Ethical and Legal Issues Essay

Nurses make legal and ethical decisions when caring for patients; decisions that need to be made carefully because the decisions could possibly change a patients’ life. There are theories to explain how to problem solve ethically and the theories are not based on emotion (Guido, 2006). This paper will discuss the relationship between legal and ethical issues and ethical theories, examples will be provided. Ethics can be described as principles and standards that are a guide to conduct used to elevate the standard of compliance (Judson & Harrison, 2010). Ethics is derived from the Greek word â€Å"ethos† ethics explains actions as right or wrong in respect to cultural principles and values. Moral values are personal beliefs that are intertwined with ethical actions and behaviors (Guido, 2006). Ethics, similar to values, are individualistic and they come from our experiences, culture and actions. While one’s values or moral ethics may be different, the nurse’s ability to conform to a patient’s ethical behavior is important (The VA leads change toward Integrated Ethics approach, 2008). The legal system was created to establish policies to protect the public (Judson & Harrison, 2010). The laws that are set can be changed when evidence suggests amendments are necessary. The relationship between law and ethics is apparent when discussing a patient’s healthcare decision that goes against the norms or beliefs of the healthcare provider. An example would be the patient exercising his or her right to refuse treatment for a disease process that will result in imminent death, such as a patient in renal failure refusing dialysis (Guido, 2008). Shannon (2008) discussed the differences of legal and ethical decisions as â€Å"morally ordinary† and â€Å"extraordinary† treatment related to the provision of assisted nutrition and hydration, particularly for patients in a â€Å"permanent vegetative state† (p.894). Metaethics is a nonnormative ethic that attempts to describe the implication between moral concepts or statements and the justification of why something is regarded good or ethically correct. Normative ethics understand standards of behavior and application of these behaviors in life. Normative ethicsbranch out into two broad categories called deontological and teleogical theories (Guido, 2006). Deontological theories focus on the intended action not the consequences of one’s actions (Guido, 2006). The theory focuses on the dignity and sense of duty of the individuals and finds the relationship between the person and the action. Deontological theories are divided into two subcategories; act deontology and rule deontology. Guido (2006) states that â€Å"act deontology is based on the personal moral values of the person making the ethical decision, whereas rule deontology is based on the belief that certain standards for ethical decisions transcend the individual’s moral values† (p. 4). Teleological theories are based on the simple concept, right actions have good consequences and bad actions have bad consequences. This theory suggests the act of right or wrong is directly related to the consequence of the action. Utilitarianism stems off of teleogical theories, explains that consequences count and acts are determined by the consequence. Some utilitarian’s believe that the moral rightness of a consequence is determined by the greatest number of good or the least harm and suffering (Guido, 2006). Considering the moral rightness is based on greatest number to benefit from the greatest good, actions based on the utilitarianism theory can often be unethical and illegal. Nurses in acute care settings are faced daily with ethical issues and concerns. Shannon (2008) examines the terms â€Å"morally ordinary† and â€Å"extraordinary† in respect to patients in a â€Å"permanent vegetative state† (p. 894). It is thought if we can keep the body alive we should, â€Å"capacity generated obligation† but there is a compromise in human dignity, making this both a legal and ethical dilemma (Shannon, 2008, p. 894). Euthanasia and end of life care often cause a lot of animosity, as they have been distorted by general public. Shannon (2008) states, â€Å"Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expect outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal  of over-zealous treatment† (p. 898). This statement defines euthanasia in its most accepted form withdrawal of treatment. This makes the act legal, but is it ethical to withdraw treatment that was started to sustain life, knowing that the result ends in death?Another example of an ethical issue in an acute care setting is preserving organs for donation in a patient who is pronounced dead following a cardiac event. Organ donation is a personal choice that can be expressed though written consent by the donor. Although, if there is no documentation of the patients wishes, family members have to make the decision in the event of unexpected death. Is it legal and ethical to maintain the body of a patient who has died in order to keep the organs viable while waiting for the family’s decision (Bonnie, Wright, & Dineen, 2008)?When a patient has been declared dead according to neurological criteria hospitals will maintain organ viability while awaiting family decision about donation. Procedures are started post-mortem by a transplant team to determine candidacy for donation. Medications are started and additional lines are inserted. All of which are done after the patient is declared dead. This is legal in many states, in fact there is a statute called the â€Å"immunity clause† to protect the health care workers from any liability, but is it ethical (Bonnie, Wright, & Dineen, 2008)? According to Bonnie, Wright, and Dineen (2008), â€Å"Organ preservation in cases of uncontrolled cardiac death violates no legally protected interest of the family members. It does not constitute â€Å"mutilation of the body† and falls comfortably within the general principle that hospitals have no duty to deliver corpses to families in their exact condition of death† (p.744). Consider this statement and place an ethical emphasis on your thought process. Healthcare workers are not legally bound to deliver the bodies of their loved ones in the exact condition of their death. In conclusion, through cultural norms, behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes the ethical behaviors of healthcare workers are analyzed. The governing bodies of healthcare such as the American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association mandate healthcare workers to uphold ethical values in his or her practice. The legal system maintains the right to investigate and examine decisions made by healthcare practitioners when decisions appear unethical or perhaps unlawful. The various ethical theories provide  direction for healthcare practitioners and ethics review boards with decision-making processes. References Bonnie, R., Wright, S. & Dineen, K. (2008). Legal authority to preserve organs in cases of uncontrolled cardiac death: preserving family choice. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from EbscoHost Database. Guido, G. W. (2006). Legal and ethical issues in nursing (4 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Judson, K. & Harrison, C. (2010). Law and ethics for medical careers (5th ed). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill. Shannon, T. (2008). Unbind him and let him go: Ethical issues in the determination of proportionate and disproportionate treatment. Theological Studies, 69, 894-917. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from MasterFILE Premier database. The VA leads change toward Integrated Ethics approach. (Cover story). (2008, December). Medical Ethics Advisor, Retrieved May 1, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Construction and De-construction of Race Essay

