Power And Culture Within Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Power And Culture Within Organisations - Essay Example According to Edgar Schein (1985), organizational culture is that pattern of basic assumptions that are shared, and that a group learns in its endeavour to solve problems of internal integration and external adaptation. Further, these shared assumptions should have well worked in the past and are therefore qualify to be taught to the organization’s new members as a right way to think, perceive and feel with respect to these problems. These values and norms are the ones that control the way people act and interact with one another and with people outside the organization including other stakeholders. In the actual sense, an organization’s culture is actually its personality according to McNamara (2000). In this sense, different organizations have different organizational cultures more like people have different personalities. An organization may have a weak or strong culture generally (Parker, 2000). A strong culture exists where members of staff respond to stimulus as a result of their respect and appreciation for organizational values. In such a case, people tend to act in a given way since they believe that is the right way to act. A weak culture on the other hand is in place when staff members have little commitment to the organization’s values and therefore must be controlled through the application of bureaucracy and/or extensive procedures. According to Kennedy and Deal (1982), organizational culture is the way things are â€Å"here† done. In one of their research, the two measured organizations using two parameters – risk or uncertainty and feedback or response. According to the findings of this study, Kennedy and Deal noted that organizations may be distinctly classified into four with respected to culture. The four cultures include the process culture, the bet your company culture, the play hard/work hard culture, and the tough-guy macho culture. The process

TERM PAPER College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

TERM PAPER College - Essay Example With no federal action on the issue, states have been left to devise their own answers to the tuition controversy, leaving supporters on both sides to prevaricate about the repercussions of the law established by the Federal government in 1996, which restricts states from offering benefits to illegal immigrants that any U.S. citizen would not also be entitled to obtain. In fact, at the time of writing (2005), illegal aliens could qualify for in-state tuition rates in nine states, including Texas and California, as well as Kansas but a lawsuit against the Kansas ruling however, coupled with the failure of eighteen other states approving similar policies, reflected the widespread unease about such benefits. Opponents challenging the law claim: it violates the federal statute as well the equal rights clause within the Constitution; that money is not the issue but that it is more a matter of principal and is regarded by some as a kind of back-door amnesty; that American taxpayers will be forced to pay for illegal aliens to replace their own children in the limited seats in college and are worried that granting one privilege would open the flood gates to other benefits currently held for legal residents, and they believe that we all have dreams and they are taking the places away from American residents/citizens. The counterargument however, is that the undocumented children who graduated with diplomas from U.S. high schools in 2005 should now have the opportunity to enter colleges and universities. They believe that it is in our best interests to educate them and denying the American dream for thousands of students, and considering all the pressure placed on children to excel in school, it is only fair to give them an opportunity to continue their education. However, they cannot afford to pay the out-of-state rates charged by the institutions and should therefore, qualify for in-state rates. From this article we can see that questions relating to in-state tuition abound. The fact of the matter is that the country is deeply divided and, without any direction from Federal government, this fracas in the immigration conflict, this question of whether to grant or deny in-state tuition status to students living in a state illegally, is being contested one to one, state to state, and bill to bill. From my perspective, I think that it is not difficult to workout the reasons why giving financially supported tuition to illegal aliens is extremely unpopular. Parents are paying large amounts of money to send their children to universities and colleges, and people are apt to get concerned when they learn that someone who is in the United States in violation of the law is getting as good or a better deal as their own children. Maybe the real concern is that there will be youngsters who actually jump through all these hoops who, are rewarded for their illegality. The question is, in our society, do we punish kids for what their parents have committedThe federal government has not

Consumer Behaviour (case study milk) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consumer Behaviour (case study milk) - Essay Example As a result, many buyers share a favorable attitude toward Australian milk. The new advertising campaign helps the milk industry appeal to new target audience. "It portrays milk drinkers as likely to have more stamina and to have a better time as beer drinkers" (Case study). In this case, behavior patterns of buyers are influence by quality decisions and unique qualities of the product. This behavior patterns represent how a product is associated with unique personal image and health-conscious appeal (Brock et al 1994). Another step is to reposition the product and change "the way people view milk as s beverage" (Case study). In a short period of time, success is due in part to the product's association with prestige and new lifestyle. The message is reinforced in advertising that urges new buyers to join this group. The milk industry uses the same characters, James and Tom, with sex appeal. Personal values are considered important consumer behavior elements