Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Should liberalist states promote their policies abroad Is force a Essay

Should liberalist states promote their policies abroad Is force a legitimate instrument in securing these goals - Essay Example The questions asked are; is liberalism really a bad ideology that it has to be forced on other nations and how can the citizens of various nations benefit from liberalism? This paper supports the notion that liberalist states should promote their policies abroad but force should not be used as a legitimate instrument in securing these goals. Policy making was largely influenced by liberalists in the twentieth century. The liberalists influenced Public opinion and their liberal views were embraced as they gave the people hope for having free elections, religious freedom, free press, free markets, associational pluralism, free movement and many other associated benefits. However, with the First World War, liberal views subsided but after the Second World War, there was revival of liberal views marked by the establishment of United Nations. The cold war power politics extinguished liberalism again but in the 1990s; there was a beacon of hope as the Western countries announced the establ ishment of a new world order (Dunne 1). The leaders who came up with the new world order gave their justifications why the world should embrace liberalism over other ideologies but after the World Trade Centre was destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, America seemed to abandon liberalism and embraced realism. The United States of America and its counterparts have attempted to solidify power around them and decided to seek vengeance among their perceived enemies and the nations that sympathize with them. The paper expounds on the matter, showing liberalism to be founded on temperateness, compromise, moderation, and peace while realists strive to introduce a common power in order to achieve progress, justice and law (Dunne 2). For a long period, liberalism has been utilized to depict abroad range of practices, ideas, movements, and parties in various societies. It was mainly used to oppose the systems of governance that were oppressive and denied the citizens some pri vileges. Liberalism was used as a force of liberation for the people to obtain free initiatives from existing governments. When used as a political philosophy, liberalism can either refer to individual rights shared by liberals or basic principles of constitutional authorities. Classical liberals advocated for liberty, the segmentation of political powers, economic freedom, rights to own property, freedom of speech and thoughts, independent civil societies and religious liberty. Egalitarian aspects have influenced modern democratic liberalism in addition to the other aspects that classical liberalists advocated for, thus social equality serving as the foundation of modern-day liberal politics (Starr 34). Liberalism can be defined in four dimensions, which look into its different aspects. Firstly, when relating to the law, all the citizens are equal, meaning that they are equally bound by the law and bear basic rights to religious toleration, education, and free press among other rig hts. Secondly, the legislative body of a nation can only exercise authority vested in it by the citizens and is not permitted to abuse their rights. Thirdly, an individual has the right to property ownership and productive forces. Fourthly, liberalism identifies the free, market driven economic exchange system as the most effective and disparages market systems that are controlled and regulated bureaucratically. When one considers these four

Monday, October 28, 2019

Determine The Motivation Factors Tourism Essay

Determine The Motivation Factors Tourism Essay 1.0 Introduction This chapter is an introductory chapter. It intend to discuss on background of the study, highlight the problem statement, depict research objectives and questions and explain significance of the study, provide outline of the study and sum up a conclusion of this chapter. 1.1 Background of the Study Before year 1997, the insurance companies in Malaysia are operating as private company complied by the Insurance Act 1963. Yet, followed by the enactment of Insurance Act 1996 which started into force on 1st January 1997, all the insurance companies are converted to public company which licensed by the Ministry of Finance under the Companies Act 1965 (Bank Negara Malaysia [BNM], 2005). The growth of the insurance industry is closely related to the domestic economy of Malaysia. Based on the financial performance, the revenue of insurance industry in Malaysia is increasing gradually year by year. It had shown that an increase of RM 1,110,806 or 7.87% in the income of insurance industry in Malaysia in year 2010 as compared to year 2009. Income of RM 14,114,618 and RM 15,225,424 are recorded respectively for year 2009 and 2010 (Malaysia Insurance Institute, 2010). Meanwhile, the number of registered agents is also growing up year by year. There was a growth from 116,008 agents in year 2009 to 122,399 agents in year 2010, which was increased by 6,391 agents (BNM, 2010). Motivation is the part of commitment and results in achieving the organizational objectives at the appropriate way. Job satisfaction of employees can be motivated by different motivation factors (Balachandar, Panchanatham Subramanian, 2010). According to Tripathi (2001) most of the companies usually motivate their employees by offering economic reward, recognition, promotion, job security, training and authority. When customer comes to buy insurance, very few people contact an insurance company directly, the insurance agent play the role to solicit and sell insurance policies to the general public. No doubt, the revenue of insurance industry is very much depending on the sales gained by the insurance agents. Hence, motivation plays a great role to encourage insurance agents to work professionally in delivering their services to customers. Insurance agents will feel satisfied with their job when companies apply the motivation factors correctly on them. Insurance companies motivate their insurance agents by giving rewards such as extra bonus or company trip to appreciate their effort in getting sales for the insurance company. 