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Essay and referencing

The three communication theories I have applied to provide the most insight into understanding the dynamics of the observed conversation between two people are; the transmission model (Shannon & Weaver 1949), Fuller's ecological model (Fouler 2004), and an expanded model of communication (Munson 2012). In this essay I have used a conversation I had listened to which was between my friend (from here on will be named George) and his friend (from here on will be named Mark). Problems that arose during the conversation will be explained as well as how George and Mark overcame them.From there the essay will compare and contrast the three communication theories and decide which of these best simplify the conversation. Complexities of the conversation I was asked by George to take him down to the pub to meet up with Mark for a couple of games of pool, whilst chatting over a cold beer. George is nearly completely illiterate due to him leaving school at the age of 12, moving to the Northern t erritory and working on a cattle farm up until the age of 19, where he then moved back to Lissome.Mark is completely deaf and has next to no ability to lip read (this I had not known until I met him). Both George and Mark do not know sign language of any kind. George and has learnt to use abbreviations in text messages, which is about the extent of his written language capabilities. Problems that arose George had been avoiding this meeting because he finds the conversations very difficult, and this usually leads to heated discussions, especially when the conversations centered on Mark's granddaughter (which George has always had affectionate feelings for but never acted upon).Both George and Mark have their own perceptions on what is going on in her life, which has, and still causes either Mark or George to have expectations from the other, and creates selective perceptions (Withes 2009). This introduces psychological noise and detracts from the meanings of some of the messages in t he conversation. A one way lack of tone and inflection in the voice to communicate feelings and emotions more clearly can provide misunderstanding in the meaning of some messages. Language barrier from non-literate to literate people poses the greatest barrier to messages both to and from each other.Feedback is restricted to kinesics emblems, regulators, and illustrators (De Vito 2001). George aged 2 and Mark aged 64 both have different educational backgrounds in which written communication differs. Text messaging or testing (Shaw et al. 2007) can be a major source of misinterpretation, though Mark has been using his mobile phone for some time now. This leads to the conclusion that this increases the communication abilities of how Mark can interact with George, though there is still the written language barrier between them (Kumara et al. 2011).How George and Mark overcome these problems The over emphasis of kinesics emblems, regulators, and illustrators (De Vito 2001) had o be used as feedback due to the lack of language being used by George. Facial expressions become very important for Mark and George to try to convey their own, and comprehend each other's emotions, from understanding to frustration. Increased eye contact which would make most people more nervous and defensive (De Vito 2001) become a highly prized resource for feedback as well it had helped regulate the control of the conversation.Shannon and Weaver's transmission model (Shannon & Weaver 1949) seems to be the simplest model, and therefore maybe the est. for most situations; however, it lacks the detail in which the complexities of this particular conversation pose, and that need to be addressed, in particular the noise sources. Figure 1 : Transactional model (Source: Shannon & Weaver 1949) Fuller's ecological model is an elaboration of (Alleles 1948) model of â€Å"Who, says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect† (Fouler 2004) though it takes into account of the use of dif ferent languages using modern mediums.This model is an excellent model but focuses on more of the use of the language and the media it is conveyed in and to so much on person to person communications. Figure 2: An Ecological Model of the Communication (Source: Fouler 2004) Union's expanded model of communication is more complex than Fuller's as well as Shannon and Weaver's models, though it is more appropriate to this conversation had between George and Mark due to the fact it shows that in order for the communication to happen the sender must pre-edit and then encode the message pass the message onto the receiver where he decodes and edits the message.Munson also takes into account the use of mechanical, behavioral and semantic actors of encoding, and understands that if the message is to be understood the receiver must be able to decode the message. This is particularly relevant, and highly important to this conversation between George and Mark due to the factors mentioned before. Context Figure 3: An expanded model of communication (Source: Munson 2012) Conclusion I have found Shannon and Weavers transactional model too simple and cannot evaluate the complexities of this situation, and that Fuller's model too broad and not able to focus on the problems that need to be addressed.Therefore, I believe hat Union's expanded model of communication is the most adequate to use out of the three models that were written about because Union's model has shown how a message from George is first pre-edited (thoughts), then encoded (written on paper), passed on through noise (physical, psychological as well as expectations and selective perception), decoded by the receiver (reading Georges writing) and then finally edited to Mark's own meaning and interpretation.This explains how there was some heated discussions in the past, and will continue to be so until they are able to actively listen' to each other before they place their own selective perceptions and expectations on their conversation.