because they serve as determinants of attitudes and have manifested themselves in the formation of buying motives and brand attitudes. Personal values are better predictors of activity preference than demographic variations. Factors comprising items related to cultural activities, outdoor activities, and roots such as visiting ancestral homelands and friends and relatives indicated that personal values were more useful than demographics. Both campaigns are targeted at male consumers. It is possible to say that values are learned and are respons ible for determining self-concept. These values extend to social, family life, entertainment, and other facets of life. New advertising campaign creates a new mode of conduct which the individual believes is either correct or incorrect, and increases number of branded products. Another campaign, "Milk-legendary Staff", is based on emotional and sex appeal. The role of this type of advertising is to change the style of life of consumers beyond economic factors and includes an increasing concern with a sense of well-being. Consumers behavior is influenced by factors mentioned above and reflected their feelings, states of happiness, and other behavioral measures are associated with their expectations. Generally, the style of life is equated with a sense of satisfaction. For milk producers, it is important to create a core of loyal supporters based on their behavior patterns. The advent of customer loyalty is a response to the need to meet heightened customer expectations and face intensified market competition. Customer loyalty can be defined as a commitment to continue to do business with a company on an ongoing basis. To deliver customers satisfaction milk producers consider several options for developing operations strategy. Having the option to choose, and options to choose from, is crucial to marketing dynamics (Brock et al 1994). Without option of choice, they be unable to create a selling proposition and to target their most promising opportunities; and customers would be unable to express their needs and purchase preferences, settling for something less-than-acceptable, or not at all (Wells et al 2005). In spite of positive changes in life style of people and increasing consumption of milk, both advertising campaigns exploit consumers. Advertising message has a great influence on buyers as it is often

The Sand Creek Massacre

The Sand Creek Massacre Although the American general public in the 1860s believed that Native American Indians were nothing more then savages, there are a few cases where the general public were sympathetic to Native Americans. The Sand Creek Massacre is the most public example of where the United States government mistreated Indians, as well as an ideal example of where the public was outraged at the handling of Indians. The Sand Creek Massacre occurred on the 29th of November 1864 forty-two miles away from Fort Lyon Colorado, on this day friendly Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians were attacked by a group of Colorado militia led by a man called Colonel John Chivington. (History.com, n.d.) The Sand Creek Massacre was a horrific tragedy in which many terrible war crimes were committed. Important People Colonel Chivington is one of the most prominent figures of the Sand Creek Massacre. Colonel Chivington was the commanding officer of the Colorado Militia. Chivington was born in 1821; he later became a Methodist minister in 1844 who preached against slavery. When the Civil War started he signed on for a fighting commission, in 1862 Chivington had worked his way to the position of Major in the Colorado Volunteer Regiment. He was herald as a military hero for his role in battle of Glorietta Pass. (THE WEST, 2001) Tensions between whites and Indians were approaching its climax in the middle of Chivington political career. He openly opposed the idea of having peace talks with Native Americans. (THE WEST, 2001) Chivington was a known bigot, who was known to have said I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under Gods heaven to kill Indians. (A Closer Look, 2002) In August of 1864, he declared that the Cheyennes will have to be roundly whipped or completely wiped out before they will be quiet. I say that if any of them are caught in your vicinity, the only thing to do is kill them. (THE WEST, 2001) On November 29 of 1864 Colonel John M. Chivington lead a group of Colorado Militia of around 700-750 to attack the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian reservation, that had approximately only 500 men, women, and children. (Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre, 1864-1865) Colonel Chivington, in the interrogation by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War had reported that there were about eleven (11) or twelve (12) hundred Indians: of these about seven hundred were warriors, and the remainder were women and children. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865) When Chivington was questioned by the Committee on the Conduct of the War about the number of Indians killed including women and children killed he responded by saying I judge there were five hundred or six hundred Indians killed, and From all I could learn, I arrived at the conclusion that but few women or children had been slain. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865) However the actual numbers are more likely around 105 women and children and 28 men, as well as mutilating the dead and wounded. (A Closer Look, 2002) Chivington was asked for what reason did he commit the attack and what led he believe that Black Kettles Cheyenne Indians were aggressive towards whites. To wh ich he replied My reason for making the attack on the Indian camp was, that I believed the Indians in the camp were hostile to the whites. That they were of the same tribes with those who had murdered many persons and destroyed much valuable property on the Platte and Arkansas rivers during the previous spring, summer and fall was beyond a doubt. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865) In his testimony, Chivington was asked if he had any reason to suspect that Black Kettle and the Indians with him had been peaceful. Chivington responded by saying I had no reason to believe that Black Kettle and the Indians with him were in good faith at peace with the whites. