cohesion, self-support, self-praise and self-affirmation and the outsiders, characterised by lack of cohesion, lack of economic power and subject to the blame of others (Elias and Scotson, 1994), is transferrable to many other social settings. It is by this process that the social conditions for people in China undergoing the upheaval of the PWBC shall now be examined. The Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus within the Eliasian context China has seen remarkable economic growth in recent decades, although growth that was typically in double figures until 2009 has slowed since then to a still-impressive but markedly reduced level of 7 per cent per annum for 2015 (The Economist, 2015). Chinas economy has been predicated upon exporting manufactured goods and high levels of investment from government-controlled financial institutions (Peerenboom, 2014). Chinas home-grown variety of post-Mao socialism has facilitated this and has unintentionally led to wide economic disparities among the population; as Chinese former premier Deng Xiaoping said, let a portion of the population get rich first (Hilton, 2012: n.p.). At first sight it appears that post-Mao China has little in common with the Winston Parva of Elias and Scotson (1994). It is important, however, to appreciate that Chinas growth has been macro-economic; much has been achieved in terms of headline data, although for the Chinese equivalent of the newcomers to Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the migrants to Chinese cities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the situation is markedly similar. As Hilton (2012) explains, the established of China are the main beneficiaries of Chinese economic growth, whereas the outsiders, while achieving the greater economic stability that comes with industrial employment, experience geographical and social dislocation. This bears comparison with the outsiders of Winston Parva; they too experienced geographical and social dislocation (Elias and Scotson, 1994). While the political and economic histories and macro-economic situations of Winston Parva and the Chinese cities may differ, the social experiences of their outsiders are significantly comparable. The question remains, however, whether the history and macro-economic situations of these outsiders is influential in their social condition. With one important qualification it appears not, as contemporaneous literature for both countries suggests that the vision of outside rs is preoccupied by their present and their future, not reflecting on their past (Levitt and Jaworsky, 2007). The present is the situation described in this paper; the past for China is the Cultural Revolution, and the past for Winston Parva is the Second World War. The important qualification relates to an aspect of Chinas past and present that, while interesting, remains outside the remit of this paper à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Chinas inaccurately named One-Child Policy (Cai, 2010). As Chinas migrants to the cities are mostly young and single, the effects of the One-Child Policy can be presently discounted, although this may change as the migrant population matures. Presently, however, China faces the dilemma of being caught in what is called the middle-income trap à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the situation where development stalls due to an inability to adapt its economic model to enable the leap from middle-income to high-income status (Ginsburg, 2014). To enable this leap to high-income sta tus, China needs to radically change its economic model from that of exporting cheaply manufactured goods to one of exporting fewer but more expensive premium products and building a comprehensive and sophisticated service sector à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a feature that all high-income countries share. Other developing countries have followed the Washington Consensus paradigm for economic growth, comprising focus on markets and international co-operation (Williamson, 1989), with limited success (Fofack, 2014). China, however, followed its own path, known as the Beijing Consensus or China Model, comprising the export-led, high-investment programme described above (Peerenboom, 2014). While this may bear little comparison with todays Britain, it exhibits startling similarities to the investment-led post-war British drive for exports that was underway in the late-1950s when Scotson conducted his initial research (Elias and Scotson, 1994). Unlike British government policy of the 1950s and be yond, however, there is no immediate provision for representative democracy or media freedom within the PWBC (Banerjee and Duflo, 2008). The success of the Beijing Consensus has been remarkable, but with significant adverse social consequences including income disparity, particularly noticeable between rural and urban areas, and a lack of urban social provision and infrastructure (He and Su, 2013). Like Elias Winston Parva (Elias and Scotson, 1994), Chinese cities have seen mass inward migration from diverse rural areas; these arrivals are recent and socially diverse, and have little in the way of local familial connections or social power. These are the outsiders who come for employment in the burgeoning Chinese private sector, set in contrast against a largely state-employed long-standing urban establishment. As such they correspond significantly to Elias outsiders. Where they differ, however, is that unlike Elias outsiders in Winston Parva, they are almost wholly in employment an d so have a degree of economic power. Their economic power is, however, at present limited by the middle-income