The Caused and Effects of Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy

The caused and effects of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. ? Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850 and it is a diversified investment bank provided financial services for global companies, institutions, governments and investors. Lehman Brothers was one of the most powerful stock and bond underwriters and dealers in the world, and it also as the fourth largest investment bank in the United States before. Because of widely recognized to Lehman’s operational capacity, the company had many world-renowned companies as its customer base such as Dell, Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, Philip Morris, Shell and Wal-Mart [1].Lehman Brothers had faced four collapses before it bankruptcy, one was the stock market crash of 1929, second it had interest rate loss of $6. 7 million in 1973, and then because of Lehman’s internal conflict led to be merger and acquisitions by American Express in 1984, and last one was shortage of funds in 1994. Richard Fuld as Lehman’s CEO from 1993, he led to Lehman Brothers grow up and avoid those four collapses. Even Lehman Brothers was turned the corner in these four collapses; it still declared bankruptcy as a result of $613 billion total debt in 2008 [7].Lehman Brothers went to collapse make lots of impacts on financial markets, the most important reason caused Lehman bankruptcy is under the subprime mortgage crisis and complex financial markets. Before the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007, the U. S. real estate market over the leveraged financing and oil price was increase rapidly, many people in the excessive lending. However, Lehman Brothers had continued business of mortgage bond until the outbreak of subprime mortgage crisis in 2006, Lehman’s asset management, economic services, mergers and securities underwriting business accounted for Lehman's operating income of 40% [2].In 2008, because the subprime mortgage crisis spread to Lehman Brothers, the company suffered a serious hit from the financial losses and caused that stock p rice fell to only a few dollars. In September 2008, the Lehman Brother’s CEO Dick Fuld had experienced the most painful financial crisis in the history of the United States and the company went bankrupt. The Lehman Brothers which had experienced 158 years history toward to end [1]. Also, the collapse of Lehman Brothers brought an unprecedented shock wave for financial market and investment banking. The terrorist attack on 2001, September 11 led to conomic downturn and the stock market depressed, the Federal Reserve decided to continue kept low interest rate to ensure the most of enterprises and publics can achieve loans easier [9]. Due to the public would had more money to be used for mortgages and other spending, Lehman Brother seized the opportunity to develop its business so that Lehman’s profits growth quickly in the second half of 2002. Lehman Brothers’ sales revenue of subprime mortgage raised double of profits in both years 2004 and 2005 [3]. And Lehmanâ €™s present value of subprime mortgage CDO (collateralized debt obligations) investment reached up to $80 billion [5].Lehman Brothers issued two mortgage bonds companies in the United States are BNC and Aurora. These two branches of mortgage bonds and purchased from other companies constituted the CDO package. The worth of CDO could be about hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars to divide for sale to investors around the world. The interest rate of CDO is much higher than the national bonds in the United States and other investments, so Lehman Brother took advantage of sale these bonds to gained large profits. After that, the public began to worried more about future develop of CDOs from Lehman Brothers and other companies.Then, Lehman Brothers shut down one of the mortgage bonds company BNC because of huge losses and this caused the public’s panic of the credit crunch. The public began to suffer a serious mortgage crisis [7]. As a result, the capital losses a nd lack of credit to the banking system, so that no banks willing to lend money unless borrower to pay high interest rate. The banks which involved in this business are worried about losing their money. However, Lehman Brother was still announced good quarterly results even had problems and other investment banks (e. g.JP Morgan Chase, Citibank) had losses. In January of 2008, Lehman Brother reported their earnings shown that highest income up to $4 billion and their capital just $30 billion [2]. At that time their stock price up to $65, but eight months later the price fell to $4 with more than $600 billion debt. Since 2008, Lehman’s stock price had fallen by 60%. Besides, Lehman Brothers had alternative assets about $40 billion such as hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate funds. In May, Lehman Brothers reported that losses in hedge funds but then said they are recovered [11].Because of Lehman’s total debt $613 billion, and then the negotiation with Barcl ays Bank and Bank of America about take over Lehman Brothers was failed on September 14. While at the same time the investment banks gave up to help Lehman Brothers, Lehman’s market value dropped dramatically, these fact forced Lehman Brothers to filed for bankruptcy protection from the U. S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on September 15, 2008 [4]. After filed for bankruptcy, Lehman Brothers exchanged trading at the OTC (Over the Counter) market only $0. 05 per share.Lehman exercised put option to ensure holders could get profit when they buy the stocks as $0. 