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865) This is in fact a boldfaced lie because several witnesses testified that Captain Soule and Lieutenant Cramer led a large contingency of Fort Lyon soldiers that confronted Chivington and told him that Black Kettle had surrendered. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives , 1865) Eventually Chivington was court marshaled for his part in the massacre, nothing came of it because he was no longer part of the Army, and hence no charges were ever made. He did however lose his military and political power in Colorado, he moved back to Ohio where he attempted to run for a state legislature seat but was quickly shut out. He then moved to Denver where he became a deputy sheriff until his death in 1892. (THE WEST, 2001) Black Kettle was the Chief of the Southern Cheyenne. Black Kettle lived on an enormous area of land that reached from western Kansas to eastern Colorado which was given to the Indians on the conditions of the signing of Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. The 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty defined territory for each tribal group in order to end intertribal rivalry and it permitted travelers and railroad workers on the Platte River Road. (Nd.gov,) However this treaty was broken after the discovery of gold at Pikes Peak in 1859. Instead of removing the unlawful settlers, the U.S. government forced the Southern Cheyenne to sign a new treaty forfeiting most of their lands, with the exception of the Sand Creek reservation. Even though the Sand Creek reservation was inhabit, not able to grow crops and not close to any herds of buffalo, Black Kettle was fearful of the United States Massive Military power and what would happen if they refused. Due to the lack of food and supplies, younger male Indians started to raid settlers and wagon trains. In the spring of 1864 a Colorado Militia group attacked a group of peaceful Cheyenne Indians. This horrid incident sparked Indian uprisings all over the Great Plains region. Black Kettle knowing that even with the Civil War going on the whites still had a vastly superior military power, so in order to secure his tribes survival, Black Kettle went to Fort Weed, Colorado, where he was promised th at his tribe would be safe as long as they stayed on the Sand Creek reservation. (Black Kettle, 2001) Colonel Chivington however, attacked the Sand Creek reservation, by some miracle Black Kettle and his wife both survived the attack. Even having lived though the carnage at Sand Creek he continued to advocate peace with the U.S. After being moved to another reservation, Black Kettle signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867, which moved his people onto two smaller reservations in modern day Oklahoma. History tends to have a way of repeating itself. On the 27th of November 1868, just two days shy of the fourth anniversary. On this fateful day Lieutenant Colonel Custer attacked Black Kettles village and both Black Kettle and his wifes luck had run out and they were killed. (Black Kettle, 2001) The Battle of Sand Creek The Battle of Sand Creek, as the Rocky Mountain News called it, was stated that it was Among the brilliant feats of arms in Indian warfare, the recent campaign of our Colorado volunteers will stand in history with few rivals, and none to exceed it in final results. (Rocky Mountain News, p.1) Although Colonel Chivington portrayed the attack on the Sand Creek reservation as a battle in which there were, at the time of the attack, about eleven (11) or twelve (12) hundred Indians: of these about seven hundred were warriors (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865). However in truth there were only about 500 men, women and children according to John Smith in the village. (Smith, 1865) The Indians were in fact peaceful and tried to surrender. When the Indians first saw the soldiers, they rushed to go and get the United States Indian interpreter and special Indian agent John S. Smith who was stationed in the village in order to get intelligence on the Indians. Black Kettle ran this American flag up to the top of his lodge, with a small white flag tied right under it, as he had been advised to do in case he should meet with any troops out on the prairies. (Smith, 1865) That is a crystal clear picture of a peaceful group of Indians, the white flag of truce or peace is a near universal symbol. Regardless of this the soldiers attacked with artillery and then foot soldiers swept the Creek bed, killing every Indian they could find, often hunting down fleeing children. Kill them big and small, (Smith, 1865) Chivington was reported saying. After six hours, about 150 Indians, a quarter of the camps population, lay dead. The soldiers took three prisoners, all children. A doze n soldiers were killed, some apparently by friendly fire in the frenzy. (Smith, 1865) Much less then what Chivington who estimated that between three and four hundred of the savages got away with their lives, and taking into account the huge exaggeration of about eleven (11) or twelve (12) hundred Indians: of these about seven hundred were warriors at the camp. (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865). Atrocities The Sand Creek Massacre was packed full with scores of despicable atrocities. The Sand Creek Massacre in itself was horrific, more women and children were killed then actually warriors. Out of 150 dead Indians more than 70 percent were women and children. Seventy dead bodies lying there; the greater portion women and children. There may have been thirty warriors, old and young; the rest were women and small children of different ages and sizes. (Smith, 1865) This was said by John Smith a Native American interpreter in his congressional testimony. Furthermore there was massive mutilation to the corpses of the deceased Indians. In John Smiths testimony he declared I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces. (Smith, 1865) When asked how they were cut? Smith replied With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors. (Smith, 1865) Even