1.3 Problem Statement Nowadays, more people want to become insurance agents, which led to the increased of challenges. The statistical report of Bank Negara Malaysia stated that the number of registered insurance agents had increased 5.51% from 2009 to 2010 (BNM, 2010). Normally, insurance agents do not have any basic salary but their pay is based on commission. Insurance agents try to retain and increase their target productivity in order to satisfy their jobs, save their jobs and increase their well-being because the wages of insurance agent depends on a commission basis (Christopher, 2007). According to Bakos (2008) insurance agents retain in the company is highly influenced by commission as remuneration. If the commission to the insurance agents is low, it will de-motivate them and leads to resignation. Past studies showed that motivation and job satisfaction have direct relationship to influence employee retention and performance among various types of organization (Goleman, 1998). According to Cravens, Ingram, LaForge and Young (2010) giving a right tool of training and development can motivate insurance agents more successful in selling life insurance products. Training and development can improve the job skills and knowledge of insurance agents at each level. Therefore, employees should be given more opportunities for advancement to motivate them in order to enhance their job satisfaction level (Feinstein, 2000). Besides, Tripathi (2001) stated that employees can be motivated by job security, recognition, promotion and training to enhance job satisfaction. There are several past researchers Hassan (2010), Salleh, Dzulkifli, Abdullah and Ariffin (2011), Golshan, Kaswuri, Aghashahi, Amin and Ismail (2011) studies on the relationship between motivation factors and job satisfaction among nurses, state Government employees and Gen-Y administrative and diplomatic officers in Malaysia but lack of studies on insurance agents in Malaysia. The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between motivation factors and job satisfaction among insurance agents in Malaysia. 1.4 Research Questions and Objectives 1.4.1 General Objective The major objective of this research is to identify and determine the motivation factors that influence job satisfaction of insurance agents in Malaysia. 1.4.2 General Question What are the motivation factors that influence job satisfaction of insurance agents in Malaysia? 1.4.3 Specific Objectives To investigate whether commission pay influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether job security influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether opportunities for advancement and development influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether work itself influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. 1.4.4 Research Questions Will commission pay influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will job security influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will opportunities for advancement and development influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will work itself influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? 1.5 Significance of the Study This research is tending to contribute to the individual and companies. To through this research, the insurance companies will know the importance of the insurance agents job satisfaction and knowing the level of job satisfaction of insurance agents. Meanwhile, individual can also gain a better understanding on motivation factors that can lead them to job satisfaction. The second aim of this research is to narrow the gap with regards to understanding job satisfaction of insurance agents by studying the motivation factors that influence insurance agents job satisfaction. Insurance companies will get to know more about the motivation factors that influence the insurance agents job satisfaction by offer some rewards system to satisfy insurance agents. This enables them to build long-term profitability and retain continuous growth in their businesses to gain competitive advantages in the insurance industry. This research will also expose a new knowledge to the public who has interest on the job of an insurance agent. It assists the public on raising knowledge and awareness of motivation factors that influence the job satisfaction of the insurance agents. 1.6 Outline of the Study Chapter two shows the related literature review that provides the foundation for developing the theoretical framework to proceed with further investigation and hypotheses testing. Chapter three presents the research methodology used to test the research questions. It includes research design, population, sample and sampling procedures, data collection method, variables and measurement, and data analysis techniques. Chapter four is the description of the data analysis. It presents the overall result and findings from the data collection. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) is used to generate results in this research. Chapter five is summaries the research finding and also discusses the major finding. Besides, it also discusses the limitation of the study as well as provides the recommendation for future researchers. 1.7 Conclusion This chapter is about the overview of this study stated on the above. This study aims to determine the motivation factors affecting toward insurance agents job satisfaction so as to contribute for insurance companies and the public. In the following chapter two, it will provide the literature review of this study.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Can Skepticism Be Defended, Perhaps In A Limited Form? Essay -- essays