05 per share and sell for strike price [10]. When the news of the fourth largest bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt came out, the dollar currency and the U. S. stock index futures was declined at the same time, this indicated that the New York stock market crash in the open market. In order to prevent the open market crash of Lehman Brothers, the U. S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve System made great effort on three d ays to save markets. The investment bank Barclays and Bank of America exited.The Britain's third largest bank Barclays decided to drop out after the government refused to provide financial guarantees to save Lehman Brothers. Then, the bank of America all announced exit the action. Because the government refused to help and no other support, Lehman Brothers final decided to file for bankruptcy protection caused by suffered serious financial crisis[6]. As we can see, there are many factors caused bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, such as market changes and instability led to systematic risks, the internal problems and risks from Lehman Brothers.The internal problem is one of the most important factors to cause it collapse. As the fourth largest investment bank in the United States, Lehman Brothers more focused on the traditional investment business such as underwriting securities, mergers and acquisitions for a long term. With the rapid development of financial derivatives and fixed inco me products trading, Lehman Brothers strived to expand these businesses and achieved great success. The real estate and credit business develop rapidly after 2000, Lehman Brothers began to involve in these business as other banks [6].However, Lehman Brothers expanded too fast and even in the decline of real estate market in 2007, the commercial real estate bonds of Lehman Brothers still grown quickly. Thus, the rapid growth created more systematic risks for Lehman Brothers. In addition, Lehman Brothers was different from other investment banks like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America because Lehman had less own capital and its capital adequacy ratio is too low [6]. In order to collected funds to expand business, Lehman had to rely on the bond market and bank lending market.The greater is the leverage ratio when the company borrowing more money from banks, but it has less equity capital. The profit is amplified by the leverage ratio when it makes money, but the loss is enlarging with th e leverage ratio when the company has loss. The lack of funds would be increase the risks for the company when it loss. Moreover, to analyzed the problem of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, it also should be related with the U. S. subprime mortgage crisis and recent financial turmoil intensified from the summer of 2007. In addition, it also considered about the problem of insolvent.Lehman Brother had more than $600 billion bank loans, $155 billion debt securities, and only $639 billion net assets [8]. Besides, the U. S. government took non-interventionism accelerated collapse of Lehman Brothers. As the U. S. government did not make any financial support or warranty to save Lehman Brothers, and leave the market accept the news of the Lehman bankruptcy. The government refused to guarantee Lehman Brothers directly caused many investors to exited, while the Barclays preferred to acquire part of Lehman’s investment business in the United States, this still not strong enough to sa ve Lehman Brothers.Furthermore, the financial markets turmoil around the world should be affect Lehman Brothers, and it also one of a reason affect many companies to left Lehman stocks and bonds whether the U. S. financial institutions or foreign enterprises. Since the market got the news of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the Dow Jones Index has dropped nearly 800 points [7]. In short, Lehman Brothers bankruptcy caused the devaluation of investment, cash flow problems and additional losses. Also Lehman financial crisis had a great influence on investors’ directions.Many investors worried about Lehman crisis would be exacerbated the financial crisis and the market prospect is gloomy. Therefore, the Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers was collapse in the financial tsunami of 2008. Then on March, 2012, it completed the bankruptcy reorganization and will be to repay debts to creditors. After that, the fourth largest investment bank of the United States has become a historica l. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers might impact the entire financial market, the investors worried about the outlook of the U. S. economic and the international oil rices continued to decline. And the investors also concerned that the demand of crude oil and other commodities is likely to fall under the shadow of global recession. At the same time, the risk aversion awareness prompted investors to sell commodities and high risk assets. The U. S. stocks sharply down and European stock markets also had a significant decline. The event of Lehman Brothers gave to the world economic recovery to cast more dark shadows in 2008. References [1] Lehman Brothers Collection. Harvard Business School. Baker Library. Retrieved from http://www. ibrary. hbs. edu/hc/lehman/history. html [2] Sean Hinton. Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ). Wikinvest. Retrieved from http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Lehman_Brothers_%28LEHMQ%29 [3] Landon Thomas Jr. (July 23, 2003). Market Place; Lehman to Buy Neuberger Berman Fo r $2. 6 Billion. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2003/07/23/business/market-place-lehman-to-buy-neuberger-berman-for-2. 6-billion. html [4] Lehman Bros files for bankruptcy. (September 16, 2008). Retrieved from http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/business/7615931. stm [5] Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis. Retrieved from http://www. srkw-law. com/areas-of-practice/international/lehman-brothers. html [6] Luigi Zingales. (October 2008). Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy. Retrieved from http://www. scribd. com/doc/11096014/Causes-and-Effects-of-the-Lehman-Brothers-Bankruptcy [7] Lehman Brother. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers [8] Kim Sarro & Justin Pak. (November 29, 2008). The Causes for the Collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Retrieved from http://www. articlesbase. om/business-articles/the-causes-for-the-collapse-of-lehman-brothers-holdings-inc-664202. html [9] Lehman Brothers: The last empire of wealth. (December 6, 2011). Retrieved from http://www. stockmarkettoday. cc/lehman-brothers-the-last-empire-of-wealth. html [10] What Happens To Options During Bankruptcy. Option Trading Pedia. Retrieved from http://www. optiontradingpedia. com/what_happens_to_options_during_bankruptcy. htm [11] Hedge funds post biggest losses since Lehman. (June 2010). Retrieved from http://connection. ebscohost. com/c/articles/52970726/hedge-funds-post-biggest-losses-since-lehman