Mr. Smith half-breed son was not spared, even though several officers thought that the kid could be handy as a translator and guide. (Smith, 1865) Those are the more extreme, of course there was the usually spoils of war, or looting depending on who you ask. The Repercussions The Sand Creek Massacre forced the United States government to reconsider the treatment of Native Americans. Many members of congress started to look into the mistreatment of Indians and stated To maintain peace with the Indian, let the frontier settler treat him with humanity, and railroad directors see to it that he is not shot down by employees in wanton cruelty. In short, if settlers and railroad men will treat Indians as they would treat white men under similar circumstances, we apprehend but little trouble will exist. (New Directions, 1868) After the Sand Creek Massacre there were two major conflict category events that involved Indians happened, the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Many people in the United States do not know that the Sand Creek Massacre was a major turning point in the treatment of Native Americans. This is due to the Civil War that was in full swing at this point in time. Because of the Civil War the Indian problem, this is including the treatment and the general racism against Indians, took a backseat in favor of the issue of racism towards African Americans. The Sand Creek Massacre brought the issue of Indian mistreatment to Congresses front door. Sand Creek massacre History.com This Day in History 11/29/1864. (n.d.). History.com History Made Every Day American World History. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/-sand-creek-massacre (History.com, n.d.) PBS. (n.d.). PBS THE WEST John M. Chivington. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved December 5, 2012, From http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chivington.htm (THE WEST, 2001) Davis, S. L. (n.d.). Sand Creek Massacre: A Closer Look. BUFFALO SOLDIERS INDIAN WARS . Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.buffalosoldier.net/SandCreekMassacre.htm (A Closer Look, 2002) Great Battle With Indians! The Savages Dispersed! 500 Indians Killed Our Loss 9 Killed, 38 Wounded Full Particulars, . (1864, December 14). ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, p. 1. (Rocky Mountain News, p.1) Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). PBS THE WEST Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre (1864-1865). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/sandcrk.htm (Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre, 1864-1865) U.S., Congress, House of Representatives (1865) Massacre of the Cheyenne Indians, (Report on the Conduct of the War, 38 Cong., 2 sess.,p.101-108) Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1865 Retrieved from http://www.kclonewolf.com/History/SandCreek/sc-documents/sc-2JCCW.html (U.S., Congress, House of Representatives, 1865) Tribal Historical Overview The 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. (n.d.). ND Studies. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.ndstudies.org/resources/IndianStudies/standingrock/1851treaty.html (Nd.gov, ) Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). PBS THE WEST Black Kettle. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/blackkettle.htm (Black Kettle, 2001) Congressional Testimony of Mr. John S. Smith. (1865, March 14). UH Digital History. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3psid=1150 (Smith, 1865)

Role of Galileo with References to book Galileos Daughter Essay

During an important time in European history, Galileo played a key role in the scientific revolution. He challenged widely accepted ideas and gave a new face to philosophy, astronomy and physics. While he was alive, though, he was much more than just a philosopher. Galileo Galilei had passions and values, which were portrayed throughout his life and accurately written down in Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter. He applied these values in his career as a mathematician and a teacher of physics, in his passion of astronomy and philosophy, in his loyalty to his church and country, and most of all to his daughter, whom he conversed with in the many letters of Galileo's Daughter. Unlike most of the history that is read in books, Galileo's story is of a real man with real values and faced with very controversial decisions. Some of these controversies involve the clash of his passion of philosophy with that of the most widely accepted Aristotelian teachings. An example of this is when Galileo looked into his telescope and saw the moon, with its large mountains and deep valleys (31). This discovery proves contrary to what was taught by Aristotle, that the moon was shaped as a perfect sphere. In addition to this, determining how objects accelerate during free fall consumed him for some time. He was known to test his theory by carrying cannonballs up Pisa?s eight story spiral staircase to see if an object?s weight and acceleration during free fall were not related as he had thought (19). This challenged another one of Aristotle?s teachings, which was that an object?s acceleration was directly proportional to its weight. His most significant controversies involved his passion of science and his loyalty to the Catholic Church. Religion... ...d because it offers a look into the life of a real man in history. Instead of painting a picture of a scientist in the 17th century, it tells the story of a man and his passions and values. Galileo was a man who loved mathematics and physics and was devoted to teaching his theories to others. He was a religious man who feared the extreme Catholic Church?s power as much as the next European. Still, he wrote his controversial astronomical and philosophical studies down on paper where they would be explored and researched decades after his death. Most importantly, though, the book Galileo?s Daughter portrays him as a man who loved his family, and still made time for his daughter during all of his ordeals. Galileo was not only a man of great influence to science, but also a man with passion, belief and conviction, and this is unfortunately forgotten in most history books.