exigency of Chinas export-led, high-investment economy, predicated upon mass exports at low production cost (Peerenboom, 2014) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a significant component of which is low remuneration rates. As such, they bear comparison with the outsiders of Winston Parva who also experience economic want due to unemployment (Elias and Scotson, 2014). The PWBC advocates a combination of the free-market approach of the Washington Consensus and the authoritarianism of the Beijing Consensus (Peerenboom, 2014). It is motivated by the need for China to escape the middle-income trap. Income and social status are interlinked as the outsiders in Winston Parva illustrate, although this is not the only relevant factor. In order for communities to be built à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the means by which outsiders can achieve established status à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it is necessary for social an d material infrastructure to be built (Tanaka, 2015). The PWBC recognises the need for material infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" housing, transport, hospitals and schools à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as it is clear that as the migrant population matures, these facilities will be necessary; however the position regarding social infrastructure is less clear. Similarly, Elias and Scotsons (1994) Winston Parva possessed the necessary material infrastructure. As has been explained, the economic situation of the Chinese cities and Winston Parva bears comparison through, in the Chinese cities case, low remuneration rates and, in Winston Parvas case, unemployment. This, however, is where the similarity ends; while the economic outcomes for each location may be similar, the social effects of low pay and unemployment are very different (Stewart, 2005), although amelioration is possibly in sight through the income-raising measures of the PWBC in China and local training and employment measures in Winst on Parva. The Chinese government appears to be either unclear about or unwilling to address the social infrastructure issue. The migrant population in Chinese cities currently works hard to support families in rural areas but, as the migrant population matures, its priorities and needs will change, and the question to be addressed is whether top-down, unrepresentative government will be able to identify that populations social needs and adequately address them. The lessons from Winston Parva suggest not; in Winston Parva, building an estate and filling it with unconnected people from disparate backgrounds and locations did not build a community, and while the outsiders of Winston Parva were poor and largely despised by the established, they at least had the benefit of representation at national and local levels. They also had the benefit of a free media, so their voices could be heard. It appears that the social effects of low pay/unemployment and the presence/absence of repre sentation and a free media crucially distinguish the cities of China from the community of Winston Parva. The established-outsider tension in Winston Parva implicit in the praise and blame associated with unemployment and other facets of social status was maintained from within by the self-supporting established (Scotson and Elias, 1994); however, viewed from outside, such self-affirming practices are regarded as illegitimate, as was the case highlighted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, whereby outsiders plight was identified by the media and subsequently resolved through the power of their democratic representatives (Katrina 10, 2015). Concerning the presence/absence of democratic representation and a free media, in China, unlike in Winston Parva, the voices of the outsiders cannot be heard and, without democratically accountable representation, their social needs cannot be adequately addressed. China faces a social dilemma as serious as its economic one, bu t one that cannot be mediated due to the lack of representation and media access, and while the PWBC may address the economic problems faced by China, it seems unable to provide any solutions to its incipient social ones. Conclusion This paper set out to out to address how, using Norbert Elias concept of the established and the outsiders, the social consequences of Chinas move towards the PWBC may be explained. Elias established-outsider concept was explained using the illustrative example of Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the site of Scotsons and later Elias research. Significant parallels were found between the situations of outsiders in Winston Parva and those in Chinese cities; in both situations, the outsiders were new arrivals from disparate origins, who had no familial or occupational ties to the area or each other. Neither group of outsiders had the means of building a community. There were, however, differences; the Chinese outsiders have a limited degree of economic power whereas their Winston Parva counterparts did not and, while the economic differences are negligible, the social consequences are not, although amelioration in both locations is in prospect; also, the Winston Parva outsiders had access to a free media and democratic representation, whereas the Chinese outsiders do not. The PWBC crucially lacks dimensions in these latter regards, and this is why the social needs of the Chinese outsiders are unlikely to be met by it, and their social future looks bleak and resolvable only through social unrest and dislocation. Elias established-outsider concept was explained using the illustrative example of Winston