Bhopal Gas Tragedy and Its Ethical Issues Essay

SUMMARY Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of the last year of 1984 at the Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation (Union Carbide India Limited – UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A leak of methyl isocyanides gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people. It also causes environmental issues such as pollution of soil and water. The gas leak in India was caused by bad maintenance and failure of several safety systems to cut off the expenses. HISTORY Bhopal is a city in central India with population of 800,000 people in 1984. At that time, home to the largest mosque in India, Bhopal was a major railway junction. Its main industries consisted of manufacturing heavy electrical equipment, weaving and printing cotton cloth, and milling flour. In 1969, American Union Carbide Corporation, a company headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, reached an agreement with the Indian government for the construction of a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. Union Carbide would hold a 51 percent interest in the plant through its share of ownership of an Indian subsidiary of American Union Carbide. The agreement was seen as a win–win situation. India would have the plant and its jobs as well as the production of produce pesticides, a product needed badly by Indian farmers in order to increase agricultural productivity. In addition, Union Carbide also agreed that it would use local managers, who would be provided with the necessary skills and management training so that the plant would be truly locally operated. The plant used methyl isocyanides (MIC) gas as part of the production process for the pesticides. MIC is highly toxic and reacts strongly with other agents, including water. Operation of a plant with MIC processes requires detailed monitoring as well as security processes to prevent sabotage. While the plant began operations with high hopes, by 1980 the relationships were strained because the plant was not profitable. Union Carbide had asked the Indian government for permission to close the plant but the government felt the products from the plant as well as the jobs were needed for the Indian economy. Sometime in the early morning hours of December 3, 1984, MIC stored in a tank at the Bhopal plant came in contact with water, and the result was a boiling effect in the tank. The back-up safety systems at the plant, including cooling components for the tanks, did not work. The result was the toxic mixture began to leak and workers at the plant felt a burning sensation in their eyes. The boiling of the water and MIC caused the safety valves on the tank to explode. Following the explosion, the white smoke from the lethal mixture escaped through a smoke stack and began to spread across the area to the city of Bhopal. As the gas spread, it wove its way through the shanty towns that were located near the plant. The occupants of these shanty towns were Bhopal’s poorest. As the gas floated through these makeshift neighborhoods, 3,500 lives were lost and 200,000 were injured. The injuries included blindness, burns, and lesions in the respiratory system. The initial deaths and injuries were followed by long-term health effects. Of the women who were pregnant and exposed to the MIC, one-fourth either miscarried or had babies with birth defects. Children developed chronic respiratory problems. Smaller children who survived the toxic gas were sick for months and, weak from a lack of nutrition and ongoing illnesses, also died. MIC also produced strange boils on the bodies of many residents, boils that could not be healed. The problem of tuberculosis in the area was exacerbated by the lung injuries caused by the leaking MIC. In the year following the accident, the Indian government spent $40 million on food and health care for the Bhopal victims. Warren M. Anderson, Union Carbide’s chairman of the board at the time of the accident, pledged that he would devote the remainder of his career to solving the problems that resulted from the accident. However, by the end of the first year, Mr. Anderson told Business Week, â€Å"I overreacted. Maybe they, early on, thought we’d give the store away. [Now] we’re in litigation mode. I’m not going to roll over and play dead.† Following the accident, Union Carbide’s stock fell 16 points and it became, in the go-go 80s, a takeover target. When GAF Corporation made an offer, Union Carbide incurred $3.3 billion in debt in order to buy 56 percent of its own stock to avert a takeover. Through 1992, Union Carbide remained in a defensive mode as it coped with litigation, takeover attempts, and the actions of the Indian government in seeking to charge officers, including Anderson, with crimes. U.S. lawyers brought suit in the United States against Union Carbide on behalf of hundreds of Bhopal victims, but the case was dismissed because the court lacked jurisdiction over the victims as well as the plant. Union Carbide did settle the case with the Indian government for a payment of $470 million. There were 592,635 claims filed by Bhopal victims. The victims received, on average, about $1,000 each. The ordinary payment from the Indian government, as when a government bus harms an individual, is $130 to $700, depending upon the level of the injury. Individual awards were based on earning capacity, so, for example, widows of the Bhopal accident received $7,000. The Indian government also pursued criminal charges, including against Mr. Anderson. Lawyers for the company and Mr. Anderson continued to fight the charges, largely on the basis that the court had no jurisdiction over Mr. Anderson. However, to be on the safe side, Mr. Anderson did not return to India because of his fear of an arrest. In May 1992, the Indian government seized the plant and its assets and