The Global Oil and Gas Industry Essay

Oil industry is a very complicated industry. Oil is very valuable and needed in every aspect of life. The world economy depends on entirely. This industry has gone through many challenges in history. It began as early as 15th century. During early years, there were firms that specialized in producing, refining and selling the oil products. These firms enjoyed monopoly. Later on, states decided to take ownership of the oil fields. The oil supply chain is composed of three levels. There is upstream that is involved with the exploration and production of oil. There is midstream that is involved with storage and transport of the crude oil. Then there is downstream that is concerned with refining the crude oil into its constituents and then distributing them o the consumers. At all these levels, many actors are involved.The key actors are the government and the oil companies. The three main types of oil companies are the integrated oil companies, the national oil companies and the indepen dent companies. Politics has a direct effect on the oil supply chain. Wars also impact the oil industry negatively. Key words: Oil Industry, world economy, oil supply chain, actors in the oil industry, politics and war, Oil is a very crucial resource in the world (Inkpen, 2010, 1). Undoubtedly, it is the only resource that runs the world economy according to Inkpen (2010, 3). There is no economic activity that would run without it. Consider transporting of goods and services from one place to another. Oil must be available for the transport to take place. Consider the heavy machines that are used in factories in the process of manufacturing of products for sale. It is a fact that all these machines would stop running in the absence of oil. It is sensible to state that there is nothing that can remain stable in the absence of oil. In other words, the whole world would literally come to a standstill without oil. In other words, because of its importance, the entire world is affected by anything that concerns oil. In the oil supply chain, main actors play a part. These actors are encountered from the point of oil exploration to the point of oil processing and consumption. They control many aspects of the oil. Besides, they make important decisions regarding oil. Their decisions have far reaching consequences even at the level of the consumer. Historically, oil resource has been subjected to stringent control by these powerful actors. In this paper, the historical background that surrounds actors in the oil supply chain as well as the future of the oil industry is brought to light. History             Oil has been used over a longlong time. It started being used in 15th century. Its management has undergone numerous changes over time. Initially, oil sector all the way from exploration to processing was done privately by companies. Slowly by slowly, the national government started getting engaged in the matters of the oil sector and taking a share of ownership of the sector. Presently, national governments have taken over the control of oil resource. Oil fields have been classified as sate resource and, therefore, should benefit the government. It is worth noting that the struggle to achieve the principle of state power over the oil resources has not been a simple one. In Mexico, the state managed to claim state ownership of oil fields in 1917. In addition, it was able to gain autonomous control over the same in 1938. The UK prepared an Act called Petroleum Act of 1934. It is this Act that provided the guidelines for reclaiming oil resources into state ownership .However, in the US, the process of converting oil fields into state owned resources has been slow. In the recent past, the state allowed private individuals to have absolute control over the oil fields if they were within their territory. The state only owned what was present in the federal land. Nevertheless, this has changed because as at present, the state has taken over the ownership of oil fields and converted them to state properties. Ownership of oil fields notwithstanding, transport, distribution and processing of oil has undergone tremendous changes. Strong organizations have come up to control the entire supply chain of the oils. In simple terms, production and supply of oil has created a very sophisticated network. Political shades also crown the industry. Powerful actors control this fundamental resource. Therefore, oil industry is a very dynamic industry (Inkpen, 2010, 1). Actors in the Oil Industry             There are many actors in the oil industry. These actors are responsible for everything that happens in the oil industry. They are in charge of oil exploration, oil excavation, distribution and even refining before reaching the final consumer. It is important to state that the same actors also are involved in setting up prices for the oils. They control the volume of supply as well as its reliability. They dominate the upstream, the midstream and the downstream of the supply chain. At the upstream, the activities taking place are exploration and production of the oil. At the midstream level, the main activities taking place are storage and transportation of the oil. The downstream level of the supply chain is characterized by refining of the oil, distribution and consumption. The actors are mainly the states and powerful firms. These actors are powerful and the decisions that they make have far reaching consequences. They include the states that exercise their powe r as landlords of the oil resources in the nations that produce it, as champions and as regulators. They mostly dominate the upstream level of oil supply chain. Firms play a part in the integration of the oil resources. Usually, they are created by the oil producing state or states that are main importers of oil. They can also be formed by representatives from several states that share a common element such as oil production. Firms mostly dominate the midstream level of oil supply chain where they exercise their power on the storage and transport of crude oil. They also exercise power at the downstream level where they control refining processes, distribution and prices for the end consumer. In short, the oil supply chain is a very complicated network. This network has brought nations together because of shared common goals. In the subsequent paragraphs, each actor in the oil supply chain is analyzed and its impact in the supply chain assessed. States as oil landlords             It has already been stated that national governments are in control of oil resources. These states are especially those which are principle producers of oil. Some of the states that have autonomy in the oil sector are UK, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Mexico among others. These states are interested in generating revenues for the government. They set conditions under which the firms that will operate within their territory abide to. For instance, in the