Parva à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the site of Scotsons and later Elias research. Significant parallels were found between the situations of outsiders in Winston Parva and those in Chinese cities; in both situations, the outsiders were new arrivals from disparate origins, who had no familial or occupational ties to the area or each other. Neither group of outsiders had the means of building a community. There were, however, differences; the Chinese outsiders have a limited degree of economic power whereas their Winston Parva counterparts did not and, while the economic differences are negligible, the social consequences are not, although amelioration in both locations is in prospect; also, the Winston Parva outsiders had access to a free media and democratic representation, whereas the Chinese outsiders do not. The PWBC crucially lacks dimensions in these latter regards, and this is why the social needs of the Chinese outsiders are unlikely to be met by it, and their social future looks bleak and resolvable only through social unrest and dislocation. Bibliography Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2008) What is middle class about the middle classes around the world? in Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(2), pp. 3-28 Cai, Y. (2010) Chinas below-replacement fertility: government policy or socio-economic development? in Population and Development Review, 36(3), pp. 419-440 Christians, C. G. (1997) The ethics of being in a communication context in Christians, C. G. And Traber, M. (eds) Communication Ethics and Universal Values, pp. 3-23, Thousand Oaks: Sage The Economist (2015) Economist Explains: Why Chinas Economy is Slowing, 11th March, 2015 [online] available at https://economist.com, accessed 23rd September, 2015 Elias, N. and Scotson, J. L. (1994) The Established and the Outsiders: a Sociological Enquiry into Community Problems, London: Sage in association with Theory, Culture and Society Fofack, H. (2014) Retrospective analysis of Africa post-HIPC Growth Resurgence: overcoming the risk of immersising growth in Africa Affairs, f orthcoming Ginsburg, T. (2014) The Politics of Law and Development in Middle-Income Countries in Peerenboom, R. and Ginsburg, T. (eds) Law and Development of Middle-Income Countries: Avoiding the Middle-Income Trap, pp. 21-35, New York: Cambridge University Press He, X. and Su, Y. (2013) Do the haves come out ahead in Shanghai courts? in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 10(1), pp. 120-145, March 2013 Hilton, I. (2012) Chinas economic reforms have let party leaders and their families get rich in The Guardian, Friday 26th October, 2012 Hofstede, G. (2001) Cultures Consequences: Comparing Cultures, Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organisations across Nations, Thousand Oaks, Sage Katrina 10 (2015) Resilient New Orleans [online] available at https://.katrina10.org, accessed 23rd September, 2015 Levitt, P. and Jaworsky, B. N. (2007) Transnational migration studies: past developments and future trends in Annual Review of Sociology, (33) pp. 129-156 McSweeney, B . (2002) Hofstedes model of national cultural differences: a triumph of faith à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a failure of analysis in Human Relations, 55(1), pp. 89-118 Peerenboom, R. (2014) Law and Development of Middle-Income Countries: A Post-Washington, Post-Beijing Consensus, public lecture [online] available at https://youtube.com/watch?v=2VwOAKwAHhM Stewart, M. B. (2005) The inter-related dynamics of unemployment and low-wage employment, Warwick Economic Research Papers, No. 741, [online] available at https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/2008/twerp_741.pdf Tanaka, A. (2015) Toward a theory of human security in JICA Institute Working Paper (91), March 2015 Williamson, J. (1989) What Washington Means by Policy Reform [online] available at https://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?researchid=486, accessed 23rd September, 2015

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Ict Ethics Issues in Malaysia - 638 Words

The development of technology which is getting greater and advance often leads to complex ethical, illegal, and societal issues. Thus there were many ethic centers developed in order to examine the implication of the moral principles into various fields that raise throughout the development of the technology such business ethics, engineering ethics, computer ethics, and medical ethics. Computer ethics or ICT ethics are not so much different of the human ethics, the different is how it is perform via the technology has to offered to unethical human. Obviously the world of communication and technology has affected the cultures, values, and social responsibility for good and for harm. The unethical way of using the facilities of ICT may or†¦show more content†¦7) Digital division: May cause an increase to the gap between rich and poor. 8) Professional Ethics: The ICT professional may not well-train and ethical enough to perform tasks. Problems may occur caused by their faulty and useless system. All of these issues may take places in Malaysia if the ICT society is lack of ethical awareness. The cyber crime that had happened in Malaysia that statistically recorded by NISER (www.niser.org.my) since 2003 are hacking, virus, spam, intrusion, harassment, forgery, Denial of Service, mail bomb, and destruction. Pornography is a very serious concern in the Malaysian society, it is strongly define as moral crime in Malaysia, and hence, there lots of cases reported regarding this issue in Malaysia, and the religion organization took taken these cases seriously. Lately, the child pornography issues is quiet a concern in Malaysia, since in global, this is the major seriousness regarding ICT and humanity ethics. Other ICT issue that is serious to the Malaysian government is the piracy issues. Malaysia did not contribute a lot to these matters worldwide but it is a huge concern to the Malaysian society. 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Saturday, December 14, 2019