announced the sale of its 50 percent interest in the plant. When the sale occurred and Union Carbide received its share of the proceeds, it contributed $17 million to the Indian government for purposes of constructing a hospital near Bhopal. The plant now makes dry-cell batteries. Following the accident, Union Carbide reduced its workforce by 90 percent. Because of the share purchase, Union Carbide had a debt-to-equity ratio of 80 percent. In addition, the Union Carbide brand was affected by the accident and the company could not seem to gain traction. Dow Chemical would acquire the company in 1999 for $11.6 billion. In 2008, a study revealed that pesticide residues in the water supply for the area surrounding the plant were at levels above permissible ones. There are about 425 tons of wastes buried near the former plant. Advocates continue to appear at Dow shareholder meetings in order to demand clean-up. Dow’s response is, â€Å"As there was never any ownership, there are no responsibility and no liability—for the Bhopal tragedy or its aftermath.† ETHICAL ISSUES In Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation, a one of subsidiaries of Union Carbide Corporation has so many failures in working condition issues such as bad maintenance of the machinery, lack of safety and environmental standard to save money, and also had not concern of the natural environment. Sadly the case was dismissed because the court lacked jurisdiction over the victims as well as the plant. The insufficiency of scientific knowledge is inseparable from the inadequacy of justice. In 1999, Dow Chemical acquired Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation and as publicly owned corporation, the company is unable to accept any responsibility for the Bhopal catastrophe due to share price. Then the government of India sold the company’s assets to construct hospitals near Bhopal to take care the victims. There is dilemmatic problem for Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation, since they knew that the business was not profitable but the Government asked it to run  to support Indian farmers’ productivity and also Indian Economy through the plant. Because of that dilemma, The Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation disregard the Environmental Responsibility to save the money by ignored the work condition issues and keep the business run. KEY PARTIES TO UNETHICAL ISSUES There are four key parties occurred to Bhopal Gas Tragedy. There are: 1.Environments. The ring one which impacted by the tragedy is environment around the pesticide plant. The ring one consists of: (1) civilizations around the pesticide plant – Shanty Towns, and (2) Ecosystems – such as trees, water, and soil. 2.Government of India. The one who is control the environmental issues for industries and business. Government of India responsible to makes the policies to compromise between business and environment safety. 3.Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation (UCIL). The one of subsidiaries of Union Carbide Corporation, who had a business of pesticide plant in India – Bhopal with Indian Management, was responsible because of unfriendly environmental business or we could say that they are not pay attention to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 4.Union Carbide Corporation. (UCC) The Parent Corporation of Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation. The chairman is the one who is most responsible of the Bhopal Gas Catastrophe. The chairman name is Anderson, he arranged with the government of India to build the pesticide plant. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO UNETHICAL ISSUES Attempts to reduce expenses affected the Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation’s (UCIL) employees and their conditions, they did several things below: 1.Less stringent quality control and thus looser safety rules; 2.Less training in controlled the factory. It means the employee didn’t exactly know what to do and what not to do; 3.Promotions were halted. It seriously affecting the employee morale and driving the skilled employee finding another job/factory. 4.Workers were forced to use English Manuals Book, while only a few of the employee had a grasp of the language. Because of that situation, UCIL affecting several situations such as: 1.The MIC tank alarms had not worked for four years.   2.There was only one manual back-up system, compared to a four-stage system used in the United States. 3.The flare tower and several vent gas scrubbers had been out of service for five months before the disaster. Only one gas scrubber was operating: it could not treat such a large amount of MIC with sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which would have brought the concentration down to a safe level. The flare tower could only handle a quarter of the gas that leaked in 1984, and moreover it was out of order at the time of the incident. 4.To reduce energy costs, the refrigeration system was idle. The MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius, not the 4.5 degrees advised by the manual. 5.The steam boiler, intended to clean the pipes, was out of action for unknown reasons. 6.Slip-blind plates that would have prevented water from pipes being cleaned from leaking into the MIC tanks through faulty valves were not installed. Their installation had been omitted from the cleaning checklist. 7.The water pressure was too weak to spray the escaping gases from the stack. They could not spray high enough to reduce the concentration of escaping gas. 8.According to the operators, the MIC tank pressure gauge had been malfunctioning for roughly a week. Other tanks were used, rather than repairing the gauge. The build-up in temperature and pressure is believed to have affected the magnitude of the gas release. UCC investigation studies have disputed this hypothesis. 9.Carbon steel valves were used at the factory, even though they corrode when exposed to acid. 10.UCC admitted in their own investigation report that most of the safety systems were not functioning on the night of December 3, 1984. 