UK, the national government, through the Crown, issues licenses to firms that are interested in the search and production of oil and gas. The state has absolute power in deciding who to access the oil resources with regard to domestic and foreign firms. Political dimensions and considerations have a great role to play. The state also gives directions on which resources are available and which should not be accessed. In addition, the state determines the impact of resource extraction to the environment and gives an appro priate direction. It has the power to halt a process that has already begun if it is deemed that the negative impact in the environment cannot be controlled. It is also the role of the state to determine what the government stands to gain in any deal with a firm. It also champions local employment. In a nutshell, oil resources in the world within national territories are subjected to national political considerations in that nation. Therefore, oil firms have to contend and sing to the tune of the oil-producing states. Similarly, states that import the oil must create a good rapport with the exporting state in the political sense. States as national champions             States also participate in National Oil Corporations as investors. Most of the top class oil companies are owned by state. These national oil companies dominate the world oil reserves and production. They are involved in determining the volume of oil production by the state. States opted to getting involved in the oil companies in order to make their oil companies have a superior bargaining power internationally. For example, in the Middle East, the government found it necessary to participate actively in the oil companies in order to survive in the international competition by the international companies. In 1972, Iraq made Iraq oil company a national company. Moreover, OPEC ruled that the governments in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE should have at least 25% share in the oil companies. With time, the shares rose and by around 1980, they were 100% (meaning that the national government had taken over the oil company). These are just a few examples to show how states have decided to dominate the oil sector at all points. As far as exporting is concerned, national oil companies have a greater bargaining power. They can also access a wider market than private companies. Thus, it is to the benefit of the exporting country to consider nationalizing oil companies. In addition, states that import oil have national oil companies. Nations like South Korea, India and China have expanded their national oil companies overseas so that they can have access to the oil reserves easily. It is important to note that national oil companies in the importing states have an upper hand when it comes to striking deals with the exporting states. Hence, there is every need for these national oil companies. The deals that are struck at the level of national oil companies are very strong. Furthermore, nationalizing oil companies has helped stop unhealthy competitions among the oil companies. States as regulators             States also play a role as regulators in the oil sector. They set and impose conditions regarding oil production as well as consumption. It is the duty of the government to ensure that oil production does not compromise the environment to the extent that the lives of the people are endangered. For instance, pollution should be kept in check at all cost in the course of production. Furthermore, the rights of the consumer should not be compromised. The government should not watch passively as consumers get exploited by the business people. Moreover, the state imposes taxation on the oil products hence influencing the prices of these products. This way, the government can get revenue from the sales of the oil products. Through taxation, the state regulates the rate of oil consumption. The state also sets regulations and conditions that are meant to protect the rights of the workers. This is a fundamental role of any caring government. Its people should be respected. These conditions are imposed on the firms that are operating within the borders of the state. In short, the government sets out conditions on whether a firm will set out to explore for oil and under which conditions. This influence on the production of oil gives the state an upper hand in as far as its oil resources are concerned. Coupled with political objectives, the state can impose restrictions on the oil companies operating both within the boundaries and overseas. For instance, the US government suspended all dealings with Libya until 2004 over allegations to links to terrorism. Therefore, oil companies in the US could not operate at all in Libya. Similarly, the US government has restricted any of its companies from dealing with Sudan. The Major Industry Players Integrated Oil Companies             Integration is very important in the oil sector. One of its key benefits is to ensure uninterrupted oil supply (Inkpen, 2010, 5). Also integration reduces price fluctuations. The reason for this is that integration helps companies achieve economies of scale and attain geographical diversification. The economy of scale is achieved since there is less competition. Also the market is favorable. In addition, there are fewer fluctuations in prices and this makes the firms stable. They can make better predictions and forecasts in the market. Without the integration, there would be stiff competition that would drive some companies out of market. Geographical diversification is looked at in two aspects. First, the sources of oil are diverse. That means that there are numerous geographical locations where oil is sourced. Integration makes it easy to aces all the locations. Secondly, the consumers of the oil are diversified in terms of geographical location. Integration mak es it easy to reach all these customers. Firms like Exxon, Shell and Total have made their mark in the world. Others are BP, Chevron, ConocoPhilips and ENI. Together, they are referred to as the â€Å"Seven Sister†. They are among the largest world’s companies. They are the largest in terms of both capitalization and array of products that they produce. These firms have direct control at the upstream level and the downstream level of the oil supply chain. They have too much of influence regarding the oil prices. Nationalization of the upstream sectors of oil supply chain curtailed their influence at that level. However, their dominance downstream has not been shaken. Besides these giants in the oil industry, state-owned companies also play a part in the network. They are large companies that are involved with the production, refinery and sales. Their strength is measured in terms of the refinery capacity and the volume of sales. These firms are, therefore, critical in the oil supply chain. National Oil Companies             These are new in the industry according to Inkpen (2010, 7). They