Can Skepticism Be Defended, Perhaps In A Limited Form? 1. Introduction This essay centres around what it means to know something is true and also why it is important to distinguish between what you know and do not or can not know. The sceptic in challenging the possibility of knowing anything challenges the basis on which all epistemology is based. It is from this attack on epistemology that the defence of scepticism is seen. 2. Strong Scepticism Strong scepticism states that it is not possible to know anything. That is we cannot have absolute knowledge of anything. This can however immediately have the reflexive argument turned on it and have the question begged of it: â€Å"If it is not possible to know anything then how is it you know that nothing is knowable ?†. Strong Scepticism is therefore unable to be defended. 3. A Definition of Knowledge Knowledge can be said to be information that the brain has received that meets a certain set of criteria. When someone states that they know something they must also believe that, that something is so. If they did not believe in it then how could they take it in as knowledge ?, they would instead be doubtful of it and look for evidence or justification as to why they should believe it. Secondly for someone to believe in something they must also believe that it is true. If they did not believe that it was true then what is mentioned above would not occur. So, so far it is decided that knowledge should be true belief. How does one come to the conclusion that something is true however ?. We seek justification. The justification really is the most important part of the criteria because without it one cannot say something is true and therefore cannot say that one believes. This does however bring up the question of how does something become justified ?, do we hear it from other people ?, see it on the news ?. The justification of something really depends on its predictability. If something becomes predictable then it can becomes justified aswell. For example, I know that the sun will rise tomorrow is a fair thing to say because I believe this is so, I believe this is true, and I am justified in believing this due to my past experience* of the predictableness of the sun rising each day. The only problem with meeting the set of criteria laid out above is that one must use one senses to do so and as shall be shown ... ...Britain: Methuen & Co. Ltd. Dancy, Jonathon (1985), An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, Great Britain: Basil Blackwell Ltd. Descartes, Rene (as translated by E.S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross) (1969), The Philosophical Works of Decartes vol. I - II, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Edwards, Paul (1965), The Logic of Moral Discourse, New York: The Free Press. Gorovitz, Williams (1967), Philosophical Analysis, An Introduction to Its Language & Techniques, New York: Random House. Guthrie, W. K. C. (1971), The Sophists, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hamlyn, D. W. (1983), The Theory of Knowledge, London: Macmillan Press. Harris, Errol (1969), Fundamentals of Philosophy - A Study of Classical Texts, U.S.A.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Harrison, J. (1966-67). A Philosopher's Nightmare or The Ghost not Laid. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol LXVII. Hume, David (1962), A Treatise of Human Nature, Great Britain: Fontana Library. Presley, C. F. (1967), The Identity Theory of Mind, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. van Inwagen, P. and Lowe E. (1996) . Why Is There Anything At All?. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol LXX.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Efficient Business Communications in Companies Today Essay

â…  . Introduction Communication is one of the most important factors in any organization or relationship. It is â€Å"the process of people sharing thoughts, ideas, information and feelings with each other in commonly understandable ways† (Hamilton, 2011). When people can communicate properly in a business then it runs smoothly without communicational mistakes and misinterpretation. The main purpose of efficient business communications is to generate a positive, reliable and consistent reputation with customers, employees and other businesses. Efficient business communication promotes confidence in the company so that people are able to trust the company. Businesses are crossing national boundaries to compete on a global scale today. That’s why efficient business communication is important nowadays. To be successful, businesses need to develop efficient ways of communications around the world. In that way, social media and modern technologies is efficient business communications in compa nies today. â… ¡. Body 1. Social media in business communication Pearlson and Saunders (2010) define social networking sites as online services that allow members to create profiles with information about themselves and connect with other individuals that share common interests and expertise. While social networking sites began as methods for people to express their individuality and keep in touch with others, they have developed into communication tools that allow businesses to connect directly with the widespread audiences these sites provide and benefit from the immediacy and intimacy of these contacts. The popularity of social networking sites provides companies with the opportunity to take advantage of instant two-way dialogue with millions of users in a more cost-effective method than previous one-way marketing strategies. Social networking has also changed how working professionals share information and the methods companies use to find new employees. LinkedIn, for example, provides users the ability to create profiles that outline their pr ofessional expertise and accomplishments and Hempel (2010) outlines how both employees and employers benefit from the features of LinkedIn. Over 60 million members have LinkedIn profiles with details on their experience and the ability to reach out to peers to ask for advice or join groups of members with similar affiliations. This provides users the ability to network more effectively than they could through an exchange of business cards or resumes. Employers have also discovered benefits to using LinkedIn to identify and recruit potential employees. LinkedIn provides highly detailed information on members, allowing representatives from companies such as IBM and Accenture to easily identify promising candidates based on member profiles and professional references while saving thousands of dollars in recruiting fees. Twitter provides its users the ability to stay connected by exchanging short messages of 140 characters or less, known as â€Å"tweets†. These brief messages are designed to provide users the ability to quickly share information with a wide audience. Companies are now expected to take an active role in the use of social networking sites to identify candidates for employment, promote their products, and engage customers in the medium and time frame they prefer rather than dictating how and when communication takes place. Given that these sites provide free tools for companies to establish immediate, two-way dialogue with vast numbers of customers, it is imperative that companies develop effective social networking strategies to further establish and strengthen the critical relationship between company and customer. 