White Collar Crime Free Essays

Is White Collar Crime an Inside Job? Simply put, the point that Charles Ferguson is trying to get across in his documentary, The Inside Job is that economics is exactly that, it’s an inside job; with many elite employees involved. Economics is a profession, and at the end of the day, it all comes down to power, and the money being brought home by those at the top. Throughout the documentary Ferguson does an excellent job revealing the not so behind the scenes action, that many just don’t pick up on, due to the fact that companies police themselves. We will write a custom essay sample on White Collar Crime or any similar topic only for you Order Now The documentary explains how it effects everyone, even those that are not directly involved or related. Those who are responsible for the financial meltdown in 2008, and the housing bubble are revealed, and an explanation is given as to why they are still in charge of the companies whose actions affected millions of people not only in The United States, but all over the world. Several different types of white collar crimes were committed leading up to the financial crisis, and several different companies were engaging in the large scale criminal activity. Financial deregulation is one of the main topics discussed in the documentary, and how financial institutions were given more freedom; thus making more risky investments with their depositors money, and seeing no consequences when these investments fell through. The documentary brings forward many thoughts about the types of white collar crime committed and how those that are guilty got away with it, how the victims were affected by the careless actions of the companies, as well as the reasons and motivation behind the crimes. The documentary stresses that this crisis was no accident, and that it was all caused by an out of control industry. Each crises causes more and more financial damage, while industries continue to make millions. While the documentary doesn’t once mention the term white collar crime, it doesn’t take much to realize that this was exactly what went on. â€Å"Not only have the vast majority of responsible parties not been convicted of any crime — they haven’t even been charged† (Andrew Leonard, 2012), the employees that destroyed their own companies, and caused crisis all over the world, walked away with all their money, and left millions of people without their savings. Defining White Collar Crime Defined by Edwin Sutherland(1949), white collar crime is â€Å"a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation†. Countless types of white collar crime exist, many people not even being aware of them . It is strongly believed that white collar crime was the cause of the global financial crisis of 2008, which consisted mainly of mortgage, insurance, and security fraud. Marshall Clinard and Richard Quinney (1973) defined two types of white collar crime: occupational, and corporate. They defined occupational crime as being committed by individuals over the course of their occupation, mainly for personal gain, whereas corporate crime is committed by the corporations as a whole, the crime is planned and committed for the corporations financial gain. In The Inside Job, several types of white collar crime were committed, such as: laundering, cooking books, and defrauding customer’s money. Even though those who commit white collar crime are labeled as criminals, they often don’t fall under the typical stereotype that street criminals hold. Reducing the amount of white collar crime is something that is very important and there needs to be more attention toward it. The media definitely needs to focus more on white collar crime, as most news usually revolves around street crime, rather than revealing the crimes being committed by large corporations. A stronger punishment is needed to reduce white collar crime. Often, those who commit white collar crimes get off without jail, because they have the money to pay millions of dollars in fines. Increasing these fines drastically would not allow them to pay for their punishment. Victimization of White Collar Crime Victimization of white collar crime is not something that is often heard of in the media. It’s not uncommon to turn on the news and see countless stories of the victims of murder and robbery, and well as drug related street crimes. But what about the victims of the crime that’s vastly underreported, and even more undetected? People who commit street crime are seen as more dangerous, and often receive a harsh punishment, because they generally have less money,therefore less power. One of the many reasons for the underreported incidences of white collar crime, is simply because there is less to show for it. It is estimated by the Canadian Securities Administration, that nearly 5% of adult Canadians have lost money to some type of investment fraud. White collar crime is often seen as less damaging than street crime, but in reality, victims of white collar crime do suffer from tremendous damages. Aside from the obvious financial loss, they are known to have struggles with psychological, emotional, and physical health (Kempa 2009). Numerous things can happen after people are affected by