have taken over the oil market and grown in leaps and bounds. They are ranking in top ten in the oil sector. These companies have the support of the government. They are not affected by the local politics. In addition, they are getting priority when it comes to carrying out explorations, production and distribution of oil products in the country. They also enjoy an upper hand in negotiations. Upstream independents             This is another category of actors that are involved in the oil industry as part of the oil supply chain. They are referred to as upstream independents because they do not own any assets downstream (Inkpen, 2010, 8). They are concentrated at the production level and their work ends there. These actors have helped remove the monopoly of the oil industry giants. In addition, due to their activeness, they have led to increased oil production. They have explored more and more sources of oil. These are actors that are actively involved in exploration of oil in Africa. For example, Tullow Oil is one of the largest oil companies that is independent working in Africa. The US government is strongly encouraging these independent companies to continue with their work because they are helping increase the world oil capacity. With the increase in the oil volume, the prices of the oil products remain low and the consumer can access it affordably. It is important to state that t he independent oil companies are gaining ground so fast at the upstream level. It appears that in the near future, explorations and production of the oil may be their domain. The consumer will benefit with an increase in the oil production because not only will it be affordable, both frequent oil crisis will be a thing of the past. Oil crisis causes escalation of the prices of all other products even those which are basic for human survival. However, the independent oil companies may not compete favorably with the state-owned companies due to capital restrictions. Nevertheless, their impact is being felt. Their contribution in the oil industry cannot be underestimated. Problems facing the giant oil companies             There are two major problems facing the giant oil firms. First, they are finding it difficult to survive in the prevailing conditions. The emergence of companies that are owned by the state has been a great blow to them. These companies that are owned by the state are given exclusive rights by the state in terms of exploration and production of oil as well as getting support to carry out downstream activities which include refinery and distribution. They are financially stable. They are not affected adversely by the political objectives. The second problem is that the giant firms are losing grounds to the independent companies’ oil production. Since these firms had heavily invested in the oil production sector, they are presently running into losses. For any oil company to stand firm in the oil industry, it must have ability to locate new oil reserves. New oil reserves serve to replace the exhausted oil reserves that have been used in the previous production. The ability of the company, whether integrated or independent, to acquire new reserves is a measure of its commercial strength. For the integrated firms, this ability has diminished. The fact that there are restrictions imposed by the states on foreign firms accessing their oil reserves makesit even harder for the integrated oil firms to replace their reserves. If the problem persists, it can reach a point that the firms can run out of business. Political dimensions also limit the ability of the integrated firms in acquiring new reserves. It is within the mandateof the state to control the firm’s activities within its territory. Therefore, state control, coupled with the domestic political atmosphere reduces the ability of the foreign integrated oil firms to grow. The se problems are likely to persist into the future and these giant oil firms are likely to surrender. The role of politics in the oil sector             Accessing oil reserves in another country is not an easy task. The National Oil Corporations, the integrated firms as well as the independent firm need to negotiate with the state from which they want to access the oil resources. The negotiations are to do with the terms and conditions of the access. Politics is at the core in these negotiations. Economic power of the firm is assessed in order to gauge the negotiation atmosphere. The state that has the resource plays hard to grant access to the foreign firms. Politics surrounds the negotiations. As the states restrict equity participation by firms that are foreign, the integrated firms and the National Oil Corporations are left with no choice but surrender. Oil sector and wars             Oil is a very precious commodity. It is an expensive commodity by the same measure. The reason why this is so is its scarcity. It is limited to some areas and absent in others. Those that are privileged to have this resource enjoy its benefits. Those that lack it remain to covet. Judging by its value, oil runs the economy of the world. There has been a series of wars intimated to be due to oil resources. In Nigeria, there was a civil war that was threatening to tear the country apart. The reason for the war was emanating from the poor management of the oil resources by this country. Sudan has already split into two nations. Currently, there is South Sudan and Sudan. The split resulted from an unending war due to oil resource that is in the country. Surprisingly, even after the split, the two nations are in quarrels. In Nigeria, the civil war that broke out in 1967 disrupted oil production greatly. The struggle was aimed at forcing Nigeria to acquire equity stakes in the foreign companies, such as Shell, that operated in Nigeria. Nigeria has achieved this goal but has not gained absolute control of the operations (Frynas and Mellahi, 2003, 8-11). These are a few illustrations to demonstrate that oil has been the cause of both civil and even international wars. Future of the Oil Industry             There are advancements that are taking place in the oil sector. New discoveries of oil reserves are making the sector thrive. However, as many oil reserves become available, the prices of the oil products will be going down. This will benefit the consumers. The producers of the oil will suffer losses due to low prices. It is a bitter truth on the side of the nations that rely on oil but good news to the consumers. There are negotiations that are being carried out between states. These negotiations are among the members of OPEC. They are looking for a solution to the decreasing oil prices. One of the options they are thinking of using is decreasing the amount of oil being produced in their countries. However, this is unlikely to happen because not all countries can agree to limit the quantity of oil produced. In addition, mergers and acquisitions are taking shape in the oil industry (Inkpen, 2010, 15).increased