11.The design of the MIC plant, following government guidelines, was â€Å"Indianized† by UCIL engineers to maximize the use of indigenous materials and products. Mumbai-based Humphreys and Glasgow Consultants PVT. Ltd. were the main  consultants, Larsen & Toubro fabricated the MIC storage tanks, and Taylor of India Ltd. provided the instrumentation. Besides that, there were also serious communication problems and management gaps between Union Carbide Corporation and its Indian operation. OPTIONS TO FINISH THE UNETHICAL ISSUES Anderson at the very start should have a feasibility study and environmental study for build up Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation, pesticide plant in India, to calculate the requirement of the plants related to India’s demand of pesticide and environment safety. If the plant is already built and it’s not profitable, Anderson should have closed the plant. But because of the Government demand to support the Indian Economy, Anderson should have to negotiate the government of India to take the plant as India’s state-owned company. So basically, all of the operational requirement will be the problems of India’s Government. Since Bhopal Gas Tragedy was already happened in India, there are few options to take the unethical issues done: 1.Union Carbide Corporations’ Chairman, Anderson, have to solve all of the problems causes by Bhopal Carbide Corporation’s Operation mistakes. It may take a lot of money to gather consultant and built infrastructure to help the victims such as Rehabilitation Center, Hospital, and also the compensation since the disaster begins would shut down the economics around the plant. 2.Anderson can also ask the India’s Government to contribute in solving all of the problems causes by Bhopal Carbide Corporation’s Operation mistakes since the Government of India was asked of helps to support Indian Economy and didn’t have regulation for Safety of Industrial policies. 3.Anderson use Point 2 plus ask the international media to regain his name due to the bad Indian management which â€Å"Indianized† U.S. Industrial safety  to environment. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1.Should the Bhopal plant have been operated using U.S. safety and environmental standards? As a company operating outside the country, American Union Carbide Corporation should apply a U.S. safety and environmental standards because country where they operate (India) has not implemented a safety and environmental standard. The company should apply with the more strictly standard. In 1973, the Indian parliament had passed the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), which aimed to increase state control over foreign business ventures. The act reduced the amount of equity that a foreign corporation could provide to any given project, in order to dilute foreign ownership of Indian-based firms. The bill also strongly encouraged the transfer of proprietary production technology to Indian firms, rather than just the formulation and sale of products, so that it could lay the groundwork for eventually nationalizing such technologies. In the case of the Bhopal plant however, UCC wanted to retain control of both the project and the technologies they had invented. While FERA did not allow foreign corporations to be the majority stakeholder in a project, an exception was made for UCC on the grounds that it was bringing in â€Å"special technology.† In order to retain their 50.9 percent stake in the undertaking, UCC cut the cost of construction from $28 million to $20 million dollars, primarily by using substandard technology and cheaper materials. Although UCC claims that its plant in Bhopal was built to the same safety specifications as its American facilities, when it was finally constructed there were at least eleven significant differences in safety and maintenance policies between the Bhopal factory and its sister facility in Institute, West Virginia. For example, the West Virginia plant had an emergency plan,  computer monitoring, and used inert chloroform for cooling their MIC tanks. Bhopal had no emergency plan, no computer monitoring, and used brine, a substance that may dangerously react with MIC, for its cooling system. The Union Carbide Karamchari Sangh (Workers’ Union), a union of Bhopal workers that formed in the early 1980s, recognized the dangers at the factory but their agitation for safer conditions produced no changes. 2.What would the U.S. policy be on the shanty towns? 3.Should the case have been moved to the United States for recover? Since Anderson is American, and the 51% shares of UCIL was owned by UCC in U.S. (categorized as Foreign Direct Investment), it should have been an U.S. – India issues to recover. With U.S. recovery helps, it will create a good relationship between U.S. and India. And probably the industry owned by U.S. citizen will trusted more by Indian. 4.List all of the costs of the accident to Union Carbide. It is estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people have permanent injuries. Reported symptoms are eye problems, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders, cardiac failure secondary to lung injury, female reproductive difficulties and birth defects among children born to affected women. The Indian Government and UCC deny permanent injuries were caused by MIC or the other gases. The gas cloud was composed mainly of materials denser than the surrounding air, stayed close to the ground and spread outwards through the surrounding community. The initial effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation. People awakened by these symptoms fled away from the plant. Those who ran inhaled more than those who had a vehicle to ride. Owing to their height, children and other people of shorter stature inhaled higher concentrations. Many people were trampled trying to escape. A total of 36 wards were marked by the authorities as being â€Å"gas affected†, affecting a population of 520,000. Of these, 200,000 were below 15 years of age, and 3,000 were pregnant women. In 1991, 3,928 deaths had been certified. Independent organizations recorded 8,000 dead in the first days. Other estimations vary between 10,000 and 30,000. Another 100,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to have permanent injuries of different degrees.