white collar crimes, such as possibly triggering them to commit street crimes, such as theft, in order to support their family after losing money. A close relationship is often built between the perpetrator and the victim, giving them the sense of trust, thus having them believe that no type of fraud could happen to them. As seen in the documentary, not just those directly involved are affected. When the Wall Street Stock Market crashed in 2008, other countries were also paying the price. Tens of millions of people were affected either directly or indirectly from the global economic crisis. With the sudden drop of employment in America, budgets of those families also decreased drastically, thus buying less in order to save money. This cutback caused several large companies in China to cease their production; causing over 10 million to lose their job. As heard in The Inside Job, Dominique Strauss-Kahn states that â€Å"at the end of the day, the poorest, as always, pay the most†. As mentioned earlier, the employees of the large corporations committing the crimes go home with their hundreds of thousands of dollars, and those affected in poorer countries, are left with nothing. People with money have power, power that can often get them out of situations that many others are not be able to. Self-Control Theory and White Collar Crime The self-control theory argues that all crime stems from the problem of low self control. (Hirschi Gottfredson, 1987). This low self control causes people to act impulsively and spontaneously, value risk and adventure, and care more about themselves than they do others. As stated in The Inside Job, Jonathan Alpert, therapist to many Wall Street exclusives, says that they’re â€Å"risk takers, and impulsive. It’s part of their behaviour, it’s part of their personality†¦ there’s just a blatant disregard for the impact that their actions might have on society, on family†. Many of those that commit white collar crimes are often seen as having the need to control, being charismatic and narcissistic, as well as having a fear of losing their power and their position. Greed is often a primary motivator for white collar criminals. As heard in The Inside Job, â€Å"the bankers showered money on themselves, each other, and their friends†, they lived a wealthy and luxurious life; living in penthouse suites on Park Avenue, owning numerous vacation homes in the Hampton’s, flying around the world in private jets. Living such a wealthy and elite lifestyle, â€Å"it’s quite typical for the guys to go out, to go to strip bars, to use drugs. I see a lot of cocaine use, a lot of use of prostitution†¦ A lot of people feel that they need to really participate in that behavior to make it, to get promoted, to get recognized. † (Alpert, 2010). It’s quite clear that the main motivation behind many of those involved in committing white collar crimes, usually comes down to the power they hold, and most importantly, the money in their pockets. White Collar vs. Street Crime Those who commit street crime are often given a harsher punishment and a more negative reputation than those who commit white collar crimes. In reality, the two types of criminals are not that different, even though their methods of crime are unalike. Should there be different punishment or sentences for those who commit fraud or embezzlement, compared to those who distribute illegal drugs? People with a higher status and more money and power often tend to get a lighter sentence, as both the money and power can often get them out of situations, but this isn’t fair. White collar crimes generally effect people more than street crime. As seen in The Inside Job, the crimes committed by a few large corporations, caused millions of people to lose copious amounts of money, as well as their jobs. A main distinction that can often separate those who commit white collar crime, and those who commit street crime, is their level of education. Many people seen in The Inside Job were those who had graduated, or even worked at respected universities. They were often well educated in economics and business, so they knew every last detail of what they were working with. White collar criminals are often known have a desire for control, causing them to engage in corporate crime, hoping to gain power. The financial crisis of 2008 that affected millions of people, causing tremendous losses of both jobs and money, is something that will be around to haunt people for years. Their victims are left to suffer, while the employees of the large corporations walk away with all their money. The people who commit such white collar crimes are selfish, and only care about their own power and money. Even years after the crisis, news is still floating around, and people are still questioning why the corporations and their employees aren’t seeing punishment. The criminals that commit these large scale crimes, are being treated differently than those that commit street crimes, they get away with no punishment, and continue working, in time committing the same crimes over again. Reference List Barkan, S. E. Criminology: a sociological understanding. (5th ed. ). Pearson. Croall , H. (2001). Understanding white collar crime. Buckingham, England: McGraw Hill. Ferguson, C. (Director) (2010). The inside job [DVD]. Kempa, M. (2009). Combating white collar crime in canada: Serving victim needs and market integrity. (University of Ottawa). Leonard, A. (2012, May 18). Corporate criminals gone wild. Retrieved from http://www. salon. com/2012/05/18/corporate_criminals_gone_wild/ Morgenson, G. Story, L. ,(2011, July 7). As wall st. polices itself, prosecutors use softer approach. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2011/07/08/business/in-shift-federal-prosecutors-are-lenient-as-companies-break-the-law. html? _r=2=1=wisenberg=cse Watt, R. (2012). University students’ propensity towards white-collar versus street crime. (University of Guelph). How to cite White Collar Crime, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