2. Modern technologies in business communication Technology seems to be in a state of constant evolution. New technologies are being developed all the time, and the impact this has had on the world of business communication is immeasurable. In spite of that speaking to someone in person is the best method of business communication, technology has allowed you to communicate with people around the world through other methods to save company money. Technology plays an important role in the business. It helps to grow business into a customer-focused and sustainable business. Today, modern technology has changed the way these business conduct their communications with each other. Technology has allowed for many forms of communication to take place through the use of cell phones, email, and even holding meetings. Many large organizations have installed a complex network of computer-based telephone, facsimile, printing, voice-mail, e-mail and videoconferencing technologies. These technologies increase the potential for communication in the organization, such as speed, frequency and reach of communication and reduce its cost (Hinds, Keisler, 1995). As technology has progressed, it has increased the speed of business communications. Instead of having to wait a week for a document to be delivered by mail, information can be instantaneously transferred via email or file sharing programs. Technology has greatly increased accessibility in business communication. Because of things like smart phones, email, text messaging and instant messaging, information can be sent very quickly to anyone, anywhere. This has altered accessibility in a multitude of ways. People can work or communicate from anywhere and at any time. Technology has made the world a lot smaller, especially in the context of business. People from different cultures interact on a frequent basis. Global partnerships have become much more feasible as things like video conferencing have facilitated me etings that cost much less to conduct than flying halfway across the world. This has also forced business communication to become more dynamic, as individuals from different cultures learn to accommodate for the cultural and communicative differences in their business relationships. People from opposite ends of the world can work together, 24 hours a day. Moreover, advances in technology make it possible for more and more people to work away from the office – in cars, airports, hotels and homes. (Thill, Bovee, 2005) As it was mentioned before, managers have at their disposal a wide variety of communication technologies from which to choose. And some the most popular technologies can be discovered. They are telephone, voice mail, Internet based communication technologies such as e-mail, instant messages, videoconferences, blogs, file hosting. Mobile Phones Telephones are one of the most common, popular and simple forms of business communication today. The use of the telephone has increased exponentially since its invention because it provides an easy and convenient way to overcome the two principal barriers to communication: time and distance. The telephone is much like one-to-one face-to-face communication, but is done at a distance (Hinds, Keisler, 1995). Using telephones overcome the two principal barriers to communication: time and distance. In fact, some experts estimate that 95 percent of most companies’ daily contacts come via the telephone (Ind, 1999). When people call to an organization, they want to quickly and easy reach somebody who can help them and provide information. Most companies provide cell phones for their employees and they require them to carry them on and off the job. This allows people to be available anytime when they need to be called in. This form of communication is good to get in touch with someone but when you have an important topic to discuss, it is better not to do it over the phone. It also allows companies to save money by having corporate discounts from providers. These benefits of using telephones show that in order to run a business in an effective way, the role of telephones shouldn’t be underestimated. Telephones are one of the most efficient ways of communication. E-mail Of all the Internet activities, e-mail is used more often. Email has changed the way any business is being done. Nowadays people complain about the amount of Email they receive. But, nevertheless, using Email has impacted business in a positive way and has some advantages over other methods of communication. Hamilton (2011) mentioned that â€Å"there are some definite advantages to using e-mail and instant messages in an organization – increased access to and faster retrieval of information, to name just two.† Use of e-mails costs less then sending letters. Thus, e-mail has become one of the most common forms of business communication. Since e-mail communications eliminate the interpretation of body language, tone and gestures, there’s a set of norms and ethics that come with email communication. For example, using capital letters in a sentence can be construed as you screaming at the other person. So, to minimize the potential for problems, many companies now ha ve formal e-mail policies that specify certain rules of creating e-mails and use of company e-mail service. Instant messages Instant messaging allows people to carry on real-time, either one-to-one or small groups text conversations. It is quicker then e-mail and usually used inside the organization to allow employees to share information, exchange documents or hold virtual meetings online. Calls via Internet and Video conference Modern technology allows communicating in person via electronic meetings, such as videoconference or calling and receiving calls via Internet. Programs such as Skype offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that allow individuals and businesses to call and place electronic meetings all over the world for prices much cheaper then regular landline services. Lehman, DuFrene (2005) found that â€Å"despite e-mail, fax machines, cell phones a lot of employees do not communicate as well with one another in virtual environments as they do in traditional office†. Videoconferencing is used by multiple-location companies to communicate with their employees – for training, business updates, to introduce new products or procedural changes (Hamilton, 2011). In videoconferencing people’s participation is more organized and orderly, they come well prepared, which may account for shorter meeting and saving time. It is also effective when an organization is hiring someone who is leaving in other country. If it is expensive to bring that person to the company’s country for an interview, the better way to conduct it is via Skype rather than via telephone. You can see the person, his body language which will give you more information about the person rather than just voice. â… ¢. Conclusion Today, people more connected in globalized world by modern technologies. Lifestyle are changing internet bases that quicker, easier and more cost-effectively. This is nothing different in business communication. Full use of social media and modern technologies are undoubtedly maximizing communications between businesses and their suppliers, partners, customers and their potential customers.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Inflation Impact on Economy Essay

Inflation means a rise in prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. Inflation is caused by some demand side factors (Increase in money supply, Increase in income, Black money spending, Expansion of the Private Sector, Increasing Public Expenditures) and some Supply side factors (Shortage of factors of production, Industrial Disputes, Increase in exports (excess exports), Global factors, Neglecting the production of consumer goods). Inflation effects the different sectors of the economy (Effects on the distribution of income and wealth, Effects on production, Effects on the Government, Effects on the Balance of Payment, Effects on Monetary Policy, Effects on Social Sector, Effects on Political environment) and different classes of the people (Debtors & Creditors, Salaried Class, Wages earners, Fixed income group, Investors and shareholders, Businessmen, Agriculturists). There are many causes for inflation, depending on a number of factors. For example, inflation can happen when governments print an excess of money to deal with a crisis. When any extra money is created, it will increase some societal group’s buying power. All sectors in the economy try to buy more than the economy can produce. Shortages are then created and merchants lose business. In the end, the price level rises. Another common reason of inflation is a rise in production costs, which leads to an increase in the price of the final product. For example, if raw materials increase in price, this leads to the cost of production increasing, this in turn leads to the company increasing prices to maintain their profits. Inflation can also be caused by federal taxes put on consumer products. As the taxes rise, suppliers often pass on the burden to the consumer. In Pakistan, the most important thing is the rise in prices of oil, gas, excise duties and the increase in the utility tariffs. These all has an inflationary impact on the economy. Pakistan, with a population of about 16 million people has undergone a remarkable economic growth during last few years, but the core problems of the economy are still unsolved. Inflation is one of these core problems. Government claims that in order to keep the prices of essential commodities under control, it has been taking various measures throughout the year. In order to provide relief to the low and fixed income groups, the government has been selling wheat flour and sugar through the outlets of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) at much lower prices than the market. The government has also allowed the import of various items through land routes from neighboring countries. But, all these are secondary measures. Problems like ‘inflation’ and ‘poverty’ can’t be resolved by applying the secondary measures directly, these need strategic planning. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, these core problems have never undergone such a planning process. Government has never invited foreign investment for the production of basic goods. Agriculture sector, on which the major industries rely for the raw material has not been given sufficient subsidies. The major rise in the prices is because of the increasing prices of oil (as increased prices of oil increase the cost of production), but no such steps have been taken to control the oil prices. Domestic productions at less cost of production will not only make the availability of goods much easier but Aggregate Supply will also increase, and domestic industry will get developed. Inflation is one of the obstacles on the way of development. In Pakistan, it has squeezed the major part of the population. It needs to be controlled by strategic planning. Domestic production should be encouraged instead of imports; investment should be given preference in consumer goods instead of luxuries, Agriculture sector should be given subsidies, foreign investment should be attracted, and developed countries should be requested for financial and managerial assistance. And lastly a strong monitoring system should be established on different levels in order to have a sound evaluation of the process at every stage. Inflation always hurts ones’ standard of living. Rising prices mean people have to pay more for the same goods and services. If income increases at a slower rate as inflation, the standard of living declines even if one makes more. So it is the root cause in making and affecting economy and people of the country poor. If we want to control inflation we shall have to inflict strict control over the supply of money and evading any relaxation to the supply of money. This is the most apt way whereby we can control inflation effectively and keep the economy of the country in a strong and stable position.