Critically discuss how speakers notions of both tellability and Essay

Critically discuss how speakers notions of both tellability and tellership (as defined by Ochs & Capps 2001) have been found to differ depending on their gender - Essay Example When there are many tellers, multiple narratives overlap, interact and create a comprehensive, new narrative. Sometimes, a narrative is defeated by a counter-narrative also (Ochs and Capps, 2001, 43). This concept can also be elaborated as; â€Å"tellability is related not only to the sensational nature of events but also to the significance of events for particular interlocutors and the way in which events are rhetorically shaped in narrative† (Ochs and Capps, 2001, 34). There have also been other definitions for tellability and tellership. Duranti (2006, 282) has said that â€Å"tellability refers to the significance of the narrated experience and the rhetorical style in which it is related.† He (2006, Duranti, 282) also added that some experience have high tellability and some have low. â€Å"Experience recounted as highly reportable (and) in a compelling manner† is considered as highly tellable and â€Å"experience recounted as moderately reportable and in an uncompelling manner† is evaluated as having low tellability (Duranti, 2006, 282). Tellability has bee n defined by Herman (2009, 382), by drawing ideas from many other scholars (Herman 2002; Labov 1972; Waletzky 1969; Norrick 2007; Prince 1987; Ryan 1991), as â€Å"that which makes an event or configuration of events relevantly reportable†¦ in a given communication situation†. Another simple definition for tellability is that when we say â€Å"stories need to have tellability†¦.they need to have a point† to make† (from Male Narrative pdf that you gave [Author’s name is needed here, you have not given me the name], 21). There are two conflicting factors in a narrative, according to Ochs and Capps (2001,24). They are, â€Å"narrators’ yearning for coherence of life experience and their yearning for authenticity† (Ochs and Capps, 2001, 24). A woman’s narrative always tend to favor coherence of life experience even at the cost

Human communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human communication - Essay Example Alternatively, from a retailing perspective the need for businesses to be creative in order to adapt to the multi-channel marketplace has become well-recognized (Levy & Weitz, 2008). Indeed, leading industry body for global e-retailing IMRG estimates that currently a quarter of all UK shopping is undertaken online via the internet or other mobile devices within a market estimated at approximately  £80 billion according (www.imrg.org). Signals of this prolific growth have been evident since 2003, which has resulted in a constant drive by retailers to introduce new delivery mechanisms to broaden customer reach (Diamond & Pinter, 2004). As such, this has seen a shifting approach in multi-channel retail strategy from bricks and mortar to multi-level formats including home shopping and mobile commerce (Levy & Weitz, 2008). It is submitted in this paper that the change in consumer behaviour, growth of media outlets and de-regulation of the media industry has created a seismic shift in co rporate strategy, which is underpinned by the media ecology theory. Leading sociologist George Caspar Homans is usually hailed as the central consolidator of social exchange theory works in his piece â€Å"Social Behaviour as Exchange† (1958). In general terms, the social exchange theory posits that social change and stability is a process of negotiated exchanges between parties (Homans, 1958). Moreover, the social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives (Gouldner, 1960). Homan gives the example of when a person perceives the cost of a relationship as outweighing the perceived benefits, the theory predicts that the person will depart from the relationship (Homans, 1958). Katherine Miller (2005) is a key opponent of the social exchange theory and argues that it reduces human interaction to purely rational process that arises from