System Thinking In Portflio Management †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The System Thinking In Portflio Management? Answer: Introducation Systems thinking and project management, both the function have a strong relationship with each other. Both of the topics are used together for big researches in the mid 90s. After World War 2 both the processes had their separate progression but their interrelation cannot be neglected, not even today. Development of bodies like SEBOK and PMBOK, elevated the practices of system thinking, specifically system engineering. The shared concepts between system engineering and project management are life-cycle advancement of designs and concepts as well as implementations of projects and systems (Liu, Forrest and Yang 2015). With the evolution of technology system thinking and engineering have been spread from hard to soft systems like personnel and communication management, team structure and performance, communication management and others (Brandstdter, Harms and Grossschedl 2012). The complexities of any project can be understood by the managers by application of concepts of system think ing. Purpose of this essay is to understand the system thinking process and application of different tools and techniques of system thinking in project management. A project can be considered as a system since a system is purposeful factor, interrelated with different interacting constructive parts. A system runs by taking input from the environment or circumstances and by converting them into desirable outputs (Hanson 2014). The structure of a system defines its relationships and usefulness in performing specific activities. Boundary of a system can be defined as the concerns regarding the systems and these concerns or scopes are changeable along with circumstances. A project consists of activities, structures and processes. Project managers can settle down an uncontrollable project by the appropriate application of system thinking (Henry et al. 2013). The term general system management is first introduced by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, which tells that a system can be identified by the dynamic interaction between the components and its non-linearity (Kerzner 2013). A part of a system cannot be understood separately. A system approach can be descr ibed as explaining the problems from large viewpoint to analyse, synthesize, provide feedback and verify alternative approaches which can minimise the complexities (Brownsword and Setchi 2012). Approach of system thinking in project develops a definition of project management system, which an helpful organisational sub-system for superimposing a project team on the structure of an organisation. System engineering is an inter-regulatory approach consisting of successful engineering systems for deducing the solutions of problems by understanding the needs of stakeholders and by deploying useful applications like opportunity explorations, documentations of requirements and validating and verifying the complexities (Kerzner 2013). System engineering should provide a guide for the necessary information regarding the boundaries, vocabulary and structural concepts of any discipline. It should inform about the values as well as limitations of system thinking to the project managers (Gomes and Romo 2015). Incorporating a system engineering process a project can avail requirements, verifications and functions (Haimes 2015). An effective project management system incorporates work breakdown structure that is a hierarchy composed of the products and services necessary for the completion of the project. This work breakdown structure is associated with system architecture, which configur es the alignment between system engineering and project management (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). With the application of system engineering the integration of risks and risk management process in project management is inevitable (Liu, Forrest and Yang 2015). These risks can be defined as the uncertainty of an event or its result constructed by system engineering. These risks can be categorised as- strategic, financial, operational, technical and program or project risks. These risks are associated with the strategic plans and policies of an organisation, its financial base, technical and operations departments of an organisation (Henry et al. 2013). In order to achieve safety from these risks system engineering must be incorporated of a suitable set of risk management procedures. The components of this risk management procedure are planning, identification of risk factors, analysis, development of strategies for responding to the risk factors, monitor and control of risks. A larger project management plan should include sufficient resources for risk management which can give pro per information about tools and techniques, objectives and goals, responsibilities and roles of communication. Next important thing is ti identify the category of the risks (Brownsword and Setchi 2012). There are several risk factors associated with technical, cost-revenue, human resources, production, management, engineering, business threats and more. A proper identification of risk factors will allow an organisation to take appropriate measures to counter the risk. Risk