advancements in the technology make exploration and pr oduction of oil easier and faster according to Inkpen (2010, 15). Finally, advent of new and alternative sources on energy may reduce the dependence that is put on the oil as a source of energy. The national oil companies are likely to expand more. As the reserves get exhausted, it is likely to be harder in the future to do exploration (Inkpen, 2010, 17). Conclusion             Oil supply chain is a very sophisticated network. Many actors are involved in the activities that regard oil supply chain. The supply chain has three levels which include the upstream, the midstream and the downstream. At each level, there are many actors in charge. For a long time, integrated firms had had absolute control on all the aspects of the oil sector. Lately, National Oil Corporations that are supported by the states have emerged. These are becoming stronger than the integrated firms in the control of the oil production, refinery and distribution to the consumers. Besides, states have come out strongly to control this valuable commodity. First, the states have emerged as landlords and, therefore, owners of the oil resources. Secondly, they have emerged as the champions in the business taking part in the production and distribution of the oil products through National Oil Corporations. Thirdly, they have come out as regulators of the oil firms. They make conditions to be followed by the firms that work within their boundaries. The future of the oil sector is encouraging as more oil fields are being discovered by independent firms. References Frynas,  J.  G., &Mellahi,  K. (2003). Political risks as firm-specific (dis)advantages: Evidence on transnational oil firms in Nigeria. Thunderbird International Business Review. Inken. (2010). The Global Oil and Gas Industry. Bridge-Le Billion.(2012). Oil Capture. Flatau,  J. (2007). Supply chain analysis of olive oil in Germany. Giessen: ZEU. Groznik,  A., &Trkman,  P. (January 01, 2006 A case study of supply chain management in oil industry.).Iti 2006.. New York. Hull,  B. (2002). A structure for supply-chain information flows and its application to the Alaskan crude oil supply chain. Logistics Information Management.doi:10.1108/09576050210412639 Laftah,  Z., Aziz,  T.  Z., &Bogle,  I.  D. (2007).Identifying added value in integrated oil supply chain companies – a case study.doi:10.1016/S1570-7946(07)80151-9 Kaufmann,  R.  K., Dees,  S., & Mann,  M. (2009). Horizontal and vertical transmissions in the US oil supply chain. Energy Policy. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.052 Source document

Code Noir

Le Code Noir (The Black Code) The Code Noir was a decree passed by King Louis XIV of France in 1685 and ended in 1848. It had a great impact on the sugar industry and trade involving French colonies and territories. The Code Noir contains 60 articles each with its own right and specification. The Code contained rights on slavery, restriction of the freedom of black people, banishment of Judaism, rejecting African cultures and that Catholicism should be the only religion of the colonies. Background The document was encouraged by a favorite minister in the King’s court, Jean Baptiste-Colbert.However, the document remained unfinished due to the minister’s death. Nonetheless, his son succeeded him in completing the source. It was modified and accepted by Louis XIV but rejected by the government. Nevertheless the King’s successor, Louis XV appointed the Code and authorized the law to be passed in the West Indies. The code was considered as a very racial document due t o discrimination of colour and culture. By banning the African traditions, the Mauritian arts such as â€Å"Sega† were created. Layout and PerspectiveThe arrangement of the article is based upon 60 laws. The first decree consisted of Jews being banned from every French region, due to the belief of Jews being the enemy of Christianity. The second law passed was that there should be no other religion other than Catholicism and every resident should be baptized. The documentations continue with the rules of race and eventually come to a point of slavery. The context of this contains the restrictions of black people and slaves. The last article on the document declares laws on taxes and fees.The original script was printed in French and translated into English. The script’s sixty articles are based upon life and death, purchase, religion and treatment of slaves by their lords. The slaves had little benefit from the code namely: * being clothed and fed, * to not work during Sundays and religious holidays * should be baptized in Catholicism * Should be educated in the religion. However the detriments of the verdict were greater, stating that slaves were prohibited from owning any property and had no legal capability.It also oversaw their marriages, deaths, religious traditions, punishments and the extent they had to go to for their freedom. The Code Noir in Mauritius The Code Noir in Mauritius was supposed to act as a justification to the slaves but ended being a Bible claiming the rights of lords over slaves. The punishments were very severe and brutal even abnormal. If a runaway slave was found, his/her ear would be cut off and for the second time they do something wrong, a thigh was chopped off.But the third penalty was the most ruthless of all; they would be stabbed with a hot iron mark on their body namely the Fleur de Lys. The treatments of slaves were that of dogs. Their masters did not give a care if something bad happened to them. Their nutrit ion was limited and therefore the slaves themselves had to cultivate their own food in secret. However, not all masters were like that to their slaves. Some did care for their workers and gave them a proper living by gifting them appropriate clothing and food. AbolishmentSlavery was abolished in France in 1794 and a few decades following that, the Code Noir was also eradicated in 1848. The Code Noir had remained intact for 163 years. Although slavery was obliterated in 1834, the Code Noir stayed for 14 years and then stopped. The slaves who will continue to work would not be referred to as slaves but as apprentices. The Code Noir only had two goals that was: – To give slave owners rights to their slaves – To boost the morality of the slaves Although the Code Noir was not always obeyed and followed, it remained a very important aspect to French Colonies.Legacy Even if the code was removed, the phase of this period was adopted into many books and documentaries. A few of these books have been published in Mauritius specifically, â€Å"Gorges† by Alexandre Dumas. The Code Noir remains a legacy of the French Revolution in Mauritius; nonetheless it depicts the suffering and torture of slaves while working. It also reflects the pain of Mauritius’ ancestors and toilers. The Code Noir serves as an example to our people and a dedication to all those who gave their time and effort into making this island what it is today.