analysis can be of two methods, which are qualitative and quantitative (Haimes 2015). For qualitative analysis a risk mapping matrix delivers the risk probability. Quantitative analysis comprises two techniques, Decision tree analysis and Monte Carlo analysis in order to present the measurement of risks either by using permutation possibility or by sampling randomly. Analysing the risk factors, based on the findings strategies are made to respond against risks. Generic model of development of risk response strateg y follows acceptance, avoidance, control and transfer (Hanson 2014). Finally, the risks are controlled and monitored that those risk factors do not return in the system to affect the project. The techniques for controlling risk factors are achieved value, which is technique of comparison of earned work value with work value set to perform in the scheduled time, program metrics, which is periodic analysis of the achievement of risk management plans and measurement of technical performances, which is a quantification of technicalities of a project and comparison of it with project success metrics. Concepts that strategize the decision making ability incorporating investment policies, align it with objectives and allocation of individual and organisational assets and development of risk management strategies are the structural unit of portfolio management. It is associated with strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analyses that estimate the maximum return despite of presence of risk factors (Brandstdter, Harms and Grossschedl 2012). The consolidated management that manages various procedures, techniques and technologies applied by the bodies of project management in order to analyze a project based on several key characteristics is called project portfolio management (PPM) (Heising 2012). The key objectives of this management procedure is the determination of resource combination for delivery and scheduling of activities to properly achieve the operational, technical and financial objectives of an organisation keeping the boundaries and constraints delivered by strategies, consumers and other circumstances (Martinsuo 2013). Organisational maturity model explains the selection, management and completion of projects by any organisation. The portfolio consistency of any company is dependent on the experience of that organisation (Gomes and Romo 2015). Different levels of project portfolio management are associated with organisational maturity model differently (Bourne 2016). The first level, which can be described as reactive, consists of no formal tool for project management. The directives of management are prioritized on the basis the most needed projects and the projects have definite cost estimation. New-formed organisations are the elements of this PPM (Wendler 2012). The second level, emerging discipline, consists of a project management office that provides the surety of involvement of organisational strategies to the projects. The project managers at this level follow a specific set of project management processes giving priority to the initiated projects. Level three of PPM is initial integration (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). The organisations in this level utilize a program, a set of projects embedded in its project portfolio management that clearly defines roles and objectives of project manager. Project officer, PPM manager and different committees that can guide a project exist in these organisations. Layer four, which is effective integration, consists of organisations those use the knowledge gathered from organisations all around the world (Teller et al. 2012). Each project is tracked, monitored and forecasted specifically for its benefits. Project portfolio is modelled to obtain risks, rewards and investment returns. Layer five of project portfolio management, effective innovation, is the maximum level of maturity of project portfolio management where the communication is channelled through an Enterprise project management office and the scope of interest of the project changes circumstantially. Roll out rate of the PPM projects at this level is faster than that o f the lower level PPM projects (Unger, Gemnden and Aubry 2012). Project managers are given responsibilities of smaller project for achieving improved flow of projects within the enterprise and quicker success rates. Aligning project portfolio with corporate strategies and objectives ensures the focus of any organisation towards the right projects. This alignment is done in the basis of strategic goals, assumptions, operational constraints and applicable data (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). These portfolio alignments provides various benefits like clients have been clearly defined about the objectives and targets of the organisation and based on that the vision develops inside the client (Heising 2012). It gives clients the idea of project values and helps them to eliminate un-aligned projects for waste reduction and proper utilization of resources. There are certain business values related with portfolio management. Allocation of resources can be improved by prioritizing work through every available department of an organisation (Bourne 2016). The portfolio incorporates both in-house equipments and outsourced works. Work scrutiny can be improved by portfolio management as it suggests that the work has to be approved by all the stakeholders. According to the concepts, any work must be opened for scrutinizing in more than one area as any work when approved in any one area, it reduces the potential for other works to be approved in that same area (Martinsuo 2013). The authorization process of any work gets sufficiently open as the information of funding of the work gets revealed. The planning process gives the permission to every individual to propose work and channels the knowledge of authorization of the work to the relevant people. Consistency of work assessment can be improved by portfolio management planning process. The comp arison of the authorized work can be evaluated on an apples to apples basis. Along with the selection of high priority works, the alignment of work is also an effect of portfolio management (Unger, Gemnden and Aubry 2012). The alignment is made on the basis of targets and objectives of the overall context of the department. Work balance can be improved also. Financial portfolio management helps to develop a balance in the usage of resources. The instruments used to ensure this balance are bonds, real estate, stocks and some others. Sometimes evaluation of the portfolio of an authorized work set some barriers in the path of the work. Portfolio management helps to overcome these barriers by categorizing the events for spending resources and provides a way to adjust the expenses and create balance in utilization of resources (Wendler 2012). The values lie further ahead. A shift of focus from cost to investment is an important effect of portfolio management. Any work will only get authorized when teh values become relative to the cost structure. This focus change is primarily observed in the areas of information technology due to the involvement of computers. The values of expenditure can be mentioned in the portfolio. Collaboration and communication can be increased through portfolio management. Good amount of communication between the functional departments and the peer departments enhances the collaboration (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). The enhanced communication between the team for portfolio management and the executives of any organisation is also required for a perfectly build portfolio management system. Lastly, a project needs to be stopped at an appropriate moment. Sometimes the financial activities like the investment on a project do not fulfil the objectives (Teller et al. 2012). This profitability diminishes an d the resources need to be saved as they can be used for another approach. These ideas can be achieved from project portfolio management. Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be said that a project can only be developed properly with the application of system engineering. Thinking every step systematically helps a project to be constructed according to the objective of the project. Project portfolio management is centralized approach of management for different organisations. In order to gain the profit from the projects and fulfil their objective every organisation must include a project portfolio management team. PPM set the business values of an organisation and affects various parts of its functions. Ultimately it selects the works those need to be authorized and the works those need to be rejected. References: Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio management and its impact on success.International Journal of Project Management,31(6), pp.830-846. Bourne, L., 2016.Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. CRC Press. Brandstdter, K., Harms, U. and Grossschedl, J., 2012. Assessing system thinking through different concept-mapping practices.International Journal of Science Education,34(14), pp.2147-2170. Brownsword, M. and Setchi, R., 2012. A formalised approach to the management of risk: a conceptual framework and ontology.Systems approaches to knowledge management, transfer, and resource development. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp.263-285. Gomes, J. and Romo, M., 2015. Enhancing Organisational Maturity with Benefits Management.International Journal of Information Technology Project Management (IJITPM),6(4), pp.34-47. Haimes, Y.Y., 2015.Risk modeling, assessment, and management. John Wiley Sons. Hanson, B.G., 2014.General Systems Theory-Beginning With Wholes: Beginning with Wholes. Taylor Francis. Heising, W., 2012. The integration of ideation and project portfolio managementA key factor for sustainable success.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.582-595. Henry, D., Pyster, A., Olwell, D.H., Hutchison, N., Enck, S. and Anthony, J.F., 2013. Experiences from creating the guide to the systems engineering body of knowledge (SEBoK) v. 1.0.Procedia Computer Science,16, pp.990-999. Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Liu, S., Forrest, J. and Yang, Y., 2015. Grey system: thinking, methods, and models with applications. InContemporary Issues in Systems Science and Engineering(pp. 153-224). New York, NY: John Wiley Sons, Inc.. Martinsuo, M., 2013. Project portfolio management in practice and in context.International Journal of Project Management,31(6), pp.794-803. Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017.Project management for engineering, business and technology. Taylor Francis. Teller, J., Unger, B.N., Kock, A. and Gemnden, H.G., 2012. Formalization of project portfolio management: The moderating role of project portfolio complexity.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.596-607. Unger, B.N., Gemnden, H.G. and Aubry, M., 2012. The three roles of a project portfolio management office: Their impact on portfolio management execution and success.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), pp.608-620. Wendler, R., 2012. The maturity of maturity model research: A systematic mapping study.Information and software technology,54(12), pp.1317-1339.